ISO AUTO Min. SS

[RHerr]

I have a Sony A7IV.
Recently a friend with the same camera suggested i try setting the camera to Aperture Priority and using ISO Auto Min.SS for bird photography. I did this and set the Auto Min.SS to 1/2000.

I went into the field and regardless of the light conditions, the Shutter Speed remained on 1/2000, even when i was under trees and it was fairly dark.

I then went back to the ISO Min SS setting and dropped the shutter speed to 1/1000 and tried again. Same result, the shutter speed never changed, regardless of the light conditions.

Can anybody explain this to me and is this setting appropriate for bird photography?

 

[RHerr]

Probably because the camera is changing the ISO instead of the shutter speed. Are your ISO numbers all over the place?

If you're using aperture preferred and giving the camera free reign to choose ISO and/or shutter, it's going to do whatever it thinks is best.

As for recommended settings, someone else will have to assist. I don't use minimum shutter speed, I shoot in M.

Thanks for the reply.

i thought using ISO auto Min SS would mean the camera would choose the SS based on the available light and the ISO would adjust accordingly. What is happening i think, the camera is set on1/2000 SS all the time and the ISO is adjusting to work at that SS.

Its a bit confusing because i dont understand what is the purpose of having this setting. Or am i telling the camera i only want to shoot at 1/2000 only and adjust the ISO accordingly

​

 

[RHerr]

I would do a search for Sony Auto ISO minimum shutter tutorials and watch some videos.

You could also check the online use guide and search for proper setup. Top of this page, Blogs and Resources, then Cameras, then your camera's manual, then on-line user guide. You have several choices, 'faster', 'standard', 'slower' and 1/8000 - 30", whatever that means. My guess is you've chosen the wrong one to suit the need.

ILCE-7RM4 | Help Guide | ISO Setting: ISO AUTO Min. SS

helpguide.sony.net

will do - thanks

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

That's not a very efficient use of the camera for bird photography, because using that shutter speed for static birds is a bit high, and will force some high ISO in even half decent light. It's also too slow for birds in flight.
Aperture priority is really not needed either, because you will nearly always be using 6.3/7.1/8 for example. I personally think going manual with auto ISO is the best way to use this cameras abilities (and I have been for 3.5 years now). You can still use those settings, but have far more control in an ever changing situation.

 

[Clide]

I have a Sony A7IV.
Recently a friend with the same camera suggested i try setting the camera to Aperture Priority and using ISO Auto Min.SS for bird photography. I did this and set the Auto Min.SS to 1/2000.

I went into the field and regardless of the light conditions, the Shutter Speed remained on 1/2000, even when i was under trees and it was fairly dark.

I then went back to the ISO Min SS setting and dropped the shutter speed to 1/1000 and tried again. Same result, the shutter speed never changed, regardless of the light conditions.

Can anybody explain this to me and is this setting appropriate for bird photography?

Hi Ronnie, please consider the following reference to help with your question; https://expertphotography.com/camer...h,this, you can avoid motion blur more easily
1. If your goal is to freeze the bird in flight and to control the depth of field so that you separate the bird from its surroundings, blurred background then aperture priority allows you to control depth of field. Thus, your friend's recommendation to shoot in aperture priority. To freeze the bird in your photo many, consider a 1/2000s shutter speed or higher as a starting point thus his recommendation to set SS at 1/2000.
2. When shooting in aperture priority mode then the camera will choose the minimum shutter speed that is the reciprocal of the focal length of the Lense being used, e.g. a 50 mm lens will result in a minimum shutter speed of 1/50 second or a 600mm Lense would be 1/600 that is not fast enough for birds. When shooting birds many consider 1/1000 as a minimum shutter speed. If you study the excellent bird in flight photographers on this site, I generally see 1/2000 to 1/3200s shutter speeds.
3. To override the reciprocal rule noted above and thus to use a faster or slower shutter speed you can use shutter priority mode or ISO minimum Shutter Speed. That I assume is why your friend recommended to shoot in ISO Auto min SS so that you override the camera reciprocal rule.
4. The issue becomes when the background you are shooting against changes (the light condition you mentioned) then the minimum SS you selected will not change. Your choice then becomes to change the aperture setting up or down or switch to manual mode to address the light condition you are shooting in. Auto ISO allows you to not have to worry about the ISO numbers will change depending on the light conditions as Tim mentioned. The noise can be managed nicely in post-production with all the AI and noise correcting apps available.
5. You always have the option of shooting in manual mode or Shutter Mode depending on what your subject is and conditions you are shooting in.
Hope this helps you. Clide

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

In understanding your initial concern, you do not indicate your aperture setting........?

