Query about ISO 50 Cameras

[kurtisarlitt]

hi, i was wondering, about the ISO50 cameras .

where can i get one of those, and how much will they run me for a good quality one.

please get back to me on this.

thankyou =]

[Colin Southern]

Hi and welcome,

Might help more if you could tell us a little bit more about what it is you're trying to achieve - are you meaning a compact camera that does ISO 50 for a few hundred dollars, or a Canon 1Ds3 like mine for $12,000 (NZD)?

On a side note, ISO 50 isn't that great on most SLR cameras as it normally costs you about 1 stop of dynamic range - you get better results sticking a 1 stop filter on the front and shooting at ISO 100.

Hope this helps!

[ajith.rajeswari]

On a side note, ISO 50 isn't that great on most SLR cameras as it normally costs you about 1 stop of dynamic range - you get better results sticking a 1 stop filter on the front and shooting at ISO 100.

Hi Colin,
Just out of curiosity, Can you shed some light on the advantages you get in an ISO 50 setting ? I never got an opportunity to take a shot in ISO 50 nor my camera has that .
Is it just the noise reduction and less DR?

Why is ISO 100 starting benchmark in most cameras?

Please comment.

Thanks
~Ajith

[Colin Southern]

Hi Colin,
Just out of curiosity, Can you shed some light on the advantages you get in an ISO 50 setting ? I never got an opportunity to take a shot in ISO 50 nor my camera has that .
Is it just the noise reduction and less DR?

Hi Ajith,

Less DR is what you get, but unfortunately it's not an advantage

Just as we use higher ISO settings when we don't have enough light to capture a shot the way we want, we can also use lower ISO settings in situations where we have too much light. Good example might be capturing a dawn shot; you might want a 30 second exposure @ F11 @ ISO 100 - but as the sun rises you end up going to F16 and then F22 - and then F22 @ ISO 50 (if desperate enough). In reality - because of the decreased DR - I seldom use it.

Why is ISO 100 starting benchmark in most cameras?

Not sure to be honest - I think it's 200 for a lot of Nikons.

[ajith.rajeswari]

Thanks for the answers Colin.
~Ajith

[Henry Peach]

The only time I use ISO 50 with my DSLRs is when I'm shooting portraits in bright light using flashes that won't high speed sync. ISO 50 + a polarizer help keep the shutter speed down to the flash sync speed, and still allow for large apertures.

I don't know about other cameras, but in my Canon DSLRs (40D and 5D) ISO 50 and 3200 are just a processing adjustment using the in-camera software. ISOs 200 - 1600 are actual hardware changes; I'm not up on electronics, but the gain is turned up or something to get greater light sensitivity. ISO 50 is ISO 100 overexposed a stop and then pulled in the in-camera processing software. ISO 3200 is ISO 1600 underexposed a stop and then pushed. I haven't tested ISO 50, but I've done a lot of comparing between setting my 5D to ISO 3200, or shooting ISO 1600 at N-1, and doing the push myself. Pixel peeping I sometimes think I do a slightly better job with the noise than the in-camera software, but in prints I really can't see a difference.

Native ISOs of 50 and 80 seem common among compact digital cameras.

[ajith.rajeswari]

Thanks Henry.