Fuji X-H2 & X-T5 to have a lower base ISO!

[BklynBill]

Apparently the Fuji X-H2 and X-T5 will have a true lower ISO than the current 160! I fell this is great news for landscape, portrait and food photographers. Lower noise is always welcome. Nikon's ISO 64 really helps differentiate it from its rivals. Fuji needs that, helps in leveling the playing field vs. full frame. Why it took them this long is beyond me. With the 40mp sensor this should make a big potential difference in image quality.

As an aside, since we know the X-H2 has a 40mp sensor, it seems logical the the X-T5 will also given they are both mentioned together- not likely they would have two new sensors with the lower ISO.

 

[Samuraidog]

I'm curious...

What determines a camera's base ISO? Is it solely limited by the sensor?

 

[forest dream]

I'm curious...

What determines a camera's base ISO? Is it solely limited by the sensor?

If lower base ISO determine by firmware, can it be configurable via menu?

 

[Morris0]

I'm curious...

What determines a camera's base ISO? Is it solely limited by the sensor?

If lower base ISO determine by firmware, can it be configurable via menu?

Yes it is a firmware feature and we have the ability to extend the ISO now, though I don't remember if this is also downward on the Fuji cameras as it is on others. My Canon G1 in 2000 had ISO 64. I think they do this for marketing as many recall Kodachrome 64.

Morris

 

[dv312]

With the advent of brilliant Denoise software , I'd rather opt for higher ISO levels

Base ISO 200 is perfectly fine with me

Of course YMMV

Cheers,

 

[bclaff]

I'm curious...

What determines a camera's base ISO? Is it solely limited by the sensor?

The maximum amount of light that the pixel can collect is limited by the Full Well Capacity (FWC) of the pixel. The higher the FWC (per unit area) the lower the base ISO.

Unfortunately the ISO setting that the manufacturer assigns to that FWC has quite a bit of latitude. Certain manufacturers, Fujifilm and Olympus are examples, seem to "offset" their ISO settings more than others. This is why DxOMark has a "measured ISO" test and why some comparisons at sites like PhotonsToPhotos are not obvious.

--
Bill ( Your trusted source for independent sensor data at PhotonsToPhotos )

 

[BklynBill]

A lower ISO increases dynamic range also. Along with less noise, of course. And if you wish to shoot wide open on bright days it allow for more potential exposure combinations. But its the higher DR and lower noise that are really important I feel. And, obviously, you do not lose anything by having a lower ISO available. Use it if you wish, if not, you still have all the ISO choices you had before.

 

[Morris0]

A lower ISO increases dynamic range also. Along with less noise, of course. And if you wish to shoot wide open on bright days it allow for more potential exposure combinations. But its the higher DR and lower noise that are really important I feel. And, obviously, you do not lose anything by having a lower ISO available. Use it if you wish, if not, you still have all the ISO choices you had before.

Except when the lower ISO is simply a ratio applied to the sensor's lowest ISO to create a lower number.

Morris

 

[bclaff]

A lower ISO increases dynamic range also. Along with less noise, of course. And if you wish to shoot wide open on bright days it allow for more potential exposure combinations. But its the higher DR and lower noise that are really important I feel. And, obviously, you do not lose anything by having a lower ISO available. Use it if you wish, if not, you still have all the ISO choices you had before.

Except when the lower ISO is simply a ratio applied to the sensor's lowest ISO to create a lower number.

Morris

Right. ultimately what matters is the FWC per unit area not the ISO number that the manufacturer assigns to it.

 

[Kaoticphoto]

I hope it's not just a iso scale adjustment.

Actual 160iso in fuji camera is quite close to 100 iso in canon and sony, in my experience.

A real 80 iso (in current fuji values) and 1 stop more in DR would be a great news, specially after the bad news that x-2hs as a lower dr then xt2/3/4

 

[Tim van der Leeuw]

I'm curious...

What determines a camera's base ISO? Is it solely limited by the sensor?

If lower base ISO determine by firmware, can it be configurable via menu?

My understanding is that base ISO is determined by the sensor hardware.

It is possible to "extend" this using software trickery, which gives us the "extended ISO" modes on our cameras.

However, these always come at the cost of dynamic range (or even more noise at the high end).

Basically the camera then does in software what you could also do in RAW post processing.

Yesterday I watched some reviews of the X-H2s on YouTube and I believe it was in Gordon Laing's review where he showed the low ISO setting produced more saturated colours than base ISO -- and stated that this is common amongst camera brands.

So again in my understanding, "base ISO" is determined by hardware, and then there is some interpretation of the ISO definition by the camera manufacturer that gives you the base ISO number the camera shows you. So for the same "full well capacity" a Fuji or Olympus camera might show you a higher ISO value than a Sony or Nikon camera.

Firmware therefore does have some influence over what base ISO the camera uses because it implements how the manufacturer interprets ISO, but it cannot just be configured via a menu.

 

[Power X]

Apparently the Fuji X-H2 and X-T5 will have a true lower ISO than the current 160! I fell this is great news for landscape, portrait and food photographers. Lower noise is always welcome. Nikon's ISO 64 really helps differentiate it from its rivals. Fuji needs that, helps in leveling the playing field vs. full frame. Why it took them this long is beyond me. With the 40mp sensor this should make a big potential difference in image quality.

As an aside, since we know the X-H2 has a 40mp sensor, it seems logical the the X-T5 will also given they are both mentioned together- not likely they would have two new sensors with the lower ISO.

curious where that information came from... might want to follow up on it

 

[BklynBill]

Fuji Rumors. About two days ago. He says he will have a follow up when he has the exact ISO, probably in a few days.

 

[forest dream]

Most of modern sensor (include Fujifilm camera) are dual gain. E.g. X-T3 dual gain : ISO 160/800.

If Fujifilm camera built-in electronic variable ND filter (eND range from 1/2 to 1/16), it more flexible than lower bae ISO.

• These electronic variable ND filter (eND) are optically based rather than using image processing. It consist a monochrome liquid crystal panel (LCD) and a polarizing filter.
• It provide better results than Olympus computational multi-shot (image processing based) - Live ND/Live composite.
• eND provide better IQ than traditional variable ND because ultra thin & no gap between LCD & polarizing filter.
• Next Fujifilm sensor dual gain : ISO 800 and ISO 12800
• Compare to traditional ND, eND (Auto ND mode) allow camera firmware auto adjust the filter density to find the best exposure level for shooting.

• It mean when photographer want shooting at ISO 50, camera auto set sensor to native base ISO 800 but eND 1/16 to get more clear photo.
• It mean when photographer want shooting at ISO 800, camera auto set sensor to native base ISO 12800 but eND 1/16 to get more cleared photo.
• It mean when photographer want shooting at ISO 1600, camera auto set sensor to native base ISO 12800 but eND 1/8 to get more cleared photo.
• It mean when photographer want shooting at ISO 6400, camera auto set sensor to native base ISO 12800 but eND 1/2 to get more cleared photo.
• So, for photography achieve ISO 50 - ISO 6400, sensor always stick to native base ISO 800 and 12800, never use other ISO, less noise.
• Similar to auto ISO, eND will automatically adjusts the density so that the exposure will remain the same no matter how light levels change.