Canon's Extreme ISO
Waleed (540 points) | Wed, 2006-01-11 10:39In the Canon EOS 1Ds Mark II, I have extreme levels of ISO that Canon does not recommend using and are only enabled through custom settings in the camera; Those are ISO 50 and ISO 3200.
Since my day was almost free at the studio this morning, I thought I would give them a try and see how bad they are. I've taken some shots in both ISO settings, using the camera's automatic metering, with aperture priority @ f/2 (Lens: Canon EF 135mm f/2L). The only Photoshop work done is scaling and 100% crops...
Some books on my desk:
Books - ISO3200 100% cropped
Books - ISO50 100% cropped
Books - ISO50
Books - ISO3200
The reception desk:
Reception - ISO3200 100%cropped
Reception - ISO50 100%cropped
Reception - ISO50
Reception - ISO3200
The product photography table:
Studio - ISO3200 100%cropped
Studio - ISO50 100%cropped
Studio - ISO50
Studio - ISO3200
Sorry for the long load :)
Commenting on this Blog entry is closed.
That's a great comparative test. Sorry for the dumb question, but I'm not so much into photography. Why would you shoot on a high iso if you get bad results?
I would assume very low light conditions while no alternatives are available.. A friend uses ISO3200 for artistic B&W portraits..
Personally, I don't like the low dynamic range in ISO50 as it creates fewer color tones.
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Are these just a menu option or do you have to hack the thing?
for once, as a Nikon owner, I might be jealous being stuck at ISO 200 +
(not looking for a Nikon/Canon argument)
Just through the menus and is called "ISO Expansion", you just need to set it to "ON". This will allow you to go to ISO 50 and 3200. The certified ISO settings are from 100 to 1600.
I hear the new Nikon D200 has ISO100, I'm not sure about the D2X though.
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I use ISO 3200 for shooting concerts and live musicians... I prefer the normal lighting to the unnatural flash concept. I also use f/2.8 glass for these shoots as well. As I am new here I am not sure how to upload things so if you want to see some results of live shots you can go here:
http://www.deviantart.com/view/30918174/
http://www.deviantart.com/view/30918069/
Yes there is noise but for the overall results I like the fact that I have ISO 3200 as a capability.
I agree with fotoasylum, the ISO 3200 is great for live events, if you can find a fairly steady place to shoot from. Im currently using the Nion Coolpix L110 which seem to be result in pretty nice photos, not the best I have seen I must admit.