question about ISO

[otispunkmeyer]

just been looking at this little gem and i like it

however i noticed the spec'd minimum ISO was 200! (goes up to 3200)

my little canon can do ISO50! why is it so high on the nikon which is an SLR? something to do with the sensor size?

(dpreviews ISO tests made it look very good though, even ISO1600 looked good)

 

[ElFenix]

the new D40 model (D40X?) lowers it to 100, iirc.

probably just programming.
edit: yup

ISO sensitivity range 100 - 1600 plus HI 1 (3200 equiv.)

 

[interchange]

ISO doesn't really have the same meaning in digital than it does in the film world. The only reason why you would want a low ISO in 99.9% of the cases is for enhanced image quality. You should look at the camera's noise output at ISO 200 and determine if there's any advantage in image quality at a lower ISO.

 

[kami333]

Yeah, the ISO in digital cameras are just equivalent reference points to film, to make setting the settings easier.

Each digital camera sensor has a "native" iso that will give the best quality, Nikon uses Sony CCDs in their DSLRs that have the best image quality at ISO200 (at least for the previous sensors). Lower it further would only decrease image quality and add noise. Canon uses their own sensor in their DSLRs that have the best image at ISO100, which is why Canon DSLRs go down to ISO100.

Pack a few ND filters if you want to go slower.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
the new D40 model (D40X?) lowers it to 100, iirc.

probably just programming.
edit: yup

ISO sensitivity range 100 - 1600 plus HI 1 (3200 equiv.)

D40x?

i havent heard of that, ill have a look

D40 on its own looks pretty tasty for a first timer. even ISO 1600 looks great. ISO200 looks very good going off dpreviews comparo against a 350D.

to me 350D ISO 100 was matched by the ISO 200 of the D40.

if the D40x is just programming tweaks.... can you flash it like you can graphics cards n such?

EDIT: guess not, D40x has a 10mp sensor so probably needs the lower ISO to account for the increased noise of a higher pixel count sensor

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: interchange
ISO doesn't really have the same meaning in digital than it does in the film world. The only reason why you would want a low ISO in 99.9% of the cases is for enhanced image quality. You should look at the camera's noise output at ISO 200 and determine if there's any advantage in image quality at a lower ISO.

Not really. Ever try and take a picture of moving water (say a waterfall) in the daytime? I have ISO 100 on my camera and I wish I had ISO25 available. A set of ND filters can help but the more options, the better IMO.