High ISO weekend - aim to get "usable images".

Phil Young

Phil Young

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After some inspiration from another thread I am making it my mission this weekend to shoot some high ISO shots (12800-25600) and I want to get them as close to a 800-1600 "look" as possible.

I'll post images and where I can will also include the same image in a lower ISO to add to the challenge :)

What's the point? Well, It challenges my shooting & editing skills and HOPEFULLY, I can demonstrate usable images from this weekend and inspire others to use higher ISO settings.

I'll try and grab a mixed bag of shots so it's not boring :)

If anyone wants to join in my ISO adventure please feel free to post your images too!

So to start with some earlier in the week and today;

Nothing.jpg

ISO 25600

retouched2.jpg

ISO25600 edited.

256001.JPG

ISO 25600 edited

1600.jpg

ISO 1600

High1.JPG

ISO 25600

low1.JPG

ISO 1600
 
One problem you will have is that posting images on web at <800pixels will hide the noise. If you can show texture and detail in shadows at 25600 well done!

Im still be wating for a d300 replacement, but may have to accept one isnt coming and get a d7100 when it comes out....
 
Rapscallion said:
One problem you will have is that posting images on web at <800pixels will hide the noise.....
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I always post 2.. the original and a 100% crop at 800px

however I dont see the point of high iso tests in enviroments that dont require high iso..
 
Seems a bit weird you're going about this in this way.

You are going out to find conditions where iso of that level is needed, rather than upping your Iso because you found yourself in conditions where it is needed.

There are plenty of examples out there on the web where people have got usable images at these iso's in real conditions so I'm really a little confused about what you are trying to achieve?
 
Phil is just obsessed with noise :D

You should state that these images [that others may add] should be sharp. Anyone can shoot at ISO 25k and smudge the **** out of it in lightroom by banging luminance nr up over 50.

I always say, I would much prefer a sharp, but noisy image,over a clean but overly smoothened/smudgey one.
 
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joescrivens said:
Seems a bit weird you're going about this in this way.

You are going out to find conditions where iso of that level is needed, rather than upping your Iso because you found yourself in conditions where it is needed.

There are plenty of examples out there on the web where people have got usable images at these iso's in real conditions so I'm really a little confused about what you are trying to achieve?
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Its just a challenge to myself Joe.

The real answer to your question is "why not?"
 
Phil Young said:
Its just a challenge to myself Joe.

The real answer to your question is "why not?"
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what is the actual challenege though? We all know that todays sensors can handle noise up to that level so where is the actual challenge part?

not saying you shouldn't do it if it floats your boat, just unsure of what you are hoping to achieve?
 
Lol all this racket jeeeeez.

I just want to see how much I can polish up an image exposed at high ISOs like 25600.

The point after editing and posting I'll conclude weather that high an ISO is usable or not for me personally.

I'll post so others can see too.

There's no harm in knowing what can be achieved "if you have to" shoot that high - the shots above are pretty impressive but that's not enough for me, I want to get lots of shots to conclude if my highest ISO is usable in all different lighting situations and subjects etc.

No need to beat me up yet chaps just give me some time to post some images please and then we can discuss from there :)
 
I'll give the D800 a go later, I haven't really tried it's higher settings.

But, what conditions should we be shooting? Anything? I think you should shoot scenes with a lot of high light, midtones and shadow, if you only shoot well lit scenes it's pointless.
 
Phil Young said:
Lol all this racket jeeeeez.

I just want to see how much I can polish up an image exposed at high ISOs like 25600.
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Why, you could probably have shot those images at ISO 400, its like me shooting ISO 102,000 on a bright sunny day just because i can, totally and utterly pointless exersize.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Why, you could probably have shot those images at ISO 400, its like me shooting ISO 102,000 on a bright sunny day just because i can, totally and utterly pointless exersize.
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Gary. Yes I could. I'm curious to see what I can achieve and will post results for others that may be curious too. That's the bottom line. You don't have to follow, comment or do it yourself...

Its just a little challenge.

Just because I don't need to doesn't mean I shouldn't be prepared for when I do :)
 
Cagey75 said:
I'll give the D800 a go later, I haven't really tried it's higher settings.

But, what conditions should we be shooting? Anything? I think you should shoot scenes with a lot of high light, midtones and shadow, if you only shoot well lit scenes it's pointless.
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I'll report back with some shots late tonight if not tomorrow. I'll try to give myself a real test of different conditions :)
 
Phil Young said:
There's no harm in knowing what can be achieved "if you have to" shoot that high - the shots above are pretty impressive but that's not enough for me, I want to get lots of shots to conclude if my highest ISO is usable in all different lighting situations and subjects etc.
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honestly don't mean to beat you up (i couldn't anyway, i'm weak and feeble :LOL:) but it's this part that I dont get.

we already know what can be acheived, the results are already out there. Thats the part im wondering about?
 
joescrivens said:
honestly don't mean to beat you up (i couldn't anyway, i'm weak and feeble :LOL:) but it's this part that I dont get.

we already know what can be acheived, the results are already out there. Thats the part im wondering about?
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Fair enough...pointless exercise.

