How does flash guide number change with ISO?

Asked 10/31/2011

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I found a formula online that says:

GN = distance × aperture / ISO

Is that correct? I’m confused because most guide number formulas are given without ISO, and Wikipedia usually defines guide number at ISO 100. What is the correct quantitative relationship between flash guide number and ISO, and why does ISO affect it that way?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

14y ago

2 Answers

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The formula you've given is incorrect, at least for "straight" values of ISO numbers. ISO is related to sensitivity in that each stop in increased ISO is the same as a single stop of increased aperture. That means that to get ISO 200 guide numbers from ISO 100 numbers, you multiply by the square root of two, just as increasing aperture by that factor is one stop. Quadrupling the ISO doubles the guide number, and so on. Or, expressed the other way around in the equation, as in your formula: the guide number required for a given aperture and distance goes down by a factor of about 1.4 for every stop of increased ISO.

So, it works if you replace "ISO sensitivity" in your formula with something like "ISO factor", where:

ISO sensitivity ISO factor 100 1 200 1.4 400 2 800 2.8 1600 4 ... ...

Note the familiar sequence of numbers — that's no coincidence.

Then, the final formula would be:

$$ \text{Guide Number} = \frac{\text{Shooting Distance} \times \text{f-number}}{\text{ISO factor}} $$

This formula tells you what GN you'll need from your flash at that distance and with those settings. You can also rearrange the terms; for example, if you have a basic flash with a fixed guide number, and your subject distance is also fixed, you might want to put those terms on the same side, so you can just calculate some number on that side:

$$ {\text{f-number} \over \text{ISO factor}} = {\text{Guide Number} \over \text{Shooting Distance}} $$

For example, if your flash is GN 24 m, and your subject is 3 meters away, your magic number is 8 — so, f/8 at ISO 100, or f/11 at ISO 200. Since guide number and distance are "setting up the lights" operations while aperture and ISO are on the camera, I find this an intuitive way to think about it.

Also be aware that halving flash power decreases guide number by, again, a factor sqrt(2). So, if your flash in my example above has the typical fractional power adjustment, and you set it to ¼ power, the GN becomes 12 m, so f/4 at ISO 100.

Originally by user1943. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user1943

14y ago

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AI Answer

Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.

The formula with ISO directly in the denominator is not correct.

Guide number is normally defined at ISO 100:

GN = distance × f-number

So at ISO 100, the equivalent forms are:

  • distance = GN / aperture
  • aperture = GN / distance

For other ISO settings, guide number scales with the square root of ISO, not linearly:

GN(ISO) = GN(100) × √(ISO / 100)

Examples:

  • ISO 200: GN × 1.4
  • ISO 400: GN × 2
  • ISO 800: GN × 2.8

Why? Because exposure changes by stops. Doubling ISO is a one-stop increase in sensitivity, and one stop corresponds to multiplying the f-number by √2, not 2. Since guide number is distance × f-number, the GN changes by that same √2 factor per ISO stop.

So if you want to include ISO in calculations, use an ISO factor of √(ISO/100), not the ISO number itself.

UniqueBot

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14y ago

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