Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/08/19

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Subject: [Leica] a shot in the dark - life at iso 25600
From: mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)
Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:20:44 -0400

Paul Caponigro has an article  in a  better photo magazine on the rack now
this months issue I was flipping through for free spilling espresso on it in
a chain book store last week.
This comes up on the LUG every few weeks.... Somebody saying in response to
the Nikon D3s triple digital ISO's and I'm sure a Canon to compete and the
not so high ISO's of the M9 at this point.
"Who needs ultra high ISO's?" is the question and in the Leica context there
is some ultra high glass options we have the other guys perhaps don't.

Paul Caponigro is this article which caught my eye was saying that any
photographer out there is going to be pushing the envelope on a regular
bases in order to bring home the shot or he isn't really doing anything.....

Me I always shoot at auto iso and it doesn't go higher than 1600.
And at 1600 on a D200 with the new CS5 raw noise controls the results are
much more usable than before. I have to redo a lot of the work I'd made into
Photoshop files from 2006 to 2009.

Caponigro was saying as I recall to the effect its good to check out the
third party noise control options and be aware of the cameras which enable
you to shoot at higher ISO's.
I'd love to be able to shoot at higher than 1600 speeds I shoot at night all
the time. And I do miss shots. Too much blur. I'd love to have those shots
back but they are gone. I'd love to know that next time I'm out shooting in
those situations I'd be getting those shots.


ISO 102,400 is the boost setting on a D3s
I'm topped out for the most part at 1600
Lets see

1600
3200    2x  1 stop
6400    4x  2 stops
12,800  8x  3 stops
25,600  16x 4 stops
51,200  32x 5 stops
102,400 64x 6 stops


So if I moved up from my D200 to a D3s I'd be able to have 64 times more
light to shoot with or six f stops or shudder speeds.
If I'm doing a shot at F 2 now I'd be shooting at f16 when I get my new
camera and new life.
If I'm shooting at a 15th of a seconds now I move to 1000th of a second
then.
I think literally we are talking about the difference between day and night
here. I'll be easily happy to meet you halfway on it.
3 stops.

Realistically instead of f2 at 15th I move to 5.6 at a 60th.
That's six stops but using both I think.
It means no blur for two reasons.
You get it in focas. And you or they are not moving. That's three reasons.





--------------------
Mark William Rabiner
Photography
mark at rabinergroup.com


> From: Kyle Cassidy <kcassidy at asc.upenn.edu>
> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Date: Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:53:53 -0400
> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
> Subject: [Leica] a shot in the dark - life at iso 25600
> 
> Richard sed:
> 
>> Why? No offense to Kyle as I am a BIG fan of his photography but when is 
>> the
>> last time you see a ISO 100000 PRINT that you want to hang in your house?
> 
> I don't know what percentage of my photos have, from the outset, the final
> destination of a frame. There are surely what I consider "art" images that 
> I
> strive for as much sharpness and clarity as possible, but a good deal of 
> what
> I do from day to day is more "news" or "reportage" (or whatever), where
> proving that something happened is more important than technical 
> perfection. I
> think a lot of Leica shooters want the ability to shoot in very low light
> without using a flash. Super high ISO's do increase the amount of available
> light which is useful available light. Leica shooters, I think, have often
> been on the forefront of fast film and slow shutter speeds, eeking out that
> last photon from the candle.
> 
> In this instance though a Leica shooter could have used a noctilux and 
> gotten
> three stops on my shot and done it at 1600, focus might have been a bit 
> more
> wonky, but someone could do it. Leica's got it's own edge, but I suspect 
> the
> iso speeds will catch up eventually.
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information




Replies: Reply from kcarney1 at cox.net (Ken Carney) ([Leica] a shot in the dark - life at iso 25600)
Reply from richard at imagecraft.com (Richard Man) ([Leica] a shot in the dark - life at iso 25600)
In reply to: Message from kcassidy at asc.upenn.edu (Kyle Cassidy) ([Leica] a shot in the dark - life at iso 25600)