Friday, 4 September 2015

Why isn't expanded ISO settings (L / ISO50) enabled on Canon DSLR's by default?


It bothers me a bit when I have to hunt through menus to find the 'enable expanded ISO settings' setting in my 5D mkIII.


I'd like to know why the low ISO's are disabled however and if there is any technical reason for it?



Answer



Simply because it gives a non-trival drop in image quality and manufacturers do not want people to use it without knowing that. By enabling it explicitly, you are accepting to use an Expanded ISO.


See my answer here for why it is not part of the normal ISO range. Neither side of expanded ISOs in itself stress more the sensor, they both tigger extra processing from the camera though the one for higher sensitivities is most likely more resource intensive since it has much more noise to clean up, at least when shooting JPEG. Some cameras do not even allow RAW for expanded sensitivities.


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