Take Better Photos Episode 3 - ISO and Exposure

[@mrsergeylandesman]

Explained better than in any photography class! Two thumbs up! Thank you, Nick!

[@alannunhuck3974]

Thank you for the video - it was very interesting & informative - especially your explanation of noise! One thing though - I’m pretty confident is saying that ISO is actually an acronym - it stands for International Standards Organisation - everything else was spot on! Keep the excellent videos coming. Alan

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

See other comments about this in this thread...

[@sharonleibel]

Nick, This is the best explanation I got on this. Even after a few years of shooting I learn more from your deep-dive sessions than anything until today. Keep them coming! I also love the fact you are taking your time slowly and thoroughly, and not going through 8-9 minutes. And of course: the fact you're not saying "ISO is the sensor sensitivity" as others say...

[@wrtlprmpft2]

This was easily one of the most useful photo training sessions I've ever seen, in particular the graph around 36:00 min was eye-opening. Well done!

[@mrsergeylandesman]

Excellent lesson! Thank you!

[@ramonparnau197]

Thank you so so so much Nick !! Very very very well explained !!! Superb Webinar !!!!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad it helped!

[@Ricardo-SW]

Another superb session, thank you Nick!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

My pleasure!

[@empbizpres]

Thank you, Nick! This is THE BEST lesson I’ve found on the ideal ways to control my exposure on my SL (and now my new SL2-S). I appreciate all you do.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Very welcome!

[@sharonleibel]

I second! And he's dong it the Leica way: Slowly, thoroughly, No hurries! As I like. Nick, Please expand your akademia available courses. You're a natural.

[@loganmaxwell4018]

Nick, just purchased my Leica D-lux 7 at the start of the week with zero photography experience and no idea how to use the camera outside of Auto Focus, auto aperture, auto ISO ect ect. Needless to say many photos in different situations just weren't coming out as i expected and it was feeling quite disheartened with my purchase. After watching episodes 1, 2 and 3 it has completely turned my experience around. It all makes so much sense and ill never touch the automatic settings again, other then ISO sometimes. I cant express how much this has helped me and improved my enjoyment in this hobby i was so keen to get into. I just want to get outdoors and find that perfect shot!. Regards and thanks for the lessons.

[@guillaumeschirra7699]

Thank you Nick. Cheers from France.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

My pleasure!

[@thomaswirtl4446]

Great lession. Well done. Very interesting series. Please continue.

[@billykool1]

Excellent explanation. Thank you for taking your time doing this.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad it was helpful!

[@bunyaadi]

I found this very useful and easy to understand. Whilst I have noticed some of those things during my mucking around and experimenting. Now I have a more competent understanding of it. Will try to make a point of watching your other tutorials.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad it was helpful!

[@atlanticdrift-uk]

Absolutely fantastic presentation - Thank you from Cornwall UK

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@patrickperitore417]

Thank your Nick for the clear and elegant explanation. I will follow your lead from now on!! Patrick in Brazil (where it is very bright).

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Welcome aboard!

[@RenePfluger]

Thanks again for your great classes! You help me to improve my skills. Rene

[@kieulannguyen1193]

Thank you for a wonderful session. Would you please have another session on meeting for Leica M system? That would be great.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Great suggestion!

[@rogerhyland8283]

Loved this presentation. Will definitely change my working process.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad it was helpful!

[@goldfinch2283]

another great tutorial; thanks!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad you liked it!

[@mp_martin]

ISO: a system for rating sensitivity of film emulsion/digital sensor to visible light. Developed from the American ASA and German DIN systems by the International Organization for Standardization.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Indeed. The current ISO rating is an attempt to emulate the previous ASA/DIN film ratings so that the numbers and the results are subjectively equivalent. Film emulsions had a 'physical' base sensitivity that could be measured, digital sensors depend on some internal post-processing (secret sauce if you like) and so are a harder target to pin down.

