The best ISO setting

M

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
I ask this question because i remember reading somewhere and i cant find it now that some of the ISO settings are derived by camera software adjusting from a set of base ISO speeds,if this is the case is ISO 100 the best on the D7000 for detail ie lack of noise,or is it adjusted down by the camera from some other setting.
The reason i ask is ime trying to move away from handheld,this in turn should allow me to go down from the 800/400 iso i use at the moment,if it stops raining today the plan is to go out and set 100 but will this be the best my camera has.

Thanks
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
I shoot the D7000 also and I have never found noise to be a problem if exposed properly. I shoot up to 1600 or higher sometimes and I don't see a problem. You will see noise though if you underexpose any part of the photo. I normally set my camera at 100 and a max of 1600 and then let the camera decide on what it needs to be the shutter speed and aperture I need.
 
R

rikman

Senior Member
Don beat me to punch. On my D7100 & D600 I've played with auto ISO & have gotten clean images at ISO 1600.


Sent from my iPhone 5s using Tapatalk
 
M

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
Don Kuykendall said:
I shoot the D7000 also and I have never found noise to be a problem if exposed properly. I shoot up to 1600 or higher sometimes and I don't see a problem. You will see noise though if you underexpose any part of the photo. I normally set my camera at 100 and a max of 1600 and then let the camera decide on what it needs to be the shutter speed and aperture I need.
Click to expand...


Don the situation my subjects are often in ie sitting in a bush will inevitably in my mind lead to under exposed areas around them,don't get me wrong have no real problem with noise in my pictures i would just like to move as far away from it as i can with out using PP for noise removal,plus i often do very heavy cropping due to small subject size.
 
D

Deezey

Senior Member
There are just a lot of variables that come into play with ISO. Everyone seems so stuck on the number, but it is so much more.

As stated, proper exposure at a higher ISO will crush an underexposed shot at ISO 100.
 
E

egosbar

Senior Member
i adjust aperture to what i want then adjust iso up by using easyiso on my d7100 which allows me too change iso from the rear wheel , i adjust iso up so my shutter speed is above my focal length , if i can get that at iso 100 all the better if not i will go up too the lowest number which gives me shutter speed too focal length and if i can i will double shutter speed too focal length again depending on what im trying too achieve , i sometimes open aperture a stop or two if i need the iso lower depending on subject
if you use a tripod always shoot 100 imo , although if your shooting fast moving objects you may have too go high to get the faster shutter

agree with shooting at higher isos with correct exposure is way better then underexposed rubbish
 
BackdoorArts

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
The concept that you're asking about is "Native ISO". It is the ISO setting (or range of settings) where no amplification of the analog signal coming from the sensor is required (n the D7000 Native ISO is 100). So anything above that requires the camera to boost (amplify) the signal before interpreting the image. Noise is a result of amplification, and the higher the level of amplification the more potential for noise there is.

As a guitar player, an easy example of this would be plugging a guitar into a tube amp. At very low volumes (i.e. low amplification) you get a very pure, clean sound - just as you get very little noise at ISO levels slightly higher than Native ISO. As you turn the amp up, at some point you start to hear the sound distort. Every amp is different (like every camera) with some breaking up at 5 and others being able to hold a fairly clean tone all the way to 10 (or even 11!!).

The D7000, as others have said, seems to hold up until around ISO 1600. Anything above that is almost unusable for me unless there are very few details. For birds in flight where I might be cropping I found that ISO 800-1000 is about as high as I'd want to go. So you could say it breaks up around 5 and distorts at 6-7. My D600 lets me crank it to 11, giving me no issues all through it's ISO range (50-6400, native ISO 100), and even when I throw the boost pedal on I can get away with 12800 (ISO 25600 is even usable when some noise isn't an issue).
 
M

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
BackdoorHippie said:
The concept that you're asking about is "Native ISO". It is the ISO setting (or range of settings) where no amplification of the analog signal coming from the sensor is required (n the D7000 Native ISO is 100). So anything above that requires the camera to boost (amplify) the signal before interpreting the image. Noise is a result of amplification, and the higher the level of amplification the more potential for noise there is.

As a guitar player, an easy example of this would be plugging a guitar into a tube amp. At very low volumes (i.e. low amplification) you get a very pure, clean sound - just as you get very little noise at ISO levels slightly higher than Native ISO. As you turn the amp up, at some point you start to hear the sound distort. Every amp is different (like every camera) with some breaking up at 5 and others being able to hold a fairly clean tone all the way to 10 (or even 11!!).

The D7000, as others have said, seems to hold up until around ISO 1600. Anything above that is almost unusable for me unless there are very few details. For birds in flight where I might be cropping I found that ISO 800-1000 is about as high as I'd want to go. So you could say it breaks up around 5 and distorts at 6-7. My D600 lets me crank it to 11, giving me no issues all through it's ISO range (50-6400, native ISO 100), and even when I throw the boost pedal on I can get away with 12800 (ISO 25600 is even usable when some noise isn't an issue).
Click to expand...

Thank you Jake i knew i had read something but couldn't remember what,not that it mattered today no light and too much wind so even on a tripod it was 400 ISO :D
 
D

Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
DKMPhoto said:
I love my D40X, but I've not mastered the ISO1600 or HI1 ISO. I'm curious as to when it's appropriate to ever use it..
Click to expand...

I don not know much about the D40X and what kind of range it has for noise. My D5100 was able to go a lot higher than I originally thought before the noise became unacceptable. When I moved to the D7000 it was even better. Like others here have said. You pick the shutter speed you need and the aperture you want and move the ISO up to whatever it takes. I have much rather have the noise than have a underexposed or blurry photo. I was shooting at a high school football game last season and to stop action I needed to be shooting at least at 1/320 sec and the lens was wide open. I had to shoot at ISO 10,000 or higher to get the exposure I needed. The photos had a little noise in them but overall they were great photos.
D7000_000076.jpg
 
A

aced19

Senior Member
Like Don said I don't worry about the noise in pictures. You set the camera up to the proper exposure and you will have great photos. If you pick a good noise reduction program you want have to worry about noise.
Here is a couple examples using a D7000. It does a great job shooting high iso.

Girl in red shooting a free throw is 10,000 iso and the girl in white is 5,000 iso

12.jpg 13.jpg


iso 5000
sdc2.jpg


iso 3600
fm1111.jpg
 
Top