C200: Best Iso

[guerriglia]

Hello.

I normally used my C100MkII at 850 ISO. What's your recommendation with the C200? Is the rule low ISO = less noise valid or doesn't make any sense here?

Thank you.

 

[Crevice]

800 is base ISO and what canon recommends. I would just leave it at 800 when possible.

 

[Fahnon]

Hello.

I normally used my C100MkII at 850 ISO. What's your recommendation with the C200? Is the rule low ISO = less noise valid or doesn't make any sense here?

Thank you.

When you're using Canon Log 1 or WideDR, Canon recommends 400 ISO. 800 is for C-Log 3. Check out page 69 of the manual.

 

[Michel]

but what would be the best when recording raw?

 

[DBounce]

but what would be the best when recording raw?

In real-world use you'll find most of the extra dynamic range is in the noise making it unusable anyway. For the cleanest images ISO 200 / 3 db is best.

 

[cpreston]

Expose to the right. The cleanest image is at 200 ISO but the amount of noise in the image will look almost exactly the same if you pull up the exposure two stops in post as you would if you had just shot at 800 ISO. At 200 ISO you are just compressing the image and the highlights and you lose some of the detail in the blacks as compared to if you had just shot at 800 ISO.

 

[mikemilton]

When you're using Canon Log 1 or WideDR, Canon recommends 400 ISO. 800 is for C-Log 3. Check out page 69 of the manual.

The manual atually says: "The minimum sensitivity needed to obtain the recommended dynamic range is ISO 400 / 6 dB gain (when the [Gamma] setting in the custom picture file (A 129) is set to [Canon Log] or [Wide DR]) or ISO 800 / 12 dB gain (when it is set to [Canon Log 3])."

This is not a recommendation that either 400 or 800 is optimal for a given gamma. It is a caution that a setting lower than 400/800 will reduce dynamic range.

 

[AndreeOnline]

This is not a recommendation that either 400 or 800 is optimal for a given gamma. It is a caution that a setting lower than 400/800 will reduce dynamic range.

Well, in a roundabout way it sort of is. Unless you're shooting a scene where the dynamic range never exceeds the max stops of your log curve (admittedly, this can happen often).

But for challenging scenes, the quoted numbers are the lowest ISOs that will give you the promised DR, which in turn means "max DR, lowest noise".

But again, a 6 stop scene can be shot at lower ISOs with any of the profiles.

 

[cpreston]

But again, a 6 stop scene can be shot at lower ISOs with any of the profiles.

And if you just took that 6 stop scene shot at 400ISO in Canon Log 3 and bumped it up to 800ISO, there is practically no difference other than the way the stops are distributed. I don't think some users realize this.

 

[mikemilton]

And if you just took that 6 stop scene shot at 400ISO in Canon Log 3 and bumped it up to 800ISO, there is practically no difference other than the way the stops are distributed. I don't think some users realize this.

Also, most of the discussion is in the context of SDR (rec709) deliverables (not HDR, which is rapidly becomming important as new viewing technology is widely available). Going forward, the 6 stop scene will become increasingly undesireable for asthetic reasons.

Lots of folk have solutions they find to allow them to get the sdr results they like. As you point out, there is a lot of flexibility both in settings and exposure because the end result 'hides' the differences.

This is a good discussion of shooting and post for hdr