D200 @ ISO 200?

[bill_keane2]

I am soon off to a ballgame, looking for high shutter speeds, and wondering,

has anyone used their D200 at ISO200, and was there a noticeable or

unacceptable increase in noise?

 

I don't have time to make a comparison test, so any experienced insights would

be appreciated.

[Matt Laur]

Especially in a sports setting, I don't find my D200 to produce noise that I even care about (or can't easily fix in post) until I'm at or above ISO800. ISO400 is certainly fine on that camera if you've got a good exposure and aren't having to drag most of your detail way out of some serious shadows. Have fun at the game!

[leopoldstotch]

<p><i>"I don't have time to make a comparison test"</i></p>

<p>All you have to do is take a picture at ISO 200 and look at it. It certainly takes less time than posting a question and waiting for responses. Back to the question, ISO 200 is fine, don't worry about it.</p>

[bill_keane2]

Actually Leopold, I'm all packed for the airport, leaving in 5 minutes, and so it took me less time to post here and get some quick and helpful responses than to take test shots and upload them to my PC for a gander.

 

Thanks for the vote of confidence at ISO 200 (and above!).

[jay_b6]

I agree with the 'if you don't have to drag some serious detail out of the shadows' comment. It's spot on.

[leopoldstotch]

Sorry Bill, didn't realize the circumstance. Have fun at the ballgame. Just want to point out that you don't actually have to upload to a PC to view noise. It can be easily found by magnifying the image on the cameras LCD. I guess you weren't kidding when you said "soon" off to the airport;)

[buckry]

I shoot at all the ISO's from 100 up to 400, and I've never seen a speck of noise. Beyond that it can get noisy, but still acceptable, I just try to keep it under 400 and use other means to get the light I need.

[tonybeach]

I routinely shoot at ISO 400 and get 1/1000 exposure times rather than shoot at ISO 200 and get 1/500 exposure times. Motion blur usually compromises an image more than barely detectable noise in the shadows or sky (you usually can find it in the red channel). My approach is to shoot in Manual Shooting Mode with Auto ISO set to minimum 1/250 shutter speed and maximum ISO 800, watch the ISO in your viewfinder and if it gets close to either 100 or 800 change the settings accordingly to keep it in the desired range.

[dan_k6]

200 is fine. Indoors @ 400, I notice more noise than I would like.

[liljuddakalilknyttphotogra]

I shoot at ISO up to 500 all the time. No problems. If problem should happen there's Noise Ninja & NoiseWare available on the web for free download. I've actually gotten so happy with the result that I now shoot more & more at ISOs of 320, 400 & 500.

 

Take a shot & see what it'll do for you.

 

Lil

[ShunCheung]

Underexposure, e.g. shadow areas, really contributes to noise. If you have a lot of underexposed areas, you may have noise issues at ISO 100. In other words, shooting at ISO 200 or even 400 is not necessarily a problem per se. As long as you can maintain proper exposure, ISO 200 should be just fine, although if you look carefully, ISO 100 will give you slightly better results as far as noise goes.

[ross nolly]

The one thing I've noticed about the D200 is that at 400ASA+ I need to make sure the exposures are spot on. Underexposed areas tend to be noisy.If you ensure exposure accuracy (pretend you're still using slide film!) you'll be ok.

[rjacksonphoto]

I shoot at 800 quite a lot and find that properly exposed shots have little problem with noise.

[bill_keane2]

Thanks for the help! I just arrived in Seattle, off to Safeco Field on sunday for a day game. Probably from film days i just assumed that 100ISO would be less noisy than 2 or 400 (which under certain parameters it is).

 

BUT had I checked here first I'd probably have shot more action stuff at 200 or 400 and gone for the higher shutter speeds... I've been shotting for 30+ years, but I assume there are more experienced eyes here, so I always appreciate the advise. Thanks again.

[Mike D]

I almost always shoot at ISO 320. Probably left over from the days I use to shoot Fuji Superia 400 at 320. I always run a noise reduction filter such as Kodak Digital Gem in post processing. Slow shutter speeds have wrecked more of my images than all other causes put together.