High-ISO and the a9

[chardinej]

Set the a9 to Auto-ISO today just to try it out. I was photographing active subjects (small birds) and the light-level was so-so. Set the exposure mode to M and dialled in 1/1000s at f9- I had the 1.4tc on the Sony 100-400. This is the result. A beautiful female Red-breasted Nuthatch at ISO 25,600! I performed a little NR on the background in Lightroom but nothing special with the processing. Hope you like it.

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[LiveShots]

Very nice... I don’t think I’ve pushed my a9 past ISO800.... I may have to play around with higher levels and try them out. 

[chardinej]

When dealing with active subjects, the only way to stop their action is to use a fast shutter speed. Why not use the ISO to get you where you want to be? The a9 allows this. I have the a7RIII too and it does not perform as well as the a9 in this regard.

[Chrissie]

The first time I shot at high ISO (3200) in bright daylight was unintentional, on January 1st, when I had forgotten to set ISO back to normal after trying some fireworks shots the night before. Once I've had such a lucky shot, I became more relaxed about playing with higher ISO values. Now I have the ISO mostly set to "Auto", because I "trust" the camera in this regard.

[LiveShots]

Most of my sports shooting is in good light so its never been an issue, but I plan to play around with higher ISO just to see what the camera can do.

[2xbass]

On 11/5/2018 at 9:39 PM, chardinej said:

When dealing with active subjects, the only way to stop their action is to use a fast shutter speed. Why not use the ISO to get you where you want to be? The a9 allows this. I have the a7RIII too and it does not perform as well as the a9 in this regard.

That’s very interesting to hear that. It’s the first time I’ve heard it. I am currently shooting wildlife with A7RIII + A6500 and am considering getting an A9. I thought I had actually read elsewhere that the A7RIII handle the high ISO better than than the A9 but perhaps I was thinking of something else. I’m glad to hear if it’s the other way around.

[chardinej]

But the two cameras are very close in this regard. I have not done any rigorous comparisons. DxO has, and they come out very close on ISO performance (Sports Low light metric) and the a7RIII beats the a9 in dynamic range. They are both amazing.