The secret: manual exposure mode in combination with Auto ISO (or what Nikon calls “ISO sensitivity auto control”). This is a combination that does defy logic, in two ways.
First, Auto-ISO in combination with manual exposure is pretty counterintuitive (fellow photographer/writer Ken Rockwell calls it a ‘defect‘). Back in the days of film, there wasn’t much to else to change when you set your aperture and shutter speed manually. Sure, you could manually adjust your ISO, but you had to do it a roll at a time and push or pull process your film. But allowing your digital SLR to adjust ISO based on lighting conditions while maintaining a constant shutter speed/aperture combination is a great feature for sports photography.
Second, Nikon only provides a “floor” shutter speed of 1/250 for Auto-ISO. In program or aperture-priority mode, the D300 will start adjusting ISO at the minimum shutter speed set in the Shooting Menu for ISO auto sensitivity control. This might make one think that shutter speeds of faster than 1/250 (more desirable for sports action) aren’t readily useable with Auto-ISO. Au contraire! The minimum shutter speed setting has no effect whatsoever in manual or shutter-priority modes, since shutter speeds do not vary in those modes.
Thus, I can happily set my D300 to, say, f1.8 and 1/320 in manual mode, and the camera will automatically fine-tune the ISO (in 1/6 steps, no less) to achieve optimal exposure. At a recent basketball game, I could shoot anywhere on the floor or even into the crowd at automatically-adjusted ISO settings ranging from 800 to 2000, all while achieving perfect exposure at 1/320 and f1.8.
Consequently, I’ve added this very useful setting to my recommendations for shooting basketball and other fast-paced indoor sports.
31 responses so far ↓
1 Aqualung // Feb 29, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Yup, I think it’s a great feature and have also been using it for shooting basketball. I’m curious, you only shoot 1/320? I’ve found blurring even at 1/400 and now usually shoot 1/500.
Dave Black is also a huge fan of AutoISO, even on the D3…he talks about shooting football where a player is running from the sunny, middle of the field to the endzone which is in shadow…
2 The Sports Photo Guy // Feb 29, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I like 320-400 for basketball action, and here’s why: it will freeze ‘peak’ action shots (top of a jump shot or layup, for example) while leaving just a hint of motion blur in fast-moving shots (driving the lane). And dunks – usually a frozen player with a little blur to the ball and net. Awesome!
3 G.N. // May 20, 2008 at 6:42 am
I have tried it on my D200, just out of curiosity, and it works perfectly – depending on the situation where needed and/or out of a cretive perspective. Really gives you the ability to “fire-and-forget”, although still having control over the exposure.
4 G.N. // May 31, 2008 at 6:01 am
I better post a corection to my coment of May 20. The Auto ISO on the D200 maxes out at 1600. But still … it’s a lot of fun!
5 Jason // Jun 28, 2008 at 9:17 am
Thank you! This is a great tip. I’ve always been irritated by the 1/250 minimum shutter speed of the auto-iso feature.
6 Jim Gunson // Jul 15, 2008 at 12:20 pm
I appreciate this feature, but I’d like to be able to render it permanently inactive for manual mode. When travelling I’m faced with two situations: wildlife and panoramas. I want S mode and auto ISO for the former and M mode for the latter without auto ISO. This means two adjustments and naturally I forget the ISO issues. The solution may be to change my own firmware, but in this day of camera convenience, I’d like to be able have auto ISO disabled in M mode as part of the D300 firmware.
7 The Sports Photo Guy // Jul 15, 2008 at 8:42 pm
I hear you; but as much as we’d all like to customize the camera’s settings to the nth degree, that’s just not possible. However, this sort of black/white preference is just what the custom setting banks are for. If all your dealing with are wildlife and panoramas, it seems to me like you could set a shooting and custom setting back for each, and still have two banks left over!
8 Steve // Nov 4, 2008 at 6:56 am
Can your D300 adjust the ISO in 1/6 steps? Mine only allows ISO step changes of 1/3 steps in the custom settings menu.
9 The Sports Photo Guy // Nov 4, 2008 at 7:27 am
The 1/6 step is only in ISO Auto Sensitivity Control – manually you can only set it in 1/3 steps.
10 Judson Crossland // Dec 21, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Hey there Sports Guy… I have a couple of questions for ya… can you shoot me an email sometime? Love your site BTW.
11 The Sports Photo Guy // Dec 21, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Sure, but why not post them here for all to see?
12 Mike Couto // Jan 18, 2009 at 11:17 am
Hi,
I have been considering getting the D300. I have a D2h for sports right now, but would like a better res image to work with. My only apprehension w/respect to the D300 regards shutter lag, especially for basketball. Would you comment on that for me?
Mike
13 The Sports Photo Guy // Jan 18, 2009 at 11:31 am
Personally, I haven’t noticed an issue with shutter lag at all. And the D300′s AF system is faster and more responsive than the D2H’s. I shot with a D2H for several years and I had originally intended to keep that body when I first got my D300, but I replaced it almost immediately with another D300.
14 Mike Couto // Jan 19, 2009 at 5:25 pm
Hey Sportsphotoguy,
Just another quick reply to say that I just ordered a D300 with MB-D10 vertical grip. I imagine I can also use the battery that I have here for my D70 and the en-el4s that I use with my D2h.
