Robert’s Photography Blog

Stopping sports action requires shutter speeds of at least 1/320sec and better yet 1/500sec. Under low light (dusk) or artificial light EV values are often in the 10-12 range. To achieve fast shutter speeds under those light levels, a photographer is forced to use ISO settings up as high as 1600 and often 3200.

The Canon EOS 30D Manual instructs the user to activate a Custom Function to allow the ISO dial to access ISO 3200. The Manual says for C. Fn 8-1: Select 1 On ‘For the ISO Speed H (equivalent to ISO 3200) will be selected’. This wording implies that ISO 3200 is not a primary ISO (amplifier gain) but actually ISO 1600 +1 stop via the A/D converter. A metering convenience so to speak!

ISO 3200 first appeared on the Canon EOS 10D. The Canon EOS 10D’s last primary ISO is 800. Therefore, ISO 3200 is a ‘double-push’ and very noisy. The EOS 20D was the first camera in the series with a primary ISO 1600. Therefore, ISO 3200 is a single stop push on the EOS 20/EOS 30D and much less noisy. Early reviewers of the EOS 20D called ISO 3200 ‘eminently usable’. What does that mean and how I can expoit that extra stop of speed when using an EOS 20D or EOS 30D?

The photos shown above and left (clickable) are from the 12th National Lion Dance Championships held at Ngee Ann City on Sept. 9, 2006. The event was held outdoors at night under artificial lighting. The action is not as fast as basketball or rugby. Still there are acrobatic movements that require shutter speeds of 1/320sec or faster.

I used a Canon EOS 30D and Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS mounted on a Gitzo MonoTrek monopod with a Bogen (Manfrotto) Ballhead. The camera was set to record images as RAW plus small/fine JPEG. RAW files were processed using Bibble Pro v4.81 with built-in Noise Ninja (setting=10).

If you resize ~8MP images for web use, the resize step in Photoshop (or equivalent) reduces noise as it resizes. You may or may not need additional noise reduction. However, large size images for display or printing will be improved significantly by adding noise reduction. Any noise reduction technique will reduce fine detail - so use the minimum necessary to get pleasing results.

As a note, ISO 1600 was a ‘push’ setting (ISO 800 +1 stop) in Canon EOS 10D. So we have evolved one stop of true ISO going from the EOS 10D to the EOS 20D and 30D. I hope that next generation (EOS 40D) will provide a true ISO 3200 with a push to ISO 6400.

Links to Amazon.com
Canon EOS 30D
Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8 IS
Gitzo MK2 Carbon Fiber Monopod
Bogen (Manfrotto) Ballhead
Bibble Pro Software