A900 at 6400 ISO

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

HI There
Someone in another place asked me to test this . . . so I have!

Here are some examples.

no noise reduction done (either in camera or not). I was careful not to under-expose, and I've corrected the White balance on the CD covers shot.

here's a crop of the last one:

All the above were taken in 'reasonable' light conditions - the last one was in a nasty dark corner:

Well, it isn't as good as the D700!

However, it's worth remembering with the crops, that these are 100%, and if you were looking at shots from the D3/D700 you would need to be looking at 150% (or something like it).

I wouldn't be afraid to use it in lots of situations

I've printed them out to A4 size, and the noise isn't visible at all (at least, not without a loupe, or 19 year old eyes!).

All shots taken with the Sony 50mm f1.4, as RAW files, converted to DNG and then imported to aperture.

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

gpr2020 · Oct 14, 2008

--
Are these pictures from China ?

I think that every a900 owner that know how to use the camera know that it produces good pictures at high ISO and only the people that do not have one and will never get one complain about it. It might be a way to convince themselve that the a900 is so bad at high ISO that not having one is good.

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

HI There

gpr2020 said:
--
Are these pictures from China ?
I think that every a900 owner that know how to use the camera know
that it produces good pictures at high ISO and only the people that
do not have one and will never get one complain about it. It might be
a way to convince themselve that the a900 is so bad at high ISO that
not having one is good.

Actually, you're wrong about this - the reason for taking these shots was to satisfy the curiosity of someone who shoots with a D700, is interested in the A900 and assumed that it would have poor high ISO results.

It's easy to produce good high ISO shots in GOOD light - the difficulties emerge when the light is nasty and dull - the CD shots is a case in point - dark little corner with dingy areas -

It's easy to apply noise Ninja/increase contrast etc. and get a good result (I can do that as well) - but if I post pictures which have been processed to get the best out of them, then nobody is any the wiser - I actually think these are really good (and I've come from a D3 background). . . . and let's face it, nobody want's to see pictures like this for their aesthetics!

all the best

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

burnymeister · Oct 14, 2008

... these are a heck of a lot better than I was expecting at that ISO. For all the whining and complaining that's been going on I think it looks perfectly usable, especially in prints.

--
Vern Dewit
Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.fresh-oxygen.com
http://verndewit.com/

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

burnymeister said:
... these are a heck of a lot better than I was expecting at that
ISO. For all the whining and complaining that's been going on I think
it looks perfectly usable, especially in prints.

--
Vern Dewit
Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.fresh-oxygen.com
http://verndewit.com/

HI Vern
I'm glad you said that.

I think these are good as well - I wish I could show you prints, they are really fine (and with a little noise reduction added they're absolutely okay - even to A3 size

gpr2020 seemed to think I was doing some kind of a disservice!

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

comitas · Oct 14, 2008

i think gpr2020 might have genuinely wanted to know if the pictures were taken in China. He's location states he's in China and it was one of the first if not the first to have the a900 available.

and the photos have surprised me at the high iso. None of the blotchiness mentioned by reviewers of the preproduction sets. I quite like the grain in the crop.

Thanks for sharing!

Kamelot · Oct 14, 2008

Impressive.

I took the last crop, applied noiseware and resized to 70% (there is room for that with low light pictures at 24mpix) and it looks VERY good.

Currently I consider A900 an amazing 24 mpix camera when the lighting os good and a fantastic 15 mpix or so camera when you have to use very high iso

Thanks for posting!
--
Life is for living.

gpr2020 · Oct 14, 2008

Jono Slack said:
burnymeister said:

... these are a heck of a lot better than I was expecting at that
ISO. For all the whining and complaining that's been going on I think
it looks perfectly usable, especially in prints.

--
Vern Dewit
Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.fresh-oxygen.com
http://verndewit.com/

Click to expand...

HI Vern
I'm glad you said that.
I think these are good as well - I wish I could show you prints, they
are really fine (and with a little noise reduction added they're
absolutely okay - even to A3 size

gpr2020 seemed to think I was doing some kind of a disservice!

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

--

you got me wrong. I was praising you for the pictures you sent that are much better than what some people claim. I was saying that these pictures shows the truth of a900 high ISO performance and they are not just talk from people that say that a900 is really bad at high ISO.

jezsun · Oct 14, 2008

Jono,

Thanks for posting these examples. You mentioned that it isn't as good as the D700. Can you post some comparison shots under the same situations? Can you also post some comparision shots when the light is not all that 'good'?

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

Hi There

gpr2020 said:
Jono Slack said:

burnymeister said:

... these are a heck of a lot better than I was expecting at that
ISO. For all the whining and complaining that's been going on I think
it looks perfectly usable, especially in prints.

--
Vern Dewit
Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.fresh-oxygen.com
http://verndewit.com/

Click to expand...

HI Vern
I'm glad you said that.
I think these are good as well - I wish I could show you prints, they
are really fine (and with a little noise reduction added they're
absolutely okay - even to A3 size

gpr2020 seemed to think I was doing some kind of a disservice!

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

Click to expand...

--
you got me wrong. I was praising you for the pictures you sent that
are much better than what some people claim. I was saying that these
pictures shows the truth of a900 high ISO performance and they are
not just talk from people that say that a900 is really bad at high
ISO.

Phew! What a relief - I am sorry. I really did misunderstand.

