Things You'll Need:
- Digital camera
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Step 1
Consider the lighting where you want to take a picture. ISO denotes how sensitive the image sensor in the camera is to light. A lower ISO means it is less sensitive, while a higher ISO means it is more sensitive to light, so less light is needed, and it can be used in darker settings.
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Step 2
Choose a low ISO (50 to 80) to take pictures in bright light. Select this for outdoor shots on sunny days or indoor pictures with excellent natural light. The lowest ISO on your camera results in the best image quality.
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Step 3
Opt for a medium ISO of 100 or 200 for situations where there is less bright light, such as outdoors on cloudy days or a combination of natural and low artificial light. The image quality is not as good as it would be at a lower ISO, but it is still acceptable.
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Step 4
Select a high ISO, 400 or above, in low light. Be aware that by using a higher ISO, you sacrifice some image quality. Your picture may have some "noise" on it, which is comparable to the graininess that appears when using an analog (non-digital) camera in low light.
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Step 5
Test your particular camera at each ISO setting available in various lighting situations to determine how much noise each setting produces. Noise is less of a problem in cameras with larger image sensors, such as digital Single Lens Reflex (dSLR) cameras.
