ISO: the pixie dust of photography

ISO (the sensor's light sensitivity) is sorta the 'pixie dust' of photography. It is not a mechanical process (such as shutter speed and aperture) and no longer a chemical process as when shooting with film. Now it is something as intangible as a pixel (whatever that really is) that catches a certain amount of light depending on the set ISO value.

↑ Getting the exposure correct.

↓ ISO 6400 (left) and 25600 (right) on the Nikon D700.

The up-side of ISO value is that even though it is not super-tangible, it adheres to the same simple principles of exposure (that determines how much light is let through the lens and captured by the sensor) as aperture and shutter speed.

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