Photography tips

ISO-Settings

Illuminated Ferris wheel at the Lucerne Autumn Fair at night with visitors

The ISO setting determines the light sensitivity of your camera sensor. It forms the third pillar of exposure alongside aperture and shutter speed, significantly influencing how your camera reacts to different lighting conditions.

Controlling Light Sensitivity

Adjusting ISO sensitivity is essential to achieve a technically correct exposure in varying light conditions. In bright environments, you keep the value low to maximize image quality and avoid digital noise. In fading light or darkness, you increase the sensitivity to allow sufficient light onto the sensor despite short shutter speeds.

Balancing Image Quality and Exposure

A high ISO value allows for shots in low light but leads to visible image noise as sensitivity increases. The goal is to choose an ISO value that achieves an appropriate shutter speed for shake-free images without compromising details through excessive noise. This requires a constant balance between available light, shutter speed, and the desired image clarity.

What ISO affects during shooting

The cloud-covered peaks of Mount Pilatus in purple evening light.

400 mm · f/9 · 1/15 s · ISO 800

Minimizing image noise

In sufficient lighting conditions, a low ISO setting is the foundation for a clean image. This prevents disturbing digital noise from appearing in dark areas or within homogeneous color gradients.

Full moon behind clouds over the dark Pilatus mountain

400 mm · f/8 · 1/250 s · ISO 25600

Controlling shutter speeds

When shooting handheld, a higher ISO value helps to maintain a short shutter speed. This allows you to avoid motion blur for moving subjects or camera shake in fading light.

Illuminated facade of the Jesuit Church during the Lilu Light Festival in Lucerne at night

100 mm · f/18 · 25 s · ISO 400

Detail capture at night

In the dark, a high ISO sensitivity enables the capture of dimly lit details. This is especially crucial when photographing the starry sky or when ambient light is scarce, in order to expose the sensor sufficiently.

Three concrete examples

Mount Pilatus near Lucerne against an orange and blue evening sky

135 mm · f/36 · 4 s · ISO 100

Overhead view of the illuminated old town of Lucerne with Chapel Bridge at night

45 mm · f/9 · 1/2 s · ISO 6400

Nocturnal view of the old town of Bern with illuminated Bern Minster

50 mm · f/14 · 25 s · ISO 400

Key tips

Keep the ISO value low in bright light to ensure high image quality without disturbing digital noise.
Adjust ISO sensitivity flexibly in fading light or twilight to achieve short shutter speeds for sharp images.
Select a high ISO sensitivity for night shots or difficult lighting conditions to capture sufficient light for visible details.

Photographs on this topic

311 photographs with tips

The exact camera settings for each shot are shown below it - a starting point for recreating the look yourself. Click through to a photograph for detailed photography tips on that specific shot, under "Photography tips for this image".

All subjects City Architecture Mountains Landscape Lucerne Pilatus Lake Lucerne Central Switzerland