Pro motorsports photographer here. Auto iso is a must for fast moving subjects in rapidly changing lighting conditions. Any pro photographer who disagrees is either shooting in a controlled environment (e.g. studio) exclusively or isn't really a working pro. Great video!

Outstanding explanation. As a working pro for decades, I totally agree.

This is the most compelling argument that I've seen yet for manual mode. Better than the usual "because I want full control over everything" reason I normally see. You've convinced me to try this more often!

Straightforward and to the point. Sounds good to me. Thanks.

Great, kept my attention and concentration 🙂 Metering technique is something I suspect many overlook.

Great tips Mark - thank you for sharing your expertise.

Superb video. Informative & pacey. Subbed!

Really nice video, concise and well-explained...Subscribed!

Another great contribution Mark. The ability to see the histogram in mirrorless and the use of exposure compensation (EC) have made the task of getting a correct exposure much easier. One thing to remember when using EC is to reset it after after taking the image(s). If this is overlooked it will affect subsequent images. My wish is for camera companies to include a setting that will automatically reset this function (and perhaps others,) when moving on to another image ;-)

Wow, excellent.. Extremely well taught.. thank you sir. Cleared up a lot.. and help me see in a way I myself could understand. Thx aagin

This vid is GOLD. Thanks for it!

Good info. We have virtually the same workflow. However, I prefer spot metering as opposed to matrix. I use back focus, as I’m guessing you probably do as well, leaving the shutter button free to set the exposure value before releasing the shutter. I feel like this would be faster for you in a wildlife scenario, as you wouldn’t have to evaluate the shot you’ve just taken only to find that the bird flying away was under/over exposed, because you weren’t afforded the time to adjust exposure compensation. Of course, assuming you’re also shooting raw, you’re probably close enough to end up with a usable file, but, just food for thought.

This video is exactly what u was looking for ! Thanks a ton

I'm with you 100% on recommending Auto ISO. That said I favor aperture priority with minimum shutter speed set appropriately to freeze motion of my subject and no max ISO is a better way to go. In this manner, you set aperture for depth of field needed/desired, the min shutter speed will ensure frozen motion, and all you have to do is make sure you're not overexposing the highlights (blinkies help a lot) or underexposing your subject. If either is the case, just increase or decrease the exposure compensation dial which will raise or lower shutter speed. Why no max ISO? Because it doesn't matter. You either need a certain shutter speed to freeze motion, or you don't. If you need that shutter speed, then let ISO go wherever it needs to go no matter how high. The only way you're going to be able to bring it down is by giving up shutter speed. (Assuming you've already given up as much depth of field as you can for the subject matter).

Very good. No nonsense.

I am an amateur/enthusiast wildlife photographer and it took me quite some time to understand the exposure triangle when I got my first 'proper' camera and wanted to get out of all the auto settings. This video has confirmed that I now have 'got it'!! I liked the presentation - no messing, no umming and ah-ing, just straight and to the point. Easy to understand, and for those who were getting a bit left behind, as I noticed in the comments, don't they know there is a pause button they can use?!

Thanks Mark for sharing your experience with great comments....I am only a hobbyist but always willing to learn more.... cheers from Australia 🦘🦘😊

I'm new to the channel and this has been an awesome explanation, I'm looking forward to traveling to SA in '25 and apply all your wildlife tips. Thanks for what you do for the community 🙌🏻

