[tabl10s]

I rarely shoot higher than ISO 80. Am I limiting myself? The new offering would be great if it had ISO increments down to 25(if Kodak could do it...).

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Last edited by tabl10s; 07-29-2013 at 09:21 AM.

[JinDesu]

Higher than ISO what?

I regularly shoot ISO 3200 on my k-x, and sometimes ISO 6400. When cleaned up, I know that my ISO 6400 is good enough for 1024x768 images on the web. When recently got my k-01, I found that I could do the same up to ISO 12,800.

The nice thing about Pentax's noise (on the k-x and k-01/k-5/k-30/k-5II/k-50/k-500) is that the noise is mostly luminance noise and very little colour noise. Also, the colour accuracy is kept pretty good when lifting shadows. It just seems more pleasing to the eye.

[jpzk]

Wow !

I use TAv all the time when going out for "nature" stuff (birds, animals ...) and I very often shoot at ISO 1600 and more without any problem.
If you are using ISO 80 only, yes you are definitely missing on opportunities.

JP

[VoiceOfReason]

I use ISO 80 when outside in bright light, though I would love it to go lower.

[johnyates]

I rarely shoot higher than ISO 80. Am I limiting myself?

Yes, you are. Try using Av mode with auto ISO.

[Tanzer]

I think your question is, would there be any benefit to having a camera that supports lower than ISO 80.

This was discussed recently on another thread which I will try to find. As I understand it, the short answer is no, the native ISO of a sensor is what it is, at its base gain setting. Not sure if there is an inherent benefit to having a sensor that goes down to ISO 25, and just trying to lower the equivalent ISO sensitivity of an existing sensor is not possible or desirable. Rather, the real question is how much dynamic range does the sensor offer. To simulate lower ISO sensitivity, you can use an ND filter, which will retain your entire dynamic range.

I might have gotten some of the analysis wrong. But hopefully interpreted your original question correctly, at least.

[tabl10s]

I should clarify. I use TAv for sports(indoors)only and Hyper Program/Manual for everything else@ISO 80. I'm an old slide guy who rarely went passed ISO 64 in both Kodachrome and Ektachrome.

[IchabodCrane]

I should clarify. I use TAv for sports(indoors)only and Hyper Program/Manual for everything else@ISO 80. I'm an old slide guy who rarely went passed ISO 64 in both Kodachrome and Ektachrome.

Realistically, I think you can get four or more stops additional flexibility out of your camera by not limiting yourself to ISO 80. With the capabilities of today's sensors and processors, it's become more a question of how much one wants to blow up a print or crop an image that determines how high one can go on ISO.

[Tanzer]

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Higher ISO in film usually meant more grain. To put it another way, lower ISO in film usually meant less grain. There is no such advantage for digital sensors.

I think you want to use an ISO that is appropriate for the environment you are shooting in. So if the ambient conditions are dark/overcast, why limit yourself?

[dadipentak]

Am I limiting myself?

Yes.

I'm curious is: this something you do on principle or is it based on an objective evaluation of output?

[tabl10s]

Yes.

I'm curious is: this something you do on principle or is it based on an objective evaluation of output?

I'm thinking film instead of digital. I need to let go of the past.

[JerD]

Honestly, I have very little idea of what I'm doing. I'm new to photography (9/2012) and new to Pentax (4/2013 w/K30).
I do think I know enough to be scared of high ISO, but, I hardly ever leave TaV and try to keep my ISO less than 3200. With the two wheels for adjustment for shutter and aperture, I can easily make adjustments to keep my ISO in a comfortable range. Even at 3200, noise is not an issue until serious cropping occurs.
If I were to keep my ISO at 80, my camera would be married to a tripod and I would only be able to do landscapes on still days or sleeping babies.

[Aristophanes]

These new Sony sensors from the K-5 on have such low read noise up to ISO 1600 and almost no noticeable noise at 3200 that it is pointless to dial in less on TAv mode. You lose nothing discernible.

These new sensors really start at ISO 400 for normal shooting. You see that when shadow and highlight correction are applied in-camera.

We may even see sensors where there is no loss of IQ due to read out noise up to ISO 6400, which is what we see in the FF cameras right now. So between the minimum"base" ISO of 200 all the way up to 6400 we could see almost no signal loss. They are calling these sensors ISOless sensors for a reason. It's not quite right, but it mostly is in practice.

Run away from the past. Set TAv comfortably up to ISO 1600 and if you're not super-cropping or pixel peeping, up to 3200 and breathe easy.

TAv rules! It's the new super mode on a 2-dial camera.

[MSL]

I'm thinking film instead of digital. I need to let go of the past.

You're not the only one. I find it hard to shift away from ISO 100, and will only go up to 400 when I feel the need the extra speed or DOF. When I'm shooting snapshots for other people I'll happily use TAv and let the ISO roam. Probably what I need to do someday is set up a shot on the tripod and take it at a range of ISO and really see what I should be using as my lowest value for normal lighting shots.

[Fogel70]

I rarely shoot higher than ISO 80. Am I limiting myself? The new offering would be great if it had ISO increments down to 25(if Kodak could do it...).

If you shoot stationary subjects using tripod you can use multi-exposure to get most of the advantages as if using lower ISO.

Using ISO 80 with multi-exposure you get:
Equivalent of ISO 40 with two shots.
Equivalent of ISO 20 with four shots.
Equivalent of ISO 10 with eight shots.