DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Amazing film captures biofluorescent turtles underwater at ISO 4.5 Million

Jun 8, 2017 by John Aldred 1 Comment

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

High ISO performance has become the new megapixel wars. Everybody wants cameras that can see in the dark, and they want them to be able to do it at ISO100 quality. There are a number of DSLRs and mirrorless camears out there with very good low light performance. The Nikon D5 and Sony A7SII, for example. But even their ISO performance can’t really compete with Canon’s ME20F-SH.

Capable of shooting up to ISO 4.5 million, this camera’s sensor records a mere 2.2 megapixels. A team of marine biologists recently put this camera to the test. To see just how good it really was. Their subject was newly discovered species of biofluorescent sea turtle in their natural habitat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECSSQmuIKE8

Biofluorescent organisms absorb light, and then re-emit it in a different colour. Molecules in the organism are “excited” by high energy light, like blue moontlight. They then release some of that energy back at a lower wavelength, like green. Researchers only recently discovered biofluorescence in sea turtles in the wild. And in order to document it, they’d need a very special camera.

That camera turned out to be the Canon ME20F-SH. A $20,000 camera capable of shooting video at over ISO 4 million. It houses a “full frame” 2.2 megapixel sensor, which means it has very large photosites capable of gathering a lot of light. In cooperation with Canon, cinematographer Andy Casagrande took this and other cameras to film them in the wild. Their journey took him and his team to the reefs of the remote Solomon Islands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uM_YjlhtIHs

This technology allows us to see things that are beyond human perception. We’re seeing creatures and coral and turtles that we never knew existed.

– Klaus Obermeyer, Director of “See Beyond Darkness”

Scenes like these simply wouldn’t have been possible to capture just a few short years ago. Even today it’s really pushing the limits of high ISO technology. Given this demonstration, though, it’s easy to see why the ME20F-SH was chosen as a search and rescue drone camera.

It’s exciting to see where technology’s heading and what new things it’s showing us about our world. I can’t wait to see where things are at in another five or ten years.

[via Shutterbug]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Movie captures amazing Milky Way with Canon MH20f-SH shooting at 400,000 ISO Did you know flash photography can harm baby sea turtles? Canon Released an ISO Monster That Goes Up To 4,000,000 ISO ISO has nothing to do with your exposure – Here’s how digital ISO really works

Filed Under: Inspiration Tagged With: Canon ME20F-SH, documentary, high iso, low light, Video

John Aldred: from diyphotography.net

About John Aldred

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

« Learn how to colorize black and white photos in only 4 minutes
Sony releases firmware to address the A9 overheating issue, and a bunch of other bugs »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • This year’s Nature TTL POTY winner puts global warming right in our faces
  • TTArtisan announces super-low-budget 500mm f/6.3 super telephoto lens
  • NASA reveals five photos of space objects invisible to human eye
  • Tamron’s 17-50mm f/4 Di III VXD lens ships in October
  • Facebook now lets you (legally) have multiple profiles

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy