Tom Kielick
Gamechanger! ISO 12,800
I loved my Nikon D300s cameras but felt I was missing out on the low light/high ISO performance of more modern sensors. My D300s bodies delivered OK results at ISO 1600 but ISO 3200 images were noisy with terribly mottled colors; basically unusable by most any standard. Last fall I finally gave in and upgraded to a (used) Nikon D500. I'm glad I did.
Recently I did an impromptu, unscientific test in the warmth of my family room. shooting our hearth area handheld at a variety of ISO settings, starting at ISO 3200 and working my way up to ISO 25,600. I shot in RAW and processed each capture in camera, setting contrast and balance etc. until I got a pleasing image and saved as JPEG.
I used my favorite walk around lens for this camera, the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM zoom. Take a look and marvel as I did at the benefits of "new" technology; I sure did. ISO 12,800 is starting to look just a bit soft and contrast is building and shadow detail is being lost but still pretty useful for most subjects. What do you think?
One more image to be posted: ISO 25,600!
Gamechanger! ISO 12,800
I loved my Nikon D300s cameras but felt I was missing out on the low light/high ISO performance of more modern sensors. My D300s bodies delivered OK results at ISO 1600 but ISO 3200 images were noisy with terribly mottled colors; basically unusable by most any standard. Last fall I finally gave in and upgraded to a (used) Nikon D500. I'm glad I did.
Recently I did an impromptu, unscientific test in the warmth of my family room. shooting our hearth area handheld at a variety of ISO settings, starting at ISO 3200 and working my way up to ISO 25,600. I shot in RAW and processed each capture in camera, setting contrast and balance etc. until I got a pleasing image and saved as JPEG.
I used my favorite walk around lens for this camera, the Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM zoom. Take a look and marvel as I did at the benefits of "new" technology; I sure did. ISO 12,800 is starting to look just a bit soft and contrast is building and shadow detail is being lost but still pretty useful for most subjects. What do you think?
One more image to be posted: ISO 25,600!