I wonder if I will get 8fps with the en-el4 in the D300 or If I need the en-el4a to do that.
It will be fun getting to know this camera based on all you and others have said about it.
Mike Couto
mcphotoguy
15 The Sports Photo Guy // Jan 19, 2009 at 5:44 pm
I use my garden-variety EN-EL4 (original D2H issue) in the grip with no problems and get not only 8 fps but close to 5,000 frames on a single charge. Some 3rd-party batteries also work; see the D300 Battery Compatibility article.
16 Mike Couto // Jan 19, 2009 at 5:48 pm
That’s super. One of en-el4s is the Lenmar model which works fine with the d2h. I assume, then, that it will do fine with the mb-d10 grip.
Thanks for the speedy response.
mike
17 The Sports Photo Guy // Jan 19, 2009 at 6:01 pm
That would be a reasonable, but incorrect, assumption. Check the article I linked to above. The only EN-EL4 replacement that works in the MB-D10 is the Phottix Kosmo. Compatibility with the D2H does not mean compatibility with the MB-D10.
18 Mike Couto // Jan 20, 2009 at 3:49 pm
If I might pick your brain once more – the mb-d10 arrived with a double battery holder and an en-el3e holder which does not accept the en-el3 that came with the D70 that I have.
A holder for the en-el4 battery is optional and about the same price as another en-el3e battery.
Which scenario will give me the most battery power? In other words am I better off getting another en-el3e to use in the holder provided or getting the Bl-3 holder for the en-el4 battery I already have?
Thanks,
Mike Couto
19 The Sports Photo Guy // Jan 20, 2009 at 3:52 pm
The EN-EL4 will definitely give you the most “juice” in the MB-D10.
20 Nick Hayton // May 4, 2009 at 11:44 am
Just a note that if you upgrade your firmware on the D300 the shutter speed on Auto ISO goes to 1/500
21 The Sports Photo Guy // May 5, 2009 at 7:39 am
Actually, you can set the minimum shutter speed for Auto ISO all the way up to 1/4,000 after the firmware upgrade. Doesn’t really change the way this “trick” works, but does give you more control when using Auto ISO with other shooting modes.
22 Roller Derby Starts Again! | Photography by Ed Selby // Dec 8, 2009 at 11:34 pm
[...] shoot with a Nikon D300 equipped with a variety of lenses and an SB800. I use the high speed ISO trick set to 3200 max and set the camera to shutter priority – usually around 125; however, I am a [...]
23 Gabe Navar // Dec 10, 2009 at 7:26 am
Just Learning, Nice Trick. I picked up a D90 and it lets me do this to 1/2000 floor. I am setting it at 1/320 for now. I got a lot to learn. Should I shoot in P mode with this or Shutter mode so that I can adjust the shutter as needed.
24 The Sports Photo Guy // Dec 10, 2009 at 8:01 am
Shoot manual! Set your aperture to f2.8 or f4, and your shutter speed to 1/1000 or thereabouts; you’ll want a shutter that fast for soccer. (Well, if it’s youth soccer, you can go down to about 1/500 or so). Then let the ISO float automatically.
25 Jack Tilley // Feb 18, 2010 at 8:18 am
Hi, Great site, plenty of info.
First time on your site, and have a Nikon D300
being new to all Digital jargon can you use Aperture priority with Auto ISO. for Wildlife, my lens is nikon 80/400 which i have some very decent pictures with. Regards, Jack Tilley
26 The Sports Photo Guy // Feb 18, 2010 at 8:35 am
Absolutely…that’s a classic scenario where auto ISO comes in handy. Unlike shooting in manual exposure, there’s much less chance of accidental overexposure in aperture priority mode.
27 Sam DeRosa // Apr 1, 2010 at 4:38 pm
Great Site and Tips…. I have 2 sons playing D-III Lacrosse and I just bought a D-300s with the 70-200 f2/8 vr II lens. Shot it for the first time mid day bright sunny day. Didn’t have time to read much about it. Results were disapointing. After some reading and tweaking I Shot it last night under the lights…. Wow what a difference. I still know I have a lot to learn with this camera/lens combo. But here’s what I used. ISO auto with min shutter speed selected at 1/200. A priority. Aperature set at f2.8, AF at 9 point, AE matrix. Mostly good results…. Some Great! It is such a fast sport its easy to miss the shot or for the camera to get fooled and miss the focus with out any depth of field. I’m thinking using the auto iso feature in the daytime with the lens stopped down should help.
Thanks for a great site
Regards, Sam DeRosa
28 The Sports Photo Guy // Apr 2, 2010 at 8:20 pm
I would keep that lens at f2.8 or f4. As you get better tracking the action, you won’t miss the extra depth of field stopping down brings you, and will really appreciate how the fast aperture blurs the background.
29 Mike Carnes // Jun 5, 2010 at 1:52 pm
ok so I set my minimum shutter speed to 1/500s and when in auto iso the shutter speed will stop drop below that why?
30 The Sports Photo Guy // Jun 6, 2010 at 11:48 am
If the minimum shutter speed you’ve chosen isn’t sufficient for proper exposure, the camera will ignore that setting. In other words, it won’t let you under-expose.
31 Sam DeRosa // Jun 9, 2010 at 11:56 am
Thanks for the additional tips. I do like the results when the background is blurred.
Leave a Comment