Better to shoot Higher ISO, slower shutter, and larger aperture?

S

sbryan

Well-known member
I shoot with a 5D MKI and I'm wondering if there's any drawback to shooting 1/2 - 1 stop underexposed and then boosting the exposure in post, other than time consumption.

I was shooting an event recently in natural light and I didn't want to go slower than 1/80 or go with a larger aperture than f/3.5. I also have qualms with exceeding ISO 540, unless I'm going for grainy B&W... with this camera, at least.

That said, I shot underexposed and boosted in post.
 
If you are shooting RAW, then yes, this is the opposite of what you normally want to do. Underexposing and then "boosting" your RAW files will reduce your dynamic range and will make grain more pronounced.

RAW files exponentially retain the most data in the highlights. This is why you can take an overexposed RAW file and bring it back 1-2 stops depending on the camera you are shooting with. It's actually better to overexpose your shot by .5-1 stop shoot at a higher ISO and then bring it back in post. You will get the cleanest image this way. If you know what you are doing in post you can even get more dynamic range out of your image this way, albeit less natural (Like an HDR)

If you are shooting JPEG then your method is good because there is more detail in your blacks so you want to make sure not to clip your whites (much like video - expose for the highlights not the shadows). It's still better to up your ISO to get a Perfect exposure in camera though. This will result in the cleanest image.

You were right for not wanting to shoot at a slow shutter speed and personally, I prefer to shoot at a somewhat sharp aperture and bump up my ISO. Coming from video grain is a big enemy because it can be very distracting when it changes from frame to frame. With still photography my personal taste has been to have a sharp, motion blur free image that has a little extra grain. The thing I like the least about High ISO in still photography is that it means less dynamic range but like I said I would still take it over a blurry picture.
 
You should also remember that ISO 540 on the 5D is probably equal to about ISO 200 on a camera like the rebel XT when you consider the low noise capability of the larger sensor especially when you are comparing two cameras that shoot at differnt resolutions. When you downrez a 12MP image to an 8MP image the grain is going to get smaller too.
 
I don't worry about grain. Long story short is that you will get grain from high ISO just like you will from pushing a file. Just decide which is worse and go with the other method.

I personally never had issue with the grain from the 5D. I always thought it looked better than high ISO grain from any other camera made around that time. I say ya just raise it and not worry. You can always run a little software later to reduce the grain if you have to, not that I ever do that.
 
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