ISO 12,800 - How useful is it?

[FowlersFreeTime]

On a whim I tried to use my a6400 at a dinner on the beach event. Very dimly lit, beyond "mood lighting" it was just damned dark LOL. Didn't use the onboard flash as it casts a shadow over the Tamron 17-70 lens. I just thought this would be interesting if anyone wanted to see what kind of grain is going on with an APSC shot in dim light (candle light and tiki torches only) at ISO 12,800:



Camera Raw info if anyone is interested:


And no, Noise Reduction can't work miracles ok

 

[Kevriano]

I once took some shots at ISO 128.400 on my old Pentax. It looked like someone had painted with a stickle brick

 

[Boojum]

No, noise reduction is not a panacea but we are streets beyond where we were only a few years ago in high ISO resolution. Sensor sophistication and corresponding firmware/software today is amazing. Just think back the short period of ten years and what was possible then as compared to now. Likewise lenses. Maybe smartphone photography gave the somnolent camera industry a wake-up call.

 

[AlphaWorld]

I took my Sony into a nocturnal mammals display at the zoo. So dark you could easily run into people. No flash allowed, of course. Absolute definition of shooting in “available dark”!

Found that using a prime lens, wide open at f/1.8, with ISO up at max real ISO, produced decent images sometimes, but they looked best converted to monochrome because what light there was was red-orange.

Funny part - I could see a lot more through the EVF than I could without the camera - it was acting kind of like “night vision”.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Good points @Boojum & @AlphaWorld

 

[Spiderx1]

Topaz DeNoise works wonders. I find the Clear Mode to work well. I also have On1 NoNoise, so far not as good as Topaz.
I shoot approx 2,000 to 3,000 frames per week at ISO 8,000-12,800 on my A1. You can get some nice photos at high ISO but it really starts to show when you add in a great deal of cropping.

 

[Alan Clark]

With image stabilisation you can also use very long exposure times hand-held. I have taken photos at 0.7 secs with a 90mm lens and there was no apparent camera shake. Combined with high ISO, it has to be very dark indeed before you cannot get an adequate photo.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

With image stabilisation you can also use very long exposure times hand-held. I have taken photos at 0.7 secs with a 90mm lens and there was no apparent camera shake. Combined with high ISO, it has to be very dark indeed before you cannot get an adequate photo.

I really do want to upgrade to a camera body with IBIS. I even considered taking a loss and trading my a6400 to an a6600, but I'll either wait for a new APSC to be announced or buy the A7IV next year.

 

[Boojum]

I really do want to upgrade to a camera body with IBIS. I even considered taking a loss and trading my a6400 to an a6600, but I'll either wait for a new APSC to be announced or buy the A7IV next year.

You will love IBIS. Even when you do no know it is working, it is.