My new camera, ISO12800 sample

zackiedawg

zackiedawg

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Staff member
I've got 1 night to test a few sample shots with this cam before I'm off on 10-day vacation. ; One thing I wanted to do is to test extreme low light at extreme high ISO. ; I waited until dark, and stepped out in my yard for a quickie handheld test. ; Here's what I shot:

First shot is at the lowest base ISO - 200. ; I manually set the same shutter speed and aperture that the ISO12800 produced, so you could see how dark it really was given all equal settings and a normal shutter speed at the lowest ISO:

[attachimg=1]

Yes...there's really a photo in there, I promise! ; Lighten it up with max brightness and minimum contrast and you'll see there's a scene in there somewhere. ; It was dark. ; At least as bad as Haunted Mansion!

So the next shot is the same shutter speed and aperture, same lens, same camera, same location, everything the same...except ISO12800. ; I did run a basic dose of noise reduction on the shot. ; I used standard JPEG mode here, not a RAW conversion:

[attachimg=2]

I can tell you this - the output from this camera at ISO12800 in JPEG is actually slightly CLEANER than my current camera's ISO3200. ; It has roughly the same detail and luminance noise, but far less chroma noise. ; And I wasn't using a low light lens - just a standard F3.5-6.3 megazoom at F3.5.

I'd consider ISO12800 to be mostly emergency use...smaller prints or posts - at full size it's a bit messy. ; But that's what my current camera's ISO3200 was...1600 being the max that could be used reliably. ; Now ISO6400 is about that level with the new cam.

Very very happy!

[attachments posted prior to 4/27/2010 have been deleted by admin. be sure to link images to make sure they don't get removed]
 
It'll look good on the Internet in a pinch. ; So, is this the latest and greatest from SONY? ; Have fun and bag some of those dark ride shots! ; Oh, I bet night time parade shots will be easier to get now, too. ;
 
"Scottwdw" said:
; So, is this the latest and greatest from SONY? ;
Click to expand...

For now. ; They accidentally leaked the A750, which is their D300 competitor. ; No specs yet but they put it on the SonyStyle site.
 
Thanks guys. ; Yeah, this is the latest from Sony - and currently the greatest from them as far as ISO performance and continuous shooting speed, at least until they eventually come out with the A700 replacement. ; The A500/550 series is a step up from entry-level, but not yet full enthusiast like the A700. ; Currently though, the ISO performance beats everything they've got, and as far as most early samples seem to show, it's up there with the best of any APS-C camera for high ISO noise control and detail. ; The biggest changes are in their JPEG processing, which is now much more tuned for chroma reduction, and in the noise pattern, which is much more film like and smaller grained. ; The latest from Canon (7D), Sony (A550), and Pentax (KX) all seem to be much improved in their high-ISO capabilities and noise reduction algorithms, and JPEG processing overall...much as Nikon did with the D90 compared to its predecessor.

I'm happy that Sony's got something that is at least the equal of the other APS-C offerings in high ISO...I don't really care who is the absolute best on a microscopic-pixel-level analysis...just that they all are that close, that competitive, and can all produce decent shots when needed.

As for the speed - I have to say, the 7fps burst mode is almost frightening! ; It sounds like an automatic weapon when it goes off. ; I took 14 photos in 2 seconds or less - it was crazy! ; I can see this being quite the killer feature in my birding, catching just the right moment...but I'm going to be filling up cards in a hurry!
 
Oh, and just another sample I shot...this one at a much lower and more usable ISO of 3200. ; This is handheld at F3.5 of my cat sleeping, straight from camera:

original.jpg


My A300 at ISO 3200 would have looked worse than the ISO 12800 shot above...this camera at ISO 3200 is as clean as my A300 at ISO 800. ; This is what I really like...usable even for large prints. ; I haven't cleaned this one up - with a minor dose of noise reduction, any noise remaining at all could be cleaned up, and there's still plenty of detail. ; And this is not the best of examples - it's 1/6 shutter handheld, in indoor uncorrected lighting, with an average lens (18-250 F3.5-6.3). ; Taken with something sharper and faster, like the Sigma 30 F1.4, it would be even crisper.
 
i remember making the post but forgot it was in the other thread. ; whoops.
 
No problemo. ; I'm just doing my last board check this morning - all packed and getting ready to head to the ship in a couple of hours! ; Real Pirates of the Caribbean, here I come! ; ;)
 
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