I'll archive thread when in front of PC.
 
He's just having fun... leave the poor lad alone lol!

Although I do feel the subjects aren't going to excite many people as they are unlikely to be taking pics of these things at high ISO's.

How about doing one of a person / model? I shoot at high ISO's in dark churches and venues where I can't use flash... would be interested to see how someone else manages to cope with the noise of a shooting a person at high ISO and then trying to remove the noise and keep the subjects features sharp
 
Phil Young said:
Fair enough...pointless exercise.

I'll archive thread when in front of PC.
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don't get me wrong, i'm not knocking your want to try stuff, it's just that what usually happens is when a new body comes out with a new sensor etc people do all this kind of stuff to really test the camera and see the results. Doing it when your camera has been out for so long for the sake of it (and when the results are out there for all to see) just seems a little .... strange, thats all :shrug:

but maybe what you could do is find an angle that hasn't been covered, then it would become something that could be really interesting?
 
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because he can, because he wants to, because it tests his own skill at processing and because its a self satisfaction excersise that allows him to share information with others. he may just 'discover' something that no one else has thought of / expereience.

What was the point of putting a man on the moon, we all knew it was made of cream cheese.

Good luck and lets see what the results are....
 
ajax_andy said:
He's just having fun... leave the poor lad alone lol!

Although I do feel the subjects aren't going to excite many people as they are unlikely to be taking pics of these things at high ISO's.

How about doing one of a person / model? I shoot at high ISO's in dark churches and venues where I can't use flash... would be interested to see how someone else manages to cope with the noise of a shooting a person at high ISO and then trying to remove the noise and keep the subjects features sharp
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Lol that's what I'm trying to do!!!!!

I just had those images from the other night at home.

I aim to post more diverse subjects.
 
joescrivens said:
honestly don't mean to beat you up (i couldn't anyway, i'm weak and feeble :LOL:) but it's this part that I dont get.

we already know what can be acheived, the results are already out there. Thats the part im wondering about?
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While on a photography course i was given an exercise to shoot the same shot at varying apertures. Now im sure the results of varying using different apertures are all over the web, but doing the exercise yourself adds to your own learning.

IMHO!
 
gpc1 said:
because he can, because he wants to, because it tests his own skill at processing and because its a self satisfaction excersise that allows him to share information with others. he may just 'discover' something that no one else has thought of / expereience.

What was the point of putting a man on the moon, we all knew it was made of cream cheese.

Good luck and lets see what the results are....
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Thanks :)
 
gpc1 said:
What was the point of putting a man on the moon, we all knew it was made of cream cheese.
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it would be more like saying, whats the point putting another man on the moon to look at the same thing we already did the first time - it would be better putting them on mars instead to see whats different
 
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Rapscallion said:
While on a photography course i was given an exercise to shoot the same shot at varying apertures. Now im sure the results of varying using different apertures are all over the web, but doing the exercise yourself adds to your own learning.

IMHO!
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right, but the difference is, you didn't make an announcement to the community saying you were going to do it like it was going to show us something we didn't know. I guess thats what I am getting at.

anyway, no point flogging dead horse. Enjoy yourself Phil! Good luck with your findings
 
but mars isnt made of cream cheese, we all know its toffee!!!:wacky::D
 
KIPAX said:
Small petite blondes here...but each to his own :)
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One particular tall (5'9") leggy blonde for me - fortunately, I'm married to her and she's the best wife in the world!

Do these high ISO shots have to be new or can we look in our Flickr streams to see what we've already got? Point slightly moot now, anyway - not got any seriously high ISO shots on Flickr anyway - iso 1600 or 3200 is the highest I've put in there. Will do a 6400 and a 12800 and maybe higher when it's dark enough, then crop down to 800px square to show noise or lack thereof from the D700 straight from camera. I do have NR software but quite simply have never needed it with the 700.
 
Nod said:
One particular tall (5'9") leggy blonde for me - fortunately, I'm married to her and she's the best wife in the world!

Do these high ISO shots have to be new or can we look in our Flickr streams to see what we've already got? Point slightly moot now, anyway - not got any seriously high ISO shots on Flickr anyway - iso 1600 or 3200 is the highest I've put in there. Will do a 6400 and a 12800 and maybe higher when it's dark enough, then crop down to 800px square to show noise or lack thereof from the D700 straight from camera. I do have NR software but quite simply have never needed it with the 700.
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I'm not looking for just high ISO shots.

I'm trying to make a high ISO shot pass off as something 3-4 stops less (in terms of IQ). That's the real challenge that I'm opposing into myself :)
 
Phil Young said:
Lol all this skepticism.

