What's the max. ISO I should use with a D300?

cryptochrome

800 or 1600? I think I shouldn't go higher. but is 1600 still good or would you consider this too much?

Ekaj

Just ask yourself if it looks good. There is no rule.

Art Scott

go to DP REVIEW and scroll down his page and there is a very good comparison shots at the different iso's [from 800 - 6400]........iso 3200 can look decent and usable but for me the shots I have seen at 6400 are unusable.

ivar

Ekaj wrote:

Just ask yourself if it looks good. There is no rule.

It seems a simple answer, but I think it's the only correct one. You will have to be the judge on wheter or not you find the noise acceptable. Make sure you properly expose the images in camera, that seems to help a good bit, too.

Everyone has different standards on noise. Personally, I don't really care too much about it. Especially in print, it will be a lot less visible anyway.

angevin1

The Max? Right off hand I'd say the max on the camera....just sayin:D

But set up and do test shots yourself. I did that with my D300 when I got it a couple of months ago and was surprised at how much noise there was until I learned to adjust the camera and aid it in not picking noise up. After I adjusted it, I could easily do acceptable Still-lifes at ISO 2k.

cheers, tom

pathfinder

I use at least 3200 in my DSLR, but usually no higher than 200 in my P&S. But there are always lots of exceptions. I have used 800 in my P&S and sometimes, 400 is too high in my DSLR.

The final answer, really, is shoot a few frames at various ISOs, and make some prints, and then you will know the answer for yourself.

Your wants and needs of your images are likely to be quite different from other shooters, so why let them make that decision for you?

An architectural photographer may not accept any grain and want a very long subtle gray scale, while a shooter of punk bands in dark bars may want very grainy, high contrast images. Their favorite ISOs may vary quite a bit.

cryptochrome

angevin1 wrote:

But set up and do test shots yourself. I did that with my D300 when I got it a couple of months ago and was surprised at how much noise there was until I learned to adjust the camera and aid it in not picking noise up. After I adjusted it, I could easily do acceptable Still-lifes at ISO 2k.

How did you adjust it?

angevin1

Turn the Menu on. On left icons use the camera icon. Then Set picture control. Choose Neutral or select right and then you can go into the control area that allows you to adjust individual things about the setting you chose.

cheers, tom

xendless xurbia

Here's a 100% crop of a shot I took at ISO 3200. Converted from RAW with NO processing. Not sure what the camera noise reduction settings were.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3031/2682234005_19527b5cfc_o.jpg

Cygnus Studios

A lot depends on "other" factors. Are you cropping the image? The more you crop, the more you will notice the noise.
If you use noise reduction in the camera along with software during editing.
Overall, you should be pretty safe at 3200 with the D300.

bosco0633

I think for myself that I could live with shots at 3200 ISO, however, for me I think that a faster lens is required to assist with shooting at 3200 ISO.

NeilL

bosco0633 wrote:

I think that a faster lens is required to assist with shooting at 3200 ISO.

The max is where you lose control As Ziggy said, kind of, correct exposure is the holy grail, for least noise and all other good things. Correct exposure is the end result of the photographer knowing what they are doing, having control. As bosco0633 said, kind of, you gotta know how to use a lens to expose correctly (among many other things), any and all lenses you have on your camera, and each exposes differently. EG go to bed with a Canon EF35mm 1.4L and see what perfectly complexioned low light babes you can produce!

So don't concern yourself with an abstract number, but with knowing and controlling your gear to get the result you want.

In my case, I reach my limit long before my gear does