Nikon D 100-lowest ASA 200??

Doug Boutwell said:

I sometimes wish that there was a lower ASA too, just because there
would be even lower grain and better saturation. But I am very

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I do not know that this is the case. As a previous post indicated, I believe the ISO 200 low end of the Nikon D100 is a function of the electronic specifications of the Sony CCD that they are using. To get lower ISO a different CCD with different specs would have to be used and that CCD may or may not have lower noise characteristics.

Another way to look at this is that Nikon had no choice but to start at ISO 200 given their choice of CCD. Some people seem to be implying that Nikon took the 3rd gen. Sony CCD and then made a conscious decision to up the minimum ISO to 200.

It seems to me that using a CCD at the lowest ISO possible is a zero cost option. Amplifying the signal cleanly to higher ISO with minimal noise is where the cost is.

Some have indicated that maybe Nikon did this because they can't have the D100 competing with the D1 series. I find this to be ridiculous. If you follow that line of logic why didn't they top off the high end at ISO 1000 why they were at it?

Mario Burgos said:

Using studio flash units?

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Sorry, I guess I should have said that explicitly. Since we were discussing studio
shooting, I figured it was implied. I have a pair of Elenchrom Style 300
monolights. (300 ws, with stepless power control)

Speedlights don't discharge nearly as fast, and you'll get a reduction in light well
slower than 1/500th of a second.

Duncan C

Didn't we already cover this? The CCD saturates at 900mV. It'd clip like the 1D. You don't want this do you?

Jason

kowen said:

Does any Nikon D100 owner wish there were a 50 or 100 ASA setting
for this camera? Could dpreview show more examples of shadow
detail / color gradations in future photos where the light might
not be as bright as afternoon sun?

Say, for example, early mornig shots of nature, where there might
be trees with shadows, etc. ??

Any comments on this minimal ASA 200 setting? Just does not seem
low enough for situations needing to capture shadow detail or tonal
gradations in low light situations.

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You guys ever hear of neutral density filters?

You are confusing saturation with sensitivity.

Saturation defines the charge capacity (incidentally, 900 mV is a very large signal for most CCDs) while sensitivity is a measure of the generated signal as a function of the incident light density. The D100 CCD sensitivity spec is 1060 mV @ 3200K, 706 cd/m2, f/5.6, 1/30s exposure time. The high sensitivity is achieved with on-chip microlenses.

Jason Hutchinson said:

Didn't we already cover this? The CCD saturates at 900mV. It'd
clip like the 1D. You don't want this do you?

Jason

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Berg Na said:

You are confusing saturation with sensitivity.

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I assure you I know saturation from sensitivity. To clear this up I made a post here:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=3306317

The only confusion might be in their rating of 1060mV. As we know this saturation of such a system can not be characterized by a single number.

What % of non-linearity is this? Then, the % of non-linearity is of course measured as deviation from some linear slope at "normal" operating condition. This fact can be used to increase or decrease the number given, because even in the linear region there are going to be small changes in the non-linearity.

So, we really need the curves to get a feel for that figure. Sony probably would only give those to say Nikon or other OEMs. No big deal, it gives us a ballpark number.

Jason Hutchinson said:

The only confusion might be in their rating of 1060mV. As we know
this saturation of such a system can not be characterized by a
single number.

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This rating is very clear and complete. The figure simply represents the signal output of the imager at the stated light intensity. A less sensitive device will result in a smaller signal, and the parameter has nothing to do with saturation. You just feed the current from the device into an op-amp and measure the output voltage. Pretty basic.

Jason Hutchinson said:

What % of non-linearity is this?

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It doesn't matter. Non-linearity does not even get in the picture, since the signal was not produced by the on-chip amplifier.

Berg Na said:

Jason Hutchinson said:

The only confusion might be in their rating of 1060mV. As we know
this saturation of such a system can not be characterized by a
single number.

Click to expand...

This rating is very clear and complete. The figure simply
represents the signal output of the imager at the stated light
intensity. A less sensitive device will result in a smaller signal,
and the parameter has nothing to do with saturation. You just feed
the current from the device into an op-amp and measure the output
voltage. Pretty basic.

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The "1060mV" obviously was a typo and should have been "900mV" by looking at the next line and rest of the paragraph speaking about "saturation."

it's easy...use a neutral density filter....

Joe Hoddinott said:

More flexable studio light options: It would keep me from using
high f-stops (where I don't always want to be) while trying to
maintain the camera's slow flash sync.

If the tech is there... why not use it?

--
Regards,
Joe H.

---------------------------------------
http://www.biggerboatstudios.com

(Sarcasm Included - some assembly required.)

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