Wait and see ;)

I'm taking requests too lol
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Skeptical about what - I'm just wondering if you intend to shoot in light that warrants high iso or just shooting at high iso for the sake of it.
 
TBH, I can't be bothered doing the PP you require. Besides, not got the required software on this machine.:(

TBH, I don't see the point of this exercise now, unless you're trying to push a particular NR method/programme.:thinking:

I could see the point of straight from camera shots but ones that have been PPed? They'll just show the NR software skills of the PPer IMO!:)
 
POAH said:
Skeptical about what - I'm just wondering if you intend to shoot in light that warrants high iso or just shooting at high iso for the sake of it.
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Ok sorry if I misinterpreted.

So tonight I have my 18-200 and intend to just go out and shoot stuff. I am not looking to make a good shot look good, my son is to search out those HDR scenes and shadows etc.

I'm meeting a mate who is very dark skinned so will take some portraits too.

I'm sure we'll have much discussion tomorrow when I can post some stuff.
 
Nod said:
TBH, I can't be bothered doing the PP you require. Besides, not got the required software on this machine.:(

TBH, I don't see the point of this exercise now, unless you're trying to push a particular NR method/programme.:thinking:

I could see the point of straight from camera shots but ones that have been PPed? They'll just show the NR software skills of the PPer IMO!:)
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Partly.

You can't make a crap shot good so it has to be technically well exposed etc at this high.

But my aim (and I've been quite forthcoming with this) isn't to demonstrate the power of the camera sensor but to show what can be achieved if care is taken and time is put in.

I've never said anything about the camera - I just want to know what I (stressed the "I") can achieve if I need to shoot this high.

What do I expect?

Results to either get the response of "wow I can't believe that's actually 25600" or from me: "ok guys, this ISO really isn't usable".

Anyway I just want to pass off a 25600 shot off as a 1600 shot without raising suspicion.....possibly should have opened the thread as "what do you think the ISO is" but I think (hope) I can prove to myself and demonstrate to others that if you are good at judging the sensor and light combined with having decent pp skills, any ISO on camera could potentially be useable if needed ...well that's my "hypothesis" anyway :)
 
Well, I know that shots at up to 3200 are perfectly useable SOOC from my D700, although I don't often go that high.:) I could probably go higher but (as I said), I don't have the relevant NR software on this (my main PP) Machine.:crying: What FREE software would you recommend? Since it'll hardly ever get used, I'm not going to spend any money on it!:p

I always shoot in biggest size and highest possible quality JPEG (raw takes too much time in PP and ICBA!) and almost always in P mode, often with exposure compensation if needed. FWIW, ISO 12800 is just about useable on my Fuji HS30 with no PP but you wouldn't want to hang the results on the wall!:LOL: I've taken test shots at the highest settings on my D700 and was impressed but didn't keep any since they were of no artistic merit and were purely test shots.:D If I wake at 4am again tomorrow morning, I might take a couple of shots at high ISO again but not having the software available means the shots will be no good for the thread anyway.;)
 
Nod said:
Well, I know that shots at up to 3200 are perfectly useable SOOC from my D700, although I don't often go that high.:) I could probably go higher but (as I said), I don't have the relevant NR software on this (my main PP) Machine.:crying: What FREE software would you recommend? Since it'll hardly ever get used, I'm not going to spend any money on it!:p

I always shoot in biggest size and highest possible quality JPEG (raw takes too much time in PP and ICBA!) and almost always in P mode, often with exposure compensation if needed. FWIW, ISO 12800 is just about useable on my Fuji HS30 with no PP but you wouldn't want to hang the results on the wall!:LOL: I've taken test shots at the highest settings on my D700 and was impressed but didn't keep any since they were of no artistic merit and were purely test shots.:D If I wake at 4am again tomorrow morning, I might take a couple of shots at high ISO again but not having the software available means the shots will be no good for the thread anyway.;)
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Sounds like a question for a new thread ;)

Try pixler.com (I think that's right). Its a website based on photoshop.
 
Being very lazy, I would prefer a completely stand alone programme! I would be happy sliding sliders to alter parameters but importing to PSE then going through the mouse clicks to find and use plug-ins holds zero appeal for me! :)
 
Phil, do us all a favour and go to your local dark church tomorrow and sit at the back and shoot the vicar doing his sermon (maybe there is a wedding on, even better), make sure you don't use flash and make sure there is no movement in their bodily action so you 'freeze' them

Make sure it is a dark church.
 
tiler65 said:
Phil, do us all a favour and go to your local dark church tomorrow and sit at the back and shoot the vicar doing his sermon (maybe there is a wedding on, even better), make sure you don't use flash and make sure there is no movement in their bodily action so you 'freeze' them

Make sure it is a dark church.
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Requests that don't make me look a bit strange.

I see where you're going but it's not realistically going to happen...
 
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