I hope that the differences show up if you view large. I experimented with high ISO by using 6400 and then setting my aperture tighter at f/8 and using a super fast shutterspeed of 1/1600. As expected, the "noise" of the high ISO did still exist but I had never made the connection with tightening the aperture and keeping a high shutterspeed in low light. The image on the left is untouched. The one on the right, I only used the luminance smoothing. Where the light comes from matters as I tried the same in different situations with varying results, but still lots of grain (not a fan of that look).
But I got detail that I would have otherwise not gotten, so I loved playing with the challenge. Will keep at it, as I see this as a way to stop fearing the high ISO so much.
Interesting results - I think I prefer the one on the right for the sake of clarity. I think the grainy look can work on some images, but I the more I look at these two, although great shots, the one on the right is the one that gets my "vote"
@graemestevens Thanks Graeme, for the sake of the challenge, I'm trying to do as little editing as possible to see what the result is in camera and with my choices in manual. I definitely prefer the right, but what I don't like about luminance smoothing with hummingbirds is that they turn out very glassy looking (it also just shows the limits of camera and glass I have--glass is kit zoom). But I've never really amped up the ISO like this, so it is a learning curve that I needed!
A really interesting comparison and especially interesting to see what can be achieved with high ISO - something I've avoided at all costs. Will have to see what I can come up with ;)
I think you did great and the noise isn't so much, considering the challenging subject matter. I shoot my church photos at 3200 ISO. I like your comment about the aperture/shutter speed. I understand that shutter speed controls ambient lighting, but I have yet to figure out what exactly that means!
It's a cool experiment. I like the right as well. Luminance smoothing does make everything glassy unfortunately. Sometimes you can increase the luminance and at the same time increase the detail setting and that reduces some of the glassiness.
