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What is ISO above 3200 used for?

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Ceridan

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Hi!

With the introduction of D750, its shots are compared on pixel level with other Nikon FF cameras, especially at ISO sensitivities above 3200.

So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for? For me going to ISO 1600 with my D610, I feel a bit nervous. And I have ISO 3200 reserved for very special occasions prefering to use lower ISOs and boost the exposure later in PP. But I do mainly events and reportage work, though I like dark environments and so.

(No trolling intended, just being curious.)
 
Ceridan said:
Hi!

With the introduction of D750, its shots are compared on pixel level with other Nikon FF cameras, especially at ISO sensitivities above 3200.

So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for? For me going to ISO 1600 with my D610, I feel a bit nervous. And I have ISO 3200 reserved for very special occasions prefering to use lower ISOs and boost the exposure later in PP. But I do mainly events and reportage work, though I like dark environments and so.

(No trolling intended, just being curious.)
Click to expand...
For me it is to shoot football, baseball and tennis under stadium lights, and to shoot indoor volleyball. The D750 has improved my "keepers" and shot quality tremendously. It has also enabled me to shoot in lighting I could not touch with my D300.

D300 is a great camera for its time. It is limited to ISO 3200, and now I can shoot at ISO 12,800 with better results.
 
I rarely ever take a shot under 4000 iso. When i wake up to goto work its dark out, when i come home from work its dark out and i dont have a sb-700 just yet to bounce flash off a ceiling.

I dont carry a tripod with me everywhere i go, how do you go under 3200 iso and still get a sharp picture without camera shake or to keep movements sharp? its the whole reason i went full frame was for the high iso performance.
 
I generally shoot 3200 on my D3s. When I had a loaner D4s for a few week, I shot 4 and 5000. Sometimes 6400 on up to 10,000 with great results. Shooting sessions and keynote audience shots in really dark areas for conferences and meetings. Or just general limited light areas where the low noise and high iso are just what i'm looking for.

hope that helped
 








Basketball at ISO6400 to freeze the action. It makes me crazy to see most (generally all) of the wire service photographers' photos of basketball and night football are dark and devoid of detail in the shadows or darker areas.
 
Ceridan said:
Hi!

With the introduction of D750, its shots are compared on pixel level with other Nikon FF cameras, especially at ISO sensitivities above 3200.

So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for? For me going to ISO 1600 with my D610, I feel a bit nervous. And I have ISO 3200 reserved for very special occasions prefering to use lower ISOs and boost the exposure later in PP. But I do mainly events and reportage work, though I like dark environments and so.

(No trolling intended, just being curious.)
Click to expand...
Dance (depending on the lighting), basketball.

Even in seemingly well-lit gyms and shooting at f/2.8, I find ISO 1600 is often not enough to freeze action.
 
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I've used higher ISO settings when photographing dance on a stage, and dogs at an indoor dog show, just to name two types of photography where I've routinely gone over 3200. Capturing subjects in motion, often in erratic motion, in poor lighting, are legitimate uses for high ISO settings. Supplemental lighting/flash is usually not permissible in such situations.
 
I use ISO above 3200 for mainly volleyball games and night baseball games. In order to freeze the ball you need a high shutter speed (like 1/1000th), and raising the ISO allows me to freeze the ball and eliminate blurring while maintaining relatively good image quality.

I've used a D700 for five years and it's served me very well. Still trying to decide if I will buy the D750. I want it, but I'm not sure I _need_ it.
 
Ceridan said:
Hi!

With the introduction of D750, its shots are compared on pixel level with other Nikon FF cameras, especially at ISO sensitivities above 3200.

So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for? For me going to ISO 1600 with my D610, I feel a bit nervous. And I have ISO 3200 reserved for very special occasions prefering to use lower ISOs and boost the exposure later in PP. But I do mainly events and reportage work, though I like dark environments and so.

(No trolling intended, just being curious.)
Click to expand...
Nervous?!

Maybe if I was using a D90 and running ISO up to 1600 I would feel "nervous".

My editor just ran 5-6 images I shot at 12,800 ISO with my D600. No problems whatsoever. Grain and noise usually disappear pretty well on newsprint anyways.

I use the full range of ISO's my camera is capable of because I HAVE to. If I miss a shot, I dont get paid.
 
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BobCoolTX said:
I've used a D700 for five years and it's served me very well. Still trying to decide if I will buy the D750. I want it, but I'm not sure I _need_ it.
Click to expand...
 
I shot a particularly dim contemporary ballet performance several years ago. Even at ISO 6400, I was barely able to hit 1/60th of a second at F/1.4. I would have killed for 2 more f stops of ISO capability to get to a more adequate shutter speed or get the lens out of fuzzville.