Nice video, however, I'd like to add a bit :) This is not a criticism in anyway. To start with I'm a professional portrait/Studio photographer so never use auto anything for that work as I have complete control of the lights. In the video, you said ISO doesn't matter because of modern technology (noise reduction better sensors etc) then you said, you don't want to let it get to high as it degrades the image. I understand what you mean but others may get confused. If a beginner photographer asked me for wildlife or any outdoor photos where reactions to change have to be done quickly. Control the shutter, for wildlife, open the aperture as wide as possible (for wildlife this is inevitable a minimum of F/4 but probably F/5.6, F/6.3 or F/8 as they are more than likely to have a $1500 lens not a $15,000), (if they are just shooting on the street then settings would depend on the weather and may not need to be wide open) Set auto ISO but know the limits of your camera. As all cameras the higher the ISO the lower the Dynamic range. at the base ISO you may have 10 or 11 stops of dynamic range but at ISO 6400 you may only have 3.. my ISO rule is set it as low as possible but as high as needed. For metering I'd use spot metering and link it to focus point (if the camera does not automatically do this ) so the subject is always exposed correctly. I also ask what is the desired output? If it is to be shared quickly then making sure the most important thing is exposed correctly e.g. the animal. If you have time to edit and know what you are doing in post production, shadows can be recovered etc. So you may care more about the highlights and shadows in the background... but personally, i'd rather have a great photo of a correctly exposed lion and have the highlights in the background blown, than have an underexposed lion, protecting highlights which are not important to the subject of the photo

The part about iso is true for most genres except night photography, there it becomes very much a creative choice, giving you control over the strength of reflections and highlights.

Professionals don't worry about exposure, they have mastered it. As a portraitist, I spot meter/focus in one spot. All the clamor about hundreds of spots is ridiculous for me. I can't gamble the camera guesses the right exposure. Place the spot just below the eye, on caucasian skin add 2/3 to 1 stop of light from dead center to the in camera meter. That puts the skin at zone 6, back button focus. Now exposure of face is dead on and the eyes are in focus. With film I'll use matrix metering and if a huge dynamic range, I move the camera to get a shutter speed more appropriate then hit exposure lock.

Manual with auto ISO is so fast

Great video mark and i’m going to give it a go. Also let me be the first to congratulate you on 10k subs. Can’t wait to see you at 100k. Hard work pays off bud 🎉

Thanks for the video..just returned from Kruger and had a fish eagle with body in shadow and head in sunlight😂..used everything you just said here..and due to lean sightings spent hours trying to shoot rollers in flight in middle of day….was great fun…really learned exposure compensation and reprogrammed some dials…. we use the same method ( M plus auto iso);after listening to Janine from Pangolin at Wildshots…”you can denoise a photo and have something or you can have a blurry photo that you delete” .. Light rooms denoise is so good that I am easily saving 12800iso pics…

Manual Mode with Auto ISO since I went on my first African safari 7 years ago. The only change has been the upper end of ISO limit, having progressed from Sony A6000 to Sony A7iii and now Sony A1 😉

Great video. One point however, and you not alone, when picking the proper shutter speeds, it is just as important to mention focal length as well…. Double the focal length, then double the shutter speed because they DO go hand in hand together. I always wonder why this is never mentioned. Also, the depth of field is also very effected by the focal length. Just my 2 cents worth. I do enjoy your videos. Thank you.

Thx for the video. I do agree with Auto ISO for sure. I need to add that most of the time I'm actually using Aperture Priority Mode together with Auto ISO Minimum Shutter Speed mode: it allows to set my desire aperture and desire shutter speed. In that mode if camera needs to increase the exposure it is rising the ISO, if camera needs to decrease the exposure it is increasing the the shutter speed. That kind combination of Aperture Priority Mode together with Auto ISO Min SS fully emulates what I would to manually in manual mode :)

fashion photographer here. this is exactly how i work outdoor. in studio i work with fixed iso.

Excellent presentation. This is exactly what I use. I learned it from Morkel Erasmus on a trip to Mana Pools back in 2016, someone who you probably know very well.

Great video once again, Mark. The negative comments are typically from some togs that always know better but it doesn't show in their work! 😉 Setting your ISO limits according to your specific camera, is something I use. My D850 is limited to ISO32000 max.

I stopped worrying about ISO after switching to Nikon Z. My Z7 II, just like the Z50 before it, handles higher ISOs extremely well and with denoising softwear like PureRAW 4 noise just isn't an issue anymore. Being able to control both shutter speed and aperture seperately whenever I want to without having to worry about ISO feels super liberating! You can actually focus on the creative aspect of photography instead of worrying about noise all the time...

