High ISO in Broad Daylight - Why?

One of the best motorcycle photographers out there is Brian J. Nelson. He's been around the sport of roadracing for many years, and, in the US, is basically THE man when it comes to shooting the sport. I've noticed that he shoots with an ISO higher than 100, even when the available light seems plenty good enough for 100. Why would he do this? Isn't 100 where we all try to be when light is good?

I hope I can post his work here and not get dinged. All photos by Brian J. Nelson. Here are some examples:

(You can get EXIF data from his pix, btw.)

ISO 250
Source: http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/1/Ut​ah1020.JPG

http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/1/Ut​ah1020.JPG


ISO 250
Source: http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/1/Ut​ah1014.htm

http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/1/Ut​ah1014.JPG


ISO 250
Source: http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/2/Ut​ah1013.JPG

http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/2/Ut​ah1013.JPG


ISO 320
Source: http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/2/Ut​ah1021.JPG

http://superbikeplanet​.com …g/utahtest/2/Ut​ah1021.JPG

Because it allowed him to get the desired shutter speed and aperture. Don't be afraid to raise the ISO. I wouldn't really call those high ISO though.

I too was afraid to raise the ISO at first but once you realize that a sharp and possibly noisier picture is better than a non noisy blurry one then you quickly adapt and are ok with bumping up the ISO to get what you need. I've never shot Nikon but iirc the lowest they go is ISO200 anyways.

^^ WOW they are some nice shots there!!!!!!!!! hmmm i have to learn too to get off of 100 iso...

I think most sports shooters are used to shooting ISO 400-800 all the time. In fact, with a good exposure, ISO 1600 looks so much better on my 5D in broad daylight than it does in a poorly lit room

With 21st-century DSLR's, ISO matters less than getting the shot.

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ISO 250 is pretty low, really. It looks like he was stopping down to f/8 (and f/20 in the panning shot), so there's why he wasn't shooting ISO 100.

It's more important to get the right shutter speed and DoF than it will ever be to chase around an arbitrary ISO level.

yeah agree its pretty low...on Nikon land ISO 200 is considered the ideal ISO already

I shoot drag racing and maybe it's different, but almost never shoot below ISO 400.

ISO 250 is HIGH? I was expecting you to discuss ISO 1600 and up by the title of this thread.

Unless I'm shooting in studio, ISO 200 is the lowest I use.

Like others have said ... it's more important to get the shutter and aperture correct and balance the ISO to that. That's the approach I take !

Bear in mind he may using a polorising filter which would loose him two stops of light ... so he may need to up the ISO a little if he can't achieve the desired exposure at ISO100.

mike_d wrote in post #12346923
Because it allowed him to get the desired shutter speed and aperture. Don't be afraid to raise the ISO. I wouldn't really call those high ISO though.

This.


When I'm shooting motorsports and I've got a CPL on the camera I regularly shoot at 400ISO to get the shutter speed where I want it.

Experiments with ISO 1600 from a XTi.

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I have noticed, alot of motorsports photographers, shoot 'higher' ISOs, and I always
thought it was to keep the shutter speeds up.

I don't mind learning from the pro's!

Thanks guys!

Like others said, ISO 250 or 320 is pretty damn low. I honestly thought we were talking ISO 3200 and up based on the title thread. Those are some sick shots. I wish there were tracks around where I live (well, there is, but it's usually empty...)