Photography Basics: Film Speeds and How to Use Them

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Your Picture Frames

Cameras have tons of little dials, knobs and meters. If you stare at your camera long enough, you’ll be amazed at how many ways you can adjust your camera and change how your pictures look. But did you know that one of the most important decisions you can make when taking pictures happens before you even load your film?

The speed of the film you use is one of the very few unalterable qualities of a photograph. There are lots of ways to play with aperture, focus and exposure. However, once you select your film and load it into the camera, there is no way to change how the film reacts to light. In every picture you take with film, you’re adapting to the film speed. Film does not speed up or slow down to suit your needs, so it is important that you make the right call the next time you head out for a fresh roll.

What is ISO?

The film speed measures how sensitive the film is to light. Low film speeds indicate that the film is less sensitive, and will require a longer exposure; high speeds are very sensitive and require shorter exposures. The speed of a film is commonly known as its ISO. Any film will have the ISO listed on the box. Some common speeds are 400, 800 and 1000 with 400 being the closest to “standard.”

The ISO of your film affects every aspect of the way your camera works. Your light sensor (if you have one) has to be set correctly for the film youre using, your aperture will be more or less limited depending, and your shutter speed will likely have to decrease or increase to accommodate the film. Even digital cameras use a simulated (and adjustable) “film” speed that they base their calculations on.

Choosing the Right Speed

The ISO of the film determines what you’re able to photograph and how. Because high speed film needs less time to expose (ISO 800 or higher is a good general rule), you can take images with much higher shutter speeds than with slower film. The result will be a photo with crystal clear action; fast film is great for taking sports or anything with movement. When you see a photograph of a basketball player suspended in midair, you can bet that image was shot on high-speed film. With a slower ISO, the player in question would likely be a huge blur. Faster film also needs less light and can be super helpful in situations where a flash isn’t appropriate indoors.

Lower speed film captures more detail because it has more time to absorb light. It is important to keep the words detail and blurry separate here more detail in a photograph can be thought of in a similar way to more detail on a high definition television more of what was originally there will be visible in the photograph. The more time the film can “see” a scene, the more accurately the scene will be represented. Lower speed films are great for images like portraits where you want to show great depth of field.

Film Speed Experiments to Try

To get a good handle on how ISO works and what it does to your images, here are a couple of things to try out the next time youre planning a shooting day:

Get rid of your flash (if you have one) and take some fast film into a low light environment

Swing by a local high school, college, or little league game and try shooting (with permission) two rolls of film one very slow (ISO 100) and one very fast (ISO 1000) then have a look at how different the images turned out

Film speed is one of those great things to play with when youre pretty comfortable with your camera and youre looking for new ways to challenge your perceptions. Each speed has strengths and weaknesses, and its up to you to decide which one works for you. Now it’s time to take some photographs!

Autumn Lockwood is a writer for Your Picture Frames and loves taking pictures. Shop online and see our selection of

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