6.21 ISO

Menu Position MENU --> 4 --> ISO

What it Does Specifies how sensitive the camera is to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive (and the greater the noise)

Recommended Setting: For general walk-around photography, I recommend AUTO with the limits set to between 100 and 3200. When you’re getting serious about a composition, take it off AUTO and set it for as low a value as you can get away with.

Figure 6-26: The ISO selection screen.
At the top of the list is the “Multi-Frame Noise Reduction” feature which is a great tool for low light if you don’t have a tripod.

You probably already know everything you need to know about ISO:

• Rule: The higher the number, the more sensitive the camera is to light.
• Corollary: The more sensitive the camera is to light, the more noise appears in the image.

So for the best image quality, your goal will be to use the lowest ISO you can for the amount of light you have and for how fast your subject is moving.

But, you can choose more than just the ISO value when you go to the ISO menu (Figure 6-26). There’s also an Auto ISO setting where the camera can choose one for you (and you can specify the upper and lower bounds), and there’s also an awesome feature at the top of the list called Multi-Frame Noise Reduction. I’ll get to all those in a minute.