Canon 7D, Using Very High ISOs

If you’re fi nding that ISO 6400 just isn’t high enough for you, you have the option of increasing it to the next level, ISO 12800. This setting won’t appear as a number, but as an “H” on your top LCD Panel and within the viewfi nder. Once again we’ll tap into the 7D’s custom settings to allow you to raise your ISO and shoot at this setting.

SETTING UP THE ISO EXPANSION FEATURE

Press the Menu button and locate the Custom Function screen.
The ISO Expansion setting is located in the C.Fn I: Exposure section. Highlight it and press Set (A).
Use the Quick Control dial to locate the ISO Expansion section (it’s the third menu item), and then press the Set button.
Using the Quick Control dial, change the setting to On and then press the Set button (B).
Press the Menu button twice to exit, then press the ISO button and set it to the H setting with the Main dial.

While you are able to capture images in extremely low light situations, the noise from this setting is highly visible (Figure 7.2). My recommendation is to use the H setting sparingly and only as a last resort.

FIGURE 7.2 It’s not diffi cult to see the difference in quality that the extremely high ISO levels can produce. This is a cropped portion of an image photographed at two different ISO settings. The top half shows the photo taken at ISO 800 and has a very tolerable amount of noise, while the bottom half was photographed at ISO 12800 (the H setting) and produces an enormous amount of noise and grain.