[@johnpenney_LA]

Love the series. LOVE!!! Thanks so much and it has been so helpful to me!! Just a tiny note, but ISO is an acronym. Wikipedia: "The ASA and DIN film speed standards have been combined into the ISO standards since 1974. The current International Standard for measuring the speed of colour negative film is ISO 5800:2001[17] (first published in 1979, revised in November 1987) from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Related standards ISO 6:1993[15] (first published in 1974) and ISO 2240:2003[16] (first published in July 1982, revised in September 1994 and corrected in October 2003) define scales for speeds of black-and-white negative film and colour reversal film, respectively.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Based on what ISO states on their own website: "Because 'International Organization for Standardization' would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), our founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek 'isos', meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, we are always ISO."

[@johnpenney_LA]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia Fantastic Add, Thanks!!

[@Aljoheri]

Such a lecture.

[@paultaylorphotography9499]

Outstanding xxxx

[@cyranox90]

Great explanation!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad it was helpful!

[@florence1002]

Thank you for this clear and useful video that I will put into practice soon. I am going to buy myself a Leica Q2 and I would like to know if you have made a video on this device.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

There is a video on the Q and Q2 here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eoSyoYtroNuXZ9k

[@florence1002]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia Thank you very much

[@tonyvokey7607]

Thanks again Nick for another superb tutorial. I thought I was doing something wrong with my SL2 and CL whilst shooting with Auto ISO on and choosing my minimum shutter speed. I’d take some shots and when I get to reviewing them they are blurry and my shutter speed drops below the minimum I had set. It drives me NUTS!! I had no idea that it was in fact the camera and not something I had set wrong. Why does Leica even give you the option if the camera won’t honor the minimum shutter speed? Hopefully it will be corrected in a future firmware update, at least give the user the option to have the camera honor the desired minimum shutter speed or override it. We’ll at least now I know. Look forward to the next video, please keep up the great work!!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Hi Tony. Yes, that camera behaviour can catch you out. The easy 'fix' is to set the max auto iso to the max the camera will do. I don't have the cameras handy right now but see if there is a difference between using Aperture Priority, and Manual. I think one mode used to honour the shutter speed but not the other, but I can't remember which camera or whether it had changed in recent f/w updates.

[@tesladrivingdad8617]

This is fascinating…. How’s the Leica Q2 differ?

[@rfk-k1951]

Nick, my CL acts the same way as your description of the SL. The CL overrides the minimum shutter speed when it hits the maximum ISO. To me, this looks like a programming oversight. If so, perhaps you can request a fix in the next CL and SL operating system updates. Very much enjoyed your ISO and Exposure video. Cheers!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

I will do just that. Thanks for the feedback.

[@johnjury7316]

Thank you for most useful video. All taken on board except how this would work when adjusting Exposure Compensation and using Auto ISO?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

You use Exposure Compensation in just the same way as usual. Watch the exposure readout numbers change as you dial in plus EV and you will see the shutter speed drop towards the minimum threshold and then the ISO will lift after that.

[@johnjury7316]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia Many thanks, I will keep on practising!

[@tizianave.8872]

Thanks Nick. I am Italian and I have learned so much from your lessons. I have a question for you, because I didn’t get an answer in any of the Leica stores in Italy. I have a Q2; when I point my camera, it takes the exposure and I can see the histogram and let’s say that there is some highlights blinking; but when I half push the shutter button, the histogram changes, the tones of the image too and the blinking disappears. So which one of the two images will be the “right” one, the one the camera has registered and in which one I should adjust the compensation if necessary before actually taking the photo? Thanks a lot if you can help me in better understanding my Q.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Tell me a bit more about how your camera is set up. What exposure mode, metering mode etc. The more info the better to help me reply. My Q2 does not behave as you describe but I do understand what you are describing.

[@mpw621]

Interesting topic. What is one sets the shutter speed and ISO oneself instead of having the camera do it for you so the SL/CL shutter speed will not drop below the threshold ?

[@michelthibert304]

Mabye that the height of the histogram represent the amount or pourcentage of the specific type of light in the picture 😮

[@gnuhapi]

Great presentation, Nick. I had read and watched myriad explanations and was still in the dark about how to set and use "Auto ISO". I had been using Fujis, but then bought a Q2 Monochrom and was relatively successful. Enter my M-10R and some older or manual lenses which don't communicate with the body. Will this negate the "Aperture Priority" function?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

M cameras are only Manual and Aperture Priority - the shutter speed can be auto-set by the camera, but the aperture is always set on the lens since they are mechanical. So, no, auto ISO will not negate AV mode.

