sandiegosteve Loc: San Diego, CA

Go test. I was shocked when I've tested all my cameras beyond what I thought was good. Don't test under yellow lights, as it will look bad. Test under as full of a spectrum as you can so you are testing low light, not just bad light. Bright sodium lights look like crap and worse in low light.

Then, what and how are you using your images? 24MP down sized to print 5x7, 8x10 or for social media will not show noise. Even without much NR. Larger prints will be seen from further away and noise will be less noticeable.

I do think the real test is to ask someone else. The photographer is generally the only one to go 1:1 or closer and complain. Other viewers look at composition or the story and cast their opinion.

My friend shot a lot of bands with his 7100. He pushed it to 6400 some times. He liked it below 3200. Had published images with both.

I had a 7200 and now have a D750 and D500. It took me a while, but now I trust high ISO and focus on the shots more.

The point of my rant is that we can get caught up in things like ISO when they might not be as important as we think. Are base ISO images cleaner? Yes. Does bumping up the ISO ruin an image? Not necessarily.

AdamJB

Totally agree with sandiegosteve here. How big are you planning to print/view at? Standard size prints can hide a ton of noise and very few people besides photogs look at images 100%.

I shot an event this weekend for a public library. Requirements for delivered photos were long edge 1200 pixels, 72dpi. In one of my photos, the subjects were in shadow and I used ISO 18,000 to get the bright look I wanted. Downsized, it looks fine, but viewed at 100% (6.5 feet wide equivalent print; your monitor is about 95dpi) it looks bad.

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Ched49 Loc: Pittsburgh, Pa.

Determining iso is best practising with your camera. The D7100 is pretty good for low light shooting, start at about iso 800. You want the lowest possible number.

jcboy3

I use my D7100 comfortably to ISO 800. Beyond that, sacrifices are being made. Of course, I will take image noise over motion blur anytime. And using a fast aperture is also preferable, although you need to take account of the shallow DOF when composing the image.

MichaelMcGrath Loc: Ireland

As an old timer film photographer I'm afraid to go over 100 ISO on my Nikon D800 and Canon IDs Mark 111, I have to have one great big think about it before I cautiously go up to 400.

800 , oh my God!

chrisg-optical Loc: New York, NY

I shoot with the D7200 and love it. I found yes it has a lot to do with photographer tolerance for noise. But realistically you also have to consider the type of subject you are shooting and the lighting....subjects with a lot of texture and very little shadow area or open sky backgrounds will generally "hide" the noise. Generally keeping the ISO 1000 or lower will keep noise levels barely noticeable. Between 1000-2000 and a moderate amount of noise reduction in post (I shoot RAW) will usually clear up the image of any noise. But, if necessary, I will go above 2000 and as high as 8000 or even higher to get the shot.

Here's an example shot taken in Times Square June 23rd at 8:22pm - ISO 6400 (1/160 f/6.3 @ 600mm handheld - Tamron 150-600 G2) from street level of the tight rope walker (Nick Wallenda) 25 floors up, lit only by the street lights and electronic billboards of TS (well past sundown).

TS tightrope walker at night

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SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

You’re wasting the capabilities of your equipment.

bobgreen Loc: Maryland

Thanks folks for your advice and input. I'll definitely check out Steve Perry's book.

MichaelMcGrath Loc: Ireland

I don't need to go to 12,000 ISO for a portrait, street work or an urban landscape!
Nor do I need a whole rake of focus points:-)
On a grey Irish winter day, it's nice to have good 800 ISO on standby.
With all the rain it's more important to have some basic weather protection,

I do like fast AF though, and the DLSR's I have give me that.
I like IS/VR though I don't depend on it.

I like to use a DSLR like I used to use a polaroid on medium format film, to give me an idea of the shot, the conditions and the exposure.
Then I take out a Bronica or Mamiya for the real work.

MichaelMcGrath Loc: Ireland

WOW!!!

MichaelMcGrath Loc: Ireland

WOW!!!

smussler Loc: Land O Lakes, FL - Formerly Miller Place, NY

I've got rather shaky hands. Even with VR on I'm having trouble with getting sharp images using longer focal lengths. Just playing around, the other day I pushed my ISO up to 10,000. lens was was zoomed out to 90mm. Using aperture priority, the camera used 1/2000 second. I don't print any photo's, but on my 17" monitor, I thought the pic came out pretty good. I'm sure I don't need to go that high on the ISO, but just wanted to see the results - Nikon D5600. 18-140mm VR lens. I've only had the camera since march. Been shooting mostly 100-200 ISO - habit from old film days. Getting a lot of blurred shots. Rarely tack sharp. So I just tried pushing things a bit. Try it, see what you get - not like you're wasting a roll of film while experimenting. I've also just acquired a monopod to try to steady my shots. The pic was a monarch butterfly on a sunflower. At the distance shot the depth of field was surprisingly small. Very cooperative butterfly, as I tried various ISO's (Down to 200).

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

Then maybe you should not butt in on a conversation without reading the context properly.

Experience and knowledge are different from each other.

Granted your time with a D500 is more than mine, i did use it, hence my personal point of view.
To be clear, i am not against the camera. By my shooting needs, it just does not give enough improvement over my old gear to warrant change and price.

SuperflyTNT Loc: Manassas VA

I didn’t “butt in on a conversation”. This is an open forum. I merely pointed out that you were casting aspersions on something by offering false information about something based on your lack of knowledge about it and your limited experience with it. I didn’t miss the context at all.

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

Yes you did butt in. This may be an open forum but some conversations are directly between two (or more) people.

And you still have not understood the context of the post. I am not giving false information. I even clearly stated that i am not against the camera. I'm sharing my choice and personal view.

You are the one giving false information as you are stating something i have not done.
You are even judging me to be ignorant about the subject. Because you own one and i only used a loaner?