Advice Needed Please...

TaurusDevil

I'm taking mostly outdoor pictures of birds and countryside. Is there a setting for my shutter speed and ISO to suit all? I know i'm asking a lot!

snerkler

Not if you want the best results. Landscape pictures should ideally be taken with ISO at base setting (usually 100 or 200 depending on camera), and a small aperture such as f8-11. This ensures the widest dynamic range, large depth of field and least noise. Bird pics will depend. Large birds that aren’t in flight might allow a relatively low shutter speed meaning you can keep ISO down, birds in flight and or small birds that are perched often require much faster shutter speeds and therefore higher ISO.

muljao

I don't know your camera or the lens you use so it's hard to nail it exactly. For landscapes I could just cut and paste what Mr. Snerkler above said.

For birds in flight I generally try to select f8 and a speed of at least 1/800 (faster if the light is very good) and luckily my camera has auto iso in manual. Obviously my iso varies shot to shot but f8 generally allows enough depth of field and 1/800 or faster helps keep things sharp. If the birds are stationary I'd still usually be f8, would select the lowest shutter speed I'd happily hold the lens at and also auto iso. Usually its a long lens so probably circa 1/400 second. I'm much happier with a non shaky shot with good depth of field etc.A photo that has a little noise rather than being a little blur is more acceptable (IMO)

snerkler

Noise is always more acceptable than (unintentional) blur. As for aperture, I always like to shoot wide open,.... if the lens is sharp enough wide open. I only tend to shoot at f8 on my 150-600mm as it's a bit soft at f6.3.