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I received a new toy on Friday (thanks Poon & Gary) a D300 + grip, so I went out at the weekend to do my best to shoot at higher ISOs to see what this little baby could do. NOTE: Before you ask - the high ISO wasn't needed for some of these shots I just wanted to see what would happen. I must say I'm pretty impressed so far, but no doubt things will be even better once I have the hang of the camera. Each of these shots have been through my standard workflow INCLUDING noise removal since I wanted to see what tradeoff there was in noise vs sharpness so I won't pretend this is scientific. I'm more interested in the end result than pixel peeping. Clicking an image will display a larger version. Oh and these shots are all hand held.

This first shot is 1000 ISO, f5.6 1/40 sec



This is 1600 ISO, f5.6, 1/125 sec



Shot at 800 ISO, f5.6 1/60. This is the subjectively noisiest image to me so I suspect the ISO alone isn't the issue, but more how much contrast there is in the shot.



This is outdoors @ 800 ISO, f13, 1/20 sec (trying to get flowers and water in focus)

Great series. The images looks great. Technically I can't see significant noise in these and the colours seem to be quite rich. I absolutely love the last image - beautifully executed and a great idea!

Alex

#3 and #4 are quite simply...breathtaking.

Enjoy the new toy Peter. Images are terrific especially the last in the series. Will be interesting to read your comparo (D2X and D300) at some point in time.
cheers
marco

Love the last image!! On the topic of a noisy D300 have you shot yours at 6400 ISO (Hi 1, so not a real 6400)?? I'll get round to posting some that I took for the fun of it.

The last is so original- great shot!

Mate great images and shows just how good the high iso is

Nice work Peter. And some sympathetic processing to finish it off.

Great shots Peter,

you always get some nice photos at the cathedral and the Hunter Gardens, I wish I could be that consistent.

I had just been to your website earlier today and noticed the new images. I haven't been around much lately and saw some shots with a D300, I had obviously missed the announcement while being away . Then here you are, showing off your new D300.

The last one is really great with the reflection. You also have some other nice flower photos from your visit to the Gardens over the weekend.

I'm also looking forward to a more in-depth review of the D300 when you get the chance.

Cheers,

André

Looking good Peter... I've been starting to get out and about and try my new D300 with some higher ISO, but I'm not seeing the results yet that you're displaying here... mind you, I'm talking straight out of the cam, so maybe I need to understand what you're doing in your workflow?

Michael.

Congrats on the new toy Peter. I love #4 - great capture.

Well done Cardinal Peter. As always, your holiness, some excellent pics. Nice camera

Thanks for the feedback - it seems the consensus matches my take - these images are more than acceptable in terms of noise. My PP on these was mostly in Lightroom (using a D300 Lightroom preset as a starting point) with a side trip to PSCS3 for denoising using the Nik DFine 2 plugin.

stubbsy wrote:
(using a D300 Lightroom preset as a starting point)

Is this your own creation or a download? Is it available anywhere?

I have tried a few D300 presets but have not been very happy with most... most of them pumped the blacks up way to much IMO.

From my experience there should be noise at that iso and at those light values. Just need to expose to the right...

Hi Peter,

Great images, specially #4, its stunning!

What's your thought about the difference between the D2X and the D300? Did you keep your D2X?

All of the images have a fantastic dynamic range. You are already bringing out the best in that camera.

Last one is very creative