"Do you use your camera's highest ISO settings? Are you pleased with the results?" I posted this query this morning on the social network Twitter as an informal poll of photographers and photo enthusiasts. After posting our lab results of the six full-frame DSLRs on Monday, I wanted to ssee if real-world experience jibed with what DxOMark found under controlled conditions.
The results showed, not surprisingly, that the larger the camera's image sensor, the likely its owner was to use its higher ISO and be satisfied with the results. These give real-world confirmation to the unbiased image quality results found by DxOMark.
Do cameras with 35mm-sized sensors do better?
 Several Nikon D3 owners expressed satisfaction with their camera's high ISO performance. "Nikon D3 at 6400, printed on 20x30 poster. Need I say more?" tweeted FairfieldPhoto, while doug_hilton said he prefers keeping his ISO settings below 3200. silverph says "I only go up to 3200 on my Nikon D300 and I either convert them into monochrome or use NR (noise reduction). "3200 is the highest I'll go on the Nikon D300. 6400 on the D3," notes kw2dio. "I love the results." ckegelman has published images shot with ISO 6400 on his D300 on the front page of his newspaper and reports the shots "looked great."
"My Canon 5D is great at ISO 3200 and I rarely use noise reduction software, notes photooportunity, and other 5D and 5D Mark II owners chimed in with similar praise as well.
 gedankenstueke says he uses high ISO a lot with his Canon 40D and says it works fine. "There is no other way to photograph concerts," he adds. khkremer, however, says the high-ISO settings on his 40D is "getting very noisy, requires quite a bit of cleanup in Lightroom."
Approximately half of the photographers who responded said they do not use high ISO because they are not satisfied with the results. In most cases, the cameras mentioned were starter DSLRs with APS-sized sensors. "Using a Canon Rebel XT at ISO 1600. Too much noise, even with in-camera noise reduction," says trekguy2005, who notes that Photoshop CS2 noise reduction "helps, but not enough." dettenbaugh uses a Sony A100. "Highest I go would be ISO 800. I hate the A100's noise," he says.
Tellingly, nobody even mentioned shooting high ISOs with compact digital cameras.
Noise reduction preferences
 I then asked my followers what kind of noise reduction software they prefer. Several recommended NeatImage, Noise Ninja, and Bibble. karenard and Photo_John use Imagenomic for noise reduction, A few mentioned Adobe Lightroom's noise reduction feature, which, according to BWphoto, works "98 percent of the time on my Nikon D2x over ISO 1000."
Several photographers have creative a work-around when noise gets out of control. "If there's noise then it's time to convert to mono as far as I'm concerned," noted 750x500 in a comment that was seconded by several participants in the conversation. "Mono noise can look nice. Color noise, never!"
But as for the amazingly high ISOs that some high-end cameras boast, JohnMileker summed it up best: "12,800 ISO? I have [used it], and it's a completely useless setting for me. Unless maybe I'm photographing Bigfoot in the dark."
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Mason Resnick is the Editor of the Adorama AIRC Learning Center.
© 2009 Adorama Camera, Inc.
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