High ISO Photograph

[Casey]

3200 ISO out of the Canon 5D Mark III. I'm diggin' this camera.


Yard Doe by Casey Morris, on Flickr

[Shane]

That's incredible, Casey. DANG IT!!! Now you got me wanting to spend some money.

[El Viejo]

That is a great shot! Can you imagine trying to shoot that with 3200 ISO film from back in the day? What an amazing camera!

[Bill M]

That is fantastic ISO performance. Just take them in the dark, you'll be good.

[Mike D]

I'm still learning. What does the high ISO do?

[Casey]

I'm still learning. What does the high ISO do?

ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. You used to buy film that was a specific ISO. As the sensitivity of the sensor (or film) goes up, the amount of grain and noise in the image increases. These new sensors in the later model cameras are getting so much better that even pics at or near dusk can be grabbed that don't have the noise they would have had a couple camera models ago. This Canon I'm firing handles it really well. It's surprising me.

[El Viejo]

I'm still learning. What does the high ISO do?

Basically, ISO is the measure of the sensitivity of the image sensor. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. The higher the number the more sensitive your camera is to light, but the images tend to be grainier. So if you are trying to photograph a low-light scene, a higher ISO rating on your camera allows it to capture more light in less time. Back in the film days, graininess was more of a problem than with today's digital sensors. Casey's deer image at a very high ISO (3200) shows absolutely no graininess that I can see. I hope that helps.

[swanjts]

What lens was that with?

[Casey]

What lens was that with?

Canon 300mm F4L IS with a Kenko 1.4x Teleconverter attached.

[Mike D]

ISO is the sensitivity of the sensor. You used to buy film that was a specific ISO. As the sensitivity of the sensor (or film) goes up, the amount of grain and noise in the image increases. These new sensors in the later model cameras are getting so much better that even pics at or near dusk can be grabbed that don't have the noise they would have had a couple camera models ago. This Canon I'm firing handles it really well. It's surprising me.

Basically, ISO is the measure of the sensitivity of the image sensor. The lower the number the less sensitive your camera is to light and the finer the grain. The higher the number the more sensitive your camera is to light, but the images tend to be grainier. So if you are trying to photograph a low-light scene, a higher ISO rating on your camera allows it to capture more light in less time. Back in the film days, graininess was more of a problem than with today's digital sensors. Casey's deer image at a very high ISO (3200) shows absolutely no graininess that I can see. I hope that helps.

Got it, thanks. Casey were you shooting free hand or on a tripod? Just curios about the need for taking the shot at such an high ISO.

[Casey]

Free hand. I'm not real sure how I'm keeping it steady given the focal length. The lens has IS but 1/160th of a second at 420mm is stretching that capability.

[Shane]

Free hand. I'm not real sure how I'm keeping it steady given the focal length. The lens has IS but 1/160th of a second at 420mm is stretching that capability.

Dang, man. That's as impressive as the ISO performance.

[WyoBull]

Nice ISO performance for sure. Being a Nikon shooter, I am currently looking at the new D810. I am thinking about upgrading my D700.
The ISO performance on these cameras just keeps getting better and better which is great for all of us that shoot low light situations.

[buckmastertexas]

Real nice pic. What is the original resolution in megapixels?

[Casey]

Real nice pic. What is the original resolution in megapixels?

22.3 megapixels. This photo was not cropped.