Hi Bill, I'd say about 3200 iso is fair with the D700 IF you use a noise reduction program or shoot raw. But it all depends on your needs and the size of prints you intend to make with those shots. I think that since digital film is free, you should experiment by taking the same shot at different iso values and then see what YOU can live with. We all have different tastes and needs so try it for yourself would be my advice.
No wonder the D700 has such an outstanding reputation. 3200 is not bad for a 6 year old. I could get away with 400 all day long with my D100, so I'm surprised to hear that the D300 isn't any better. I max out around 1600 on my D7000 (fwiw). Just shot a dance recital at 6400 with my D600 and 70-200 VRII and noise is minimal at 100%. I've had it for 18 months and can only imagine what a D4S must be like. Enjoy your new toy.
It also depends on your noise tolerance. I tolerate no noise whatsoever. I would rather not have an image then have to see noise. Noise to me is like fingernails on a chalkboard. I never went over ISO 400 on my D300. At 640 it was quite noisy when pulling shadows. Never went over 400 with it. On my 7100 I think I hit 1600 once. For some 3200 would be tolerable.
Hey all! What ISO would you say was a good high end for the D700? Being use to the D300 and being new to the D700, I admit to being fairly clueless! Lol
I figure knowing the good ISO top end might be a real help if I try any lower light shots!
Straight out of camera jpeg iso 8000 taken last night with the Df
100% crop
View attachment 128198
Full shot
View attachment 128199
Thanks for that link . I will definitely do some experimenting.And this is where Exposing to the Right becomes an important concept to understand. That first stop of EV, (by this I mean the brightest stop) contains half the data of the entire photo. Every subsequent stop down in EV contains half the data of the EV, or stop, that preceded it. That's something I try to remember.
Here's a really short article on Luminous Landscape that illustrates this on a nifty table.
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Matrix metering normally does not blow highlights unless there is a high dynamic range in the scene, in which case you can only use HDR to bring every thing in correct exposure.