D200- how high can i go with ISO?

[Fordo]

Tomorrow at work, i've been asked to take some photos at a corporate event- i'm not a pro photographer, and have pointed this out, but i've been asked as I'm probably the only one at the company who knows something of photography. I'm going to have a D200 thrust into my hand, with god knows what lens- and I'm betting its not going to be particularly fast glass.

The event organizers have requested that we use no flash- apparently it can set off they're fire alarm system. (daft, i know, never heard of this before).

So back on topic- how high can i realistically push the ISO on a D200? Its a corporate event, so a little noise would be acceptable.

many thanks

[Toyless]

Hard to really say I think. Personally, I try to avoid much over 4-500 ISO,but it does depend on conditions.

I used the 200`s highest setting for some gig pics recently,and with a bit of pp,they were perefectly acceptable.

In my eyes anyway.

[Simpo Two]

Fordo said:

apparently it can set off they're fire alarm system

That'll be fun in a thunderstorm then! (lightning sets off my studio flashes but they're designed to slave to any bright flash!)

My 'default' ISO is 320, which is effectively noise-free and gives me decent shutter speeds and flash working distance. However, in extremis - when working with the famously miserable vicar of Dedham for example, I'll go to 800. That gets quite noisy if you have to lift the shadows so correct exposure is important. However, you have to remember that although it looks obvious at 100% crop, it will probably be invisible on any realistic-sized print. For key shots affected by noise I use NeatImage, a PS plug-in.

However if you're stuck with slow lenses then the situation becomes much more critical and it all comes down to the ambient lighting. Hopefully the room, and especially the speakers, will be decently lit - if not maybe have a word with the AV crew and see if they can turn up the lights a bit. Tripods notwithstanding, you'll be hitting subject movement below 1/30th so if you can't achieve that, you have no option but to increase ISO to whatever's required. Laws of Physics and all that!

[Elderly]

Fordo, do you have a DSLR of your own? You would be more familiar using that in terms of controls and menus,
and it might be newer and perform better at higher ISOs than the D200 (I find it hard to believe that the D200 was introduced almost 5 years ago ).

[Simpo Two]

Good point.

[Toyless]

Elderly said:

I find it hard to believe that the D200 was introduced almost 5 years ago ).

Don't care, I absolutely love mine....

[itsnotarace]

800 is acceptable but the lower the better. Use a tripod if you can't use a flash.

[Muska]

I've shot at ISO1600 loads of my D200 and never had a problem with the quality or amount of noise IF the exposure is spot on.

[Fordo]

Simpo Two said:

Fordo said:

apparently it can set off they're fire alarm system

That'll be fun in a thunderstorm then! (lightning sets off my studio flashes but they're designed to slave to any bright flash!)

My 'default' ISO is 320, which is effectively noise-free and gives me decent shutter speeds and flash working distance. However, in extremis - when working with the famously miserable vicar of Dedham for example, I'll go to 800. That gets quite noisy if you have to lift the shadows so correct exposure is important. However, you have to remember that although it looks obvious at 100% crop, it will probably be invisible on any realistic-sized print. For key shots affected by noise I use NeatImage, a PS plug-in.

However if you're stuck with slow lenses then the situation becomes much more critical and it all comes down to the ambient lighting. Hopefully the room, and especially the speakers, will be decently lit - if not maybe have a word with the AV crew and see if they can turn up the lights a bit. Tripods notwithstanding, you'll be hitting subject movement below 1/30th so if you can't achieve that, you have no option but to increase ISO to whatever's required. Laws of Physics and all that!

Thanks simpo - some good tips there.

i'll start with 320 and go up from there if needed. The AV guys are quite friendly, and it's being lit for video (or at least it should be), so the guys on stage shouldnt be a problem- it'll be the 'generic people mingling under dingey flourescent lights' where it might get a bit blurry.

Worringly the boss has mentioned she wants to 'have a go'. wheres a facepalm smiley when you need one. I was going to set the cam up for her in shutter priority, jack the ISO slightly higher than needed, set shutter speed at 1/50 or 1/100 so she doesnt bring back those 'slightly blurry shots that;ll she'll swear looked fine in the monitor'.

Edited by Fordo on Tuesday 14th September 18:15

[Fordo]

Elderly said:

Fordo, do you have a DSLR of your own? You would be more familiar using that in terms of controls and menus,
and it might be newer and perform better at higher ISOs than the D200 (I find it hard to believe that the D200 was introduced almost 5 years ago ).

i do have my own, buts its a lowly old D40. - im not easily parted with cash, so i'll use it till it stops working! Can still take a good picture with it, but anything over iso 200 is quite noisey.

[Fordo]

off my own topic a little, but just in case anyones interested, this is the beast of a lens im using on one of the cameras to shoot the video at the conference:




7.8mm to 178mm - and its being used with adapter rings on a camera with pretty small sensor block - 1/3 inch. Im rubbish at doing crop factor maths, but its got one hell-of-a range! Plus the lens has a 2x range extender which effectively doubles the focal range (at the expense of 2 stops of light though)

Edited by Fordo on Tuesday 14th September 18:26

[Toyless]

Id make sure I shot using RAW if I was in your position as well as all the above.

[Simpo Two]

Fordo said:

Thanks simpo - some good tips there

No worries; if there's one thing I've spent many hours doing it's wringing the pips out of a D200!

Fordo said:

The AV guys are quite friendly, and it's being lit for video (or at least it should be), so the guys on stage shouldnt be a problem- it'll be the 'generic people mingling under dingey flourescent lights' where it might get a bit blurry.

Well as you know RAW will allow you to sort out WB afterwards, as for a decent shutter speed are you sure you can't use flash then?

Fordo said:

Worringly the boss has mentioned she wants to 'have a go'. wheres a facepalm smiley when you need one. I was going to set the cam up for her in shutter priority, jack the ISO slightly higher than needed, set shutter speed at 1/50 or 1/100 so she doesnt bring back those 'slightly blurry shots that;ll she'll swear looked fine in the monitor'.

A boss? My sympathies. But setting up a camera for catastrophe sounds like fun

Let me see...

Set 'ISO' to 'H3' or whatever. That will give mental shutter speeds so set it to aperture priority exposure and f11 to compensate.

Set 'QUAL' to JPG Basic.

Set 'WB' to Daylight.

Turn off AF.


If your photos don't look better than hers after that, start flipping burgers now!

Edited by Fordo on Tuesday 14th September 18:15

[trackdemon]

I wouldn't trust my D200 to deliver decent quality above ISO 320, I even see noise in dark areas below ISO200 on occasion.... noise is one of the camera's minus points imho...