What's the difference between ISO and shutter speed in a digital camera with full manual functions.?

Question

Want to know difference between ISO and shutter speed and maybe also some different lighting situations in where you would set them at different rates.

Answer 1

Consider that ISO, shutter speed, and lens opening are a triangle that affect exposure.

Lens opening (aperature)- The wider the opening the more light that is let in. Also the wider the opening the shallower the depth of field. If you want to blur a background while the subject remains sharp you might want to use a large aperature like f/2.8 or f/4.0. For landscapes you'd probably want to use a smaller aperature (f16 or f22).

Shutter speed - Similiar to aperature, the longer the shutter stays open the more light that is let in. For sports we usually want a very fast shutter speed, for portraits it might not be so important becuase we are more concerned about aperature, for landscapes we might vary the speed. For example, to get flowing water I might use a long shutter speed so it looks more like flowing silk. To make that combination work I might have to use a small aperature.

ISO - The higher the ISO the high the gain on the sensor so the more it "sees" light. Kind of like a dimmer switch. However, the more that is turned up the more it also creates digital noise in the image. For me ISO is not as flexible a part of the exposure triangle as the other two. I try and shoot the lowest ISO that will allow me to use the shutter speed and lens opening I want for the shot. Sometimes, for example shooting basketball in a gym, the ISO has to be turned up all the way. I might do that for other indoor photography that involves motion. But otherwise I try and keep the ISO turned down to 200 (my camera's lowest setting).

I hope that helps. There is a great book for understanding all of this and it is fairly cheap. It is called "Understanding Exposure" and it written by Bryan Peterson. It explains exposure in an easy to understand way and gives excellent examples. I bought it on Amazon for around $15.

Answer 2

The many difference is shutter speed is how fast the shutter opens to allow light into our camera, whether its an SLR or a P&S, onto your sensor. The longer the shutter is open (ex. 3' stands for 3 secs, 1/25 stands for 1/4 of a second) the more light is allow in onto the sensor. Broad Day light and other well light areas do not require slow shutter speed, try to keep it as fast as you can to capture a moment. The more advance you become you can add effects by increasing or decreasing shutter speed. Low light conditions require slow shutter speeds like 1'. This however can cause camera shake or subject can move.

ISO is a way that you can keep your shutter speed really fast but at the same time it will create "noise" on your imagine. Some cameras handle ISO better than others. ISO increase the sensitivy and make imagines more brighter. This is great if you do not want camera shake which makes imagines blurry because you can have the shutter speed at a higher speed than if you did not have ISO turned up high.

I'll start out with shutter speed, in the sun or outdoors and its bright and sunny, have your shutter speed extremely fast if you want to capture a moment (1/2000). Some nature photographers make the shutter speed slow to create "life" in an imagine, such as making a river white capped or water falls look long and white. As it becomes cloudly, you may need to slow down your shutter speed depending on how much light there is. Night shots you need extremely slow shutter speed to capture the light.

ISO is a way out of turning down your shutter speed. In broad day light you should keep the ISO to a its lowest setting. This creates the least amount of noise in the picture. As it becomes cloudly and you do not want to sacrifice shutter speed and imagine blur turn up your ISO level to 400-800 depending on how it looks. In low light indoors you probably should turn your ISO settings to its highest so you do not sacrifice shutter speed if it is nessicary (ex. sports game like basketball). You should use a flash if you do have one. An external flash maybe need for SLRs if you have one because it gives you a better coverage than the bulit in flashes.

Hope that helps! Ask me any questions and I'll be glad to help

Answer 3

In application terms, ISO and shutter speed are ways to vary the amount of light in your shot. You use them in combination to get the effect you want.

ISO usually goes from about 100 (less light, little to no grain) to 1600 (more light, lots of grain). If you're taking a picture where you want fine detail and perfect clarity, you'll want to shoot at the lowest possible ISO. If you're shooting a portrait on a sunny day shoot at 100... but if you're shooting a moving basketball player in a low lit court you'll want to shoot at 1600 ISO or so... you'll have more grain in your shot, but it will be brighter and sharper.

Shutter speed is another thing all together. It also varies the amount of light that enters the camera.. but does not affect the grain so much. The shutter speed is how long the camera's shutter is open. A shutter speed of 1/1000 of a second is really fast and good for well lit situations like outside on a sunny day. A slower shutter speed like 1/5th of a second is good for low lit situations... but keep in mind that if your hand shakes during that time your picture will be blurry.

Say you're shooting a couple dancing in the evening with the sun setting. You might set your ISO to 400 and your shutter speed to 1/20th of a second for a good shot. If you decide you want the shutter open longer (say 1/5th) to capture the motion of the dance, you could change your ISO to 100 for a good shot.

If you were shooting a picture of the stars at night you might set your camera on a tripod... keep the ISO at 100... and set your shutter speed as slow as possible. If you've got a BULB setting, you can keep the shutter open for hours to get one of those neat star trail shots.

Additionally, you should learn about your aperture settings as that is a third variable in your camera. It also varies the amount of light that gets in the picture. A small aperture (big number like 22) is good for bright lights and when you want a lot of the background in focus. A large aperture (small number like 1.4) is good for lower lights and when you want the background to be blurry like when you're taking a portrait shot.

Have fun!

Answer 4

3 factors affect the exposure of a photograph: film speed (measured in ISO), aperture and shutter speed.

Film (or in the case of digital photography, CMOS or CCD sensor) is a light-sensitive material that is measured in ISO. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive it is to light. The lower the ISO, the less sensitive it is to light.

Aperture is a mechanism that controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor through the size of its opening.

Shutter is a mechanism that controls the amount of light that reaches the sensor through the duration it opens and shuts.

With these definitions in mind, higher ISO will allow you to shoot at a faster shutter speed. Lower ISO settings will limit you to shooting at a slower shutter speed.

However, you must bring into consideration the consequences of using a high ISO. The Lower ISO settings will provide you with sharper images especially if you do decide to enlarge your images. The higher the ISO, the less sharp the images and will consequently result in a more grainy (or in the case of digital photography, more noisy) photograph when blown up.

Answer 5

Film can still have more resolution than even 10 MP digital cameras. However, film can often be of low quality if you do not know how to use it well, or you get it developed at the wrong place. Digital, on the other hand, is much easier to use, edit and develop. However, if you are making really large photos (over 8x11), you will notice a definition change. Another downside to digital is that it usually has automated settings. That means, if you encounter certain environments, the camera may freak out and mess up the image. Overall, unless you are very skilled with film or have an unbeatable deal, I would go with the digital camera.

Answer 6

Once you used " ISO" in either the digital or conventional cameras, which means that Film speeds from 100 to1600 ISO film speeds or in olden years it stated ASA film speeds. 100 and 200 ISO for the normal lightings conditions and given good colour for your photos,400 to1000 ISO given in the darker/darkest lighting conditions.
Shutter speed will be given differents lighting conditions by using from lowest shutter speeds 30 seconds,it's taken firework,night scenes,etc,which taken without flash and highest shutter speeds 1/4000 seconds on brightest sunny days,like sun rising,etc.One more things was controlled apertures by using 11 to 22 apertures.

Answer 7

Note:- Koko is wrong to say 1/25 = one quarter of a second. It most certainly does not, it means what it says. One quarter of a second is 1/4. Speed settings are actual fractions of a second, they are not percentages.

Answer 8

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Answer 9

hard subject. check out in google. that will could help!