[Leica] M8/M9 "pushed" ISO 640 better than 1250

[images at comporium.net (Tina Manley)]

After a lot of experimentation, I have to agree with Thomas Knoll and his
comments in Luminous Landscape that the best signal to noise ration is
obtained if you expose to the right.  I'm speaking on this next week in
Wisconsin.  You can read more about it in Jeff Schewe's excellent book "The
Digital Negative".  It's amazing to me what a difference it makes.

Tina


On Sat, Sep 28, 2013 at 6:04 PM, Peter Klein <pklein at threshinc.com> wrote:

> When the M8 first came out, some people reported that they got better
> low-light results by underexposing ISO 640 by one stop and compensating in
> their RAW developer, rather than setting the ISO to 1250.  I think Tina was
> one of them.  I tried this myself, didn't like either results much, and
> have pretty much stuck to ISO 640 and lower.
>
> Well, things have changed.  Today's RAW developers are better, and this
> approach does even better than before. I decided to revisit it with my M8
> and the current Capture One v. 7.   The results are much better than I
> remember with Capture One v.4 (which came with the M8) or even Capture One
> v.6.  Here are a couple of real-world pictures taken in my den, with some
> deep shadows.
>
> Here's ISO 640 pushed one stop (top) vs. 1250 (bottom):
> <http://gallery.leica-users.**org/d/366816-1/M8-640_**1pushVs1250-NoNR.jpg<http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/366816-1/M8-640_1pushVs1250-NoNR.jpg><
> http://gallery.leica-users.**org/d/366816-1/M8-640_**1pushVs1250-NoNR.jpg<http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/366816-1/M8-640_1pushVs1250-NoNR.jpg>
> >>
>
> ISO 640 pushed two stops (top) vs. 2500 (bottom)
> <http://gallery.leica-users.**org/v/pklein/album170/M8-640_**
> 2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html<http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/album170/M8-640_2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html><
> http://gallery.leica-users.**org/v/pklein/album170/M8-640_**
> 2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html<http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/album170/M8-640_2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html>
> >>
>
> Dim tungsten light, fixed tungsten white balance "as shot" in camera.
> Sharpening and color NR was at default, and Luminance NR was turned off to
> see what we're really getting.
>
> ISO 640 pushed one stop looks decidedly better than 1250 to my eyes. Quite
> usable, actually. I just got another stop out of my M8.
>
> I wouldn't want to use either 2500 or 640 pushed two stops if I had a
> choice. The pushed 640 does look a little better. It might do in B&W with
> some careful NR and black point fussing.
>
> If I recall correctly, C-1 v.7 shows the same default NR numbers for all
> ISOs. "50" is nominal, but behind the scenes it's applying more NR when the
> camera ISO is higher. My rule of thumb at higher ISOs is to keep the color
> NR at default, and use 1/4 to 1/2 the default luminance NR. And sometimes I
> just turn it off, as I prefer a little grit to the plastic look.  I'm still
> experimenting, but I have found that by raising the black point a little
> and using very sparing NR, the pushed ISO 640 picture looks pretty good.
>  The 1250 picture is inherently more muddy and gets more smeary.
>
> The point is that current RAW developers can push the M8 at least one
> stop, so you can get an effective ISO 1250 from 640.  The LUF thread shows
> that the M9 can be pushed even farther.  Current software is way better
> than turning up the electronic amplifier in the M8/9 beyond 640.  Sure, the
> M240 and MM are objectively better high-ISO cameras. But if you don't wish
> to change cameras, there's life in that old CCD sensor yet.
>
> There's a whole thread about this on l-camera-forum.com (LUF):
> http://www.l-camera-forum.com/**leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/**
> 301422-m9-iso-performance-new-**life.html<http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/301422-m9-iso-performance-new-life.html>
>
> --Peter
>
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>


-- 
Tina Manley
http:// <http://tina-manley.artistwebsites.com/>www.tinamanley.com