Although the megapixel fetish race is the one that gets the most attention, I think the ISO equivalent is also pretty amusing (in a “shakes head, looks baffled” kind of way).
Now, I should preface all this by mentioning that I don’t have a “genre” of photography. I just photograph whatever attracts my attention at any given time, and that can be day or night.
Recently I saw a camera review in which the reviewer was showing pictures captured at ISOs that would have been considered witchcraft even ten years ago. They looked like garbage - noisy as anything and generally an aesthetic mess. But apparently the fact that they were taken at stratospheric ISO levels means that the whole world must see them because, I don’t know, reasons.
Although I’ve used cameras that are well known for good high ISO performance, a look through my Google photos collection shows me that I almost never go beyond ISO 3200, and I would guess that less than 5% of my (tens of thousands of) photos are shot at that sensitivity. On a usual day, I find that if I have a fast lens (F2 or quicker), I can get almost anything I want to shoot without going past ISO 800, or 1600 in a pinch.
I’d be interested to hear from people who do use these 5-or-6 digit ISOs on a regular basis, and what they shoot that necessitates these ISOs. Let’s hear some thoughts.
I don’t do it often but I’ve shot 25600 in the city at night with mixed lightning and the picture was sharp in the areas with light and somewhat grainy in the areas that were dark. But I got the shot.
I just got the latest update with Lightroom and the AI Denoise so I’ll likely start experimenting with 12800 and 25600 for my camera. It did wonders for a shot of the Milky Way I took in Michigan.
Like you, I take any kind of shot if it catches my eye. Since it’s all about getting the interesting shot that most people would comment on, so what if the picture has some noise in it. Those I would show it would not comment about the noise but they asked me how I managed to get the shot. That they really like the picture.
You sound hung up on ISO, I’m more about getting the interesting shot. If Lightroom and my auto ISO uses the highest ISO on my camera to let me do it, I’m going to take a shot.