7d and Red One side by side

[Alexander Ibrahim]

Originally Posted by Ryan Farnes

On a side note, I've heard and seen that the 7D ISO settings are better optimized at the 160, 320, 640, 1250, 2500, 5000 settings.

You have that backwards.

A these "fractional" ISOs the camera does some trickery that can rob you of highlight latitude.

You want to shoot at "whole" ISOs, 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 & 3200.

You want autolighting optimizer off pretty much all the time.

You only want "highlight tone priority" on when shooting 1600 or 3200.

I don't recommend shooting faster than 3200 unless all you need is a record of something happening or want the high grain look. Even Neat and Foundry noise plugins don't do a good job at those ISOs.

[Jon Fairhurst]

I think it depends. If you're shooting a wedding or billowing white clouds, shoot at 100, 200, 400... It gives you the most dynamic range. If you're shooting a horror film with lots of shadows, shoot at 160, 320, 640... You give up 1/3 stop at the top, but the noise in the blacks will be reduced.