Hi all, just like to ask around before i commit on the D3s. Is high ISO really that useful? Or it is just a gimmick?
Is high ISO really that important
- Thread starter Atlas
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It depends on what you are shooting and your shooting style... so it is different for different people.
For me personally, it is important... not just high-ISO, but a clean high-ISO + good dynamic range
Especially for photojournalism and outdoor wildlife photography, shooting opportunities come in split seconds and under various challenging lighting scenarios, and there's absolutely no way to repeat those moments. Equipped with D3s type high ISO performance could mean getting clear / low noise winning images, versus getting unusable blurry / noisy images.
So I'd say for PJ and WL photography, should go for the top high ISO performance body like D3s.
So I'd say for PJ and WL photography, should go for the top high ISO performance body like D3s.
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How useful high ISO is depends on whether u need it. No it is not a gimmick, u can compare samples online to see. But i would think it is a good to have when travelling and shooting.
Ryan
if you purely shoot in the studio and landscape images, high ISO is useless to you.
if you shoot alot in low light situation where you can't use a flash, high ISO is very important to you.
like what the others had mentioned, it depends on what you shoot, and your needs.
if you shoot alot in low light situation where you can't use a flash, high ISO is very important to you.
like what the others had mentioned, it depends on what you shoot, and your needs.
I am proposing to you that you might want to change your question to... how high is an ISO performance that is going to be useful to yourself.
High ISO gives you a range of shooting options to cover more shooting opportunities. So that's a given that high ISO is important. But even more important is high ISO performance and not just high ISO capability. Think D3100 is go high ISO but the high ISO performance is nothing compared to D700 or D3 or D3s.
Now how high an ISO performance do you need? Then it will determine between a D700 and D3s. I am assuming you are only aiming at FX so will give DX D7000 a miss.
High ISO gives you a range of shooting options to cover more shooting opportunities. So that's a given that high ISO is important. But even more important is high ISO performance and not just high ISO capability. Think D3100 is go high ISO but the high ISO performance is nothing compared to D700 or D3 or D3s.
Now how high an ISO performance do you need? Then it will determine between a D700 and D3s. I am assuming you are only aiming at FX so will give DX D7000 a miss.
:thumbsup:
The new 60mp Hasselblad H4d only has ISO range from 100 to 800.
:bsmilie::bsmilie:
TS only mentioned that he was keen on D3s... how did D3100, D700 and D7000 come into the picture?
As many bros mentioned, it really voice down to what you are shooting most of the time.
I used to have a cam which has bad noise control even at iso800 and i was hoping to get a high iso camera then. Now that i have a cam capable of clean images even at iso3200, i realised my shooting styles seldom hit even iso1600.
but many will tell you its better to have than not having. However from your choice of D3s, its definitely capable of good iso and dr performance. Best of both worlds imo.
I second that. A prime example will be that of pro wildlife photog Andy Rouse who took & still takes many photos at iso 4000.
good iso performance is valuable esp in performance/sports aspect etc...but if you should landscape mostly, then it shd be much relevant...
anyway, I think you didn't wana buy a D3S just because of the iso right? it shd be more to it...
anyway, I think you didn't wana buy a D3S just because of the iso right? it shd be more to it...
Another angle to look at this...
The 2 most important exposure controls are aperture and shutter speed, tranditionally i.e.
However, these 2 parameters are not independent, when you change one, you need to alter the other to maintain the same EV. And when one or both is changed, there is implications to the resulting effect, and then it is about which best compromised combination to use... e.g. slower shutter speed risking blurry photo, or larger aperture giving shallower DoF, etc.
With a good high ISO body, another dimension in terms of exposure control is now in the equation. E.g. one is very confident that D3s yields very usable images up to iso 6400. Just set auto ISO mode and limit the upper iso range to 6400. There you have it, shoot in Manual exposure control now, select your preferred speed and f-stop and let the body vary ISO to get the right exposure. It's more automation offered by the camera, and in this case not causing the user to be more lazy, but instead leaving more control latitude for the photographer.
The wide and usable ISO range IMO is the single most important offering of the D3s, all the other features already existed in D3 or other semi-pro bodies.
The 2 most important exposure controls are aperture and shutter speed, tranditionally i.e.
However, these 2 parameters are not independent, when you change one, you need to alter the other to maintain the same EV. And when one or both is changed, there is implications to the resulting effect, and then it is about which best compromised combination to use... e.g. slower shutter speed risking blurry photo, or larger aperture giving shallower DoF, etc.
With a good high ISO body, another dimension in terms of exposure control is now in the equation. E.g. one is very confident that D3s yields very usable images up to iso 6400. Just set auto ISO mode and limit the upper iso range to 6400. There you have it, shoot in Manual exposure control now, select your preferred speed and f-stop and let the body vary ISO to get the right exposure. It's more automation offered by the camera, and in this case not causing the user to be more lazy, but instead leaving more control latitude for the photographer.
The wide and usable ISO range IMO is the single most important offering of the D3s, all the other features already existed in D3 or other semi-pro bodies.
While the argument is to buy a DSLR with good high ISO performance. However when your usuage pattern seldom go beyong ISO 800, then it would be a waste of money to buy performance you don't need other than bragging rights.
E.g. I got a EVO X and I know how fast it can go but I hardly go beyond 70kph. You only get to show off but harly use the car. So it's the same with cameras.
While the argument is to buy a DSLR with good high ISO performance. However when your usuage pattern seldom go beyong ISO 800, then it would be a waste of money to buy performance you don't need other than bragging rights.
E.g. I got a EVO X and I know how fast it can go but I hardly go beyond 70kph. You only get to show off but harly use the car. So it's the same with cameras.
Same for those who drives a supercar in sgp, I guess they hardly even got chance to up to 2nd or 3rd gear...:bsmilie:
TS never said he needed a D3s. All he said was going to buy one. I buy a lot of things I don't need too.
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