27
Chapter 2 Camera Handling, Care, and Support
Copyright Goodheart-Willcox Co., Inc.
• Close-up. Used at the closest focusing
distance of the camera’s lens.
• Night scene. Uses both flash and a slow
shutter speed to balance foreground and
background exposures.
ISO Selection
Single-use, or disposable, film cameras
come loaded with film rated at either ISO 400
or ISO 800, but almost all other cameras
allow the user to select the sensitivity of the
image receiver. The receiver may be film or
a digital sensor; in either case, sensitivity to
light is expressed as an ISO rating. In older
film cameras with built-in meters, the ISO was
used to establish the exposure reading. On
cameras without built-in meters, the ISO setting
was merely a reminder for the photographer,
who used a handheld meter or experience
to determine exposure. In later film cameras
with electronic features, setting ISO ratings
manually was not usually necessary. Film
cassettes are imprinted with a visual code,
called DX coding, which can be read by the
camera to establish the ISO rating. Digital
cameras display a list of ISO equivalents from
which you can select a setting, Figure 2-9.
In either film or digital photography, image
quality declines as the ISO rating increases.
Equivalent Exposures
1/250
1/500
1/1000@ƒ/8
f/11
f/16
1/250@ƒ/16 Shoot at:
Metered:
Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 2-7. Selecting an equivalent exposure. If your meter
reading is 1/1000 second at f/8, you can stop down from
f/8 to f/16 (two stops) for greater depth of field. This would
require a shutter speed two steps slower (1/1000 second to
1/250 second) to obtain an equivalent exposure value.
Jack Klasey/Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 2-8. Most digital cameras have several preset
exposure modes for use in specific situations. They are
usually selected by rotating a dial.
Preset exposure modes
Jack Klasey/Goodheart-Willcox Publisher
Figure 2-9. On digital cameras, the ISO setting is usually
selected from a menu displayed on the LCD screen.
Increasing the ISO setting makes the camera’s image
receiver more sensitive to light, permitting photography
under lower light conditions.