D300 shooting in virtual darkness 6400 ISO

Helen B · Feb 25, 2008

It’s a very impressive photo, but we must have different ideas of ‘virtual darkness’. 1/25th at f/3 and ISO 6400 (a Bv of about -3, or an Ev of about 2 at ISO 100) is about four stops brighter than a moonlit landscape, and two or three stops brighter than typical bars here in New York, where my exposure is usually around 1/15 at f/1 and EI 2000.

Best,
Helen

sabbath999 · Feb 25, 2008

Antithesis said:
The d300's high ISO capabilites are making me rethink purchasing the super expensive nikon fast lenses. Besides a shorter depth of field, it seems kinda silly now to spend the extra money on a faster lens when you could drop the extra money on a d300 and have the extra stops on all the lenses you own. Decisions, decisions..

I wouldn't go that far... this shot was taken with a $800 105mm f/2.8 VR macro, which is BY FAR the sharpest lens I own. It is VASTLY sharper than anything else in the bag, including the vaunted 70-200 VR. Then again, this 105 is obscenely sharp...

It is making me rethink ever buying another zoom lens...

My problem with that is that in many of the situations I am in I cannot zoom with my feet...

So... I guess I will have to buy the supersharp fast primes AND the sharp fast zooms both

I am thinking my next lens is going to be a 300mm f/2.8 VR, or perhaps a 400mm f/2.8 VR. Those are going to take a bit of saving for to buy.

That shorter depth of field is huge sometimes as well... especially where I shoot.

rawrasaur · Feb 25, 2008

I do a lot of night shooting and I often have the problem of my subject being so dark it is impossible to focus. My advice to you is buy a good flashlight

domromer · Feb 25, 2008

I've been thinking of selling my D80 and getting the d300....I wish you would have never posted this!

I hope a d300 will keep me warm at night when I'm sleeping on the couch by myself!

sabbath999 · Feb 25, 2008

Helen B said:
Its a very impressive photo, but we must have different ideas of virtual darkness. 1/25th at f/3 and ISO 6400 (a Bv of about -3, or an Ev of about 2 at ISO 100) is about four stops brighter than a moonlit landscape, and two or three stops brighter than typical bars here in New York, where my exposure is usually around 1/15 at f/1 and EI 2000.

Best,
Helen

Any term like "virtual" is going to mean different things to different folks. It was dark enough I couldn't see the details of the critter, but it wasn't pitch black either. That's why I put the settings there for y'all to see up front, so you could tell what light level was we were talking about.

I don't own an f/1 lens, I can't handhold a 105 lens at 1/15th of a second either... I was pushing it pretty hard to be steady enough for a 1/25th, but I am not a very steady shooter.

F/3 is fast, but it's not f/1 fast... I would LOVE to have one of those puppies!

Who/what are you shooting in those bars? That sounds interesting.

sabbath999 · Feb 25, 2008

rawrasaur said:
I do a lot of night shooting and I often have the problem of my subject being so dark it is impossible to focus. My advice to you is buy a good flashlight

Except, of course, the object of taking pictures of animals is not to disturb them or cause them stress...

kundalini · Feb 25, 2008

Wow, super shot Sabbath. Might have to go find a bat myself. :lol:

I've only set mine to the H ISO's just to muck about. I finally took my D300 yesterday to the animal shelter for the first time. I was shooting at ISO 1600 with my 35mm f/2. This was great because NO FLASH required. I know now that I can bump up the ISO and faster shutter speed. That and the 6 fps is gonna be nice to get that moment in time. The dogs are already nervous and when I go into their kennel, they usually go nuts and it's been hard to get a lot of keepers. Yesterday was my best effort to date. The picture quality at ISO 1600 was amazing.

johnmh · Feb 25, 2008

Well... I WAS happy with my D200.......

however I have no desire to sleep on the couch nor do I have delusions that a D300 will keep me warm and cozy.... so....... deprivation builds character

DSLR noob · Feb 25, 2008

sabbath999 said:
Any term like "virtual" is going to mean different things to different folks.

Not really, Virtual can have 2 applications. One meaning simulated, the other (this scenario) meaning un noticable to natural senses (still meaning simulated, as in, fabricated for your senses to not detect the truth). for example, when someone says the shutter reaction is virtually non existent, it isn't true. It doesn't exist to you, a human, but there is technically a lag between the time you push the release, and the time the shutter is open. Same for cars with "virtually" silent rides. YOU can't hear anything, doesn't mean that there is no noise in the cabin. The way you used it, should've meant, it was black (black only, maybe glimmers of light in eyes or something) to the naked human eye, but the camera still got a shot. When using wordings like this, it is important to understand the terminology behind it.

Cool shot though.

passerby · Feb 26, 2008

That is quite impressive ability of a camera.
Only yesterday I manually typed a bit from an article in a magazine (DSLR user) about Nikon D3 awesome ISO performance, and I was going to post it today. But now I don't know which one is better. Anyway here is the short part of it:

NIKON D3

It offers a range of ISO between 200 to 6400, and it's even possible to boost it's rating to a remarkable ISO 25,600 if required. That is 7 stops from ISO 100, and it would virtually enough to shoot in the pitch dark.----------
But the big pitch is that the noise is so low that even ISO 6400 would still look good.