# Why Lo.1 if 200 is recommended on D300 for ISO?



## iflynething (Oct 15, 2009)

Am I wrong to say that you're supposed to keep the lowest ISO possible. On the D300 the lowest "native" ISO is 200 but it will also go down to Lo. 1?

Why is it there if it's not recommended to use. I have kept my 300 on 200 for the longest of time now. 

Is it alright to use Lo. 1 with the ISO "equivalent" to 100

~Michael~


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## DeadEye (Oct 15, 2009)

I use L on the canon 1D MK3  in studio a lot. Its about the right Fstop.

I did not want to  go over f11 .  The strobe in close for effect,  

  Also used to drag shutter in ambient.


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## Garbz (Oct 16, 2009)

Lo1 is like Hi1 it's something the manufacturer puts there as a nasty hack in case you really need it. Just say you really don't happen to have that ND2 filter handy to drop your shutter speed to the required level. Lo1 is the answer.

The thing is that Lo1 is below the native ISO, and to get there you end up with a hack that is ultimately half done in hardware, and half done in software at the expense of quality. Your greatest impact is the dynamic range. Things like highlight recovery and generally tone would likely be worst off, I say likely because I know there's a quality drop but haven't seen the D300 first hand in Lo1.


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## iflynething (Oct 18, 2009)

I have kept it at 200 from now on. 

I didnt' know it had anything to do with Dynamic range though

~Michael~


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 23, 2009)

I shoot my D700 at Lo 1 all the time. 

No, there isn't as much highlight latitude, and you need to watch out for clipping, but there's visibly less noise in the image, and if I need to push the exposure up a stop, I can do so with virtually no consequence. 

Not something you can do at ISO 200.


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 23, 2009)

double post ftw


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## Garbz (Oct 24, 2009)

Switch why do you not do this in software? The noise is less, but the lattitude is more is basically the same thing as taking the exposure slider and putting it to -1EV in Lightroom.

Also... Noise on a D700 at ISO200? What the? Is this something you should get looked at through the warranty claim?


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## Sw1tchFX (Oct 25, 2009)

Garbz said:


> Switch why do you not do this in software? The noise is less, but the lattitude is more is basically the same thing as taking the exposure slider and putting it to -1EV in Lightroom.


 often has alot to do with controlling ambient light, shutter speeds using the 50 f/1.4 wide open during the day, or trying to get a slower shutter speed. 



Garbz said:


> Also... Noise on a D700 at ISO200? What the? Is this something you should get looked at through the warranty claim?


My camera's not faulty, it's VERY feint noise and you have to look for it, but like with every camera, it's there. On the pixel level, the best i've seen is the D3x, and the worst i've seen is a tie between the Hasselblad H2D22 and the Olympus E3. 

You're probably thinking i'm smoking something because i mention the Hasselblad, but  i was assisting a car shoot and we were using the H2D through phocus and doing 15-30 second long exposures with continuous lights and the noise even in the multi-shot at ISO100 was just abysmal. The NR was so heavy the tires blended into the wheel well, and the tread looked like they were slicks. I was just floored. Honestly, the more we use that thing, the more reasons I see NOT to use it. I've mentioned a couple times on here times where the H2D's are just way overpriced pieces of total garbage where cheap SLR's could easily do better.


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## Garbz (Oct 25, 2009)

Ahhh ko 

And I know hassys aren't the god of low noise.


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## iflynething (Oct 25, 2009)

Sw1tchFX said:


> I shoot my D700 at Lo 1 all the time.
> 
> No, there isn't as much highlight latitude, and you need to watch out for clipping, but there's visibly less noise in the image, and if I need to push the exposure up a stop, I can do so with virtually no consequence.
> 
> Not something you can do at ISO 200.



Is there a test somehwer showing the differences? I'm sure only in some situations you could notice the fringing or the purple in the shot

~Michael~


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