Of course, the real trick is not to underexpose (and it's so tempting in low light)

Incidentally, I used some noise reduction in the third shot and then printed it at A3+ size (19"x13"). It hasn't made my desk any tidier, but the shot is absolutely useable and fine - you can look right up at it and the colours are excellent - of course, it isn't quite as sharp as an ISO 200 shot - but really good.

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

HI There

Kamelot said:
Impressive.

I took the last crop, applied noiseware and resized to 70% (there is
room for that with low light pictures at 24mpix) and it looks VERY
good.

Currently I consider A900 an amazing 24 mpix camera when the lighting
os good and a fantastic 15 mpix or so camera when you have to use
very high iso

I think you've hit the nail on the head - I've just printed one at 19"x13" after some noise reduction, and it's perfectly okay - with good colour.

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

Hi There

jezsun said:
Jono,

Thanks for posting these examples. You mentioned that it isn't as
good as the D700. Can you post some comparison shots under the same
situations? Can you also post some comparision shots when the light
is not all that 'good'?

Comparisons are so divisive! (and anyway, I like the A900 so much that I've sold my Nikon gear).

Having just tried printing I'm not even sure that I'm right - at least, as David Kilpatrick said, it would seem that reducing the A900 shots to 12mp does give equivalent results.

Mind you, and to be honest, with the D3/D700 you can simply blast away at 6400 without even thinking, hoick detail out of the shadows etc. etc. I think that you need to be a little more careful with A900 files with respect to exposure.

all the best

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

Jonathan Demarais · Oct 14, 2008

Even a P&S at 1600 ISO is probably suited to webposting at 800x533 or so, but printing is another issue. On the other hand, the A900 has blistering resolution and nice looking grain at higher ISOs.
--

'I cried because I had no E-3. Then I met a man with no E-510'

Olympus E-410, E-330, Nikon D100 (IR) & Pentax K20D.
57 lenses of various types from most brands.

headofdestiny · Oct 14, 2008

Jonathan Demarais said:
Even a P&S at 1600 ISO is probably suited to webposting at 800x533 or
so, but printing is another issue. On the other hand, the A900 has
blistering resolution and nice looking grain at higher ISOs.
--

'I cried because I had no E-3. Then I met a man with no E-510'

Olympus E-410, E-330, Nikon D100 (IR) & Pentax K20D.
57 lenses of various types from most brands.

--

Did you see that he posted 100% crops?

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

Hi Jonathan

Jonathan Demarais said:
Even a P&S at 1600 ISO is probably suited to webposting at 800x533 or
so, but printing is another issue. On the other hand, the A900 has
blistering resolution and nice looking grain at higher ISOs.

I printed a 19"x13" of the third of these shots (6400 ISO) (after applying some NR) - it looks completely okay. You lose a little resolution, but the colour is good, and it's perfectly fine to look at from right up close.

all the best

--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

John200973 · Oct 14, 2008

Thank you for posting the pictures. Although not as bad as some I've seen neither do they inspire me to buy a a900. Particularly since I got a call yesterday saying they were holding one for me and was on the fence---thank you for your timely post.

Jono Slack · Oct 14, 2008

Hi John

John said:
Thank you for posting the pictures. Although not as bad as some I've
seen neither do they inspire me to buy a a900. Particularly since I
got a call yesterday saying they were holding one for me and was on
the fence---thank you for your timely post.

I'm astonished that this post would have made any difference to you - it seems like you've already spent a lot of time with the camera and written it off!

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1037&message=29629811

that doesn't sound like a post from a man sitting on any fences!

Either way, I'm surprised that anybody would be put off the A900 for it's fairly good high ISO performance - the reason for the camera is its great resolution and colour and light AA filter.

all the best
--
Jono Slack
http://www.slack.co.uk

Lucas_ · Oct 14, 2008

headofdestiny said:
Jonathan Demarais said:

Even a P&S at 1600 ISO is probably suited to webposting at 800x533 or
so, but printing is another issue. On the other hand, the A900 has
blistering resolution and nice looking grain at higher ISOs.
--

'I cried because I had no E-3. Then I met a man with no E-510'

Olympus E-410, E-330, Nikon D100 (IR) & Pentax K20D.
57 lenses of various types from most brands.

Click to expand...

--

Did you see that he posted 100% crops?

Don't even bother replying, he's not really interested, just on bashing Sony...!

... Lucas
--
You're welcome to: http://www.pbase.com/lucaspix/root

Always having fun with photography ...

Roy NN7DX · Oct 14, 2008

May I ask you a personal question Jonathan?

Over the past few years I have been, through your posted pix, to a lot of your family get togethers... I couldn't guess how many photos of your gathered clan I've looked at but there sure have been a lot... Seeing your small wall 'o Taj seems to explain a lot about you and your mob...

Way down deep, where you live, does music keep you together?

Me? You bet... I'd bet that the soundtrack of your family gatherings is a whole lot like mine...

Thanks for all the real world samples from the a900... Jono. there must be some pheromones mixed into those 24+ mpix... I have a boat load of good Minolta glass and an a700 but that wide open viewfinder sure is calling me...

--
OK, I admit it... I capture souls with my camera!
from the Oregon Coast,
Roy NN7DX
Now the pixels are really hitting the fan...

Luis Neves · Oct 14, 2008

Its a killer camera, i want one someday. Maybe in a year time, when the price is more affordable to me.... (or to my wife eyes hehe)
Luis

A900 at 6400 ISO

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