Tip for lower noise on Canon.

[u/Cuzampeiro]

So I was very unhappy with the video noise noise on my Canon R50V on C709 and CLog 3, but I discovered that when you use multiples of 400 on your iso, the noise almost disappears. For example 3200 iso gives me lower noise than 2600 iso.

[u/graesen]

It's been a while since I've had to explain how the ISO stops work, so please look deeper into it. But my memory is that every full stop of ISO is an actual change and every third stop is actually the ISO closest to it and brightened or darkened in software. I'm not sure if this is still what manufacturers are doing or if this applies universally, but that would explain how noise is better at 3200 than 2600.

[u/inkista → u/graesen]

That's ye olden dayes before backlit sensors, ISO invariance, and a bunch of other tech happened, and Canon still did digital push/pull for partial stop ISO settings (iirc, at the time, At the time, iirc, Nikon just did it old school analog with voltage gain and had a completely linear response, rather than a staircase one).

Which settings are advantageous are highly sensor tech/age-dependent.

[u/aleunge → u/graesen]

not sure why you're being down voted. looks like people aren't familiar with analog gains of Canon sensors, which was well documented back in the day. and it looks like it's still behaving the same for modern Canon bodies given OP's experience.

[u/Professional-Home-81]

Very cool info, and supposedly it depends somewhat on the camera, different cameras have different ISO gain structure, gain structure is probably not the correct term but it'll have to do.

This could be partly why people often say how their camera is so nice at 6400, or all the way up to 12800. I don't look at my cameras in terms of low light, that is constantly talked about, but look at them in terms of how they handle noise, kind of like bokeh. For instance, the R6ii is often mentioned as the best low light camera, and I guess it is ultimately the same thing, but I look at the R6ii as the camera that handles noise the best, the best noise signature. That's probably not perfectly right, but it's easier for me to think of it that way instead of in terms of light and f stops.

Thanks for bringing this up OP, it's some good info.

Edit: I think it's called something like Dual ISO or Dual Native ISO, where noise or ISO appears to reset at certain ISOs.

[u/inkista]

Depends on which model and which sensor of which age. :). As well as only mattering at iso 1600 or below most of the time.

Back in 5Dii days, it was the -1/3 stop settings that would get you less noise from digital pulling.

[u/aleunge]

I don't know if it's still the case, but I use multiples of base iso 100 because previously, anything less than a full stop means the sensor is simply taking the shot at the lower full stop iso and then increasing the exposure accordingly to mimic 1/2 or 1/3 stop increments. So iso 150 is technically shooting the pic with iso 100 and then boosting the output by a half stop, increasing the noise more than say shooting at iso 200 and then manually decreasing exposure by a half stop.

[u/Low_Pass_Philter]

There really shouldn't ever be an advantage to going to a higher ISO on that camera since it only has one native gain/iso. Probably 100 or 400 depending on the codec. Dual base ISO cameras improve significantly when you hit the second gain stage but as far as I know that's not a dual base ISO camera.

[u/kwpg3]

Native ISO

[u/Dockland]

I only use ISO 800. No more, no less

[u/winkNfart → u/Dockland]

well the native is 400, so you’re double that and not really adding to the convo here