Manual over-riding Auto ISO on D90

[mojoe]

Hi guys,

A Nikon newbie here...

Can I check if I can "manually" override the Auto ISO (Auto setting set as on) with my own ISO? I tried pressing the ISO button and main dial to select my own ISO, but when I shoot, the camera still selects its own ISO... If i can't override then what is the point of enabling ISO selection when the camera is in Auto ISO setting? My friend with the D300 tried and it's the same as well...

I hope the above is clear :sweat:

 

[zac08]

You'd have to turn off this function first.

 

[blue_quartz]

It's under Menu > Shooting > ISO Sensitivty settings > ISO sensitivity auto control in case you're wondering where this function is.

 

[viix]

Sigh, why people just don't RTFM!

 

[Daedalus Trent]

Sigh, why people just don't RTFM!

yea :sweat:

mojoe, if you looked for Auto ISO in your handy little manual...i think you'd have found it
Would save you a lot of trouble ;p

Cheers,
Trent

 

[psychobiologist]

Hi guys,

A Nikon newbie here...

Can I check if I can "manually" override the Auto ISO (Auto setting set as on) with my own ISO? I tried pressing the ISO button and main dial to select my own ISO, but when I shoot, the camera still selects its own ISO... If i can't override then what is the point of enabling ISO selection when the camera is in Auto ISO setting? My friend with the D300 tried and it's the same as well...

I hope the above is clear :sweat:

if you have auto ISO on, and you choose an ISO with the iso button + main dial, what you are essentially doing is narrowing down the ISO range on auto ISO

i.e. in auto iso you set it ON, max iso 1600

if you manually press the ISO button and turn the dial to iso 400, what you get is the range of 400-1600 on auto iso. no lower than that. so if the scene is that poorly exposed, your camera will still go on a higher ISO than your specified one with auto on up to the max you specified, i.e. 1600


if you want to over-ride it, just turn off iso auto off. both models. d90, d300. and others as well. d80, d40, d60.. d200.. dwhatever

 

[Drahc]

Sigh, why people just don't RTFM!

easy man easy hehehe:bsmilie:
but your right you cant miss it on the manual its in the table of contents and even in index page. :dunno:

 

[blue_quartz]

Sigh, why people just don't RTFM!

Actually I was more surprised that mojoe's friend who used a D300 can't figure out Auto ISO too... but let's not debate on that, don't go OT.

(post #135)

 

[mojoe]

You'd have to turn off this function first.

I know... what I meant is when the Setting is set as Auto on, can I manually overirde by pressing the ISO button and main dial? The ISO numbers change when I do that, but it doesn't override the Auto ISO, so I am wondering if it can be done or is it a bug?

I know I can turn it off... but was wondering if I can manually override it with the ISO button and main dial without going into the manual to turn it off.

 

[viix]

I know... what I meant is when the Setting is on, can I manually overirde by pressing the ISO button and main dial? The ISO numbers change when I do that, but it doesn't override the Auto ISO, so I am wondering if it can be done or is it a bug?

No manual over-ride (if you have rtm). What it does is up the ISO if the scene is insufficiently bright.. It's a "for dummies" function (for lack of a better word), hence no override.. How hard is it to just set to off and dial up the ISO manually as opposed to having to manually over-ride/dial down with Auto ISO on? :dunno:

If you want, you can set the Fn button to do it, though not a one click deal..

 

[mojoe]

if you have auto ISO on, and you choose an ISO with the iso button + main dial, what you are essentially doing is narrowing down the ISO range on auto ISO

i.e. in auto iso you set it ON, max iso 1600

if you manually press the ISO button and turn the dial to iso 400, what you get is the range of 400-1600 on auto iso. no lower than that. so if the scene is that poorly exposed, your camera will still go on a higher ISO than your specified one with auto on up to the max you specified, i.e. 1600


if you want to over-ride it, just turn off iso auto off. both models. d90, d300. and others as well. d80, d40, d60.. d200.. dwhatever

Thanks!! This is exactly what I needed to find out. So it only sets the minimum range... hmmm... I wonder why they made it this way...

I thought that the ISO + Dial was to override the Auto ISO without going into the menu to turn it off... isn't it more useful this way? :dunno:

 

[mojoe]

Sigh, why people just don't RTFM!

I do read TFM... I just can't find what I was looking for and I think a few of you misunderstood what I was asking...

1) I know how to turn the Auto ISO On and Off
2) I know to set my own ISO, I simply turn the Auto setting off

What I couldn't find is what happens when the Auto ISO is on and I use the ISO button and main dial to select... I thought by doing that it manually overrides the Auto ISO setting.

If it is in the manual, I do apologise... and if you can refer me to the page that states this, I would be happy.

 

[mojoe]

How hard is it to just set to off and dial up the ISO manually as opposed to having to manually over-ride/dial down with Auto ISO on? :dunno:

If you want, you can set the Fn button to do it, though not a one click deal..

It is not hard to turn Auto ISO on and off. But it can be a lot easier to override Auto ISO on the fly by pressing the ISO button and main dial right? I am asking if this function exists or am I missing something.

I am not such an expert photographers like most of you here who sets their own ISO all the time. I just think that it is easier (for me and other dummies) when I need to override the Auto mode with just pressing ISO and main dial.

 

[blue_quartz]

I thought that the ISO + Dial was to override the Auto ISO without going into the menu to turn it off... isn't it more useful this way? :dunno:

Well, if you're Ken Rockwell who strongly advocates Auto ISO (as far as I can tell from his recent reviews), you wouldn't want a simple turn of the dial to disable Auto ISO immediately.

