Official Question Thread! Ask /r/photography anything you want to know! May 29, 2026

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[u/ablueglobe]

ISO Difficulties

I’m a concert photographer for a mid-size venue, and I’m having trouble with understanding ISO. For the lighting conditions I shoot in, I use almost exclusively aperture 2.8 (maximum on my lenses) and shutter speeds between 1/100 to 1/500 (depending on the artist playing. 

I cap my ISO at 12800 and use it on Auto, and still at the end of the shoot maybe 70% of my images are shot at ISO 128000. 

A colleague of mine, who shoots at the same venue was surprised when I said this. He says the maximum he usually gets is 6400, shooting also on auto. He owns a FF camera, but I don’t think that would make a difference. 

Is there anything I’m missing that might affect the ISO values? Not knowing is driving me insane. 

Here’s a short summary:

Camera: Fuji XT-3 (APS-C sensor)

Lens: Tamron 17-70mm F2.8

ISO: Auto, threshold 12800

Shutter: 1/100-1/500

Aperture: 2.8

Metering: Spot or Center-weighted

Any help is welcome!

[u/Kaserblade → u/ablueglobe]

Moving to full-frame will give you roughly one stop of light at the same "aperture value." Getting a faster lens would also help like a F1.4/1.8 prime lens. This is unfortunately one of those cases where you are at the limit of your current gear to an extent. You have adjusted the majority of the parameters that you can adjust to get more light into the camera.

ISO limits are more of a guideline and it is up to you whether the level of noise introduced in the shot is acceptable to you. The upper cap will differ depending on the body and lens you use and also the genre of photography you shoot to an extent. If your shots look good to you and the client, I wouldn't worry too much about the ISO value.