Posted by Kent Staubus on August 27, 2008 at 9:44 AM
During the past year or so, there has been some advances in camera technology that actually seem to be changing the way I take photos. The main change I'm thinking of is the ability to shoot at higher and higher ISO. I limited myself on my F100 to ISO 400, because there weren't any ISO 800+ films that looked all that good to me. Usually I even shot ISO 100 film pushed to ISO 200. With my D80 I've been photo'ing at ISO 800 much of the time (night photos) and ISO 400 for daytime photos. Now there are camearas that are pretty clean at ISO 3200, and maybe one or two that are pretty good at even ISO 6400!
I have all fast f2.8 lenses now, and combined with the higer ISO it actually has changed what and how I photo. I do a significant amount of photography at night now. In the summer it's about 10%, but in winter when it stays dark longer about 75% of my photos are done at night. The first D90 reviews are saying it looks pretty good at ISO 3200 and I find I am wondering how much I would use that? I know I will use it some for my ambient light night photos. So, is anyone else using these new high ISO ratings very much? Has it made a big change in how you photo?
Kent in SD
Posted by Steve Foss on August 27, 2008 at 9:58 AM
Kent, I'm a Canon user, but I've used the 5D quite a bit lately, which is a full-frame 12 Mp sensor, and noise is so low that I shoot at iso1600 and iso3200 at will. Iso1600 requires very little to no noise reduction in post processing (particularly when I move my histogram to the right before capturing final images), while iso3200 does require NR but with great results, again when exposing to the right. Iso1600 on the 5D pretty closely matches the noise level of iso400 on my 30D (8 Mp on 1.6 crop sensor).
But the ability of this sensor to be so low noise at such high iso ratings has also somewhat changed the way I shoot.
I have two clients with the D300, and when we're out on excursions during cloudy windy days they are not at all reluctant to bump to iso1600 in cases where we need to stop down aperture but maintain decent shutter speed. I've seen the results of their D300 bodies at iso1600, and they are excellent.
And low noise sensors will just keep getting better, IMO. My own thinking is we may have hit or nearly hit the wall with DSLR megapixel wars, and low noise is the next battle being fought between the big DSLR companies, completely to our benefit.
A person doesn't even have to hop right on the train and buy the newest models, either. Waiting a year for the new models makes the slightly older models that much more affordable. Using Canon again as an example, the 5D has been out quite a long time now, and its lack of noise is so evident to me that I'll almost certainly pick one up either used or surplus new after the 5Dn or 6D comes out.
It's just a great time to be a digital photographer.
You got it right Kent! The high IOS capabilities has really changed the way we shoot. In practice we decide which combo of shutter speed and aperture best fits a particular situation or subject, then adjust the ISO to allow us to use it. In days of yore we picked the fastest film we could get away with, then started making compromises on either SS or AP and added a tripod in order to be able to shoot at all.
Posted by Richard Wong on August 27, 2008 at 3:11 PM
I've never hesisted to boost the ISO even up to 3200 upon occasion when shooting handheld. I'd rather get the shot than have a finely detailed missed shot. For tripod shooting though I rarely go higher than 200 though because I figure that if I'm using a tripod then it's probably for material that needs the option to print big.
Discussion
3 repliesI have all fast f2.8 lenses now, and combined with the higer ISO it actually has changed what and how I photo. I do a significant amount of photography at night now. In the summer it's about 10%, but in winter when it stays dark longer about 75% of my photos are done at night. The first D90 reviews are saying it looks pretty good at ISO 3200 and I find I am wondering how much I would use that? I know I will use it some for my ambient light night photos. So, is anyone else using these new high ISO ratings very much? Has it made a big change in how you photo?
Kent in SD
But the ability of this sensor to be so low noise at such high iso ratings has also somewhat changed the way I shoot.
I have two clients with the D300, and when we're out on excursions during cloudy windy days they are not at all reluctant to bump to iso1600 in cases where we need to stop down aperture but maintain decent shutter speed. I've seen the results of their D300 bodies at iso1600, and they are excellent.
And low noise sensors will just keep getting better, IMO. My own thinking is we may have hit or nearly hit the wall with DSLR megapixel wars, and low noise is the next battle being fought between the big DSLR companies, completely to our benefit.
A person doesn't even have to hop right on the train and buy the newest models, either. Waiting a year for the new models makes the slightly older models that much more affordable. Using Canon again as an example, the 5D has been out quite a long time now, and its lack of noise is so evident to me that I'll almost certainly pick one up either used or surplus new after the 5Dn or 6D comes out.
It's just a great time to be a digital photographer.