Originally posted by garyk If those are at the ISO that everyone is saying I am impressed. Fine detail has been washed away but i at that ISO setting i am amazed.
They were indeed taken at 200 and 51200, once the Giants/Cowboys game was under control and I could divert my attention to playing with my new DA*55
For what it's worth, I believe there is actually more fine detail in the original 51200 file that could be brought out, likely at the expense of not removing as much noise. I think John did a great job so far balancing the removal of noise and retention of detail, although individuals might choose a different balance point depending on their preferences and what they intent to do with the image.
There's also a few settings in between 200 and 51200, and I think it's important to point out that 6400/12800 is probably the sweet spots for high-ISO shooting on the K5 if you want to do a minimal amount of NR and maintain as much detail as possible. Again, this is in the context of high ISO shooting, and no one is suggesting that there isn't a cost (in terms of noise, lost detail, colors, etc) associated with shooting in these ISO ranges.