Kirk is a Professional Wedding Photographer in Windsor Ontario Note: If you would be so kind as to give us a G+ and a Face Book Like if you like this post -Go Here for FB & G+ .-Thanks for dropping by.
Introduction:
What ISO should we shoot at? That is not a difficult question to answer. What should we base our decision upon? What ISO gives us the best, noise free image? Let us look at what happens to the image when we increase the ISO. I will compare two cameras: The Canon 5 D Mark II verse the Canon 5D Mark III.
ISO Sensitivity
- ISO Sensitivity
What are we seeing.
OEM Rated: 50 ISO: Tested: Mark II is 73 for the Mark III is 80 ISO ISO.
OEM Rated 6400 ISO: Tested: Mark II is 3990 and Mark III is 5179 ISO
Mark III performs much better or closer to its OEM rating.
Dynamic Range:
- Dynamic Range
As we increase the ISO, things or quality of the image gets worst. You want to keep your shots in the GREEN as much as possible.
Tonal Range
- Tonal Range
Here being in the RED is BAD. You want to shoot in the GREEN area. Use fill flash to give you the best colors and don't shoot high ISO's unless needed and correct using Post processing software.
Masters Tips:
1.Get the shot. If it means high ISO take it. We normally can deal with noise and camera losses. But if possible choose the lowest (100 ISO) ISO possible for maximum dynamic range. You just might only be printing 4x6 or 5x7. No software can currently correct out of focus images, so get them in focus.
2.If you need a bit of help with making it look good, try processing it in Black and White.
3.Photoshop and other Post processing software can build up missing/weak information making a poor image look great.
Conclusion:
What ISO should we shoot at? There is an old axiom, "Try to get it right in the camera first".
Answer: The lowest number that we can. Here the OEM is 100 to 200 ISO (or 80 for the Mark III ). It is always better to start with the cleanest, highest resolution image that you can get. High MP cameras really shine when you want to crop or use only a small part of the image or shooting large groups of people. You simply have more information to use. But remember, if you have a clean image, one click in Photoshop and 22 MP goes to 50 MP or what ever you want. There is also an axiom: "Good is good enough". Does more really matter? We are limited by what we can see. Exceeding these limits with equipment today and then flogging it is what Marketing is all about. A great picture is not about which camera you used to take it. If you want to find out what makes a great picture go here. The 3 elements that make up a great photograph are not mine, but rather that of another photographer (I will have to find his name). I simply agree with him.
One should also look at the printed images. The last time that I checked, printers were only 8 bits. So an image that is 14 or 16 bits is reduced down to 8 bits. This of course does NOT take into account recover programs used in RAW conversions. We pump up the saturation and vibrancy and mess with tonal curves to make things look great. Things today are all digital. That means 0's and 1's. No film. Everything then can be manipulated in software. Tone curve a bit low, then pump it up. Dynamic range low, adjust the curve. We print to 8 bits or 0-256. I can take the output from any camera and give it the tone curve of another in post processing. If I shoot with Nikon and Canon, I can take the Nikon images and process them with the Canon tone curve and like wise, making things all look like they are from the same camera. I will show you this in another post.
For example, I asked a colleague who shoots Nikon. I said: "I will bring you in images from Olympus, Sony, Canon, Nikon, Fuji, etc. Could you tell me which ones came from Nikon or any other models. His answer was no way. It is impossible to do that.
I am happy that he shoots and loves his Nikon. They are excellent cameras and so are Canon. Marketing can blow your mind. For Landscape shots and taking shots of large groups of people, today, the Nikon D800 is most likely one of the best cameras out there. The more resolution here the better. It works great for weddings also but has more resolution than needed. Again, our customers look for great pictures, we as photographers get to play with wonderful cameras.
Here's one for you. Say you have an old Canon 40D with ISO limited to 3200 ISO. You can process it at 12,800 ISO if you expose the original shot -1 EV or one stop under exposed in RAW. Camera manufactures love to talk JPEGS. I talk JPEGS after processing RAW files with a Quad Core Processor which has more ram and power than any in camera processing. They say that the information normally is there, you just need the software program to extract it.
One thing that is very important is that noise reduction chip on the sensor. Now you will have a better lower noise signal to amplify. So the cameras that have this are much better than the ones that don't. Stay tuned for my future post on this.
Free free to comment on this as you would like.
We trust that you enjoyed this article. Thank you for your G+ and FB Like. Have a great day taking quality pictures. Stay tuned when we compare the Nikon 800 to the Canon 5D Mark III. Who will be the winner? This is an independent review. No one pays us for this but you with your FB Like and G+ click. Thanks for dropping by.
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