There are numerous so-called “rules” of photography, and one of the most common is to always shoot at ISO 100 whenever possible. This notion is particularly prevalent among landscape photographers who strive for optimum image quality and the maximum amount of detail in every image they shoot.
But is this strategy always true? According to instructor Jalen Oban, the answer is a definite “no.” Oban is a professional landscape photographer based in the Pacific Northwest, and he introduces today’s six-minute tutorial like this: “I’ll dive into the myth behind using ISO 100 and explore when its actually beneficial to push your ISO higher.”
In short, this conventional wisdom isn’t very wise, and this is one of those rules that’s meant to be broken—depending upon the specific scene at hand. Oban discusses how modern cameras handle ISO, the actual impact on image quality, and why and when using a higher sensitivity setting can often produce better results. So …