D7000 ISO how high is too high

[danny]

I'm just after a little advise if possible.

When taking photos with a D7000 how high is too high when it comes to ISO levels. I'm not after putting them on the side of a bus just maybe around A3 size.

Cheers
Danny

[arthurking83]

At A3, I reckon with good exposure and minimal NR processing, you should easily get ISO6400 images looking fine.

I think some images shot at ISO12800 may be printable and passable under close scrutiny too. I have a series of images shot at 12800 as a test (borrowed D7000, as I don't have a D7000 myself), and 99.9% of viewers would be hard pressed to notice that the image is shot at such high ISO values. There are tell tale signs that the image has been shot at high ISO, but you can only see them, once you know that they're there.

So I reckon 6400 easily with good exposure and NR .. 12800 occasionally, dependent on the scene itself(and of course exposure and NR processing).

[ravenau]

I'm just after a little advise if possible.

When taking photos with a D7000 how high is too high when it comes to ISO levels. I'm not after putting them on the side of a bus just maybe around A3 size.

I don't print large prints and I try to keep to around ISO 1600 but pixel peeping ISO 6400 images in Lightroom I'd guess that ISO 6400 would be fine.

Sounds like Authurking83 knows better than me but a few tests I did in very low light (long ago) at ISO 12800 were quite noisy and would not have been printable at any size.

I have to stress this was in very low light (read darkish) so noise is going to be very high in that case. But, given some light on the subject, the story would probably be quite different.

Ian

[arthurking83]

........

Sounds like Authurking83 knows better than me but a few tests I did .....

LOL! He wishes!!



My experience with the D7000 has only been brief(a few hours at a time), but I have had access to a D5100 for a couple of days(same sensor and technology).

ISO12800 is more than usable as long as exposure is right(ie. on the bright side), and you have good noise reduction software and skill.

D7000_DSC_1558_crop_01.JPG
Sample image at ISO12800.
Light level was good, but that's still not the most important aspect of the image. It's true that better available light will help noise in the image, but exposure is still the most important factor.
Just remember that with higher ISO, you simply need a brighter exposure for the image.
ie. if you need ISO3200 for a good exposure(according to the camera meter), then shoot 0.5Ev brighter and use ISO4000 instead. The brighter exposure should give better signal to noise ratio for the sensor, as long as it's not too over exposed ... and the theory is that you bring the exposure down in PP.

The image above did have lots of red/green noise obvious in the black parts of the image. It cleaned up nicely tho with the noise reducing tools available in CaptureNX2.
It cleaned up similarly nicely in LR3 too tho ... just a wee bit better in CNX2 overall tho.
The image was cropped heavily but then reduced in size for displaying here ... not 100% pixel view, more likely approximately 50% of pixel size.

If you look closely, you can just make out some residual red and greenish colouring on the black textured surface of the lens. This is the only obvious clue that the image had any noise. I could have removed it all, but then I think image detail may have suffered more. As it is, IQ(ie. sharpness) as shot at ISO12800 was still on a very high level.

[Lance B]

ISO6400 would be about the limit with a good post processing software and prinitng up to about A3+, just remember that your dynamic range will suffer considerably the higher you go. At ISO100, your DR is about 13.5 stops, but at ISO6400 your DR is about 7.5 stops, according to DxO Mark.

The level of acceptable noise is a level that you are happy with.

[ravenau]

ISO6400 would be about the limit with a good post processing software and prinitng up to about A3+, just remember that your dynamic range will suffer considerably the higher you go. At ISO100, your DR is about 13.5 stops, but at ISO6400 your DR is about 7.5 stops, according to DxO Mark.

That's an interesting comment.
I hadn't really thought about the effect of ISO on dynamic range and that's quite significant.
I've always been more concerned about colour becoming strange (washed out and, well odd, sometimes making it hard to adjust white balance) and the softness that noise reduction brings.

Ian

- - - Updated - - -

ISO12800 is more than usable as long as exposure is right(ie. on the bright side), and you have good noise reduction software and skill.

Yeah, the "exposure is right" bit always gets me wondering .....

Light level was good, but that's still not the most important aspect of the image. It's true that better available light will help noise in the image, but exposure is still the most important factor.
Just remember that with higher ISO, you simply need a brighter exposure for the image.

That was my impression too for quite a while.
I experimented with it (I say a long time ago but for me that's only a couple of years) and found that the increased ISO when bumping the exposure gave about the same result.
To this day, I'm still not sure that bumping the exposure makes very much difference.

I probably should re-visit this myself,

Ian

- - - Updated - - -

That's an interesting comment.
That was my impression too for quite a while.
I experimented with it (I say a long time ago but for me that's only a couple of years) and found that the increased ISO when bumping the exposure gave about the same result.
To this day, I'm still not sure that bumping the exposure makes very much difference.

OTOH, I really only did limited testing with the D7000 soonish after I got it.
Much of my impressions where formed using an E-510 which behaves very differently.

My desire to be able to use my camera in low light or fairly poor light was the reason for getting the D7000 and it's also lead to acquiring fast lenses so I'm not so concerned about it any more.

LOL, I've spent quite a bit just to be able to take family photos whenever I want, without flash ....

Ian

[Granville]

LOL, I've spent quite a bit just to be able to take family photos whenever I want, without flash ....

Ian

Exactly what I did, but we all do indulge ourselves, and I really, really, really love my 50mm

[Lance B]

That's an interesting comment.
I hadn't really thought about the effect of ISO on dynamic range and that's quite significant.
I've always been more concerned about colour becoming strange (washed out and, well odd, sometimes making it hard to adjust white balance) and the softness that noise reduction brings.

Ian

I wouldn't get too hung about about it, just to be aware of it. DR of most media, like print and webview, is only about 8 stops anyway, however, what the extra DR of a low ISO shot allows is that you can pull back highlights and pull up shadows to fit into the DR of 8 stops and therefore keep your colours truer and noise at bay. The best advice is to try to keep the DR of the scene within the ISO that you are shooting with. If you are exposing to the right, make sure you don't overexpose and blow the highlights if you want or need them to be recoverable.