What do you considering the upper limit for ISO?

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:25:17 -0700 (PDT), RichA
wrote:

I shoot a D300. IMO, beyond 800 ISO I have trouble accepting the
images as really good. I'm talking about non-noise reduced raw
images. Sometimes, it's possible to use NR and not make the picture
look like crap, but the leeway is narrow.

What is your evaluation criteria? Viewing 1:1, printing at what ppi?

I shoot high iso with a D200 and D300 all the time. The 300 is a fair
bit better than the 200, but I shoot a lot using auto-iso set to top
out at iso1600. I don't know what noise reduction algorithms you are
using but I can say from experience that Neat Image PS plugin and the
Nosie Ninja basic version build into Biblle do a good job and have a
fair bit of leeway in their use.

http://edwardgruf.com/2009-10-31_am/.../_DSC6634.html
Here's an iso1600 shot thaken yesterday moring processed with a simple
single noise reduction setting in Bibble. As someone else mentioned it
is different from shot to shot, but it's not that hard to get good
results on most shots.

It depends on the shot. With my 30D I consider ISO 800 good enough for anything,
in some cases using Noise Ninja, carefully.

If you are doing a night shot with only a few areas of high brightness, and lots of
dark where just want "Zone 1" or "Zone 2" brightness, and would like
to emphasize the dark original setting, the equivalent of ISO 12800 is quite
artistically OK.

Doug McDonald

On Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:42:53 -0500, me wrote:

On Wed, 21 Oct 2009 20:25:17 -0700 (PDT), RichA
wrote:

I shoot a D300. IMO, beyond 800 ISO I have trouble accepting the
images as really good. I'm talking about non-noise reduced raw
images. Sometimes, it's possible to use NR and not make the picture
look like crap, but the leeway is narrow.

What is your evaluation criteria? Viewing 1:1, printing at what ppi?

I shoot high iso with a D200 and D300 all the time. The 300 is a fair
bit better than the 200, but I shoot a lot using auto-iso set to top
out at iso1600. I don't know what noise reduction algorithms you are
using but I can say from experience that Neat Image PS plugin and the
Nosie Ninja basic version build into Biblle do a good job and have a
fair bit of leeway in their use.

http://edwardgruf.com/2009-10-31_am/.../_DSC6634.html
Here's an iso1600 shot thaken yesterday moring processed with a simple
single noise reduction setting in Bibble. As someone else mentioned it
is different from shot to shot, but it's not that hard to get good
results on most shots.

Likewise for all ISO400 to ISO800 shots on P&S cameras. I keep my P&S
cameras set to a default of ISO200 or ISO400 because the sensors in these
particular cameras are exceptionally clean. Noise levels in sensors vary
from camera to camera of the same model number due to subtle manufacturing
differences from silicon wafer to wafer and also during the process of
laying down the circuitry and other layers. Just as all pros sample quite a
few lenses to find and be happy with one, all pros that use P&S cameras
sample a few of the same model camera before they are happy with the sensor
that was installed within it. Noise levels also vary greatly depending on
ambient temperatures, something that few seem to remember. When shooting
winter scenes I can use up to ISO1600 with little to no noise.

I think it would be interesting if car sales were all based on the test
results of a lemon that the road-testers happened to get.

Further proof of manufacturing differences in circuitry from camera to
camera of the same brand and model number:

One of them that I use for videos even has exceptionally clean audio
circuitry in it, when compared against dozens of the same model number
where audiophiles reported a slight low-frequency noise being recorded in a
completely quiet room. Confirmed when I uploaded a similarly recorded audio
sample from my own camera of the same model for them to compare. They were
astounded that the audio side of this particular one that I own was so
exceptionally clean compared to theirs. Luck of the draw this time. I
wasn't aware of this slight problem before purchase. Nearly studio-quality
44kHz stereo audio recording contained in a P&S camera. Quite the nice
thing to carry for an advanced nature photographer where recording animal
and other nature sounds are an important part of the required documentation
process. (You should hear this frog I found in the tropics one time. It has
7 different calls, repeated at random. I never heard anything like it
before in any amphibian species. I daresay nobody else has either. Like
some songbirds that vary their songs. I was quite astounded and realized
this needed to be recorded. Luckily it is now documented, all thanks to a
P&S camera and an experienced pro that happened to be in the right place at
the right time.)

For the casual buyer the quality of the electronics in their camera is a
luck of the draw. For the pro it amounts to buying habits based on years of
experience and testing things for yourself. I can easily keep ISO200 or
ISO400 as defaults on all my P&S cameras without a concern. Considering
that I've religiously used ASA25 and ASA64 films all my life on all manner
of subjects, I find zero drawbacks at those ISO speeds. They are more than
enough for any experienced photographer. With the advanced noise-removal
software available, when used properly with experience (like any tool
should be used), ISO1600 under most circumstances is not even a concern.