ISO advice/suggestion needed

B

Bill16

Senior Member
Lol I'm loving the D700! It's even better than I thought it would be!But I have a lot to learn to make use of it's high ISO abilities! Lol Wow what an awesome camera! Woohoo! :D

hrstrat57 said:
Off topic but in general @Bill16 how are you liking your new prize camera?

Don't forget your manual Nikon lenses the D700 loves those, yum! Need to replace my long lost 135 f2.8 Ai....waiting for the spring yard sales!!! Gonna find one for $10!!!

:)
Click to expand...
 
H

hrstrat57

Senior Member
Bill16 said:
Lol I'm loving the D700! It's even better than I thought it would be!But I have a lot to learn to make use of it's high ISO abilities! Lol Wow what an awesome camera! Woohoo! :D
Click to expand...


So glad for you Bill it is an awesome camera beyond belief!!

Looking forward to rounding out my kit with the Nikon 300 AF-S f/4 and 1.4 T/C and a couple of flash guns soon and I will be in magic land!

Re ISO setting just let the camera bring home the pic you want, there are no limitiations IMHO up to 6400.....remember the best part of digital photography = if you don't like it delete and fire again!!

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and many glorious pics!
 
R

rocketman122

Senior Member
I made my transition from F5 to the D300 then D3. my mind was set in the filmic way. superia 1600 was extremely grainy and my fear was I cant pass that. DX sucks and 1600 really is its limit and 3200 in extremel rare situations just to gett he shot. FF today can go to 8000 on the D750 if you need. D600, meh, 4000 is its limit.

folks, break that barrier. leave the fear behind. let me show you a friends image the first day he got his second D4s. he took it out, mounted the 70-200VR2 and shot.


weewewwe.jpg

THIS IS A CROP OF THE IMAGE.

the full image is in the link below. ISO 20000. no not 2000, 20000. if the D4s can do 20000, the D3/D700 can do 6400 WELL, if you expose properly and use good glass. the D750 ,8000, dont know about the D800/810 though.

the full file click the link and download to see the full image in closeup. F/3.2 !
Simple File Sharing and Storage.

screw noise. better ambient light then those pathetic flash in front like a frozen deer and black background.

that cat image looks like superia 400. let go and bump your iso. get ambient light mixed in with your flash. makes all the difference. otherwise you images just look like one shot with a smartphone, wth better composition only.
 

Attachments

  • RAF_0014(1).jpg
    RAF_0014(1).jpg
    55 KB · Views: 68
B

Bill16

Senior Member
I've been experimenting with the ISO settings and the D700 is awesome! I think the ISO maybe workable all the way up to H2 above 6400! In right circumstances I believe the ISO can make a huge difference in helping me get shots that I never thought I could get before! :)
Also I'm now thinking the ISO abilities of the D700 may make this camera better for even macro (despite being FX) than my D300! I already believe the D700 will work better for squirrel photos, since my last attempts was ruined by the shady area and the D300 Nikon's lack of ISO ability.
So it looks like I may just be a new convert to the FX band wagon! Lol :)

Seriously though, ISO ability on my FX D700 seems to compensate for not being a crop sensor giving the FX the edge even in categories usually ruled by DX! This opinion is intirely based on comparisons between the D300 and her big sister the D700! Which finally makes the cost difference make sense to me! I'm paying for that boost in capabilities with ISO being on top of that list! :)

This hasn't changed my opinion about DX Nikon's being great! But I now prefer the FX Nikon more! Or at least I prefer my D700 more than my D300! Lol :D

Sorry for rambling!
 
S

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
6400 not terrible if you boosted the vibrance maybe, but 25600 is really pushing it. I was just wondering....looks like a flash situation for sure.

​Hope your beloved gets to feeling better! In time for Christmas and New Years! We'll be praying for her and you too!
@Bill16....what do you think the highest ISO you can go to, without using flash indoors? Just wondering.....my guess is around the 2500-3000 mark.
 
Last edited:
B

Bill16

Senior Member
With the right amount of ambiant light, the the 6400 would be my opinion! Though after being up all night, I'm too tired to test it.

sonicbuffalo said:
6400 not terrible if you boosted the vibrance maybe, but 25600 is really pushing it. I was just wondering....looks like a flash situation for sure.

​Hope your beloved gets to feeling better! In time for Christmas and New Years! We'll be praying for her and you too!
@Bill16....what do you think the highest ISO you can go to, without using flash indoors? Just wondering.....my guess is around the 2500-3000 mark.
Click to expand...
 
