Thank you! (an open letter regarding high ISO)

I think this is in the correct location, as it pertains to the ability to (attempt to) get the most out of EOS DSLRs with regard to high ISO shooting. If I'm wrong about that, my apologies to the mods - please move as you see fit.

Just wanted to briefly say a "thank you" to all who have contributed to recent discussions regarding high ISO capabilities and related techniques, both in-camera and post-processing. Teamspeed comes foremost to my mind here, but I know there have been several other contributors. Most of the discussions I'm referring to have been related, either directly or indirectly, to the recent release of the 7d mk ii body.

Reading through all the discussions, and trying to pay attention to the details both large and small, has broadened my knowledge base on shooting at higher ISOs. The largest shift in approach for me has been an understanding that over-exposing a little actually helps, even if it means using a (*gasp*) higher ISO setting! I had previously been a believer that keeping the ISO as low as possible was most desirous, even if it meant under exposing and pushing in post.

With that in mind, I was out a couple nights ago with my 7D (classic, mk i, whatever you want to call it - the OLD one) shooting a high school football game in less-than-awesome lighting. I've shot this location many times in the past, and I typically stick with 3200 ISO at the top end, shooting either a 300 or 70-200 wide open at F2.8, 1/640 ss. With these settings, I've always had to push the exposure at least 1/2 stop in post, with local adjustments beyond that. With all the noise reduction needed subsequent to that, the images have typically been softer than I would like. Contrast that with the shots I took last Friday: I upped my ISO, ranging from 4000 - 6400, depending on lighting conditions, sticking with F2.8 and 1/640, with the goal of over exposing by 1/3 stop in camera. I could not be more pleased with the results. My only frustration is that it took me 4 years to figure this out!!

Thanks again, everyone who shares knowledge on these forums!

Edit - typo correction, and to add: Note that I used local adjustments on these to darken the areas of less interest, and to get rid of maroon banding in the darker sky areas.

Don't feel bad, one year into it and reading all the information this forum and many other videos and blogs on the internets have to offer I still struggle a bit with expose to the right and post processing high ISO. But I agree the shift from viewing high ISO as undesirable to helpful is slowly showing up for me in my photography - in those moments when I realize that lockbox thinking isn't getting me anywhere. Good post and shots btw!

jsvphoto wrote in post #17248425
I think this is in the correct location, as it pertains to the ability to (attempt to) get the most out of EOS DSLRs with regard to high ISO shooting. If I'm wrong about that, my apologies to the mods - please move as you see fit.

Just wanted to briefly say a "thank you" to all who have contributed to recent discussions regarding high ISO capabilities and related techniques, both in-camera and post-processing. Teamspeed comes foremost to my mind here, but I know there have been several other contributors. Most of the discussions I'm referring to have been related, either directly or indirectly, to the recent release of the 7d mk ii body.

Reading through all the discussions, and trying to pay attention to the details both large and small, has broadened my knowledge base on shooting at higher ISOs. The largest shift in approach for me has been an understanding that over-exposing a little actually helps, even if it means using a (*gasp*) higher ISO setting! I had previously been a believer that keeping the ISO as low as possible was most desirous, even if it meant under exposing and pushing in post.

With that in mind, I was out a couple nights ago with my 7D (classic, mk i, whatever you want to call it - the OLD one) shooting a high school football game in less-than-awesome lighting. I've shot this location many times in the past, and I typically stick with 3200 ISO at the top end, shooting either a 300 or 70-200 wide open at F2.8, 1/640 ss. With these settings, I've always had to push the exposure at least 1/2 stop in post, with local adjustments beyond that. With all the noise reduction needed subsequent to that, the images have typically been softer than I would like. Contrast that with the shots I took last Friday: I upped my ISO, ranging from 4000 - 6400, depending on lighting conditions, sticking with F2.8 and 1/640, with the goal of over exposing by 1/3 stop in camera. I could not be more pleased with the results. My only frustration is that it took me 4 years to figure this out!!

Thanks again, everyone who shares knowledge on these forums!

Edit - typo correction, and to add: Note that I used local adjustments on these to darken the areas of less interest, and to get rid of maroon banding in the darker sky areas.

looks good for ISO 6400

Thanks for posting! I hope this encourages other people to look into the expose to the right (ETTR) technique - as you've found and demonstrated here, it really makes a difference.

EDIT: See the HAMSTTR link in my signature below for an exhaustive discussion of the interaction between ETTR and ISO.

I have always found results more consistent, contrary to what the technical folks would say regarding base ISO vs numerically pushed ISO, to shoot at the ISO in-camera that gets the histogram to the right vs shooting left, and pushing up the exposure digitally in DPP or whatever you use.

This means I would use ISO 6400 as needed, and clean the noise up later, then sharpen/saturate. I know this reduced DR the higher up the totem pole, but the results always seemed to be more consistently good than taking ISO 1600 and pushing that exposure up later.

Looks good JSV, and go Rustlers

Should also have noted that all editing for these was done in LR5. Noise reduction slider set to about 55, with no additional detail or sharpening (except for sharpen for screen viewing on export). When I was shooting at a lower ISO, I ended up adding more noise reduction due to pushing the exposure in LR...

Davidmtml - where are you at in Montana?

jsvphoto wrote in post #17249907
Davidmtml - where are you at in Montana?

I'm in GF as well.

Another satisfied ISO 6400 crop shooter. Word is getting around!