ISO Performance Archives

Watch: How to get super clean images when shooting high ISO raw files

Dec 1, 2022 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

The ISO capabilities in DSLRs and mirrorless cameras today is pretty amazing. But it’s not perfect. You’re still going to see an increase in noise as you ramp up the ISO, even if it’s not quite as bad as it used to be. But we all love clean, noiseless images, don’t we? Along with the improvements in ISO performance, we’ve also seen big leaps in noise reduction technology. But many of them still aren’t perfect, often eliminating noise at the expense of detail.

For some images, you really do need to keep that detail and in this video from Scott Walker at Walks on the Wild Side, we learn three different methods of noise reduction. These methods include simple Lightroom Edits, Topaz Denoise AI and a pretty complex method that’s very involved but “fixes everything”. He also covers a “Pre-noise reduction” process you can do before you bring your photo into 3rd party software.

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Crazy high ISOs – When and why you might want to use them

Sep 23, 2021 by John Aldred 2 Comments

For most of what I shoot, high ISO performance isn’t really much of a concern. It’s rare that I need to go above ISO400, usually. But with today’s cameras having ISOs that go up into the multiple hundreds of thousands, what’s the point if going that high degrades the image so badly that it’s pretty much unusable?

That’s the topic that music and sports David Bergman explores in this video. Cameras and their crazy high ISO values, what’s the point of them and when and why you might want to use them.

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Watch: Video explains the difference between your camera’s native and extended ISO range

Mar 22, 2021 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

ISO seems to be a much more complicated topic than it needs to be really. I see so many questions about ISO posted online from confused new camera owners that it makes me wonder when it got so complex. But it’s really not that difficult to grasp, really, when it’s broken down and explained.

In this video, photographer Dave McKeegan walks us through ISO, explains the terms and elaborates on some of the tech so that you can understand the differences between base ISO, native ISO and extended ISO. He also explains what the hell dual native ISO is, how it works and how it can benefit you as a creative.

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DxO PhotoLab 4 comes with AI-powered high ISO noise reduction

Oct 21, 2020 by John Aldred 2 Comments

DxO’s PhotoLab has seen a lot of improvements over the years. Their latest iteration, PhotoLab 4 comes with some pretty impressive high ISO noise reduction along with a host of workflow speed and other features. These improvements allow you to customise the user interface and provide easier access to your more commonly used tools, as well as adding a few new ones.

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The new Panasonic S1 might just be the new low light video king

Feb 20, 2019 by John Aldred 2 Comments

There’s been a lot of buzz around the new Panasonic S1 full frame mirrorless camera. Some of it good, some of it not so good. People like to complain about the size and weight, and the fact that it doesn’t have a flippy out LCD like the GH5. But how about the good? Well, cinema5D has been having a play with the Panasonic S1, and when it comes to low light performance, they feel it could be the new king in town.

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