High ISO questions???

[Silvernic]

I had a thought while stuck in traffic last night and was hoping someone could help me out with it.

When shooting at higher ISO noise becomes more evident with bad exposure. Right???
So, in a low light situation, is it possible that I can get a cleaner print with higher ISO? Does the question even make sense?

[GeraldR]

This may provide an answer to your question. My experience has been when shooting at higher ISO the last thing you want to do in under expose the photo. The noise becomes more noticable.

[brad]

It becomes more noticeable in the dark areas of the photo in my experience... which means that even if exposed "properly," a low light photo with lots of dark area will tend to show more noise.

It is also true that the noise gets worse the longer time the sensor is exposed.. because the electricity used is higher.. and its the electrical interference between points on the sensor that causes the noise... make sense?

[DEMDeepEllumMusic]

I think this is what you are trying to convey-you can shoot a scene at say 800, 1200 or 1600 iso on your camera with the associated exposures of say 1 second, 3/4 second or 1/2 second (using a tripod and the time won't really affect the subject since it is still and won't move within those time frames). Now I am not sure if the slower ISO, which should be cleaner of noise will have a trade off because of the longer exposure time in the example and it may also depend on the camera and the temperature. Cameras will tend to run cleaner if it is colder than hotter in the exposure area and also it may depend on how long the camera has been on, heat in the camera body could affect a shot ever so slightly in this case. So I would say start out with a camera that has been off for a while and shoot the 3 versions and see which looks best, this could even vary between cameras of the same model #.

[johnastovall]

Originally Posted by brad

It becomes more noticeable in the dark areas of the photo in my experience... which means that even if exposed "properly," a low light photo with lots of dark area will tend to show more noise.

It is also true that the noise gets worse the longer time the sensor is exposed.. because the electricity used is higher.. and its the electrical interference between points on the sensor that causes the noise... make sense?

Actually it more complicated than that. There are several types of noise associated with digital technology and ISO. Here is a good tutorial on the subject.

[venchka]

nope...not following John again

[Jake]

A correctly exposed iso1600 shot is cleaner then a 1- stop iso800 shot that have to be pushed +1.
At least that's what I think.......

[Silvernic]

Originally Posted by DEMDeepEllumMusic

I think this is what you are trying to convey-you can shoot a scene at say 800, 1200 or 1600 iso on your camera with the associated exposures of say 1 second, 3/4 second or 1/2 second (using a tripod and the time won't really affect the subject since it is still and won't move within those time frames). Now I am not sure if the slower ISO, which should be cleaner of noise will have a trade off because of the longer exposure time in the example and it may also depend on the camera and the temperature. Cameras will tend to run cleaner if it is colder than hotter in the exposure area and also it may depend on how long the camera has been on, heat in the camera body could affect a shot ever so slightly in this case. So I would say start out with a camera that has been off for a while and shoot the 3 versions and see which looks best, this could even vary between cameras of the same model #.

That's exactly what I was trying to say. I guess I'll have to do some "scientific" experimenting this weekend!