by Ron Erb

Created on: July 15, 2008

Take Better Pictures with Digital Camera ISO Pro Tips. Think of the ISO as the "speed" setting on your digital SLR. 1600 is a fast ISO, 100 is normal on many cameras. Unlike shutter speeds or lens settings, ISO changes will affect the texture or graininess of you photos. Higher ISO's allow sharp photographs of moving objects or in low-light situations where flash is unavailable. Lower than normal ISO's can provide better detail, sharpness and overall quality.

ISO controls how a digital camera responds to light. ISO ratings on films tell how much light it takes to make good pictures with that film. The International Organization for Standards recommends these ratings. Lighting and subject determine what ISO film to load in older cameras for a certain type of photography . Let's look at some examples.

Old Geezer, 35mm landscape photographer, shoots Kodachrome ISO 64 for tack-sharp, fine grain images that he can blow up for framing and sell at the flea market. He's just squeezed the shutter for a great waterfall shot. You'll be able to see the individual droplets of water as they hit the rocks! Just then a Yeti enters the frame rambling by at a fast pace. Geezer spins the shutter dial to the fastest setting his film allows and "snap." Later, when our hero gets the film from Kodak, he sees the one that got away - a brown blur. His film was just too slow to catch the speeding phantom.

Digital Diva, photo maven, shoots ISO 50 on her Magic Megapixel DSLR. Wildflowers brilliantly fill her viewfinder. She'll have this one on eBay by dinner time. Suddenly, the Yeti, fleeing from some madly mumbling geezer, dashes across the field. Diva spins the ISO setting on her DSLR to 1600, re-frames and fires off 7 shots. By midnight her auction has netted the Diva enough cash to buy that yacht she's had her eye on down at the harbor.

One reason professional photographers carried two cameras was ISO. One camera for fast film and a longer lens, another with slower, finer grain film. Today, a digital photographer can choose a different ISO for each picture. No more changing film in mid-roll to shoot fast motion or in low light.

"Speed" means sensitivity to light in photo-speak. A "fast" film needs little light, a "slow" film needs a lot. Photographers could set their digital ISO on 1600 or load 1600 speed film except for "grain," that effect on some low-light photos that makes them look like sand paintings. Most photo film uses silver to take pictures. More silver means faster film, but

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