I found that cropping an image to 100% for wildlife at ISO 800 is not very good for detail (5D mkII) but somewhat usable, at ISO 3200 and above detail suffers, badly. Now for non cropped images even 6400 is not too bad but I don't really need it that much. I just rather not press the ISO issue and stay at ISO 800 and below as much as possible.
I do realize, that different people do have different needs obviously. I feel that ISO is not a replacement for fast glass because of the diminished returns at higher ISO levels when cropping is needed and bokeh is better too with fast glass.
Matt Kerby wrote:
I live in Seattle, it's dark here 6 months out of the year, I don't like shoting with flash, so hell, I use 3200-6400 just to get the shot.
Ditto. If 6400 would give as good results as 800, I would be using it 99% of the time.
For high school hockey/volleyball, where we live, high ISO is a must. My rule of thumb - 3200 at f2.2 on a 40D = 1/400 sec shutter speed. Below that, and motion blur ruins most of the captures.
lots of church work.....usually very dark. performing arts work is usually dark.....the 5d mark II is fabulous. much better than my 1D mark III, by two stops.
FOr weddings it's necessary, for a lot of the natural light stuff I do in the studio it's very useful.
I shoot at 800 all the time without concern (40D) and am looking forward to a 5D that's been shipped and the 5D2 I plan to get in March. My testing of a 5D2 shows 6400 to be similar in noise to the 40D at 1600.
it's gonna make a big difference in what shots I'll be able to get as available light shots. Should make me more money because of it (or that's the plan anyway)
I shoot in jazz clubs and other low light venues all the time and good ISO performance is a godsend for me...i also happen to hate using a flash,love natural lighting
I shoot a lot of floral and macro at times of the day where light is often meager - but lovely. I don't want to use a flash, and I am not always in a place where a tripod is possible.
Jim
I shoot a lot at 1600. Because I have a lot of fast glass (30 f/1.4, 50 f/1.4, 85 f/1.2, 200 f/2.8), I don't need to go to 3200 that often, but I do use it from time to time as a necessity. I just prefer natural light photography to flash. I also find it less intrusive when I'm shooting people in a casual setting.
I would love very clean ISO 1600 and good quality 3200 and 6400. I can't say I'd use above 6400 very often, but I may, especially with my slower lenses. (UWA in a dark church).
The higher and cleaner the better.
Nothing against grain.
Not a fan of color noise or banding.
60% of my photography is done under low light conditions. Clients demand clean shots under very difficult conditions. They don't care how I do it, just that its done and looks good. The less post processing I do the better for me.
I shoot at ISO 100 about 80% of the time .... and in low light about 20% of the time - where I try as best as I can to not go beyond ISO 800 on the 5D, and ISO 1600 on the 5D Mk II. High-ISO with lower noise would be terrific, but as it stands now, ISO 3200 on the 5D II is too noisy for my taste .... although that might work for the D3 and D700.
I used ISO 3200 and even 6400 with my 5D MK II at my son's high school play 3 weeks ago. Even then, some shots were motion blurred at f:/2.8. I couldn't use flash for the 200 or so shots I took. Sure, there is some noise, but high ISO was the only option I had, since f:/2.8 is my fastes lens.
Emile Gregoire wrote:
Try shooting a fast lens wide open in sunlight at ISO 400... There are times when I wish we had ISO 25!
Yes. Exactly. It really annoys me when on some DLSR's there are no speeds below 200 or 160 ISO. 50 ISO, or perhaps even 25 ISO, as you suggest, should be seen as essential.
My Kodak SLR/n (same for SLR/c) goes down to 6 ISO and produces stunning images at that speed.
I use 2000-2500 at least for indoor sports, but I use a D700 with MB-D10, so when run through Noisenija, the results is quite good actually.
With 2000 I can use 1/640 and 2,8, with 2500 and more I can go higher, it's quite fun
I shoot shows a lot and try not to go over ISO 800 in my 40D. I am thinking of adding a D700 and some lenses to my Canon setup and clean high ISO is one of the major reasons for that.
I rarely go above 800. Mostly below 400. Fast lens on overcast days for outdoor sports I have yet to go past 400. Indoors with a high MP and an 85 1.2 or 135 2 works well. With high MP you always have the option to crop and still get great results. High ISO with IQ the same as low ISO would be great but just not a reality at this point in time although its getting better all the time.
