G10 and High ISO Settings

[Obtong]

Hi. I take a lot of pictures at my elementary school for various school projects. I don't use flash in classrooms because I don't want to disrupt the lesson or activity taking place. Last year I used a 10D set at 800 ISO, but ever since I bought a 5D & 24-105L for personal use, I am finding the low light / 800 ISO pictures on the 10D very unsatisfactory. (I had bought a 20D off a POTN member, but one of my students dropped it! Ouch!)

I have brought my own 5D to school a few times and shot many great pictures at ISO 1000, but I am uncomfortable leaving my 5D in the office area when I am not using it. I am thinking of buying a G10 which I can leave at school and either carry round in my pocket if I need to, or easily hide in a desk draw if I have to.

I have heard that the G10 is very noisy at high ISO settings. I would be most grateful if a POTN member would post some high ISO G10 pictures or a link to such pictures to help me with my decision. Any other advice on the matter would also be welcome.

Thanks,
~Dom

[GordonSBuck]

I have a G9, not a G10. Here's a link to a series of simple sky shots at various ISO and settings, ACR, noise reduction, etc
http://hornerbuck.smugmug.com/gallery/6152762_bGsrp#387464083_nzEXe

In my opinion, you'll be OK with your G10 up to ISO 800 (especially if you shoot RAW and use 3rd party noise reduction) so long as your final product is intended only for small screen or web displays or small snapshots. However, coming from the 5D, odds are that you won't like ISO 800 or perhaps even ISO 400 from the G10.

[Obtong]

Hi Gordon. Thanks for your quick reply and the link to your sample shots. Most pictures will be used for on-screen projects etc, but I do occasionally project photographs onto a large screen from an LCD projector. I don't really want to bother with n/r but may have to begin including it into my workflow.
~Dom

[GordonSBuck]

LCD projected images are usually only 1024x768 pixels (I know that higher resolution is available and will become popular). You should be able to shoot at ISO 800 in raw, apply noise reduction, down rez and be OK.

[CJinAustin]

If you weren't satisfied with the 10d at iso 800 then you're just going to hate the G10.

[gotak]

The G10 above ISO400 is a bit of a pain. However, it depends a lot on your subject matter. In your case that's how hyper the kids are. If they are relatively still you might be able to get away with 400 or even 200 ISO.

Here are some examples you can use to see how it might turn out:

Our softball team. The photos runs from good lighting to later in the day to a night game under lighting. Fast subjects means I had to use 400 and threw away quite a few shots.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianip/sets/72157617580703717/

And
Notre Dame at Montreal. It's quite dark inside so I was shooting wide open and leaning a lot on the IS since I didn't bring my tripod. I tried my best to stay in ISO200 but not always possible.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianip/sets/72157618638557763/

And
The Oratory. Another church in Montreal which I found myself using ISO400 ALOT. There were some very dark spaces there.
http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianip/sets/72157618720703272/

Typically anything above ISO200 I batch process with noiseware. I have found sometimes it produce good results and sometimes you can still see noise. ISO1600 is pretty hopeless even with noiseware and the only real solution is to resample to smaller size.

The IS is pretty good allowing you to get away in some cases with something that shouldn't be possible but subject matter has to be relatively still.

I think having the small P&S might offer advantages if you don't want to disturb the kids. Bringing out the big 5D shouts look at me I'd think and can ruin some shots.

[Obtong]

Hi gotak,

Thank you for the Flikr links. They were really helpful to me. Most of my classroom 10D pictures were taken with a kit zoom with a max aperture of f/4.5 and at the winder end of the zoom. Your pictures reminded me that the G10 has a max aperture of f/2.8. At 400 ASA most of my classroom shots will be at 1/45 at f/2.8. I think that would be manageable in many cases. Do you have any ISO 800 examples?

Thanks,
~Dom

[gotak]

Here you go some ISO 800s
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianip/3530553668/in/set-72157618120973844/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianip/3530562404/in/set-72157618120973844/

[meraj]

I have to agree, anything over ISO 400 is trouble - don't even touch 3200!

[gotak]

3200 is so bad they made it a special so you can't access from the knob LOL.

[Bob_A]

The G9 not great above ISO 200 if you're used to the images from a DSLR. I don't believe that the G10 is any better.

A good compromise is to stick to ISO 100 and use a Speedlight. If you can't use flash, need higher ISO and don't like noise then a DSLR is your only option.

[Bob_A]

Here you go some ISO 800s
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianip/3530553668/in/set-72157618120973844/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sebastianip/3530562404/in/set-72157618120973844/

Sorry, but these look like noise reduction has obliterated much of the detail. These are the identical type of results that I get with my G9 at high ISO after applying Noiseware in Photoshop.

[gotak]

Yep. That's what happens with the high ISO. However, It really depends on your needs. If you need a lot of details no it's not going to work too well. If you just want some snaps for memory or show and tell I think it can work for some people. Just depends on how picky you are about the photos. They look fine for example for facebook use.

[doublehmom]

You won't like anything over ISO400, lots of noise.

[tkbslc]

You had a 20D. So for comparison, ISO 800 on the 20D is like ISO 100 on the G10.

[CJinAustin]

You had a 20D. So for comparison, ISO 800 on the 20D is like ISO 100 on the G10.

lol,,, that's probably about right...

[Obtong]

You had a 20D. So for comparison, ISO 800 on the 20D is like ISO 100 on the G10.

Gotak's pictures at the lower end of the ASA/ISO range look quite good. The ones at the 400-800 aren't really that bad, and definitely would be acceptable in many instances. My school has several other digital cameras such as the Canon S45 and a Kodak Easy Shot. I would expect the G10 to perform far better than these two cameras.

I checked out G10 photographs on Flikr and found lots of very good pictures taken with the camera at all ISO's. http://www.flickr.com/cameras/canon/powershot_g10/

I've ordered the G10 and will put it through its paces during the next few weeks. I'll let you know if it met my needs for school pictures.

Thanks,
~Dom

[5Dmaniac]

I own the G10 and the 5D. I use the G10 only up to ISO200 - anything above is just not acceptable to me - noise is clearly visible. Don;t get me wrong - I love my G10 - the results are very good up to ISO200! You'd be better off buying a used 30D or 20D, or even one of the older Rebels.

[Obtong]

I own the G10 and the 5D. I use the G10 only up to ISO200 - anything above is just not acceptable to me - noise is clearly visible. Don;t get me wrong - I love my G10 - the results are very good up to ISO200! You'd be better off buying a used 30D or 20D, or even one of the older Rebels.

I know, but I need something relatively small and unobtrusive...

[gotak]

I know, but I need something relatively small and unobtrusive...

Reading people's responses here I sometimes wonder if Shaq is into photography and has a lot of aliases on this forum. That or you are all his size and find a 1D or 5D to be very light and no bigger than a lunch box big enough for his food.


I'd love it, so would everyone, if a G camera can do ISO 3200 without problem but we haven't gotten to such advance stage yet in our technology.

[Yapo]

I'd love it, so would everyone, if a G camera can do ISO 3200 without problem but we haven't gotten to such advance stage yet in our technology.

yeah i cant wait till that day comes either...noiseless slr quality pics and maybe even a larger aperture could help as well

[julioangelortiz]

I've found the G10 works well up to 400 (though I shoot mostly at 100 / 200). I use 400 and 800 for low-light situations, and even then the 800 is going to be for black and white pictures. Just my $0.02.