Is 20000 ISO usable for wildlife photography?

[geoawelch]

John,

I absolutely think high ISO images are acceptable, but the judge and jury on this should be you, not anybody else for your work.

If you're happy with the results, that's all that matters.

Cheers,

George

 

[jcgamble]

John,

I absolutely think high ISO images are acceptable, but the judge and jury on this should be you, not anybody else for your work.

If you're happy with the results, that's all that matters.

Cheers,

George

Thanks George. I have been blown away at what these mirrorless cameras and software can do with low light photography.

 

[bsinc1962]

I also think that some bodies just handle high iso's better than others. I know that gets into a debate about pixel sizes and downsizing ect but here's a shot at a very high iso that's very usable.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[geoawelch]

Thanks George. I have been blown away at what these mirrorless cameras and software can do with low light photography.

Me too, John. Both the Olympus and now Nikon outfits have been outstanding.

 

[jhallettbc]

Thanks for posting, it's fun to see others' no flash, in the dark or twilight efforts. On the owl photo, I actually think if the image was less bright, it would reduce the perception of the noise, and show that this is not a daytime shot. At least I assume it wasn't due to needing the high iso.

Your owl was on the hunt and realized it was being watched. It was night and I think letting the viewer know this might make the image more interesting. By being as bright as day, the perception is that the image should be sharper, but recognizing that it's a night shot gives the viewer a "window" into the owl's world, and personality. Certainly darkening the background might help.

I really like looking for night opportunities for nightjars and owls. Poorwills (thanks to @jhallettbbc for posting) are particularly fun because their tendency is to freeze when they feel threatened. I've had good luck with handheld flashlights or headlights, and no flash, but that means high iso. In fact, in my experience, I have to find them with a flashlight (look for the gleaming eyes), then do a slow careful approach (10-15 mins or more), keeping the light on them. If I use a flash, it's a one-time shot, they disappear after that photo. So, high iso is what I get. Finding nightjars in the day is really a challenge. I've only succeeded a couple of times.

My 300mm f/4 PF is what I'm trying now instead of my 500mm f/5.6 PF, to reduce the iso. Cold nights are harder as there are fewer insects out.

Here's a few shots in separate threads: https://bcgforums.com/threads/learning-low-light-technique-with-a-d500.27249/ and https://bcgforums.com/threads/common-poorwill-project-cont.28699/. (I haven't yet revisited editing of these.) All were handheld.
regards, Alan

I did try less bright and increased the temperature to make it warmer. Definitely looks better.

 

[MikeInMI]

I've gotten terrific shots at ISO 32000 with my A1 thanks to Noise Reduction software. If I don't do much crop, I use Lightroom noise reduction and it does a terrific job. I do BIF and so a lot of times I have to do a heavy crop. When that is the case I use Topaz Photo AI. I do the crop in Topaz and have Topaz upsize it to at least a 4k image (when I crop in Topaz, it seems to auto upsize to about 4200 pixels on the long edge without me having to specify the upsize manually). Then do noise reduction and sharpening all in one operation. Pics that would have been too heavily cropped and too noisy have come out really nice when I do that.

 

[ARClark]

IMO, no matter the ISO, the best way to increase the potential of an image is to ensure proper exposure. To avoid, or limit, noise, I do everything I can to limit underexposure in an image. Even as sensors and post processing products get so much better at handling noise, there is a limit to what they are capable of.

Getting the proper exposure, and avoiding under exposure, for obtaining the best images at high ISOs has also been my experience.

 

[TCzPhotos]

I have my Z9 set to 20000 ISO maximum, and on occasion have gotten photos that I thought were pretty good. I would like your opinion on the attached photo and it was processed in CaptureOnePro23 with noise reduction.

I have mine set at 12800 and have been shooting with the Z8/600 f6.3. I have been impressed by the tablet sized images even after a reasonable crop. Not sure what time of day you took your shot, but I am assuming it was actually darker than your image and the camera raised the ISO to brighten the image. I have been experimenting with dropping the exposure compensation, creating a darker shot and then bringing up the highlights in post. I think it looks more natural.

 

[bleirer]

I also think that some bodies just handle high iso's better than others. I know that gets into a debate about pixel sizes and downsizing ect but here's a shot at a very high iso that's very usable.

View attachment 74004

Here is a list if you scroll down to the bottom, the low light EV or low light ISO charts, same value just different scales. You can click on the column headers to sort by low light capability. Notice how well some of the older dslr cameras perform, but they can't track an eye through brush:

Photographic Dynamic Range versus ISO Setting

 

[JohnD29]

My recommendation is shoot raw and use dxo pure raw 3 noise reduction and you will think you shot at iso 400... if you haven't used pure raw, get the 7 day free trial. You will be in awe of what it does

 

[bleirer]

My recommendation is shoot raw and use dxo pure raw 3 noise reduction and you will think you shot at iso 400... if you haven't used pure raw, get the 7 day free trial. You will be in awe of what it does

Their literature claims to give 2.5 stops of improvement. To my eye they do better that that. Since one stop is a doubling or halving of ISO, a shot around 20000 would look like about 3750 so not that great, but a shot around 8000 would look like about 1500, not too bad.

 

[JohnD29]

Their literature claims to give 2.5 stops of improvement. To my eye they do better that that. Since one stop is a doubling or halving of ISO, a shot around 20000 would look like about 3750 so not that great, but a shot around 8000 would look like about 1500, not too bad.

I shoot high school football free Lance and regularly shoot 8000 to 20,000 depending on lights and area of field... it's the best bar none... if you haven't used it, try it

 

[bleirer]

I shoot high school football free Lance and regularly shoot 8000 to 20,000 depending on lights and area of field... it's the best bar none... if you haven't used it, try it

I use Photolab 7 which is the same engine. Yes it is quite good, but can have it's issues as well.

 

[ARClark]

I started this because I see a lot of people that don't shoot over 3200 or 6400 ISO. I believe these new mirrorless cameras and software can produce stunning images above those ISO levels. Shooting at lower light levels creates more opportunities.

In response to the question posed in your original post title, the answer is yes, high ISO images CAN be usable for wildlife photography when exposed and processed properly with the latest PP apps and not too heavily cropped. And I wouldn't limit that to just mirrorless cameras. The more recent Nikon DSLRs with which I have some familiarity, such as the D750/780, D850 and later single D bodies, can perform just as well or better in that regard. There are lots of excellent high ISO images in this thread demonstrating their usability from web postings to potentially high-end printing.k You did a nice job with your original owl photo.

Here's an image I took with a Z9 of a ruby-crowned kinglet shot at ISO 25,600 and processed in Photoshop/Camera Raw and Topaz Denoise. I'll add that the Z9 probably gave me an advantage over the D850 for this 1/400 sec handheld capture in terms of its stability (IBIS plus lens VR), lack of mirror slap and shutter vibrations, and faster AF for the 500 f4E/2x TC combo from the advanced Expeed processor.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

 

[flashpixx]

As others have noted there is no issue shooting at ISO20000 and above with the Z9. I try to get the exposure right in camera to get the S/N as high as possible.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.

You can only see EXIF info for this image if you are logged in.