R

rocketman122

Senior Member
The flashed picture looks fine. Instead of directional flash, try bouncing the flash behind you or even bouncing it from your right or left side or even into a corner across from the subject. You'll see how diffused it will be.

The high iso helps to get a shot u would normally get that looks like flash is the main source but with high iso, you can blend what ambient light you have with the flash making it look more natural.

The pic u posted with no flash shows how low the ambient light really is if u bumped it to 6400 and still looked horribly dark but at least the blend with flash will look more natural. If in that situation the ambient was another two stops brighter, u could have lowered your flash exposure at least a stop to make it look even more natural, providing you also diffused the more than your directional light which is very specular in outcome.

This is why i prefer to bump iso and blend it with ambient. It looks a world better. Always expose a third extra when using ISO that high and you can lower the exposure a touch back in pp and it will hide the grain even better. And using high iso also will allow u to step down the aperture for better sharpness as well. If you have a 2.8 lens, shooting it at 4-5 would make things sharper and usually u will see the grain in the out of focus areas but not so much in the areas in focus.

Break free of the fear of grain. Its a different world altogether with blended ambient/flash picture vs only flash because ur afraid of grain. I don't even use any nr in pp ever. Just expose properly. Well lit makes all the difference to convey "feel"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
B

Bill16

Senior Member
Yes I have a lot to get use to, but the ambiant light mixed with ISO and flash has worked very well on a few shots I've taken! Mixing just ambiant light and ISO will take some practice to start getting that right my friend! But I will get better over time for sure! :D

rocketman122 said:
The flashed picture looks fine. Instead of ditectipnal flash, tty bouncingthe flash behind you or even bouncing it from your right or left side or even into a corner across from the subjec. Ull see how diffused it will be.

The high iso helps to get a shot u would normally get that looks like flash is the main source but with high iso, you can blend what ambient light you have with the flash making it look more natural.

The pic u posted with no flash shows how low the mabient light really is if u bumped it to 6400 and still looked horribly dark but at least the blend with flash will look more batural. If in that situation the mabient was another two stops brighter, u could have lowered your flash exposure at least a stop to make it look evenmore natural, probiding you also diffused the more than your directipnl light which is very specular in outcome.

This is why i prefer to bump iso and blend it with ambient. It looks a workd better. Always expose a third extra when using iso that high and you can lower the exposure a touch back in pp and it will hide the grain even better. And using high iso also will allow u to step doen the aperture for better sharpness as well. If you have a 2.8 lens, shooting it a 4-5 would makethibgs sharper and usually u will see the grain in the out of focus areas but not so much in the areas in focus.

Break free of the fear of grain. Its a different world altogether with blended ambient/flash picture vs only flash because ur afraid of grain. I dont even use any nr in pp ever. Just expose properly. Well lit makes all te difference to convey "feel"
Click to expand...
 
wtlwdwgn

wtlwdwgn

Senior Member
The D700 is pretty good at high ISOs compared to its contemporaries. I've been pretty impressed. I did some night shooting at ISO 3200 and was surprised at how little NR I used. As has been said getting the exposure right first is all important in controlling noise.

ISO 3200.
BZN Xmas Stroll-0078.jpg
 
S

sonicbuffalo_RIP

Senior Member
rocketman122 said:
The flashed picture looks fine. Instead of directional flash, try bouncing the flash behind you or even bouncing it from your right or left side or even into a corner across from the subject. You'll see how diffused it will be.

The high iso helps to get a shot u would normally get that looks like flash is the main source but with high iso, you can blend what ambient light you have with the flash making it look more natural.

The pic u posted with no flash shows how low the ambient light really is if u bumped it to 6400 and still looked horribly dark but at least the blend with flash will look more natural. If in that situation the ambient was another two stops brighter, u could have lowered your flash exposure at least a stop to make it look even more natural, providing you also diffused the more than your directional light which is very specular in outcome.

This is why i prefer to bump iso and blend it with ambient. It looks a world better. Always expose a third extra when using ISO that high and you can lower the exposure a touch back in pp and it will hide the grain even better. And using high iso also will allow u to step down the aperture for better sharpness as well. If you have a 2.8 lens, shooting it at 4-5 would make things sharper and usually u will see the grain in the out of focus areas but not so much in the areas in focus.

Break free of the fear of grain. Its a different world altogether with blended ambient/flash picture vs only flash because ur afraid of grain. I don't even use any nr in pp ever. Just expose properly. Well lit makes all the difference to convey "feel"
Click to expand...

Thanks @rocketman122....sage advice. I'll try to keep what you said in mind also when shooting with flash.
 
Top