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Iso 4000...the next level

Rawfa

Active member
These are BW jpeg shot at iso 4000, shutter 1/20, aperture f13. On PS I've created 2 layers and messed with the levels until I got these results. I really cannot imagine what the 20mm f1.7 would have done here (or even the 17mm f2.8 for that matter).







 

barjohn

New member
Did you start with the JPGs or raw files? They look so clean that I would swear I was looking at ISO 100. Even highly magnified on my 24" iMac I can't see any significant noise. How about sharing your secret with step by step guidance.
 

Rawfa

Active member
No problem. I shot jpeg and set the image to in camera BW with the settings I've explained above. I've brought the images to PS and created 2 layers and did overlay as the blending mode. Then I just messed around with the levels until I got these results. But bare in mind that I was using an F13 aperture, so it kind of negates the point of actually shooting iso 4000. I was doing this just to try to create a different look.
 
R

Ranger 9

Guest
DO NOT let the people in the Leica M9 forum see these, or they'll be very depressed!

Can I ask for a bit more detail as to specifically what you did with the levels? I am guessing that by using the overlay mode you were able to multiply down the dark areas to produce a clean black rather than a noisy gray, but that's just a guess.

I've had some good B&W high-ISO results with the Pana G1 by shooting in raw format and using the color-mix controls in Lightroom to lighten or darken the different channels until I got the smoothest-looking result. But the simplicity of being able to get this kind of result with JPEG is very appealing! More details, please...?
 
V

Vivek

Guest
DO NOT let the people in the Leica M9 forum see these, or they'll be very depressed!
I doubt it. They are also likely to own a D700/D3 or even D300 which can do this (high ISO in one snap).

What appears to be a stand out for me is the electronic noise pattern which does not resemble "grain", even remotely.
 

Rawfa

Active member
Seriously, there isn't much more to be said than what I've already said. I don't exactly recall what I did with each photo but if you us PS you know that it's levels tool is is pretty simple and with not many variations. I think I've actually increased the mid tone in one and clipped the highlights on another one. I hope this helps.
One thing is for sure, after extensively having shot raw with the E-P1 I'll be shooting a lot more BW jpegs from now on (I want to experience this camera to it's fullest...at least while I still have it).
 
C

ChrisJ

Guest
I find with B&W it's best to shoot in colour and use Photoshop to convert to B&W as you have much more control.

Using the B&W converter in CS3 or 4 you can lighten/darken not only the Red, Green and Blue channels, but also the Cyan, Magenta, and Yellow pixels in an image as the uderlying file is still colour so the colour data is available to PS. That's how I created my Avatar.

If you shoot Raw and open in 16bit you can really go to town. Use the Lasoo Tool to roughly select an area, feather lots and then pull up a Levels or Curves Adjustment Layer which will affect just the selected area. You can make clouds whispy and light or dark and 'Gothic' - total control. High key, low key or anything in between, all from the same file. This technique doesn't work too well with Jpeg as there is not enough data in the file and it soon starts to fall apart.

By letting the camera choose the setting (normally they just select the Red channel) you are loosing any control to get the image YOU want. I know of at least 10 ways to convert to B&W in PS, here's a video showing 6 of them

http://www.alittlephotoshop.com/videos/2-six-ways-to-go-black-white/

There is a lot of noise in these pics, in the second picture down, look at the door panels. In the other pics Rafa has just made the background black which has removed all detail (including noise). It works well with these 'brooding' images, but it's better to avoid noise if you can.

Chris
 
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P

PeterLeyssens

Guest
Rafa,

Reminds me of a thread on RangefinderForum where somebody was pushing his film up to 12800, doing a slow develop cycle and getting quite impressive results. Nice to see somebody is picking up the digital side of this story and I'm happy it's you, because it suits your photography.


Peter.
 

Rawfa

Active member
Thanks, Peter. I'm not a professional photographer nor do I have any intentions of being one. But what I am is a maniac about art and technology and the different ways that the second one can be used to express one's creativity.
 

Rawfa

Active member
I have to say that in real live situations iso 2000 is pretty much pushing the envelope.



 
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