[Leica] M8/M9 "pushed" ISO 640 better than 1250

[john at mcmaster.co.nz (John McMaster)]

That is just a digital adage of expose for the highlights and develop for 
the shadows....

john

> -----Original Message-----
> 
> After a lot of experimentation, I have to agree with Thomas Knoll and his
> comments in Luminous Landscape that the best signal to noise ration is
> obtained if you expose to the right.  I'm speaking on this next week in
> Wisconsin.  You can read more about it in Jeff Schewe's excellent book "The
> Digital Negative".  It's amazing to me what a difference it makes.
> 
> Tina
> 
> 
> On Sat, Sep 28, 2013 at 6:04 PM, Peter Klein <pklein at threshinc.com> 
> wrote:
> 
> > When the M8 first came out, some people reported that they got better
> > low-light results by underexposing ISO 640 by one stop and
> > compensating in their RAW developer, rather than setting the ISO to
> > 1250.  I think Tina was one of them.  I tried this myself, didn't like
> > either results much, and have pretty much stuck to ISO 640 and lower.
> >
> > Well, things have changed.  Today's RAW developers are better, and
> > this approach does even better than before. I decided to revisit it with 
> > my
> M8
> > and the current Capture One v. 7.   The results are much better than I
> > remember with Capture One v.4 (which came with the M8) or even
> Capture
> > One v.6.  Here are a couple of real-world pictures taken in my den,
> > with some deep shadows.
> >
> > Here's ISO 640 pushed one stop (top) vs. 1250 (bottom):
> > <http://gallery.leica-users.**org/d/366816-1/M8-640_**1pushVs1250-
> NoNR
> > .jpg<http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/366816-1/M8-640_1pushVs1250-
> NoNR
> > .jpg><
> > http://gallery.leica-users.**org/d/366816-1/M8-640_**1pushVs1250-
> NoNR.
> > jpg<http://gallery.leica-users.org/d/366816-1/M8-640_1pushVs1250-
> NoNR.
> > jpg>
> > >>
> >
> > ISO 640 pushed two stops (top) vs. 2500 (bottom)
> > <http://gallery.leica-users.**org/v/pklein/album170/M8-640_**
> > 2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html<http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/albu
> > m170/M8-640_2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html><
> > http://gallery.leica-users.**org/v/pklein/album170/M8-640_**
> > 2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html<http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/pklein/albu
> > m170/M8-640_2pushVs2500-NoNR.jpg.html>
> > >>
> >
> > Dim tungsten light, fixed tungsten white balance "as shot" in camera.
> > Sharpening and color NR was at default, and Luminance NR was turned
> > off to see what we're really getting.
> >
> > ISO 640 pushed one stop looks decidedly better than 1250 to my eyes.
> > Quite usable, actually. I just got another stop out of my M8.
> >
> > I wouldn't want to use either 2500 or 640 pushed two stops if I had a
> > choice. The pushed 640 does look a little better. It might do in B&W
> > with some careful NR and black point fussing.
> >
> > If I recall correctly, C-1 v.7 shows the same default NR numbers for
> > all ISOs. "50" is nominal, but behind the scenes it's applying more NR
> > when the camera ISO is higher. My rule of thumb at higher ISOs is to
> > keep the color NR at default, and use 1/4 to 1/2 the default luminance
> > NR. And sometimes I just turn it off, as I prefer a little grit to the
> > plastic look.  I'm still experimenting, but I have found that by
> > raising the black point a little and using very sparing NR, the pushed 
> > ISO 640
> picture looks pretty good.
> >  The 1250 picture is inherently more muddy and gets more smeary.
> >
> > The point is that current RAW developers can push the M8 at least one
> > stop, so you can get an effective ISO 1250 from 640.  The LUF thread
> > shows that the M9 can be pushed even farther.  Current software is way
> > better than turning up the electronic amplifier in the M8/9 beyond
> > 640.  Sure, the
> > M240 and MM are objectively better high-ISO cameras. But if you don't
> > wish to change cameras, there's life in that old CCD sensor yet.
> >
> > There's a whole thread about this on l-camera-forum.com (LUF):
> > http://www.l-camera-forum.com/**leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/**
> > 301422-m9-iso-performance-new-**life.html<http://www.l-camera-
> forum.co
> > m/leica-forum/leica-m9-forum/301422-m9-iso-performance-new-
> life.html>
> >
> > --Peter
> >