My suspicion is your camera was at or near wide open and you have a high iso range set within your camera.

Under aperture priority fundamentally your camera will in the first instance vary Iso, at your aperture setting,
to achieve suitable exposure/image sharpness within the set iso limits in your camera and min or above SS
speed as necessary.

If your internal iso range settings are set wide/high then your camera will adjust accordingly above or at your min
shutter speed, and explains in limiting the SS to 1/1000 and/or in darker conditions(ie reducing ambient
light input) there is still enough latitude in your in camera ISO settings to achieve exposure/sharpness
at your minimum shutter speed.

Looks like you need to lower your in camera acceptable iso range settings to address this problem.......also suggest
setting your min speed to 1/1500 as a more typical general SS setting.

 

[Clide]

Not sure that's entirely true. While it is a choice, the camera can be programmed to respond in several different ways.

I agree with you, thanks for pointing that out. I may not have interrupted his question correctly. I think he had already programmed the camera to auto ISO minimum shutter speed. Ultimately it is the amount of light entering the camera that will determine shutter speed in aperture priority mode. As I understand it the camera will determine ISO first then compensate the shutter speed. I believe Ray was making the point about ISO being set first by the camera in aperture priority mode then determining shutter speed. That reciprocal rule is more of a guideline for minimum shutter speed for a particular Lense in order to obtain a sharp image by decreasing handheld camera shake.

 

[Deleted Member 5045]

I use this setup. I think A makes more sense in general. You need to set a Max ISO too, very important. I can always dial ISO manually if I need to so if someone is using this mode correctly they can have complete control over the camera anyway. The camera will drop shutter speed once you get to Max auto ISO so just keep that in mind.

My belief is that old school guys are stuck in the whole manual mentality still. There is not necessarily a need for it. It ain't rocket science, just always keep an eye on the settings and in certain situations you may want to switch to manual like I do, but in all honesty it's mostly when I'm on a tripod where I want a slow shutter speed. No matter what mode you are in it is literally just settings in a camera, if each thing is where you want it then nothing else really matters, people try to make everything sound so complex as usual. Just get an understanding of how the camera works and you'll be absolutely fine regardless which mode you choose to shoot in.

 

[iamdlewis]

In Aperture you set the Aperture, the camera controls the ISO within the values that you set and then changes the Shutter Speed if the lowest ISO value can be maintained. In Shutter Speed you set the Shutter Speed, the camera controls the ISO within the values that you set and then changes the Aperture if the lowest ISO value can be maintained.

Given the noise handling of the sensors and post processing tools ISO is the least important of the triangle.

If you are using any of the long zoom lenses there is a very high probability that you are shooting wide open for BiF. Also the most important of the triangle for BiF is Shutter Speed because if it is too slow it really doesn't matter what the depth of field is or how noisy the image is because it'll just be blurry. So I would suggest that you switch this from A to S and set the lowest ISO to something like 400, this will let you nail the Shutter Speed, most likely not impact your Aperture very often unless you shoot in bright places a lot and give you ISO that is easy to handle.

If you are using the 400GM or 600GM just go M and set the ISO to auto.

Bird in a tree just use M with auto ISO.

 

[RHerr]

many thanks for all the comments and advice.

I will stick to M with auto ISO and bump up the EV for more light. This is what i have been using to date and it has served me well.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Thanks for the reply.

i thought using ISO auto Min SS would mean the camera would choose the SS based on the available light and the ISO would adjust accordingly. What is happening i think, the camera is set on1/2000 SS all the time and the ISO is adjusting to work at that SS.

Its a bit confusing because i dont understand what is the purpose of having this setting. Or am i telling the camera i only want to shoot at 1/2000 only and adjust the ISO accordingly

​

It is called “auto ISO Min SS” - it automatically chooses the ISO to attempt to keep the shutter speed at 1/2000 or faster. And it is doing that.

If you chose a wide aperture, and the light was really bright, then it might choose a shutter speed of 1/4000, or 1/5000, or even 1/8000 - but it would only do that after dropping to the lowest ISO. Sounds like you weren’t in light that bright, or you were using a smaller aperture.

If it reaches the limiting ISO (whatever ISO you have chosen as maximum auto-ISO), then the shutter speed may slow down - it tries its best, but sometimes it has to compromise!

This feature is intended for when you are shooting a subject where high shutter speed is required. You know, something like birds in flight

Sounds to me like it is working exactly as it shoul.