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Noise at ISO 100 - Downsampled to 12MP
As a practical matter, I often underexpose because I’m shooting in rapidly changing conditions, and I’m shooting manually— auto exposure has blown-out too many images for me to rely on it.
And sometimes I underexpose for the non-linear effects it yields. And sometimes I just want the image, so I press the button and whatever comes out, comes out.
So it matters to me a lot what I can do with an underexposed image. Point and shoot cameras are thus useless garbage to me; they look bad even properly exposed at ISO 100. The Fuji X100 is one of the first small cameras that I deem acceptable for my work, and now the Sony NEX-7 makes the grade too.
ISO 100
The image was at ISO 100, but “pushed” 1.55 stops during RAW conversion (+1.55 stops exposure compensation), giving it an effective ISO of about 300.
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Sony NEX-7 + Novoflex lens adapter + Leica 28mm f/2 Summicron-M ASPH