[Not a Number]

My K10D only goes up to 1600 ISO. I try to keep it 640 ISO max because the images show noticeable noise at 400 or higher.

[jgnfld]

I tried to stay under 800 with my K-50 I owned a while back. With my K-70, 3200 is fine.

[richfam]

I'll use ISO 6400 on my K-70 without hesitation; the resulting image quality is fantastic (especially when compared to pushing film to ISO 6400, which I did a lot back in the film era). At ISO 12,800, however, image quality is markedly worse, and completely unacceptable to me, so ISO 6400 is my limit.

I don't think that color and high ISO mix well; high ISO shots seem to look a lot better when converted to black & white. The highest ISO I've used for color on the K-70 is 3200.

The image below was edited from a raw file with no noise reduction in post.

Pentax K-70
SMC Pentax DA 15mm f/4 Ltd
ISO 6400 | 1/350 sec, f/5.6

[reh321]

I know our dslrs can go incredibly high on the ISO and the numbers climb with each new model. But whats acceptible to one person often isnt to another. My best dslrs right now are k3 and even on them I really rarely shoot higher than Iso 1600 . Usually 800 or less. I may still have film mentality on my head... but thats what I do.

So please share the iso you mostly use and what kind gear- subject -conditions you shoot at. Im really interested in what you feel the highest useful iso is for the kind of photography you do.

Thanks,
Al

With film I shot at 200 max for color and 400 max for B&W.
With the K-30 I shot as high as 800.
With the KP I ran several test shots at 25600, and now shoot often TAv with a max of 12800, but I'll raise even that if I truly need it to capture the subject.

[UncleVanya]

Given that most of us shoot with sensors that are ISO Invariant I wonder if we put too much thought into this if we are shooting raw.

[ismaelg]

Given that most of us shoot with sensors that are ISO Invariant I wonder if we put too much thought into this if we are shooting raw.

What do you mean by ISO invariant?

[microlight]

I’ve never really seen the draw of ISO invariance. I did some indoor tripod tests with my K-3II some months back and compared the output, and saw negligible difference after post-processing.

No, there was one difference: in some of the invariant exposures, it was very difficult to see the subject! Not much use in the field.

[UncleVanya]

What do you mean by ISO invariant?

ISO Invariance Explained

---------- Post added 10-06-19 at 06:34 PM ----------

I’ve never really seen the draw of ISO invariance. I did some indoor tripod tests with my K-3II some months back and compared the output, and saw negligible difference after post-processing.

No, there was one difference: in some of the invariant exposures, it was very difficult to see the subject! Not much use in the field.

LOL - My point was that it isn't that important what ISO you shoot at - you can manipulate the exposure as though you shot it at a higher ISO by underexposing and then pushing in post. The real question is at what light level does the image capture start to fall apart. The lowest EV you like to shoot at is probably more informative about the camera and post processing chain than the overall ISO.

[tokyoscape]

Me too, Using a K3 and try not to go over 400, but 800 to 1600 if I have to. I saw a few test photo last week here. K3 with a few thousand ISO and it looks pretty good after de-noise in post, so I will try higher ISO next time.
I think on higher ISO setting, let's say above ISO 800, I shouldn't underexpose it too much and it will look OK after post process.

[Wingincamera]

With my KP I keep it below 3200 iso, but prefer to keep it below 2000. If shooting stationary objects/landscape then iso 100 is good since I am using a tripod and not concerned about shutter speed.

[ChristianRock]

On my current cameras, I always try to stay at ISO 100 if possible, that is why I prefer fast lenses. However if the light is low:

K-S1 and K-50 - with both I'll use 3200 but prefer to stay at 1600 and under.
K10D - I have no problem with using 800 if well exposed.

Previous cameras:
K-r - I also had no problem going up to ISO 3200 with it.
K20D - I never went past 640. The noise on that Samsung sensor was atrocious.

[bwgv001]

rather have a grainy, noisy picture than none at all. However, lowest possible under the conditions.

[ismaelg]

ISO Invariance Explained

Thanks for the link. I had an idea of the concept but was not aware of the name or the details.

Thanks,

[joergens.mi]

During daylight typically ISO 250 sometimes ISO 640.
Taking photos on concerts with low light situation. TAV ISO 6400 on the K1 and ISO 4000 on the K3 working on noise in the RAW Files and pushing up to 2 EV in ACR.

[dave_roe]

Normal shooting range from 200 to 400.

Night shots I will push the KI-MII to 12800, K3 to 6400 and the K5 to 6400