functional ISO

[pete22230]

I have a 30D and I find that my "functional" ISO maxes out at around 400 and sometimes even less depending on the shot / subject. I'd love to (plan to) move up to a current generation body but am a bit confused regarding the "functional" ISO capabilities. I know the current cameras have incredibly high ISO capabilities but how high can they truly be routinely used in ambient and low ambient light before grain becomes an issue. Since all my lenses are full frame I'd love to go the 5DIII route ($$$$) but might also consider a 7D (mkII ?). Love to hear any opinions on capability vs. reality. Cheers

 

[Chris Geiger]

With the 5D3 I am really happy with ISO 6400 and can use 12,800 for some images. Here are some examples at 6400...

 

[x1n30]

With my 60D I find that as much as possible I prefer to stay below 800, though 1600 and maybe even 3200 would probably be useable for web (though DR at 3200 isn't too pretty). 6400 and 12800 are pretty much just for messing around and emergencies.

 

[SteenerMe]

7D is only gonna get you to the 800iso range. Seeing you have the lenses a 5D is prob the way to go. Newer the version the better.

 

[Waterdonkey]

5D III without a doubt. I moved from the 30D to the 7D and was blown away with the detail but the noise was something to deal with and I guess that is what you are grappling with when you say "functional" ISO. Now I have the 5Dm III and, well look, you can shoot well into 3200 iso and not have to edit too much to clean the little things.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I have a 30D and I find that my "functional" ISO maxes out at around 400 and sometimes even less depending on the shot / subject. I'd love to (plan to) move up to a current generation body but am a bit confused regarding the "functional" ISO capabilities. I know the current cameras have incredibly high ISO capabilities but how high can they truly be routinely used in ambient and low ambient light before grain becomes an issue. Since all my lenses are full frame I'd love to go the 5DIII route ($$$$) but might also consider a 7D (mkII ?). Love to hear any opinions on capability vs. reality. Cheers

Are you shooting RAW or JPEG?? Older cameras had really limited processors in them, so jpeg images were not all that good at higher ISO settings. Using RAW and LR 4 should let you use the camera at ISO 1600. Thats one problem with using jpeg, future software improvements do not help old images.

Back when I bought my 30D, I was using jpeg, and images at ISO 800 were good, and optimizing the ISO 1600 images in LR4 helped them out a lot. Not as good as raw, but will print very nicely.

Sometimes sensors do seem to get noise at high ISO's as they age, that might be what you are seeing.

I've owned the DCS 640, D30, 10D, 20D, 30D, 40D, 7D, 5D, 5D MK II, 5D MK III, 1D MK II, 1D MK III, and 1D MK IV. So I've watched ISO capabilities improve over the past 17 years. The jump to full frame and use of RAW will give the biggest improvement over buying a new crop camera.

All sensors produce noise, and need to have NR applied at ISO's above base ISO, so its a matter of how much detail remains after you apply NR.

If you turn off NR completely, even the 5D MK III will show some noise at ISO 800.

Here are some images I took earlier this year that vary from ISO 3200 to ISO 12800. Sensors are good, and so are the newer RAW converters.

5D MK II ISO 3200

5D MK II ISO 6400

1D MK IV ISO 12800

D800 ISO 12800 (ton of NR, but lots of detail left)

 

[kirispupis]

I am quite impressed with the 5D3 for high ISO. I find that images are very usable up to ISO 12,800. For social media images at ISO 25,600 may be usable. With my 5D2 I was comfortable up to ISO 3200, while with my 7D it was ISO 400.


Pileated Woodpecker (ISO 12800) by CalevPhoto, on Flickr


Mr. Snail (ISO 12800) by CalevPhoto, on Flickr


Berry (ISO 6400) by CalevPhoto, on Flickr


The Journey Begins (ISO 25600) by CalevPhoto, on Flickr

 

[atvinyard]

Zuma!

Go full frame, because you'll love it. My 5D classic is better at ISO 1600 than my T2i, and it's much older technology. T2i is about on par with the 7D noise wise. I wouldn't suggest a 5D classic if you can afford a Mark II or Mark III, I just wanted to illustrate the point. If you want great ISO noise performance, go with a full frame sensor.

 

[Kernuak]

Everyone has different tolerance when it comes to noise, plus it also varies from image to image whether it is a problem or not. For me, on my first DSLR, the 400D, ISO 400 was my limit, that increased to ISO 800 on the 40D. Once I got the 7D, I was happy to go up to ISO 1600, which is also what I tend to stick to on my 5D MkII. However, the 5D MkII is definitely cleaner and more recently I have been pushing it higher, but I haven't really settled on a limit yet. For me, noise itself isn't the issue, it's more a case of how much detail is lost due to the noise and that is why I'm still investigating my limit on the 5D MkII, because my images at ISO 6400 are softer than those at ISO 1600, but I'm not yet sure if it is due to a lowish shutter speed, because each time I've gone that high, the shutterspeed has been marginal still.
Perhaps as a more meaningful guide, I have quite a few images on Alamy, who are notoriously picky at image quality (more so than whether the image is actually marketable or interesting or even a good composition). I have successfully sent images from the 40D at ISO 800 and the 7D and 5D MkII at ISO 1600 and that also includes macro images where detail is key.

 

[pete22230]

Thanks everyone;
Seems to a definite bias towards the 5DIII which is the way I was originally thinking. I currently shoot 100% RAW just to get rid of the picture clutter - only generate jpegs for clients / printing purposes but even then find I too often run into issues (might be some operator issues here - LOL). Anyhow seems like a lot of you are pretty comfortable around the 3200 mark. That 4-5 stop improvement would be absolutely huge doing indoor stuff. Now does anyone have a 5DIII that will fit my non-existent budget. Thanks Pete

 

[Dylan777]

I have no problem with ISO6400 to 12800 on my 5D III.

on 60D, useable ISO is 800.

 

[wickidwombat]

same as others 6400 to 12800 iso with fast glass in next to no light is pretty good on the mk3
the mk2 i would try to stick to 3200 and 6400 at a pinch
the 1Dmk3 3200 was my limit