Want Better Looking High ISO Files

... me too.

This may seem counter-intuitive but the way to get the most out of your files is to over expose them some. I am not saying to completely blow everything out... All you need is a half to full stop over exposure to do the trick. Some may argue that this is counter intuitive since you probably upped the ISO so you can obtain a faster shutter speed but every case is different.

These sample images of my son Cameron were shot in my home under incandescent light. These images were all shot in RAW and have been directly exported from Lightroom without any modifications. I then took the exported file and re-sized them for the web.

All images were shot with my Nikon D700 and a Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 lens. The aperture remained at a constant f/2.8 while the shutter speed was set accordingly and ranged from 1/50" to 1/500"

Image 1:
ISO 12,800 under exposed:

Image 2:
ISO 12,800 well exposed:

Image 3:
ISO 12,800 over exposed:

Now let's take a look at how the under exposed image looks when bumping up the exposure in Lightroom approximately +.75 stops. Not too good looking huh?
Image 4:
ISO 12,800 under exposed at capture with Lightroom exposure compensation of +.75:

Here is the over exposed image dialed down -.75 stops in Lightroom. This produces a much cleaner file. The grain is there no doubt but this is at ISO 12,800 people!
Image 5:
ISO 12,800 over exposed at capture with Lightroom exposure compensation of -.75:

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What do you think about this file?
Image 6:

Would you believe me if I told you this was taken with an ISO 25,600? Well it was... Not too shabby huh? I would consider that to be completely usable with a little more finesse in post.

Here is the other end of the spectrum:
Image 7:
ISO 26,500 under exposed with a +1 exposure compensation in Lightroom

Can you say yuck?

As I mentioned before, these files are un-altered except for exposure compensation where noted and a web re-size. I will try to get the full rez images up soon for viewing if you want to pixel peep the shots. Just imagine what a little noise reduction software can do along with this technique?

I would love to hear what you think so comment away!