The 7D and high ISO

For those who might be curious, I have posted a sample photo from my 7D at my photography blog. This one is pretty much right out of ACR. I made minor adjustments to the exposure, tone curve, and clarity. Next, I applied a minimum of noise reduction and cropped out a couple of distractions. In Photoshop all I did was reduce the file before saving to jpg. The image was shot with the 24-105mm f/4L IS at 6400 ISO, f/5.6 and 1/125 sec., without flash.

Perhaps I am easy to please; but, when it comes to higher ISO thus higher shutter speed, I am happy with this upgrade. While I don't expect to use ISO 6400 on a regular basis any more than I expect to photograph action shots inside our great room I will no longer flinch at 1250 or 1600 when shooting in low light. Since I will be shooting action using the 70-200mm f/4L, access to the corresponding higher shutter speeds is likely to give me more keepers. When photographing horses, I have learned that anything less than 1/1000 shutter speed means you had better be great at panning and I am not. That skill still eludes me. Whew! Another goal for 2013. This is getting out of hand.

Loving the Dodgers and Higher ISO

(Click on the thumbnail for the bigger, better version)

A few weeks ago, Paul Lester posted about higher ISO’s and his remarks started me thinking again about my most recent gear purchase. When I bought my Canon 50D, I knew full well that I wasn’t buying the camera that offered the best high ISO performance on today’s market. However, it ended up being the camera that best suited all my needs—cost and fps also ranked high on my must-have list. Because I still try to avoid going over ISO 640 to minimize processing chores, I have yet to fully explore all the possibilities of higher IS0’s with my newest camera. But, I am growing more confident that there are occasions when it’s high ISO to the rescue.


I didn’t gain the new confidence because I buckled down to some serious testing, but, as usual for me, stumbled into the information. A few days ago, The Husband took a break for a ride and left me toiling over the steaming heap of numbers we had been wading through for tax preparation. When I was completely burned out (it didn’t take long, since I had been at it off and on through the day), I decided I also needed a break. A little time watching one of our recorded episodes of NCIS was just what I needed. I escaped to the living room, turned on the TV, hit DVR, found an episode, but then realized I wanted a glass of water. My detour to the kitchen, put me within range of the radio I had left on in there the last time I snuck in a few minutes to catch up with the baseball game. Uh, oh. Ninth inning, Dodgers down 2 to 1, two outs. Rats. Maybe worth a minute for the nail to be put in the coffin. What? Holladay missed the ball, the Dodgers are alive?! Well, NCIS can wait. This was a playoff game, after all. As I listened to Vinnie call the play-by-play, I looked out toward the back pasture and noticed that The Husband had removed Lancer’s fly mask and the gelding was exerting a little energy fretting over being left alone.

Now there were three distractions calling. The Dodgers in distress, a distracting 40 minutes or so of TV drama, a relaxing photo shoot of Lancer (because after all I have hardly any pictures of the chestnut.) ;) The Dodgers won. I mean they won my attention and they won the game, a wonderfully exciting nail-biter. It was playoffs for NLCS over NCIS all the way.


The minute the winning run crossed the plate I grabbed the 50D and headed out toward the pasture to try my luck. By then, it was getting late and to get decent shutter speed and good exposure in the few remaining moments of light, I opted for ISO 2000. The files required a little extra time for noise reduction and I could probably do a better job with a noise reducing plug-in; but, so far, I get along with Photoshop CS3. While it’s true that I wouldn’t put these photos up against those shot under better circumstances; once again, I felt good about my choice to buy the camera. Without that higher ISO I would not have gotten the photos I hoped for. Of course, I would have gotten something different and the result might have been terrific, but I could always experiment in that direction. Having choices is nice.