|
Doug,
Using ISO-800 and above on the newer breed of cameras, such as the 40D and above, and ISO-1600 on the 5D Mark II, may be all well and good. Having done my fair share of imaging using the 300D and the 350D (Duncan's 400D isn't too far removed from the 350D), I know that ISO-800 makes for grainy images (especially, when printed). I'm a fan of printing so I have a bit of a bias there.
I'm not sure if you saw my earlier work, but the large majority of it, wasn't under 2 hours in total exposure. The trick is to take plenty of light frames and to take a fair quantity of dark frames. When I was using my 350D, I'd take at the bare minimum, an hour's worth of darks. I'm not the best imager out there, (though, my aim is to try to be the best with what I own), my ISO-400 images look quite nice (at least I think so!) and print rather well.
Horses for courses. If Duncan owned a 40D, I'd be suggesting trying between ISO-400 and ISO-800.
When I finally get the chance to put my 5D Mark II towards reflection nebulae and clusters, and my modified 40D for everything else, I'll still be sticking to ISO-400 for that smooth, clean look.
Regards,
Humayun
|