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D3 ISO range
- Thread starter gjames52
- Start date
While many D3s will sold to a broad range of photographers, the real target market is news and sports shooters. It will make a great deal of difference in the lives many of us lead. Whether cheaply lit gyms or dimly lit rural high-school football fields, the added sensitivity will make a huge difference in quality of content and quality of images.
ISO6400 in the shots I have seen with pre-release cameras are as close to noise free as ISO200 on my D200. Noise is visible at ISO12,800, but the images are very usable. ISO25,600 is pretty much for emergencies, where overwhelmingly significant content renders the image quality unimportant.
In actual terms, the best I could do years back, was 1/125th of a second, pushing Tri-X to ISO800. A lot of good shots were lost to blur. At ISO6400 I would have been able to use 1/1000th of a second which would have been more than adequate. Using an f-4.0 200m lens, I could have stopped down to f-5.6 and gone with 1/500th which would have been ideal.
It has a mode where one can set the shutter speed and aperture and let the ISO float. Covering sports in the daytime, often part of the field is in the shadow of the stadium, making a four to five stop difference compared to the sunlit parts of the field. One would set the shutter and aperture to the ideal setting for ISO200. When the athletes run from sun to shade, the ideal setting is not changed, but the ISO rises to provide perfect exposure in the shade as well. With such a broad range of usable ISO settings, this will truly revolutionize sports shooting.
A 12MP resolution is adequate for any publication. No problem whatever to print a two page spread in a standard size newspaper or magazine. I expect that this is the optimum size for a 36x24mm sensor. Instead of continuing in the megapixel race, Nikon wisely chose to go for ultimate image quality.
There are rumors that the about to be released Canon 1Ds MkIII requires either full time or nearly full time noise reduction with its 21MP, causing detail to be smeared, giving a somewhat "plastic" look to the shots. The D3 has NO noise reduction at all on the sensor. The D3 has caused a great deal of excitement and discussion world-wide, while there seems to be little interest in the MKIII in the Canon c&. I am trying to convince myself that it would not be foolish to spend $6,000 Cdn for a camera body!
ISO6400 in the shots I have seen with pre-release cameras are as close to noise free as ISO200 on my D200. Noise is visible at ISO12,800, but the images are very usable. ISO25,600 is pretty much for emergencies, where overwhelmingly significant content renders the image quality unimportant.
In actual terms, the best I could do years back, was 1/125th of a second, pushing Tri-X to ISO800. A lot of good shots were lost to blur. At ISO6400 I would have been able to use 1/1000th of a second which would have been more than adequate. Using an f-4.0 200m lens, I could have stopped down to f-5.6 and gone with 1/500th which would have been ideal.
It has a mode where one can set the shutter speed and aperture and let the ISO float. Covering sports in the daytime, often part of the field is in the shadow of the stadium, making a four to five stop difference compared to the sunlit parts of the field. One would set the shutter and aperture to the ideal setting for ISO200. When the athletes run from sun to shade, the ideal setting is not changed, but the ISO rises to provide perfect exposure in the shade as well. With such a broad range of usable ISO settings, this will truly revolutionize sports shooting.
A 12MP resolution is adequate for any publication. No problem whatever to print a two page spread in a standard size newspaper or magazine. I expect that this is the optimum size for a 36x24mm sensor. Instead of continuing in the megapixel race, Nikon wisely chose to go for ultimate image quality.
There are rumors that the about to be released Canon 1Ds MkIII requires either full time or nearly full time noise reduction with its 21MP, causing detail to be smeared, giving a somewhat "plastic" look to the shots. The D3 has NO noise reduction at all on the sensor. The D3 has caused a great deal of excitement and discussion world-wide, while there seems to be little interest in the MKIII in the Canon c&. I am trying to convince myself that it would not be foolish to spend $6,000 Cdn for a camera body!
BTW the D300 offers the same ISO range.
Per the following from B & H "Some of the niftier features found in the Nikon D300 include Live View with 10x zoom capability, a 51-point AF system, an ISO range of 200 to 6400 (expandable down to 100 and up to 25,600),"
Regards:
Gilbert
Per the following from B & H "Some of the niftier features found in the Nikon D300 include Live View with 10x zoom capability, a 51-point AF system, an ISO range of 200 to 6400 (expandable down to 100 and up to 25,600),"
Regards:
Gilbert
By the subject matter and shooting conditions. This would be most useful when covering any field sports in day time where angle and lighting conditions vary greatly over the view of the field you will be covering. Realize that lighting conditions may change considerably over the course of the game as the sun produces an ever-changing shadow, so you may have to change shooting position from time to time to compensate. It is a good idea in most cases to avoid backlighting. If the game begins at 4:00pm, avoid shooting from the east side of the field.
Assuming the lens is at its sharpest at f-8.0, with the camera set to ISO200, try a shot pointed at the brightest subject you will be shooting - on aperture priority - and note the shutter speed. Do another couple of test shots to make sure you are not over-exposing or that the shutter speed is too slow.
Covering most field sports, a shutter speed between 1/500th and 1/1000 is adequate, but more is fine too. If you can not get 1/500th then open the aperture until you achieve it.
Go to full manual, and set this combination of settings, along with auto ISO. Do a few more test shots to check results around the stadium to confirm and preview. What is most important is the quality you get in shadowed or backlit areas. With a range of ISO200-6400, there should be no problem staying within that range on even the most most high contrast day. However check what ISO is set by the camera in the deepest shadow area into which you will be shooting, and make adjustments to shutter speed or aperture accordingly.
Adjust your shooting position if needed, test again and when satisfied, reformat your cards ready to go. After covering a few games, you will learn approximate settings, so little testing will be needed, and just using the read-out in the viewfinder may be adequate.
Assuming the lens is at its sharpest at f-8.0, with the camera set to ISO200, try a shot pointed at the brightest subject you will be shooting - on aperture priority - and note the shutter speed. Do another couple of test shots to make sure you are not over-exposing or that the shutter speed is too slow.
Covering most field sports, a shutter speed between 1/500th and 1/1000 is adequate, but more is fine too. If you can not get 1/500th then open the aperture until you achieve it.
Go to full manual, and set this combination of settings, along with auto ISO. Do a few more test shots to check results around the stadium to confirm and preview. What is most important is the quality you get in shadowed or backlit areas. With a range of ISO200-6400, there should be no problem staying within that range on even the most most high contrast day. However check what ISO is set by the camera in the deepest shadow area into which you will be shooting, and make adjustments to shutter speed or aperture accordingly.
Adjust your shooting position if needed, test again and when satisfied, reformat your cards ready to go. After covering a few games, you will learn approximate settings, so little testing will be needed, and just using the read-out in the viewfinder may be adequate.
> Ansel Adams' "zone system" for "the perfecrt negative" goes back to the 1930's, and few realize how easy it is to apply in digital photography where in Photoshop we dispose of adjustments of brightness, contrast, of a photoelectric exposure measurement in the info panel, of lightness/shadow, etc. Adams divides light and shade into ten zones, zone 0 is black (R G B = 0 0 0), zone IX is white (R G B = 255 255 255), zone V being the middle (R G B = 127 127 127), zone VI being skin, etc. Making the perfect negative and getting the best exposure setting is as easy as falling off a log. Even though darkroom and film exposure methods are dead, people should think of using them in digital. Edwin M.
> I wonder what the quality would be like if the D3 or D300 was shot at > 25,600 ISO, under exposed by two stops and brought back up in PS? I do > the same with my D60 at it's highest ISO but I bring the brightness up > with a custom curve. It's usefull but I am also used to pushing Tri-X to > over 1600 ISO.
Ron
Ron