The global travel and tourism industry, the economic powerhouse that accounts for more than 10% of global GDP and one in ten jobs worldwide—is under renewed pressure to balance growth with sustainability. In the face of climate imperatives, political upheaval, and changing consumer expectations, the travel industry continues to strive towards becoming a truly sustainable sector. This October, leaders will again gather in Paris for the 6th A World for Travel Summit, a three-day event designed to chart a course through these complex times.

Are your photos consistently ruined by digital noise even when you thought your camera settings were correct? Perhaps you’ve asked yourself why your photos look grainy, or when it’s safe to shoot with a high ISO. These questions and others will be clearly answered in the six-minute tutorial below.

Today’s eye-opening episode comes to us from Great Big Photography World, a supportive YouTube community comprised of long-time experts who cater to shooters of all levels and provide solid tips and techniques on camera basics, composition, lighting, and post processing.

The goal of our unnamed instructor is to demystify the critical concept of ISO and reveal “the truth” about how this setting affects noise. He puts it like this: “Most beginners and even experienced photographers make the same ISO mistake that quietly destroys image quality. In this video we’ll break down exactly what it is, how it affects your photos, and simple solutions for avoiding these unwanted distractions.”

In simple terms, it works like this: Every time you double ISO you’re doubling the camera’s sensitivity to light. But there’s a catch because while high ISO settings are useful in low-light environments, the tradeoff is digital noise.

It all depends on the camera you own, but the general notion is that “at 1SO 100 images look clean and sharp. At ISO 400-800 photos remain acceptably sharp but noise begins creeping in. At ISO 1600 you may notice visible grain, color fading, and reduced contrast, and higher settings degrade image quality further.” At some point your images will become useless depending upon how high you go.

As you’ll see, however, there are times when you may want to push ISO beyond normal limits to achieve creative effects, but the general rule is to set ISO to the lowest possible value that delivers a correct exposure for the lighting conditions at hand. Our instructor recommends this: “When the shutter speed is too slow to avoid blur, then increase ISO.”

Be sure to visit the Great Big Photography World YouTube channel where you’ll discover more how-videos for elevating your skills.

And don’t miss the tutorial we featured earlier with a post-processing expert who provides a straightforward beginners guide to editing Raw photographs in Photoshop—with a variety of techniques for adjusting exposure, color, detail, and more.

Add several magnitudes of precision to your close focusing technique. Oben’s Macro Focusing Rails allow you to adjust the distance between the camera and subject in very tiny increments, enabling very accurate manual focus. If you shoot 1:1 macro or greater, you need an Oben Macro Focusing Rail. And they are surprisingly affordable.

The folks at B&H were kind enough to loan an Oben Macro Focusing Rail (Long) to Shutterbug, no strings attached, for a critical review. Our evaluation applies to the Short version as well; more on that later. It had been some time since I’d used one, but operation is so intuitive and straightforward that I was able to get up and running in seconds flat.

Camera, with lens attached of course, connects to the Arca-Type base via the included Quick Release Plate. Slide it into the groves on the rail, attach the rig to a tripod, and you’re in business. Alternatively, the Focusing Rail can be used on a flat surface by attaching the four included legs.

My colleagues and I agree that the most accurate way to achieve near-perfect focus at 1:1 macro is to set the lens to its closest setting and focus by adjusting the distance between camera and subject. This process works at other magnifications as well. The only problem with this method is the difficulty fine-tuning the distance. Sliding the tripod on the floor is one way, but it’s imprecise.Enter the Macro Focusing Rail. It enables you to make micro-fine adjustments easily while keeping the entire setup rock-solid. The Oben Macro Focusing Rail also allows rotation on the camera’s vertical axis which is a huge plus.

Construction and build-quality of the Oben Macro Focusing Rails are top drawer. They’re backed by a 5-year USA Limited Warranty, but I doubt that you’d ever need it. There’s nothing to break and all structural components are metal, primarily aluminum alloy I’m guessing.

I’m not surprised by the high-quality construction. I’ve purchased other Oben-branded photo accessories from B&H over the years, including a terrific tabletop tripod. So I have come to associate the Oben name with first-rate products.

Use Long and Short Together
You can attach the shorter macro focusing rail to the long model and gain greater left-to-right precision in addition to the normal back-to-front. I didn’t try this approach, but I can see its value.

Key Features of Oben Macro Focusing Rails
Rotating (360°) Arca-Type Quick Release base
Folding drive crank
Removable feet
Adjustable friction control
Precision numbered positioning scales
Load capacity = 22 pounds (1 kg)
Length, FRM-7L = 7 inches (17.8 cm)
Length, FRM-4S =  4 inches (10.2 cm)
Includes Arca-Type Quick Release Base Plate

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Conclusion
I should have started using an Oben Macro Focusing Rail years ago. They are extremely well made, easy to use and make accurate focusing at 1:1 (life-size) so much easier. It’s equally useful at 1:2 and indispensable at magnification ratios greater than 1:1.

Frankly, the prices shocked me. I expected them to be much more expensive.

Highly recommended.

Pricing & Availability
The long Oben Macro Focusing Rail, FRM-7L, sells for $119.95 and can be ordered from B&H. The shorter 4-inch version, FRM-4S, costs $99.95 and is also available from B&H.

You can buy them together as a kit, but there is no price break at $219.90.

Sidebar
Incidentally, the Oben Quick Release Plate is listed at amazon.com for $24.99 by itself. It’s usable on any Arca-Swiss compatible support. That makes the prices of the Oben Macro Focusing Rails even more amazing. I did not find the focusing rails themselves on that site.

—Jon Sienkiewicz

Back in the DSLR era, firmware updates were mostly about debugging or fixing compatibility issues. Nobody really talked about them, because, frankly, there wasn’t much to talk about. But with the rise of mirrorless cameras, that changed dramatically. For Nikon, the breakthrough came with the Z9 and even more so with its younger sibling, the Z8. Since their debut, every major firmware update has been awaited with anticipation.