[@gnuhapi]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia Thank you.

[@danhiris]

What about using highlight metering instead of exposure highlight warning?

[@gurugamer8632]

Does Leica MP film have more dynamic range than Leica M11?

[@designed4yous]

Nick, what kind of desktop tripod is that?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

www.manfrotto.com/au-en/pixi-mini-tripod-red-mtpixi-rd/

[@wbezs]

Hello Nick, question about Q2. Imagine scenario; deep corridor with artificial light on the top of frame, 1/3 left side dark and right side 1/3 of frame dark, middle of frame by meter showing correct exposure under iso3200 or even 6400, shadows on both side of frame showing horizontal banding. Can you explain how to avoid that? I don’t mind grain but banding is really annoying. Thank you 🙏

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Hard to troubleshoot that but if you open up the shadows too much at high ISO you will be pushing the sensor to its absolute limit and banding can appear. Dynamic range decreases with increasing ISO on most cameras. Sounds like the scene is low light and, at the same time, very contrasty. Ideally you'd use low ISO and a longer exposure.

[@wbezs]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia Thank you for answer. I assume to use lower iso and longer shutter but in some moments i wish freeze motion. Is it possible contact you directly to examine my photos and confirm user error?

[@CayenneMediaGroupLLC]

You mentioned that ISO was not an acronym?.....ISO Sensitivity is a standard set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) that represents sensitivity to light as a numerical value.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

A common misconception. See lots of commentary about this below...

[@CayenneMediaGroupLLC]

Not a criticism, I enjoyed your video...By the way I just received my first Leica......enjoying !!!!@@LeicaCameraAustralia

[@cheffrodo3266]

16:52

[@mikecallaghan9535]

ISO International Standards Organisation, is an abbreviation and has taken the place of ASA/DIN film speed. Otherwise good presentation. Thanks

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Please see Dr Matthew Grant's comment from about a month ago. He labels ISO as a 'backronym', a word I had not heard of.

[@karpenterken1]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia a ridiculous claim based on what?

[@ACitizenOfOurWorld]

@@karpenterken1 Based on what ISO states on their own website (note the actual word order is not what you think): "Because 'International Organization for Standardization' would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), our founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek 'isos', meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, we are always ISO." The definition of backronym: "A word interpreted as an acronym that was not originally intended so. Example: The programming language BASIC is sometimes incorrectly described as an acronym for “beginners all-purpose symbolic instruction code.”

[@michaellutherdavies]

Nick it doesn't look like a 3G possibly 3C or 3F. Regards Michael

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

You are right, on further investigation, the 3G has a different viewfinder arrangement. But now I'm pretty sure it's a 3B based on the s/n of 319095. That makes it quite a bit older - 1939 instead of the 1950s as I first thought. Amazing to think that a 82 year old camera still works!

[@carlosmcse]

The best tip for exposure is, get off AUTO. Just don’t use it for. Don’t have anything on auto. Auto will choose crazy settings. You don’t need to worry about shutter speed or exposure if you just choose it yourself.

[@grantmedical]

Glad you made the point of pronouncing "ISO" correctly... (ISO; /ˈaɪɛsoʊ/) is derived from the Greek word isos (ίσος, meaning "equal")... It is a backronym NOT an acronym... Excellent videos... I intend to share this along with your others... Thanks so much...

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Thanks for sharing!

[@karpenterken1]

I don’t know how you came up with that stretch of a story. It absolutely is an acronym for International Standards Organization and can be said both ways, correctly.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

From the website of the International Organisation for Standardization: "Because 'International Organization for Standardization' would have different acronyms in different languages (IOS in English, OIN in French for Organisation internationale de normalisation), our founders decided to give it the short form ISO. ISO is derived from the Greek 'isos', meaning equal. Whatever the country, whatever the language, we are always ISO." www.iso.org/about-us.html

[@jorbru]

The organization did decide that ISO is a word, not an acronym, but it was a silly thing to do. Always presenting it in all upper-case letters gives the impression that it is an acronym. Was that intentional? Photographers hardly needed another issue for internet arguments.