Dark church interior, handheld, ISO4000? No problem

A full-frame camera wouldn't be challenged, but a compact mirrorless camera can do surprisingly well too. ; I didn't have a very fast lens - I was shooting with a Vivitar Series One 28mm F2.8 lens (Konica mount) at F2.8 on my NEX, and let it pick the ISO and shutter in aperture priority...the results are straight from the camera with no noise reduction...the church is Bethesda by the Sea Episcopal church in Palm Beach, Florida:



Here's a landscape view at ISO3200:



This is the church entrance on the outside...same lens at F8:


And one of the exterior hallways:


We don't have too many pretty old churches around, so this one is worth a visit for photography.

 

Thank you Chris. ; I guess churches aren't a well liked subject by most - I figured so close to Easter it would be appropriate. ; It also could be that I'm more fascinated with older churches like this, mostly because we have so few here in Florida.

 

uhh it's not really usable. ; Think "night vision" scope. ; The samples I've seen are black and white...not color. ; So if you are looking for a night vision scope camera, then it's usable.

But isn't the D5100 sensor the next tweak from the D7000 sensor which is the Sony 16mp sensor that even Pentax was able to tweak more DR out of?

 

There is one workaround, that you might even be able to try with your A55, since you have that same 16MP Sony sensor...Have you tried doing max ISO (I think you have ISO25,600) using the multistack function, then bringing it up 2 stops in post processing, to see how it compares? ; A simple layering with 'screen' blend mode will double the ISO stop, with the least impact on noise (though noise will still be there). ; Two layers, screen blended, should be equivalent to ISO102,400.

I've taken two-frame in-camera HDR stacks at ISO12800 with my camera, and stepped them up 2 stops for effective ISO51,200 - just to see what happens. ; It wasn't great, but it wasn't as bad as you'd think with the in-camera stacking. ; With the newer Sonys doing 6-image stacking in camera, the noise control is significantly better. ; I've brought up some of my NEX 6-stack shots at least 4 stops in post (from ISO800), and still quite usable.

 

I'll have to take a look. ; My sensor already has the gain permanently dialed to +2/3 thanks to the mirror, which is why the sensor doesn't score as well as the 580, which has the exact same sensor.....

 

fantastic my friend. ; i love church architecture. ; you nailed it.

 

Erich, it's using the modern darkroom to push process the image up to ISO 102,400.

 

Erich,

It can be for the purpose you mentioned - I've used that technique before where you needed a faster shutter speed but either were at the ISO limit of the camera, or the next ISO would produce horrible results, so you leave the ISO lower, and shoot with manual shutter and aperture underexposed, then stack in processing to recover the exposure. ; Or just to allow you to shoot beyond the camera's ISO ability altogether.

The reason I mention it as an interesting idea with the Sony cameras is due to their unique in-camera multi-stacking feature. ; In Roger's A55, and in the A560/580 and my NEX, there is a mode whereby you can shoot 6 frames in very rapid succession at a high ISO - just one press of the shutter gives you 6 shots - the camera automatically aligns and stacks the 6 shots into a single shot...the massive advantage here being that the random high ISO noise between the 6 frames is mostly eliminated, while detail obscured by the noise in the frames is restored since the random noise is not in the same place in each frame. ; You end up with a very high ISO shot that can be virtually noise-free, and still retain excellent detail...much moreso than had you simply shot at ISO12800 in single-frame mode. ; If you were to layer and screen blend 3 ISO12800 shots from the camera, the noise and detail smearing from the first shot would be amplified with each stop you push it up - by the time you got to the 102,400 equivalence, you'd likely have a hot mess. ; But if you layer and screen blend 3 of the 6-frame multistack images, the result could actually be a surprisingly usable ISO102,400 shot. ; It's the same technique often used in astrophotography - taking 20, 30, 50, or more frames, then stacking them to reduce noise. ; The Sony cameras can do this in-camera with up to 6 frames...it's quite cool.