How do I know when to adjust the " iso " on my nikon d70?

Answer 1

I have a D70. Most of the time, you don't need to worry about adjusting the ISO. Your camera will do it for you by default unless you change the setting in the menu. (custom setting 5 in the ON setting)

Your manual will have information on it, starting on page 46. On the D70, ISO, or sensitivity to light, can be set between 200 and 1600.

Go to the shooting menu, and highlight ISO, then press your multi-selector to the right. Highlight which ISO you want and press your multi-selector to the right again.

When the monitor is off, you can set your ISO by pressing the ISO button and rotating the main command dial.

With higher sensitivity you will have more noise in your picture. The only time I needed to set mine manually was when I took a picture of the moon. My camera wanted to default to ISO 1600 because of the dark sky, but I was shooting the brightly lit moon, so I set it at 200. Actually, the difference in the two shots in noise was hardly noticeable, as noise mostly shows in the darker areas anyway.

Answer 2

Most of the time you would want to use the lowest ISO you can hand hold for quality reasons. If it is a bright sunny day then ISO 200 is fine. But if the weather turns dull or you have to shoot inside then the amount of light is reduced demanding either a slower shutter speed or wider aperture. If the aperture is wide open then you have to start stepping down through the shutter speeds to a point that you will not be able to hold the camera still during the exposure. This causes the image to blur. To correct this you up the ISO. But the down side of this is increased noise (especially in the shadow areas) in the photos.

Now some photographers go nuts with even a little bit of noise but I feel capturing the event is more important than noise. (You can also buy software that helps limit this problem.)

Remember, you probably don't want to shoot slower than the focal length of your lens.....(50mm = 60th of a sec., 105mm= 125th of a sec....ect.) and squeeze the shutter release don't "punch" the button. With a little practice you'll be able to hand-hold the camera at slower speeds.

Answer 3

Your ISO setting determines how light-sensitive you wish the sensor to be.. basically what film speed are you attempting to emulate, since the D70 is digital.

If you're going to be shooting normal stuff in daylight or a studio with ample lighting, then a standard ISO of 200 or 100 (if that's available) is fine. If you're shooting at dusk or in low light without flash, you might change your ISO to something really high, like 800 or 1600. You set it according to the environment in which you expect to be shooting.

Answer 4

With a little experience you'll be doing it by eye, but till then check the built in light meter. or check what your shooting. If your out side in direct sunlight shooting say a building some not likely to move iso 100 people in shade 200 to 400 , at a race track at night 1600 pulse
There are 1000 of different ways to set your camera so experiment have fun with it!!

Answer 5

It has to correspond to the film you load. It is probably set on some standard value. So if you are happy with the pictures you take with it just leave it alone. If not ask the person at the shop where you buy your film to help you with that.