ISO Limits

ccf15

Senior Member
What do you set as your upper and lower limits in the ISO settings? I need to reduce the noise so I can do post-production, but I don’t want to handcuff myself.

I shoot birds outdoors (primarily raptors) both perched and in-flight.

I was thinking 100/400 or maybe 100/800?


Thanks,
CC

2017 D3400
Nikkor AF-P DX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
Nikkor AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED
 

nickt

Senior Member
No limit for me. I shoot birds with minimal manual settings and auto iso. Lowest handheld shutter speed and almost wide open. Iso can go as high as it wants. If I know the light is poor, I'll open my lens wide open but I normally like it down one stop for better sharpness. For me, no point in limiting my iso, it is what it is since I'm already at my lowest shutter speed and wide open. If its too grainy, it wasn't meant to be but I might as well have the shot to play with.
 

nickt

Senior Member
Here is a shot I took last year. I had just stepped outside and saw a heron. I hadn't set the camera yet, but just put the camera up and took a quick shot without thinking. I ended up having a shutter speed way slower than I'm comfortable holding and I had some exposure comp dialed in and ended up over exposing. That probably helped keep the noise down. I played with it later and got something reasonable. Sigma 150-600, 1/320, ISO 25600! Shot raw, processed in LR.


D71_9705.jpg


original
D71_9705-2.jpg
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Its not a straight answer,noise is better than camera shake, each camera model may handle noise different,how much noise can you stand.
The main let downs of high iso are cropping and incorrect exposure, i cap mine at 6400

Example at 6400 no NR

MIK_0903.jpg


You do need to run some tests and perhaps learn how to apply selective noise reduction on backgrounds etc.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
No limit for me. I shoot birds with minimal manual settings and auto iso. Lowest handheld shutter speed and almost wide open. Iso can go as high as it wants. If I know the light is poor, I'll open my lens wide open but I normally like it down one stop for better sharpness. For me, no point in limiting my iso, it is what it is since I'm already at my lowest shutter speed and wide open. If its too grainy, it wasn't meant to be but I might as well have the shot to play with.
Agreed. I'll let ISO goes as high as it needs if it means having the shutter speed and aperture I want because shutter speed and aperture control motion blur and depth of field; and those are critical factors for me. Noise I can deal with when post-processing but motion blur, or a shot that's fuzzy because the DoF is to shallow, I can't really do much with. The number of shots I've trashed due to unwanted motion blur, or too little DoF, are beyond counting but the number of shots I've had to trash due to "noise" I could probably count on my fingers and toes. As Nick points out, sometimes you just can't have the exact shot you want due to circumstances beyond one's control, and when that happens you just have to accept it and focus on the shots you CAN get.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Agreed. I'll let ISO goes as high as it needs if it means having the shutter speed and aperture I want because shutter speed and aperture control motion blur and depth of field; and those are critical factors for me. Noise I can deal with when post-processing but motion blur, or a shot that's fuzzy because the DoF is to shallow, I can't really do much with. The number of shots I've trashed due to unwanted motion blur, or too little DoF, are beyond counting but the number of shots I've had to trash due to "noise" I could probably count on my fingers and toes. As Nick points out, sometimes you just can't have the exact shot you want due to circumstances beyond one's control, and when that happens you just have to accept it and focus on the shots you CAN get.

I used to try limiting my ISO to 3200 with my D7100 until Horoscope Fish ran one of my images through Nik Dfine (noise reduction). WOW! :applouse: What a huge difference, and Nik Dfine works better with high ISO noise reduction than PCC or ACR in my humble opinion. So look at your options for noise reduction, and don't be afraid to to go beyond your current ISO limits.
 

Dawg Pics

Senior Member
I don't have a set limit. I keep it as low as possible to get the shot, but I have on occasion, set it really high on purpose just for kicks. If fine details don't matter, then noise reduction programs like Define in NiK do a darn good job. Mild loss in sharpness. I would have to dig up an example, which I might do today while I am processing some older images.
 
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Woodyg3

Senior Member
Contributor
There's really no reason to limit, IMO. If I want the shot, I use the settings that will get it. That said, I'll often just pass on taking shots with poor light that I know won't make a good image.

Your limits of 1-400 or 1-800 would really limit you greatly with wildlife. I often shoot in the 800-1600 range and get very good results with proper post processing.
 

ccf15

Senior Member
Thank you all for your inputs.

I have Lightroom 6, but I am unfamiliar with the other programs (NiK). I will remove my limits and see how it goes.


Thanks,
CC

2017 D3400
Nikkor AF-P DX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR
Nikkor AF-P DX 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED
 
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