Getting high on ISO

Mike McCarty · 07-17-2010, 10:53 PM

When I did my photography with film I used to sweat when the film speed (ISO) got to 400. If I was lucky and everyone stood real still I might get a good shot off. When I got my Nikon D70 that number got bumped up to maybe 800 in really good conditions.

I took the following images off the web site http://www.dpreview.com/ they were taken with a Nikon D700 that was introduced back in '08.

The relief was taken at ISO 6400, the fruit at ISO 25600.

How much easier would natural light photography be with this kind of equipment?

Today this camera cost $2,398.99 (body only) at B&H photo on the web. Not a cheap camera. However, there are some recently released cameras that can be had for under $1000, and these cameras will take really good quality photos at very high ISO's, relatively speaking. Like maybe the Canon EOS 550D, or the Nikon D5000.

But ISO 25600? This is like midnight in the garden.

Chris Saper · 07-24-2010, 09:45 PM

Ooh, thanks Mike! I'm picking up a lottery ticket tomorrow

Mike McCarty · 07-24-2010, 10:29 PM

Chris,

You're going to need more than one of those scratch-offs. Go for the Powerball.

I'm not sure how this will translate but I'll try ... All this taken from here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos550d/page22.asp

This first image was taken with the new EOS 550D from Canon. It was taken at ISO 100. This is a very large superb image. The third is a cropped image of that 100 ISO image. The second is cropped from a full image taken at ISO 12,800.

This Canon cost -- body only w/ 18-55 IS Kit lens: $899. The Nikon 5000 is similarly featured and priced.

The last image is a Peggy Baumgartner painting that has nothing to do with this discussion.

Mike McCarty · 07-24-2010, 10:37 PM

As I look at the images after posting the difference is obvious. However, this is an extreme ISO setting. I think if I took a shot of this set-up with my Nikon D70 at 1600 ISO it would look very similar to the degraded image. And well it should, I guess. The Canon 550D is an 18 MP camera and my D70 is six. All that horsepower and for hundreds of dollars less that I paid for my D70. And, it can make movies --1920 x 1080 (1080P, 16:9) @ 30/25/24 fps.

Mike McCarty · 07-25-2010, 05:59 PM

And here's a painting by Chris Saper that has nothing to do with this discussion.

Jean Kelly · 08-03-2010, 02:11 PM

Hi Mike,

I just got a Canon Rebel T2i (550D). So far I've attached the lens, charged the battery, put in the memory card, and spent 45 minutes attaching the strap (clumsy fingers). And now I am scared to death of the thing!!!

I think I set the date and time, now I'm ready to shoot. But wait a minute, I can't get rid of the screen that tells me I'm in full auto mode. Back to the book for me, what did I do wrong, did I break it already!!! Oh, maybe I should remove the lens cap. Be back with my saga later.

Jean

Mike McCarty · 08-03-2010, 02:44 PM

Jean,

Better get yourself another hard drive. Over the years I have had hundreds of sessions with my Nikon D70. Most of these sessions entail at least a hundred images. All these taken at the "large," "fine" file size. I can imagine that multiplying that file size by three might begin to burden my slightly antiquated IBM 360 computer that I rescued from a dumpster back in the late seventies. I used to call it HAL, but the H fell off so now I call it Agripina.

I'm envious. I'll get me a new camera some day. Then I'll be a great portrait painter!

And here's a painting by Jean Kelly that has nothing to do with this discussion.

Jean Kelly · 08-04-2010, 11:33 AM

I've already got the hard drive

. Now it's just learning a new system, finally figured out how to see pics on the screen instead of Just the menu........you push the right button duh. Now I've actually taken a whopping 4 pictures in full auto of course. Realized real quick that I'm going to need a much larger memory card. And, I'll need something to put this in. There are a lot more pieces and parts, and the lens doesn't zoom back into the camera like my little Nikon did. So, the learning curve will be slow on this one. The book is going to get really ragged before I even take a 100 pictures so maybe I should order a new book right away. I wonder if this will really make me a better artist???? Think I'll need a little trailer to pull behind me. It wasn't this heavy in the store. Do they make camera carry-alls??

Sounds like I'm complaining but I'm really not, just having some fun with myself and my own inadequacies.

Why oh why Mike, did you choose the one piece of work that I photographed so badly! She is so elongated that her head is like a watermelon.

I'll have to go back and re-photograph with my new camera, if I ever learn enough to photograph my paintings again.

Thank god I don't have a cell phone! Pics of my first portrait in a year will be coming soon. The arm is working better, so I finally got up the guts to try something other that landscapes and abstracts.

Jean