[Leica] ASA One Million+!

[Jack Milton]

 3 million ISO may not be really useful because of noise but what has happened is the quality at “lower” ISOs, like, 6400, or 12,800, get’s a slight bump. When I was shooting film we jumped through darkroom hoops to get ASA 1600 or 3200 from B&W and color neg film. Photojournalists now think nothing of shooting at 3200, 6400, 8,000, or 12,800. In my estimation, on say, a Nikon D4, ISO 6400 looks like ASA 400 color negative film. For several years now these cameras can see in the dark and appear more sensitive to light than the human eye. Not so long ago, sports photographers had to light arenas with expensive, heavy strobes to shoot basketball or hockey. Now we take high quality available light indoor or night sports photos for granted.

 The other thing that’s happened is an f/2.8 lens is now considered to be fast. F/2.8 telephotos and zooms are now normal lenses—double or quadruple the ISO and f/2.8 does seem fast. A lot of younger photographers are separating their work with truly fast lenses at f/1.4 or f/1.2 and shooting wide open in all lighting.

Jack Milton

> On Feb 9, 2016, at 7:46 AM, Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> wrote:
> 
> I heard the guy say it and I was not sure if I was hearing things.
> Last night at a Nikon D5/ D500 introduction they were giving at a secret
> high tech B&H room upstairs.
> "1 point 6 4 million" he said.
> And he was talking about the D500 which is DX cropped but cost two grand.
> He'd already talked about the D5 full frame flagship about out and cost 6.5
> grand.  Who pays that kind of money for a camera body? :)
> I didn't hear him say the word "million" when giving out the specks on that
> one. But looked it up just now and found it. ISO Three Million!
> (Great for shooting the dark side of the moon at midnight without a rocket
> ship.)
> 
> You numbers guys: how many f stops more is 3,000,ooo than the measly 6400
> cruising speed iso I'm topped off at now but which I do a good amount of my
> shooting walking home from movies at night. And can shoot anything I can
> see. No street lights have to be anywhere near.
> Inquiring Rabs wants to know.
> 
> I'm guessing I can shoot a black cat in a coal mine at midnight springing
> through the air at an imaginary moth frozen solid mid leap in near total
> darkness. That's my guess. Stopped down to 5.6. Every hair on its back
> frozen.
> Its the future folks.
> Star Trek rules and Star Wars is Mickey Mouse.
> 
> 
> In the past years the flagship Nikon camera went up to around a half a
> million. So that's what kind of leap has been made.
> 
> "At iso 1.64 million you get plenty of noise" the guy said.
> "as it is 1.64 million what do you want?
> I'd like to know what iso I could be shooting with to get the same kind of
> results I'm getting now at 6400. Which is  2 stops more than the 1600 I'd
> been shooting at with film. Neopan 1600. No longer made.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Mark William Rabiner
> Photographer
> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/lugalrabs/
> 
> 
> 
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