Higher ISO increases shutter speed?

[Coz]

If you have your camera on aperture priority mode and set the ISO to 800 (to shoot in a church) and don't use flash, is the shutter speed supposed to increase?

[PhilW]

of course.

but depending on the amount of light it might still not be fast enough!

[parisian]

It is usually quite gloomy in churches and high ISO is essential. This may still of course lead to shutter speeds that are too slow for handholding. Tripods are usually frowned upon but you may get away with a monopod.

[ermintrude]

'Increase' as in the number will be greater eg 1/250 could become 1/1000, but the shutter speed is less time ie it is faster.

[LargeFormat]

It is usually quite gloomy in churches and high ISO is essential. This may still of course lead to shutter speeds that are too slow for handholding. Tripods are usually frowned upon but you may get away with a monopod.

Photography itself is often frowned upon in churches. St Paul's for example charges a fee starting from £250.00. For lesser churches a letter to the vicar, perhaps with an offer of copies of the photographs, might oil the wheels a bit.

Funny how we talk of needing high ISOs. Then I look at all those Panatomic-X (25 ASA without a trace of noise)church interiors (I studied architecture) from the 50s and 60s I wonder how it was possible.

[Barney]

Photography itself is often frowned upon in churches.

I think photography should be banned in all churches, that way I'll never be subjected to another church shot! Mind you, maybe we should just ban all churches so I'd never have to race to swtich over when Songs of Praise comes on. Two birds, one stone!

[parisian]

Funny how we talk of needing high ISOs. Then I look at all those Panatomic-X (25 ASA without a trace of noise)church interiors (I studied architecture) from the 50s and 60s I wonder how it was possible.

Ah, well, you would need shutter speeds of longer than a second you see - not at all good for the rapid fire digital age. After all that would be a second lost that could have been spent on the mobile phone or Twitter (did I get the first vowel correct there?)

[parisian]

Photography itself is often frowned upon in churches.

I think photography should be banned in all churches, that way I'll never be subjected to another church shot! Mind you, maybe we should just ban all churches so I'd never have to race to swtich over when Songs of Praise comes on. Two birds, one stone!

I agree about songs of praise Barney - what a sanctimonious bunch of gerbils they are. The presenters all come across as heavy believers when in fact they have lost their jobs on Blue Peter or whatever and it is all they can get to keep their faces on the box!

[Coz]

Thanks everyone. I was experimenting and noticed that the shutter speed increased and just wondered if it was normal for it to do that.

[ermintrude]

Thanks everyone. I was experimenting and noticed that the shutter speed increased and just wondered if it was normal for it to do that.

Thats the whole point in increasing the ISO. You are making the sensor more sensitive to light so it needs less of it to achieve the same exposure - a small aperture and/or a faster shutter speed... That really is the basics of Photography 101 - aperture, shutter speed, ISO (no offence)

[msmicksmith]

If you shoot in aperture priority mode, as I do by preference, and increase the F-stop value, the effect is to close the aperture blades thus reducing the amount of light entering the sensor area. To compensate for the lower amount of light, the camera will decrease the shutter speed to allow longer for light to enter the sensor area. The shutter value will thus decrease - ie 1/250 will become 1/60 .

At f4 you may see a value of around 1/600 in normal light. At f22 this will reduce to around 1/120 thus allowing longer for light to hit the sensor during exposure. Hand held shots will suffer from motion blur at higher apertures if the light is insufficient to allow fast shutter speeds to freeze the action, so a monopod or tripod will be needed.

If you are shooting in a church, select an ISO of 400 minimum. The darker it is, the higher the ISO needed. This will increase the sensors' sensitivity to light and allow faster shutter speeds. The compromise is that the shot will have more 'noise' and the darker areas will look grainy at higher ISO's.

Experiment. It's the best way to learn. Good luck