ISO is often INCREDIBLY misunderstood on Sony cameras
A deeper dive into ISO for your Sony Alpha camera
In this video, we're going to unpack how the ISO setting on your Sony Alpha camera actually works.
We're going to deep dive into two topics that can be pretty intimidating when you first try to understand them but that are actually really useful to understand: Dual Base ISO (sometimes called dual native ISO) and ISO invariance.
These two concepts/behaviors are distinct, yet related in the sense that they affect how you'll use your ISO setting on your camera for noise performance, maximizing dynamic range, and for low light shooting, and since there seems to be an influx of people transitioning over to the Sony ecosystem with cameras like the Sony A7 IV, A1, and A7 SIII, I'm seeing a ton of confusion about how ISO seems to work differently than people expect it to.
I also briefly discuss exposing to the right (ETTR) in the context of dual base ISO and ISO invariance.
Answering your technical questions about ISO on Sony Alpha cameras.
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Video details and related information
Relevant Links/Stuff Mentioned during the video:
📼► My video about manual mode: https://youtu.be/Z27xQVFlntE
📼► The video where I discuss using zebras: https://youtu.be/nigy3Abbd38
📼► Videography for photographers video: https://youtu.be/JowsmWxd9LI
📚► Photon Transfer: DN to lambda by James Janesick: https://www.google.com/books/edition/DN_to_lambda/4IuH7FtVz90C?hl=en&gbpv=1
📄► Dual Conversion gain whitepaper by Aptina: https://photonstophotos.net/Aptina/DR-Pix_WhitePaper.pdf
🌐► Sensor performance testing site (Photons to Photos): https://photonstophotos.net/
📼► Alyn Wallace’s video (ISO variant vs. invariant comparison): https://youtu.be/d8QV00mkJW4?t=639
🎥► Gerald Undone's channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC09qASY4ixFS-KXIH6Nw0rg
🎥► Philip Bloom's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcM_6ay33BNpChknCrMCgig
🌐► CineD website: https://cined.com/
Table of Contents:
0:00 - A deeper dive into ISO for your Sony Alpha camera
1:05 - More nuanced ISO interest than I thought
2:30 - Getting the most out of this video
4:52 - How your Sony Mirrorless camera works
8:37 - Different types of noise
14:41 - What does "base ISO" mean?
16:44 - Base ISO: Photo vs. Video
18:21 - Dual base ISO
21:06 - How a "typical" CMOS sensor works
24:04 - How dual conversion gain/dual base ISO works
26:52 - Figuring out your camera's second base ISO value
30:29 - ISO invariance explained
36:57 - Practical takeaways and recommendations
40:31 - A note about exposing to the right (ETTR)
42:36 - Did I miss anything?
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