ISO 3200 - Why not all the time

Is there any reason why I would disable the H 3200 ISO C-Fn 8 in my 20D?

Does anything bad happen when this option is turned on? If not, why is it an option?

Thanks,

Dennis

I left mine on all the time. Nothing will happen and its is not bad. I thnk its just a safety issue. The 20D has noticable noise at 3200 ISO, so you have an option of locking it out and not using it. Just in case you mistakenly turn the dial one notch over from 1600 to 3200. At least thats what I think.

It's off by default to stop dummies using a setting they shouldn't unless they mean to.

I stated in a thread here that I didn't understand what all the fuss was about because iso1600 worked fine for me. Even 3200, so why not use it if you need it? I learned my lesson though.

I've found that either can be used, and with minimal noise when the situation is right, but it's best to just avoid it unless absolutely necessary.

I use it in emergencys, not all the time though, don't use it unless you have to, nice feature though, epsecially if you shoot High school Sports at night.

When you set it to 3200 it shows "H" under the ISO setting doesnt it?

I was playing with one at Best Buy the other day and when I went through the custom functions I think it just said something like "High ISO" Is that 3200?

yep.

Thanks

I will say what has been said before about using high ISO, better to have a noisy image than no image at all! I'm all for high ISO, but only when I need it!

right, When I used Nikon, ISO 800 was terrible!!!!, Canon is like candy, sweet tasting, and awlays a joy to have.

Has anyone tried to correct an underxposed ISO3200 image at and then tried to sharpen the image to any degree.. If you have, you don't need to ask why NOT use ISO 3200

It's because the 3200 was not approved by ISO (International Organization for Standardization). From what I understood it's not a real 3200, it's just iso 1600 on steroids (so to speak).

try shooting at 1600 or 3200 at night time with floodlights on the subject, and pitch black in the background
noise on my 300D with 1600ISO was disgusting!

noise removal software did a good job, but it kind of 'pasteled' the images, making them all blend that tiny bit.
the spray off the cars nos thingy looked creamy.

i now have the hack on my 300D, but i refuse to use 1600 or 3200 at night time. it's too noisey..

MattyB,

you might try using exposure compensation -1 or -2 for night shots, if you want a black night, and not a grey or 'pastel' one. I find that the problem with the 'pastel' night comes more from the camera trying to get an 18% grey image when it is in reality nowhere near that.

I use ISO 3200 if I have to ... and I also have kicked myself sometimes for using ISO 1600 in order to avoid high noise and then ending up with unsharp images that looked ok on the LCD display, but not on the PC.
You can correct ISO noise, but not motion blur

Best regards,
Andy

Thanks for all the opinions. I think I'll leave it "on". I do shoot Friday night football under the lights and have been using my Rebel XT most of this year so it'll be good to have the 3200 available.

Dennis