ISO-51200

Gallery: WildlifePosted December 27, 2012336 views11 comments

While cleaning up some files from this year's trip I came across this one...

This shot was taken "by accident" on ISO-51200, I quickly adjusted my exposure settings to get to a more usable ISO-5000.

The light was very poor - it was overcast just before sunrise in the Kgalagadi, and this African Wild Cat kitten was checking us out from the dark depths of a dense patch of grass in the shade of a camelthorn tree. Light was nowhere.

Now you can see some noise - but come on, it's ISO-51200...the thing that's important is dynamic range and detail retention at these high ISO settings. Noise can be handled in processing. You cannot put back detail that the camera wasn't able to capture.

Obviously you are not going to capture large-print material at these settings (though I am curious about printing this one for kicks). I normally cap my ISO to 6400 in the worst of light. Yet it does open up possibilities of capturing moments in the worst possible light, to show to others perhaps some interesting natural behaviour...

Have a great New Year celebration, everyone!! And a belated Merry Christmas...

Techs:
Nikon D3s
Nikkor 500mm f4 VR-II
1.4x teleconverter
f5.6 | 1/500 SS | ISO-51200
Cropped from 12mp to 8.6mp

All natural light (or lack of light

)
Minimal processing done - 2 rounds of slight noise reduction to the background, none to the cat, sharpened after resizing

PS: I've included a larger file...

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on December 27, 2012 at 8:28 PM

Gorgeous cat Morkel and you can't knock the the noise on this at all. You can see the noise but it doesn't distract.

Gary.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by John Tobias on December 28, 2012 at 10:36 AM

I did not notice any noise until opening the larger image, and it still did not distract. Glad you tried the higher ISO and captured a very nice portrait of a small wild cat. Thanks for sharing.

Registered on September 12, 2009, 2120 Posts, 6455 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on December 29, 2012 at 8:58 AM

Hi Morkel,

And a very happy new year to you. Hope 2013 works out well for you.

This shot is good for ISO 51,200, but does show quite a bit of noise, even at this small size. But - like you say - it does open up some interesting possibilities.

I agree that decreases in dynamic range and colour depth can be more limiting than noise is some instances (especially with a D3s), but that does tend to vary quite a bit between camera models (meaning that with some cameras noise becomes a limiting factor long before DR and colour depth does). And the noise can be so pronounced that it really can't be dealt with in post-processing without harming image detail. Interestingly the D4 is no better in high ISO noise characteristics than a D3s (and possibly not quite as good), but holds tonal range and colour depth much better at high ISO's. My experience is that high ISO shots from a D4 often don't even look like high ISO shots, which is really a benefit.

Cheers...and really looking forward to seeing what you come up with in 2013!

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments

Comment posted by Ralph Kerr on December 30, 2012 at 9:15 AM

Morkel, I like what you have done here, given the conditions you described including the noise factor. Nice cat.

Registered on January 30, 2007, 369 Posts, 852 Comments

Comment posted by Roger Kirchen on December 30, 2012 at 8:02 PM

Stunning image, Morkel. Look at those yes at the focused attention of the cat. Noise is obvious, but it does not detract as it almost looks like a texture to me. I wouldn't mind cranking up to 51200, or even 6400 - my 7D tops out at 12800 and gets noisy long before that. ;-)

All the very best for 2013.

Registered on March 6, 2011, 95 Posts, 847 Comments

Comment posted by Lon Sharp on December 31, 2012 at 10:06 AM

Great look at the eyes and I think the quality leaves enough to surprise you in your printing, with a little background noise reduction, etc. Congrats on a neat capture. Happy New Year!

Registered on December 9, 2007, 258 Posts, 9892 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Teller on December 31, 2012 at 6:21 PM

Without your explanation I thought this was a pet cat. Great color, framing and very sharp. Fine image.

Registered on August 23, 2010, 1162 Posts, 6692 Comments

Comment posted by Morkel Erasmus on January 2, 2013 at 3:45 PM

Thanks folks.
I've got shots of this kitty with better techs (lower ISO for one), but wanted to share this result.

Registered on March 22, 2011, 385 Posts, 2068 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on January 4, 2013 at 4:00 PM

You can definitely tell it was shot with a high ISO from the noise...however, I'm amazed at the detail you managed to capture! This little guy sure gave you a nice look. All the best in 2013!

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on January 6, 2013 at 10:54 AM

This looks super to me for the iso used Morkel, certainly a usable image with nice detail in the cat.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Bob Johnson on January 6, 2013 at 1:01 PM

A very useable image at such high ISO Morkel. It nearly makes me want to dash out to the store for a Nikon

Bob

Registered on December 8, 2010, 17 Posts, 169 Comments