Green Heron at low ISO

[Canon_Bob]

I've been intentionally shooting in some harsh lighing conditions to try and find some better techniques for dealing with it. I've lost way too many shots to unfavorable lighting, and have decided to use the summer mastering harsh light. Today's work was with extremely low ISO. I shot this Green Heron at ISO 50. The light was horrible, but I'm pleased with the outcome. I even shot a few at ISO 100 and ISO 200 of him, but ISO 50 was WAY better. Downside of course is lower shutter speeds, but on relatively stationary targets, it's not that big a deal.

EXIF: Canon 1Ds MII, ISO 50, f/9, 1/60, Canon 100-400L at 350mm

[livin4lax09]

beautiful! may I ask how far away you were?

[Canon_Bob]

beautiful! may I ask how far away you were?

About 12 feet (give or take a bit). Pretty close at any rate. These are normally pretty timid birds, but this one let me in close for several shots.

[SmartWombat]

Yeah, that lens is a lot better stopped down.

[Loupey]

Exquisite detail there, Bob.

Nice to hear about your experience with ISO 50. I know they're two completely different cameras, but one of the big draws on the 30D was its ability to go down to ISO 50. You know, I still haven't used it Plenty at 100 but never ventured in the 50-land. Probably because I don't use a tripod anymore. Time to explore some unused capability.

[Loupey]

I know they're two completely different cameras, but one of the big draws on the 30D was its ability to go down to ISO 50. You know, I still haven't used it Plenty at 100 but never ventured in the 50-land. Probably because I don't use a tripod anymore. Time to explore some unused capability.

Who's that babbling idiot - someone tell me when I'm not making any sense whatsoever The reason I haven't used ISO 50 is because the 30D doesn't go that far. At the time, I was comparing the 5D (which has ISO 50) with the 30D. I had spec's running in my head at the time but they are all scrambled in my head now.

Sorry for the confusion folks. Must be getting old. I am turning the big 4-0 in a few days.

Might be "out of touch" for a few days

[Sushigaijin]

Four Oh, eh? that means you probably remember when Lincoln was shot.

I haven't shot much above ISO80 in a long time - the trade off for color rendition and noise just isn't worth it in a P&S camera. That is probably one way in which I've had to think harder about my shots than DSLR users do - ISO400 is pretty much unusable except for emergency shots, and maybe low light concert type shots. Definately not acceptable for nature or wildlife. ISO200 is barely passable, and ISO100 even shows signs of weak colors.

[Canon_Bob]

The thing that really struck me when I compared the images taken at 50, 100, and 200 ISO was the color saturation. The lower the ISO, the better the color. At ISO 200, the light had caused considerable washout....particularly in the greens. The brown was flat in both 100 and 200, but is very well exposed here at 50. An eye opening experiment to be sure. As Paul mentioned, you normall want to stop this lens down a bit. It is my favorite lens by far, but also the hardest to master.