Day 16: This is ISO64

Tuesday, January 16, 2017

I’ve heard a lot about the D810’s ISO64 performance and how on paper, at least conditionally, it is a match for Pentax’s medium format 645Z. I’m personally inclined to take the claim with a grain of salt: nothing in my experience can compensate for superior sensor size.

But the difference it can make to dynamic range is what I’m most interested in – and what I’ve been most looking forward to in the D850. In this photo, I’m standing in the shadow of a building under harsh sunlight. The reflection from the chrome artwork should, by rights, be completely over-exposed – but the ISO64 has flattened it entirely. This photo, besides resizing, is completely untouched.

I’ll probably be exploring dynamic range a lot more this year, as opposed to the dramatic high-contrast stuff that sacrifices a lot of detail (or is…