I know there may be a bit of preaching to the choir here, but thought I might share this just as a point of discussion.
We often talk about how good high ISO performance of modern cameras are, although practically speaking I have something of a mental "block" about going over 12,800. That's probably because that's where my first really good high ISO cameras-my Nikon D3s and Df-stopped. That's also where a lot of my more used cameras, like my D850 and Fuji X-T5, top out. Really, too, with an f/2.8 lens or even f/4 lens combined with VR, 12,800 can give usable results for reasonably stationary subjects, so I can often make it work there.
With that said, over about the past year, my most used camera-for times where weight isn't as much of a concern-has become my Nikon D5. On release, DXOMark I think unfairly criticized the D5's sensor. Yes, it's only 20mp, which is low by 2024 standards(and even was by 2016 standards) and the D4 and a few other Nikons have a slight edge in both noise and dynamic range up to about 1600. Past there, though, the D5 catches up and keeps running.
This actually isn't why I use the camera so much-I keep grabbing this chunk of a camera because the autofocus seems to read my mind and because most of the time my files need almost no post-processing treatment. That's compared to Nikon's Sony-sensor cameras, especially the D850, where I feel like I spend way too much time getting the files how I want no matter how I set the camera(I actually think the D800/D800e/D810 are somewhat more to my liking, although still not as much as the D5 and the other single digit Nikons).
In any case, though, I have a hard time using the crazy high ISOs the D5 is capable of, evne though I know they're useable. Just for the heck of it, though, I hauled it along to a family dinner last night(I have family in town...) and wasn't shy about cranking it up past my 12,800 limit.
The maximum native ISO of this camera is 102,400, hence the title of my post. For those keeping track, that's a full 3 stops over and above my normal 12,800 comfort level. In full darkness(under streetlights) I could stop my f/2.8 zoom down to f/4 and still keep a shutter speed of 1/160...that's honestly incredible by a lot of photography standards.
So how does it look?
The above is presented with a slight crop. I tweaked the white balance a bit-night scenes are often a matter of taste rather than accuracy. I tried bringing in the highlights a bit, but you do lose a lot of dynamic range at this setting. I also bumped contrast a bit since the D5 is a bit flat most of the time anyway(one of the things I generally like about its output)-at more moderate ISOs it's perfect, but it does go a bit too flat for me at this extreme.
Yes, there's noise, but I'd consider this a useable image.
And if I let Adobe's latest and greatest AI-powered noise reduction work its magic, here's where we end up
If I'd posted this without comment, I doubt anyone would have guessed it started at such high ISO. I know we could talk about noise reduction all day, but at web resolution this is a pretty darn clean photo in my book...
We often talk about how good high ISO performance of modern cameras are, although practically speaking I have something of a mental "block" about going over 12,800. That's probably because that's where my first really good high ISO cameras-my Nikon D3s and Df-stopped. That's also where a lot of my more used cameras, like my D850 and Fuji X-T5, top out. Really, too, with an f/2.8 lens or even f/4 lens combined with VR, 12,800 can give usable results for reasonably stationary subjects, so I can often make it work there.
With that said, over about the past year, my most used camera-for times where weight isn't as much of a concern-has become my Nikon D5. On release, DXOMark I think unfairly criticized the D5's sensor. Yes, it's only 20mp, which is low by 2024 standards(and even was by 2016 standards) and the D4 and a few other Nikons have a slight edge in both noise and dynamic range up to about 1600. Past there, though, the D5 catches up and keeps running.
This actually isn't why I use the camera so much-I keep grabbing this chunk of a camera because the autofocus seems to read my mind and because most of the time my files need almost no post-processing treatment. That's compared to Nikon's Sony-sensor cameras, especially the D850, where I feel like I spend way too much time getting the files how I want no matter how I set the camera(I actually think the D800/D800e/D810 are somewhat more to my liking, although still not as much as the D5 and the other single digit Nikons).
In any case, though, I have a hard time using the crazy high ISOs the D5 is capable of, evne though I know they're useable. Just for the heck of it, though, I hauled it along to a family dinner last night(I have family in town...) and wasn't shy about cranking it up past my 12,800 limit.
The maximum native ISO of this camera is 102,400, hence the title of my post. For those keeping track, that's a full 3 stops over and above my normal 12,800 comfort level. In full darkness(under streetlights) I could stop my f/2.8 zoom down to f/4 and still keep a shutter speed of 1/160...that's honestly incredible by a lot of photography standards.
So how does it look?
The above is presented with a slight crop. I tweaked the white balance a bit-night scenes are often a matter of taste rather than accuracy. I tried bringing in the highlights a bit, but you do lose a lot of dynamic range at this setting. I also bumped contrast a bit since the D5 is a bit flat most of the time anyway(one of the things I generally like about its output)-at more moderate ISOs it's perfect, but it does go a bit too flat for me at this extreme.
Yes, there's noise, but I'd consider this a useable image.
And if I let Adobe's latest and greatest AI-powered noise reduction work its magic, here's where we end up
If I'd posted this without comment, I doubt anyone would have guessed it started at such high ISO. I know we could talk about noise reduction all day, but at web resolution this is a pretty darn clean photo in my book...
