Maximum ISO range

BlazingSaddler

Hi all, I'm in the hunt for a new camera but am a little confused as to what the above means, can somebody enlighten me please?
Thanks!

Paulw

The higher the ISO, the more noise is in your image, but also the higher your shutter speed. ISO is basically how sensitive to light your sensor is.

Most SLRs go from ISO 100 to ISO 1600. Some have expanded ranges (ISO 50 to ISO 3200 or even 6400).

In bright daylight, you should be using ISO 100 or ISO 200.

In dull dark conditions, you may need to up that to ISO 800 or 1600.

The level of noise introduced after ISO 400 really depends on the camera. In general, Canon are known to be better at the higher ISO ranges, although the Nikon D3 is supposed to be brilliant at high ISO.

Does this help at all?

BlazingSaddler

Thanks Paul, that's very helpful

unreggd

What kind of camera do you want?

A lot of new compacts boast the fact that they have a high ISO range, but ya probably wouldnt be usin the manual settings much on a compact

SLR is the way to go