3:00 I am a bit confused with the suggestion of setting aperture wide open as a default. Wouldn't it be better to set the aperture at the sweet spot for the specific lens (usually around f/8) unless you are specifically going for a blurred background?

The only mode I use is Fv Mode available on Canon R series cameras. It's Manual mode on steroids. I set the ISO to AUTO and the rest I adjust as my creativity calls for. I shoot Rodeos, live concerts, birds in flight/wildlife, landscapes, you name it! For everything, I shoot in Fv Mode + Auto ISO.

You squeezed in a lot there and hit on all my errors.

You have to be careful to set your shutter fast enough for the brightest scene at ISO 100! Otherwise a more bright scene will be overexposed due to nowhere for the ISO to go. Av priority is better, along with a minimum shutter speed value that will freeze the subject motion.

My Canon M6 has FV mode. I set ISO to auto. I control Speed, Aperture and Exposure Compensation.

Until recently, I didn’t appreciate the need for exposure compensation when using M modem with Auto ISO

Great video Mark, one thing worth mentioning is ISO invariance, Nikon is quite known for it. A image underexposed by 3 stops at ISO 100 for example and pushed by 3 stops in post would like the same as in camera ISO 800 Of course, with such an extreme underexposure, it can be difficult to ensure you have nailed your focus/composition if you cant see the subject. I like your approach, rather apply gain (ISO) than leave it underexposed/difficult to see Its such a pity that the image preview that we see isn't even a representation of the "true" raw data. I remember testing my Nikon D800 metering and pushing the exposure (according to the meter) in camera past 3 stops at native ISO, I was able to recover the raw data with no clipping, I figured it was safe to at least "overexpose" my shots by 2 stops The Z6 is much the same and I can bet the Z8 is even better. I think overall this applies more to landscape shots when you want to get the most "juice" into the sensor before clipping, but with Adobe Denoise AI and other tech only getting better, it does not matter so much anymore, tech is making things easier, letting us focus more on the importance of capturing the right scene etc.

Well ISO still does matter and meanwhile we have not seen much improvement in Out of Camera Images for YEARS. In fact, I would argue that for stacked sensors, Out of Camera quality has declined. Then we have the continually improvement over the years in Software. So unless folks are getting Right Out of Camera and not using the latest advances in Software, I just won't be buying into some Myth that ISO doesn't matter. It still matters along with proper Light, Technique, etc.

Just remember that the "manual " mode is in fact an automated exposure mode when using auto ISO.

I HATE Auto-Iso - and when you use exposure Comp with an Auto-ISO setting - the compensation only adjusts your ISO, so, you just as well do it manually. However, this can work if you know you're shooting an all-white or black subject with zero chance you'll encounter anything else, can be useful for birds in flight as well. Otherwise, I think you're better off going Full manual.

I think you could have made 5 videos from that amount of information and the break neck pace. All good info and enjoyable to watch though. One more time from the top 😜

Nothing much here for us film photographers.

This video is fast AF! All I heard was "blah blah shutter speed" "blah blah exposure" too damn jumpy to make sense of things I already know. Let alone for the new shooter. I clicked this video in my feed and it sent me straight into mind melt as though a professor was grading me on what I learned so far . Slow your roll, OP!

Wow, what time does your flight leave? You race through your videos without giving the viewer time to absorb what you are saying. Chill bro, slow down so we can appreciate your expertise.

Sorry, but this is nonsense. High ISO generates high noise. Not as high as it used to be, but still high. And high noise means little detail in the photo. So far no de-noising, not even AI de-noising can add the missing details. It only floods the empty areas with color. From a distance it looks tolerable. But up close you can see that it's a low-quality image. I'm annoyed by such talk, because people fall for it and are later frustrated that something doesn't work out for them.