Photography 101: Film Speeds for the Beginner
- By Autumn Lockwood
- Published 01/29/2010
- Articles
- Unrated
Autumn Lockwood
Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames and loves photography. Your Picture Frames offers a big selection of wooden frames and metal photo frames so you'll always find exactly what you want. Shop online or call us at 1-800-780-0699.
View all articles by Autumn Lockwood
Cameras have tons of little dials, knobs and meters. If you stare at your camera long enough, you'll be amazed at how many ways you can adjust your camera and change how your pictures look. But did you know that one of the most important decisions you can make when taking pictures happens before you even load your film?
The speed of the film you use is one of the very few unalterable qualities of a photograph. There are plenty of ways to toy with aperture, exposure, and focus. However, once you select your film and load it into the camera, there is no way to change how the film reacts to light. In every photograph you ever shoot with real film, you are adapting to the film speed. Film doesn't automatically change to suit your needs, so it's important to choose the right film before you start taking pictures.
What is ISO?
Film speed measures how sensitive your film is to light. Low film speeds mean that the film is less sensitive and needs a longer exposure while high speeds are very sensitive and need shorter exposures. The film speed is referred to as ISO (International Standards Organization). Any film will have the ISO listed on the box. Some common speeds are 400, 800 and 1000 with 400 being the closest to "standard."
The ISO of your film affects every aspect of the way your camera works. Your light sensor (if you have one) has to be set correctly for the film you’re using, your aperture will be more or less limited depending, and your shutter speed will likely have to decrease or increase to accommodate the film. Even digital cameras have a simulated (and adjustable) film speed that they base their calculations on.
Selecting the Right Speed
The ISO of the film determines what you're able to photograph and how. Because high speed film needs less time to expose (ISO 800 or higher is a good general rule), you can take images with much higher shutter speeds than with slower film. The end result here will be crystal clear action; fast film is wonderful for shooting sports or anything that moves quickly. When you see a picture of a basketball player suspended in mid air, you know that the image was probably taken with high speed film. With a slower ISO, the player in the picture would likely be a big blur. Faster film also needs less light and can be super helpful in situations where a flash isn't appropriate indoors.
Lower speed film captures more detail because it has more time to absorb light. It's important to keep the words "detail" and "blurry" separate- more "detail" in a picture is similar to a high definition TV having more "detail" than a regular television- more of what was originally there will be seen in a photo. The more time the film can "see" a scene, the more accurately the scene will be represented. Lower speed films are great for portrait photography or images in which you wish to show great depth of field.
Film Speed Experiments
To get a good handle on how ISO works and what it does to your images, here are a couple of things to try out the next time you’re planning a shooting day:
• Get rid of your flash (if you have one) and take some fast film into a low light environment
• Swing by a local high school, college, or little league game and try shooting (with permission) two rolls of film – one very slow (ISO 100) and one very fast (ISO 1000) – then have a look at how different the images turned out.
Film speed is one of those great things to play with when you’re pretty comfortable with your camera and you’re looking for new ways to challenge your perceptions. Each speed has strengths and weaknesses, and it’s up to you to decide which one works for you. Shoot on, photographers!
The speed of the film you use is one of the very few unalterable qualities of a photograph. There are plenty of ways to toy with aperture, exposure, and focus. However, once you select your film and load it into the camera, there is no way to change how the film reacts to light. In every photograph you ever shoot with real film, you are adapting to the film speed. Film doesn't automatically change to suit your needs, so it's important to choose the right film before you start taking pictures.
What is ISO?
Film speed measures how sensitive your film is to light. Low film speeds mean that the film is less sensitive and needs a longer exposure while high speeds are very sensitive and need shorter exposures. The film speed is referred to as ISO (International Standards Organization). Any film will have the ISO listed on the box. Some common speeds are 400, 800 and 1000 with 400 being the closest to "standard."
The ISO of your film affects every aspect of the way your camera works. Your light sensor (if you have one) has to be set correctly for the film you’re using, your aperture will be more or less limited depending, and your shutter speed will likely have to decrease or increase to accommodate the film. Even digital cameras have a simulated (and adjustable) film speed that they base their calculations on.
Selecting the Right Speed
The ISO of the film determines what you're able to photograph and how. Because high speed film needs less time to expose (ISO 800 or higher is a good general rule), you can take images with much higher shutter speeds than with slower film. The end result here will be crystal clear action; fast film is wonderful for shooting sports or anything that moves quickly. When you see a picture of a basketball player suspended in mid air, you know that the image was probably taken with high speed film. With a slower ISO, the player in the picture would likely be a big blur. Faster film also needs less light and can be super helpful in situations where a flash isn't appropriate indoors.
Lower speed film captures more detail because it has more time to absorb light. It's important to keep the words "detail" and "blurry" separate- more "detail" in a picture is similar to a high definition TV having more "detail" than a regular television- more of what was originally there will be seen in a photo. The more time the film can "see" a scene, the more accurately the scene will be represented. Lower speed films are great for portrait photography or images in which you wish to show great depth of field.
Film Speed Experiments
To get a good handle on how ISO works and what it does to your images, here are a couple of things to try out the next time you’re planning a shooting day:
• Get rid of your flash (if you have one) and take some fast film into a low light environment
• Swing by a local high school, college, or little league game and try shooting (with permission) two rolls of film – one very slow (ISO 100) and one very fast (ISO 1000) – then have a look at how different the images turned out.
Film speed is one of those great things to play with when you’re pretty comfortable with your camera and you’re looking for new ways to challenge your perceptions. Each speed has strengths and weaknesses, and it’s up to you to decide which one works for you. Shoot on, photographers!