[iNVision ART]

For me, I'm normally on IS0 100 and a few times on 160 or 200 shooting during the day. When the sun is down, Im at ISO 800.

[kristoffon]

I only go below 200 shutter speeds above 4000 would be needed. Shooting ISO 100 limits the ability to adjust exposure and recover highlights. If on auto ISO, I use the range 200-800.

[Marc Sabatella]

You dont use flash, I presume?

Correct. In most of the settings where I shoot, it would be completely unacceptable etiquette-wise, plus it usually ruins whatever lighting effects are going on.

How are your images when it comes to noise at iso1600?

I'm satisfied with the results. I was already happy with the DS, and on upgrading to the K200D I find it does at least as well. It's noisier if you use the extra pixels (10MP versus 6MP) as an excuse to blow it up bigger, but when comparing images at the same size, they are quite comparable. And since the K200D starts off with more resolution, that gives me more leeway in terms of being able to apply heavy NR if I choose (although I rarely do). Since I'm starting off with more detail, I can afford to lose more through the NR process. So I can choose between not doing much NR and getting pictures that are more detailed than the DS and about the same in terms of noise, or else use more NR on the K200D and get pictures that are about the same in terms of detail as with the DS but noticeably cleaner.

I've posted various examples in other threads, but since I haven't done so in this thread, here's one in which I shot one full stop underexposed at ISO 1600 and pushed it in PP - yielding the equivalent of ISO 3200. I did only minimal NR - mostly trying to keep detail. Here's a link to a reasonably large resized (not cropped) version:

http://marcsabatella.zenfolio.com/img/v7/p548058206.jpg

By comparing it to whatever you're used to at that size, you should get a pretty good of how much noise there is. I think it's as good as I have any right to expect ISO 3200 to be. Especially since most of my shots are viewed on the web or printed relatively small. At the size I am posting below, you'd have a real hard time seeing any noise at all:

[Bart]

It all depends on the lighting conditions. Like Wheatfield, I generally use the lowest ISO that will allow me to get the shot...

Isn't that what auto ISO is about?

I set mine between 100 and 400 but of course, I keep an eye on the choise the camera is making in the viewfinder.
I have ISO set to the front dial (in AV) or the back dial (in Tv) so I can overrule at any point and go back to auto ISO with the green button.

All this on K10D.

[Kerrowdown]

I'm another ISO 1600 man, gig and music photography does not allow much else, I wish I could slow down a bit but I'm handholding in the near darkness.

[IsaacSteiner]

I'm always changing my ISO depending on lighting. I go anywhere from 100-800 ISO. I use my thumb dial to change the ISO, and my finger dial for aperture. It works perfect.

Oh, and I am using a K10D. But I'd say my default ISO is probably 400.

-Isaac

I tend to use Tav and let the camera decide ISO. I don't do a lot of low light shooting so I don't usually go above 800.

[legacyb4]

Hrm, I wonder if my habit of sticking around ISO 100 where possible is a product of using my Canon G9 (where anything over 200 starts to get noisy)?

Is there a benefit (the light/shutter speed issue aside, obviously) where higher ISO gives you better IQ?

[OregonJim]

Isn't that what auto ISO is about?

I set mine between 100 and 400 but of course, I keep an eye on the choise the camera is making in the viewfinder.
I have ISO set to the front dial (in AV) or the back dial (in Tv) so I can overrule at any point and go back to auto ISO with the green button.

All this on K10D.

Sure, if you're in one of the automatic modes. I usually shoot full manual and select ISO based on conditions.

[filmamigo]

400. But mostly because I prefer shooting fast film, colour or black and white. My eye is trained to know the exposure for 400.

On my K10D, I leave it at 200 most of the time. I don't see a difference between 100 and 200, but by 400 it's a little speckly.

[mattdm]

Indoors with flash, I tend to use ISO 400 by default because of a quirk of the P-TTL algorithm. There's a "breakpoint" there at which point it decides to stop down the lens (to f/8 with my DA 40mm, to f/7.1 with the DA 70mm, so I think it's basically 3 stops) a bit. At ISO 320 or lower, it defaults to selecting a much shallower depth of field — which isn't usually desirable for what I'm donig. Sure, I could use Av, but this generally just does exactly what I'd do by hand anyway.

[Canada_Rockies]

Isn't that what auto ISO is about?

I set mine between 100 and 400 but of course, I keep an eye on the choise the camera is making in the viewfinder.
I have ISO set to the front dial (in AV) or the back dial (in Tv) so I can overrule at any point and go back to auto ISO with the green button.

All this on K10D.

I just use the [OK] and front dial for ISO, leaving the other two dials for other useful things. I'm often using an M lens (as some may have noticed) and I can control shutter, aperture and ISO without lowering the camera from my eye, or taking my eye away from the viewfinder when the camera is on the tripod. [OK] and green still resets the ISO to default.

[Bart]

I just use the [OK] and front dial for ISO, leaving the other two dials for other useful things. I'm often using an M lens (as some may have noticed) and I can control shutter, aperture and ISO without lowering the camera from my eye, or taking my eye away from the viewfinder when the camera is on the tripod. [OK] and green still resets the ISO to default.

Sure, if you're in one of the automatic modes. I usually shoot full manual and select ISO based on conditions.

Agreed. When in M, Front dial is set to Shutterspeed, Rear dial is set to Aperture. ISO gets picked by me according to conditions - trying for the lowest possible value.
I don't use M that much. I have no M lenses.
A few M42 though - those I use in M mode. I do have better or equal alternatives for these M42 lenses so they don't see much use.


By the way, I find that there are PP posibilities to introduce grain if you like that.
Trying for the cleanest possible RAW seems like a safer bet.
Different strokes

[Jonathan Mac]

I know that the K200D has the D-range function to increase dynamic range in high contrast scenes but it only works from ISO 200 up. This would seem like a good idea, to use 200 as base ISO & have the d-range on all the time. Any thoughts or experiences?

[Marc Sabatella]

I know that the K200D has the D-range function to increase dynamic range in high contrast scenes but it only works from ISO 200 up.

That's because the way it works is by taking the shot at a lower ISO than what you've selected, then processing during the JPEG conversion to lighten the shadows. So if you set ISO to 200, it really shoots ISO 100. You can't select ISO 100 because then it couldn't lower ISO any further to take the shot.

Anyhow, this is all nothing you couldn't do yourself - and with more control over the results - if you shoot RAW. In fact, I do this all the time, although for different reasons. Whether you do it yourself or let the camera do it, you pay a price in increased shadow noise. So no, you wouldn't really want to do it all the time.