-m
 
In addition to all the scenarios posted above, I also shoot sports and dog agility, pre-dawn bird flight and wildlife. Often as the sun is rising or setting there is enough light to see color, but not enough to keep shutter speed up when shooting a long focal lengths, 400-1000mm or so.
 
I have a D610 and use it with 50mm F1.8 G and push it hard having to use high iso`s in bad lighting not even able to use the AF assist light. It does ok .

This image not perfect but it is 1EV above 6400 to give you an idea.





5f17cb0527974e5f8b63a052d7d8f475.jpg





--
new to technology,always learning
 
Ratfink328 said:
Ceridan said:
Hi!

With the introduction of D750, its shots are compared on pixel level with other Nikon FF cameras, especially at ISO sensitivities above 3200.

So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for? For me going to ISO 1600 with my D610, I feel a bit nervous. And I have ISO 3200 reserved for very special occasions prefering to use lower ISOs and boost the exposure later in PP. But I do mainly events and reportage work, though I like dark environments and so.

(No trolling intended, just being curious.)
Click to expand...
Nervous?!

Maybe if I was using a D90 and running ISO up to 1600 I would feel "nervous".

My editor just ran 5-6 images I shot at 12,800 ISO with my D600. No problems whatsoever. Grain and noise usually disappear pretty well on newsprint anyways.

I use the full range of ISO's my camera is capable of because I HAVE to. If I miss a shot, I dont get paid.
Click to expand...
I'm nervous when I have a strange person following me in a dark alley, not using a camera.

Almost everything I shoot is above 3200 in gyms, theaters, sports fields to keep shutter speed between 1/500 and 1/1000. Shooting in good light and daytime is a luxury.
 
concerts, well, performances in small clubs and bars. churches for sure. before 750 I had 600 and 610 and 7100. all were terrific at 6400. images could crop 100 easily. 750 with improved sensor etc can do 8000 with no sweat. I don't care what the specs and bench tests say, the eyeball test says the images from this camera are stunning.
 
Sometime if I don't have my tripod and I want to shoot a night scene handheld.



 
Ceridan said:
So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for?
Click to expand...
Mainly indoor sports. Sometimes for events where I don't want to use flash, and also for shows. I've been using a D700 for the last few years and a D3S more recently.



164491730af64f28bc07fb22bd9de9a2.jpg





44e05b0a27424c34b99450f45b4be7fc.jpg



--
'Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.' -Groucho Marx
 
I know what minimum shutter speed I need to stop the action and prevent action blur, I also know the minimum DOF that I want, I then let Auto ISO do it's job as there is no way I can lower the ISO without lowering the shutter or F-stop. I believe in letting the auto-ISO go to where it needs to be to take the shot. I see a lot of photographers try to keep a lower ISO to reduce noise and they shoot at 1/60th sec and F1.4 and end up with a blurry unusable photo, so why not let the ISO rise, at a decent manually set shutter/F-stop, and get the shot...........a noisy shot is better than a blurry shot!



Bob P.
 
Ceridan said:
Hi!

With the introduction of D750, its shots are compared on pixel level with other Nikon FF cameras, especially at ISO sensitivities above 3200.

So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for? For me going to ISO 1600 with my D610, I feel a bit nervous. And I have ISO 3200 reserved for very special occasions prefering to use lower ISOs and boost the exposure later in PP. But I do mainly events and reportage work, though I like dark environments and so.

(No trolling intended, just being curious.)
Click to expand...
Heavenly bodies and Star Trails.
 
Ceridan said:
Hi!

With the introduction of D750, its shots are compared on pixel level with other Nikon FF cameras, especially at ISO sensitivities above 3200.

So I'd like to ask the actual users - What do you use such high sensitivities for? For me going to ISO 1600 with my D610, I feel a bit nervous. And I have ISO 3200 reserved for very special occasions prefering to use lower ISOs and boost the exposure later in PP. But I do mainly events and reportage work, though I like dark environments and so.

(No trolling intended, just being curious.)
Click to expand...
I shoot at ISO6400 and sometimes ISO12800 in order to allow for fast enough shutter speeds to freeze movement in dim indoor conditions. I also use high ISOs when I need to stop down for more depth of field. For instance, I have a 300mm f/4 AF-S with a 1.4 teleconverter. It performs best stopped down one stop rather than wide open, plus I get more depth of field when I'm shooting small birds from a short distance. Since I shoot primarily in the morning or late afternoon light, often in shadows, the high ISOs are very helpful in allowing for freezing of movement as well as increased depth of field when stopped down. A somewhat noisy image is much easier to deal with compared to a blurry photo or one where only a small part of the image is in focus because of lack of depth of field. There's nothing wrong with cameras which don't have as good high ISO capability; my D200 still does great when it has adequate light.

-Kelly
 
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