D300 at high ISO

[Daedalus Trent]

Hi. Care to share this base ISO 200 thing. I always thought D300 ISO can go lower than 200. What is sacrificing highlighted detail?

Go picture to explain.

Thanks!

Think this was explained in another thread recently (regarding the D90)

So search and you'll find it

 

[Blur Shadow]

Oh, the D300 is very good up to ISO800. At ISO1600, it's still pretty good. Of course, noise starts to appear, but it is managable with careful exposure and adequate post-processing. I try not to touch ISO3200 though, although I believe it is still adequate for most uses.

 

[lsisaxon]

My experience with D90 is that at high ISO, the colors are slightly different.

Try film.. ;p Before Kodak Portra, it's going to be tough for you to match the colours across rolls, let alone across ISO...

 

[lsisaxon]

Yea true...

How big are your images gonna be?

Poster size then sure cannot.

And it is usable at 3200, if you know how to use it with care.

You sure? People have been shooting 'bigger than real life size' posters with D1. The thing about posters is that the audience is not going to stand 30cm away to scrutinize it. No one is going to print a large poster at more than 200dpi.

 

[Andrew Ng]

Think this was explained in another thread recently (regarding the D90)

So search and you'll find it

Not helpful. D90 and D300 different metering technology employed. Else why people buy D300? Might as well buy D90. I am an old man here. Please help with pictures to explain. Else. Would very much appreciate it with a link.

Thanks.

 

[Daedalus Trent]

Not helpful. D90 and D300 different metering technology employed. Else why people buy D300? Might as well buy D90. I am an old man here. Please help with pictures to explain. Else. Would very much appreciate it with a link.

Thanks.

there ya go :
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533879&highlight=D90+noise


can btw, metering has nothing to do with the sensor's noise performance. So yea, which regard to noise, the D90 and D300 are pretty much similar :think:

 

[lsisaxon]

max is ISO1600......ISO3200 u taking photo of blotches of noise!

Define blotches of noise..

Entire image.. EXIF Intact.

Selective 100% crops.

 

[lsisaxon]

Not helpful. D90 and D300 different metering technology employed. Else why people buy D300? Might as well buy D90. I am an old man here. Please help with pictures to explain. Else. Would very much appreciate it with a link.

Thanks.

I shoot both. If you shoot in M mode, metering is not involved anymore.. There is very little difference between the D90 and the D300. I use D90 as a second body in official shoots, but it's my main body for leisure.

Anyway, once you set the the ISO to Lo or Hi, it's pushing beyond the latitude of the sensor. In Lo, the sensitivity is supposed to be less than ISO200 but since the sensor is overexposing and electronically/mathematically compensated, you lose up to a stop of highlight details because they get clipped off. It's similar to shooting at ISO 200 and reducing the exposure by up to a stop in PP.

In Hi (ISO >3200), the sensor is underexposing and the image is electronically/mathematically corrected to give the correct exposure. Since the gain needs to be increased, you lose shadow details and noise becomes more distinct.

 

[Daedalus Trent]

haha, great sample!

yea, the D300/D90 sensor really isn't half-bad at ISO 3200

 

[Andrew Ng]

there ya go :
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/showthread.php?t=533879&highlight=D90+noise


can btw, metering has nothing to do with the sensor's noise performance. So yea, which regard to noise, the D90 and D300 are pretty much similar :think:

Metering affect shutter speed.. affects exposure... exposure 'not good or good' ... noise comes out. :-}

 

[batavia]

haha...looks clean...i guess thats a very good noise reduction.........i think noise would appear a lot worse on skin......or high contrast image

 

[YSLee]

It's a sensor thing. To put it simply, the sensor's base rating is at ISO 200. To make it less sensitive, some compromises had to be made, and dynamic range is one of them.

 

[YSLee]

haha...looks clean...i guess thats a very good noise reduction.........i think noise would appear a lot worse on skin......or high contrast image

Noise won't look worse on most people; in fact it'll look less obvious. Noise is worse in shadow areas, due to the amplification of low signal-to-noise areas. Which is why high ISO tests done in bright daylight look good.

 

[lsisaxon]

haha...looks clean...i guess thats a very good noise reduction.........i think noise would appear a lot worse on skin......or high contrast image

Those are straight off the camera jpeg with High ISO NR set to Low.

Skin? High Contrast?

Here.. also straight off camera jpeg with High ISO NR at Low.

100% crop

IMO, they are MUCH MUCH MUCH better than shooting ISO400 film.

 

[Andrew Ng]

Thanks Daedalus Trent.

It is not highlighted details but rather referring to Better Dynamic range at ISO 200. Clears the air now.

Now I understand what my mentor meant to shoot at High ISO in the day and Low ISO at night. Similiarities and differences with CMOS Vs Slide.

Cheers!

 

[Daedalus Trent]

Thanks Daedalus Trent.

It is not highlighted details but rather referring to Better Dynamic range at ISO 200. Clears the air now.

Now I understand what my mentor meant to shoot at High ISO in the day and Low ISO at night. Similiarities and differences with CMOS Vs Slide.

Cheers!

yeaps, it's more of dynamic range than highlights

 

[lsisaxon]

Metering affect shutter speed.. affects exposure... exposure 'not good or good' ... noise comes out. :-}

When you compare digital cameras, or for that mattter, film, to be fair, you would use a light meter and dial the same settings to get a fair comparison. Yes, metering affects the image, so it is important to take metering out of the equation when doing comparisons.

 

[lsisaxon]

yeaps, it's more of dynamic range than highlights

Losing highlight or shadow details are both losing dynamic range or in the film term, exposure latitude. You lose a stop either at the top or at the bottom when you pull or push a stop, pretty much the same as film.

 

[lsisaxon]

Thanks Daedalus Trent.

It is not highlighted details but rather referring to Better Dynamic range at ISO 200. Clears the air now.

Now I understand what my mentor meant to shoot at High ISO in the day and Low ISO at night. Similiarities and differences with CMOS Vs Slide.

Cheers!

Not just CMOS. Even CCD behaves similarly. If you are used to shooting slides, continue shooting the same way because they behave pretty much the same.

To further explain the loss of highlight or shadow details when you set the ISO to Lo, and Hi, outside the range of base ISO, it's like you need to shoot ISO100 but you only have ISO200 film or need to shoot at ISO6400 but you only have ISO3200 film. After that you will have to do a pull or push process. When you pull, since you have overexposed initially, you will lose highlights. When you push, since you have initially underexposed, you will lose shadows.

Having said that, if you're not going to further process the image, it doesn't matter at all.. There is sufficient shadow and highlight details even in the JPEG images straight out of camera and I sort of get into some kind of trouble because of that. I shall not elaborate on that boo-boo but just to say that certain things in the shadow areas not supposed to show up, showed up on an uncalibrated monitor.

 

[luntut]

how acceptable is noise, is subjective.

different pple can accept different varieties of noise levels.

from both the images posted, i cant accept both.

but of course, they will only look bad at 100% crop. so for most cases and times, its actually alright, if we look at the entire picture instead.