The Digital Photography Companion

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MAGNIFY CONTROL

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Keep your ISO setting at 50, 100, or Auto for general shooting in daylight settings.

Increasing the ISO speed also increases image noise, which decreases the quality of your

picture. Image noise is more of a problem with compact consumer cameras than with

DSLRs. Generally speaking, you can push the ISO setting on a DSLR to 400, 800, or even

1600 and still get excellent quality. For consumer cameras, however, try to keep the set-

ting at 80 or 100, and save the higher ratings for low-light situations where the impor-

tance of getting the shot is worth a little extra noise.

You can shoot in dim lighting conditions and not increase your ISO setting beyond 100.

(It’s true!) Mount the camera on a tripod and trip the shutter with the self-timer. You

will record the scene and keep image noise to a minimum. is technique doesn’t work

for moving subjects because they will blur. But for nightscapes, it’s a winner.

REMINDER ▼

If you do increase the ISO speed for a special situation, be sure to change the set-

ting back to 100 immediately after the shoot. You will be sorely disappointed if you

photograph a beautiful landscape the next day at ISO 1600.

JPEG

JPEG is an acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group. See File Formats (Still Images)

earlier in this chapter.

Macro Mode

See Close-ups earlier in this chapter.

Magnify Control

See Zoom/Magnify Control ...