Dartford Warbler/Auto Focus

[Chas]

I have been watching Dartford Warbler for a couple of weeks, the weather down here has been so poor that I have hardly had good enough light to get a good shot until yesterday. Eventually the sun came out on Dartmoor and I it all came together so to speak. This is really a question about ISO. Can some cameras cope a bit better with higher ISO setting because when my Pentax K110 is on say 800 ISO to give me a fast shutter speed then the picture is so grainy it spoils everything even if I use Neat Image software to remove it the end results are not good. I have to wait for really bright light this first shot was 750 sec at 9.5, ISO 200. Perfect settings but I would have prefered 1000 0r 1500 a sec but to get that I would have needed to up the ISO but then the image would have been grainy. Advice anyone?

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by Chas

This is really a question about ISO. Can some cameras cope a bit better with higher ISO setting

The short answer is yes.

The quality and performance of sensors are improving all the time, with notable steps forward being made with each new generation of cameras that come onto the market.

For low noise and high ISO performance Canon were usually considered to be ahead of the rest. The latest top end Nikon models may have closed the gap or even gained an advantage. In the days of film, when a new low grain, high resolution emulsion came onto the market we could all go and start using it. Now the only way to improve on the equipment you currently have is to go out and buy a new camera. Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Minolta, et al are loving it!

Steve.

[Chas]

Cheers Steve, so if I buy say the new Pentax K20.......(need to stay with pentax because of the lenses I already own) ....... I should get noticeably better results and can I just assume that the performance will be better with newer models?

[Steve S]

Originally Posted by Chas

Cheers Steve, so if I buy say the new Pentax K20.......(need to stay with pentax because of the lenses I already own) ....... I should get noticeably better results and can I just assume that the performance will be better with newer models?

Not necessarily. Sometimes a new model may use better software and have more functions, but use the same sensor as a previous model. Any improvement will be because of software rather than design. This is usually limited in scope.

A new model that uses a new design of sensor will probably be noticeably better than what came before. I'd recommend that you search out some reviews and see what the general consensus is. Or even better, try and get your hands on one for a test drive.

Meanwhile, here is a review that shows detailed shots at various ISO settings. You may be able to compare them with the results that you are currently getting.

Steve.

[deer boy]

Great shots Chas

[CloudedYellow]

How much have you cropped them Chas? Any noise resulting from increasing the ISO will be much more apparent if the image is cropped heavily.

[Chas]

Originally Posted by CloudedYellow

Any noise resulting from increasing the ISO will be much more apparent if the image is cropped heavily.

Believe it or not they are not cropped all that much at all but I know what you mean. For these shots the conditions were reasonably good so I had a 750 sec I think and the ISO was 200. But what I really wanted was at least 1500 sec to freeze the wing movement but I would have needed 800 ISO for that. I have just taken delivery of a new Pentax K20 so it will be interesting to see what results I get now with a better camera with better sensor.......I hope!

[matt_xyz]

I read a review of the K20 last night in Digital SLR user magazine and it did say that noise was a bit of a problem, at least compared to the Canon 450D which was the other camera on test. Pentax cameras have their strengths but I'm not sure low noise is one of them.

If you do use higher ISO settings its important to ensure you don't underexpose the image as this will really exacerbate the noise (apols if I'm telling you things you already know).

Matt