Come and think of it, setting Auto ISO is really meant for convenience, so why would you want to take away this convenient setting when you touch the dials? Thus I reckon it is more useful for this ISO setting arrangement to adjust the range rather than an override of your Auto ISO setting...

 

[mojoe]

Well, if you're Ken Rockwell who strongly advocates Auto ISO (as far as I can tell from his recent reviews), you wouldn't want a simple turn of the dial to disable Auto ISO immediately.

Come and think of it, setting Auto ISO is really meant for convenience, so why would you want to take away this convenient setting when you touch the dials? Thus I reckon it is more useful for this ISO setting arrangement to adjust the range rather than an override of your Auto ISO setting...

Different needs for different people I guess... Oh well...

It's just that I set it Auto ISO max at 1600 and every time I shoot indoor, it's is at 1600 instead of lower even though I felt that there is sufficient light. If I set the max at lower, then I need to adjust it up at low light scenarios. You might say might as well turn it off, but I just thought keeping it Auto means I can just shoot something straight out of the dry cabinet without having to remember to change the ISO settings back... getting old to remember these things ;p

I'm still learning so... maybe when I become more proficient, it will become 2nd nature.

 

[blue_quartz]

Different needs for different people I guess... Oh well...

It's just that I set it Auto ISO max at 1600 and every time I shoot indoor, it's is at 1600 instead of lower even though I felt that there is sufficient light. If I set the max at lower, then I need to adjust it up at low light scenarios. You might say might as well turn it off, but I just thought keeping it Auto means I can just shoot something straight out of the dry cabinet without having to remember to change the ISO settings back... getting old to remember these things ;p

I'm still learning so... maybe when I become more proficient, it will become 2nd nature.

Well, if you read Ken Rockwell's webby again, he advocates doing a custom setting reset every time also, hahahaha...

True lah, personal preferences play a big part. I don't reset my custom settings every time. With regards to your exposure "issue", I think it might be better for you to trust D90's metering and exposure compensation? Just give that a shot and use a combination of exposure compensation, minimum shutter speed (for the Auto ISO setting) and aperture to nail your desired exposure without the D90 having to ramp up the ISO. Hope that helps.

 

[mojoe]

Well, if you read Ken Rockwell's webby again, he advocates doing a custom setting reset every time also, hahahaha...

True lah, personal preferences play a big part. I don't reset my custom settings every time. With regards to your exposure "issue", I think it might be better for you to trust D90's metering and exposure compensation? Just give that a shot and use a combination of exposure compensation, minimum shutter speed (for the Auto ISO setting) and aperture to nail your desired exposure without the D90 having to ramp up the ISO. Hope that helps.

Thanks!

reset setting every time? errmmm... i don't do this for a living... I'll pass..

On top of the ISO thing, I am still meddling with the settings of the D90 to find the most "optimum" ones for me.

I do constantly get underexposed photos and lots of "shadows" with the D90 than the 450D even with the Active D-Lighting set on high. Yes, I switched from a Canon 450D to the Nikon because I wanted the added video capability to take my 10 month old girl. The DSLR option is also because of her... she moves like a monkey and my Panasonic FZ20 is too slow for her :bsmilie:.

 

[zac08]

Practise makes perfect. Nikon does underexpose in almost most of the situations. Learn how it works and you'll find that it's actually a good feature.

Next is playing with the flash.

 

[mojoe]

Practise makes perfect. Nikon does underexpose in almost most of the situations. Learn how it works and you'll find that it's actually a good feature.

Next is playing with the flash.

Nikon does underexpose often? Okay...phew... I was wondering if I got a lemon or it's due to the kit lens, etc. :sweat:

Yup, next on my list is a flash . But I must say that the Nikon built-in flash is not as harsh as the 450d's built-in flash. I find it usable most of the time... IMHO of course.

 

[surefire]

Different needs for different people I guess... Oh well...

It's just that I set it Auto ISO max at 1600 and every time I shoot indoor, it's is at 1600 instead of lower even though I felt that there is sufficient light. If I set the max at lower, then I need to adjust it up at low light scenarios. You might say might as well turn it off, but I just thought keeping it Auto means I can just shoot something straight out of the dry cabinet without having to remember to change the ISO settings back... getting old to remember these things ;p

I'm still learning so... maybe when I become more proficient, it will become 2nd nature.

i am not sure i get what you are trying to achieve. are you on Aperture Priority mode? there are 3 settings for Auto ISO; min ISO, max ISO and min shutter-speed.

let's say the min ISO = 200; max ISO = 1600 and min shutter speed = 1/50.

if you are shooting indoor and the ISO shows 1600, it means that, at your chosen aperture, the calculated shutter speed is slower than 1/50 hence the ISO was raised all the way to 1600.

if you want the ISO to be lower (ie less than 1600), the first thing you should do is increase the aperture to the max. hopefully, this will increase the camera shutter speed to faster than 1/50 and your ISO will remain at 200.

if your aperture is ALREADY at the max, the only other thing you can do is to reduce the minimum shutter speed setting but here you run the risk of photo blur

the auto-ISO feature is one of the nicest features of Nikon cameras which Canon does not have. it's very useful if you learn to use it properly. i can't think of any reason to turn it off. however, sometimes, you may need to adjust one of the 3 settings depending on the situation.

the only restriction of Auto-ISO (on the D90/D300 but NOT the D700/D3) is that the min shutter speed cannot be faster than 1/250 (if i remeber correctly). there is a work-around this by using Shutter Priority instead.

hope the above helps.