Why use High ISO and High Shutter speed at same time?

[robbins.photo]

That's enough with this argument I think. Everyone has had their say and OP has several different points of view to consider.

Desist or I will have to use my powers for evil.

Apologies, was just finishing my post as you were posting yours. I can delete if you wish.

 

[SquarePeg]

Going to assume you had already posted that before you saw my post...


ETA: We're good thanks!

 

[Frank F.]

Maybe he planned the enire shoot around the 35/1.4-L and the 50/1.2-L, and planned to utilize the sheer speed of such lenses. Maybe he wanted everything to be at ISO 1,600, so he would neer have to make an ISO adjustment during the event.

Only one addition: If you shoot such an event at fixed ISO and style you can later batch edit the shots and save tremendous time in post production. It is a very new development that cameras, namely the D5 and D500 deliver very consistant color and tones over a wide range of ISO plus a superb consitency of white balance over a wide range of lighting situations.

Thank you for this insigtful post. Very knowledgable and to the point. Really great.

To the thread opener: did the photographer control the light? Did he have flashlights positioned in various rooms on ceilings, in corners etc? He might trigger these via pocket wizard or similar to work the shadows...

 

[thereyougo!]

I don't wish to get into the ins and outs of technical pitfalls or debates. I'm not a wedding shooter though I have shot a few shots at friends and family weddings without stepping on the toes of the pro.

I would, however ask the OP the following questions:

Is your bride a photographer or otherwise artistic professional?

Have you asked her what she thinks of them before going into a technical breakdown of the shots?

As a photographer, you're too close to the art. This is why my older brother who is a chef hates it when my parents tell waiters in restaurants that he is a chef. It makes him roll his eyes, and often the waiter does so too. If you evaluate these in a professional way without first asking your bride what she thinks in an open and unjudgemental way without a leading question, then you risk alienating her views. It's easily done. You also risk spoiling the memories of the day.

If the other photos are of a similar quality, then what you have is a collection of pretty competent photos. You can only challenge his work if he is incompetent. You will struggle to prove that on the basis of him not changing his settings. This would set in chain a chain of events that would taint the memory of the wedding day.

If, however, your wife hates them, and does so without any influence from your technical knowledge, then perhaps you should speak to the photographer.

Ok he was expensive, but if he has failed to come to the standard you expected, did you do enough preparation in researching the quality of his actual work, and did you sit down with him and tell him what it was you were expecting from him? You cannot assume a certain quality just on the basis of the price. You don't necessarily get what you pay for. It's up to you as the client to do your research because things like this are quite often subjective and so therefore difficult to sort out via litigation, and there is a real risk of soiling your memories of what should be the happiest day of your life.

Do the photos represent your memory of how the day went? Do they capture the spirit and feeling of the day? (Settings won't come into this - it's a sensory thing) Did he get everything you asked him in the pre wedding meetings to achieve?

Personally worrying about what settings he used is a real downer and you are really overthinking things and I really do hope you haven't gone over the photos with a critical eye if your wife does actually like them...

 

[480sparky]

Life's too short to read 6 pages of innernet forum comments about such a trivial chit.

Grab a camera and go shoot something.

 

[fmw]

fred, of course complaining is appropriate if the pics are bad. my point is not to knock him for keeping a couple of settings fixed.

don't disparage him, tho. how many times have you forgotten to reset something that ruined a shot? better a bit of grain than a mistake. also, it takes a while to accept that today's 1600 is less grainy than the best 400 films.

It is appropriate to expect a professional to do a competent job for his or her payment. A wedding is a one time event. If the photographer fails to provide competent images he or she deserves more than disparagement.

Agreed. I didn't really address either the image or the settings. My point was that, if a professional provides unacceptable results, then there should be consequences.

 

[Frank F.]

Agreed. I didn't really address either the image or the settings. My point was that, if a professional provides unacceptable results, then there should be consequences.

I would have focussed on here eyes and not tried to cover the oof with inappropriate sharpening.

But: The lighting is really good. Perspective is really good. Lips are sharp too, so just the focus & post production I do not like

 

[SquarePeg]

I'm going to delete any additional posts in this thread that are directly confrontational or aggressive or personal towards other members.

Thank you for your cooperation!

 

[ratssass]

...dang,I forgot how much fun this place is,sometimes.....lol

 

[DanOstergren]

The important thing in a snow storm is that you get home safe. The important thing at a wedding is that you capture the moments that matter. So when your driving in a snow storm you don't want to jack around with your ipod, it's just foolish. Much like when your shooting a wedding you don't want to be distracted by getting the ISO the lowest you possibly can for every single shot.. again, it's just foolish.

I love that you're using a snowstorm as an analogy, because the city I live in was recently hit by a really bad one!

 

[dasmith232]

Re-reading through the entire thread here, there were a few questions about Auto-ISO sprinkled throughout. I don't have the 5D2, but have the 5D3 (and I use it for weddings).

Something about noise and (any) ISO, there is usually less noise (on Canon sensors) at multiples of the base ISO than the in-between settings. For example, ISO 1600 will generally have less noise than ISO 1250. Even ISO 400 can have less noise than ISO 125.

The 5D (at least with the MkIII) can be set to use 1/3 stops for shutter and aperture and (separately) set to use whole stops for ISO. You can also set the maximum speed to use in "Auto ISO" and set the minimum ISO as well. So ISO jumps in whole stops with the other control jumping in 1/3's. It's a nice balance of exposure control granularity and avoiding noise.

 

[Frank F.]

Something about noise and (any) ISO, there is usually less noise (on Canon sensors) at multiples of the base ISO than the in-between settings. For example, ISO 1600 will generally have less noise than ISO 1250. Even ISO 400 can have less noise than ISO 125.

This can be due to factory set noise profiles for the full values. In general, some cameras deliver rawer RAWs than others. This could be interesting research issues:

How raw is a RAW?

What happens in the analogue and digital preprpocessing, correting the counter-values for known issues?

Later generations of the same camera should have noise profiles for all ISO-settings, so no sad used experience as you describe it.

 

[dasmith232]

...Later generations of the same camera should have noise profiles for all ISO-settings, so no sad used experience as you describe it.

Excellent point, and I agree. While there are many features that come with each generation of firmware, the improved noise processing is definitely a good reason (e.g., DIGIC or Expeed)

 

[jtran76]

All that matters is the end results. I have shot at a few events don't have time to sit there and configure my camera for every situation. What the wedding photographer did I see it as a non issue as long as the pics came out good and people are happy with them.

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