SL2 high ISO

[Trancer365]

Hello.

First time posting here and new to DSLRs. A while back I bought a Canon T6 but a few days ago I saw an SL2 and decided to buy it. So I have both cameras but I'll be selling the T6. When I have both cameras on and pointed at the same spot, I notice that the SL2's ISO is always higher than that of the T6. Like the T6 is 1600 but the SL2 would be at 3200 or even 6400. Or if the T6 is 800 the SL2 would be at 1600 or 3200. This is in Auto mode on both. So, why is the SL2's ISO so high compared to the T6's even though there's plenty of light even for the T6 to only use 800 ISO for example, knowing that the SL2 should handle better in less than optimal brightness ?

The SL is like brand new and only a few months old (I have the receipt). I've done a "reset" but nothing's changed.

Thanks.

[ebiggs1]

"The T6's ISO was constant 1600 without pressing the shutter button but once pressed half way it went down to 800."

Without pressing the shutter button you were not metering so that is normal.

"The SL was jumping from 1600 all the way up to 6400 but settled at either 800 or 1600 most of the times when pointed exactly at the same spot as the T6."

Also normal. I think you are creating a problem you don't have. Remember each camera has a different processor and will not react exactly the same but should end up with nearly, to exactly, the same setting.

[BurnUnit]

Does the T6 have a menu setting that allows you to choose a maximum ISO when the camera is set to use Auto ISO? This is why it's been recommended to reset both cameras to their default settings when doing these comparisons.

[Trancer365]

Thanks again for the replies, guys.

As mentioned in my post resetting never did anything.

Anyway, I think Mike's answered my question. The SL's higher ISO is probably a normal thing. But it was my understanding that high ISOs (especially 3200 and higher) is a bad thing but yeah maybe newer cameras and sensors can use higher ISO numbers without degrading the photo the same way an older camera/sensor does. I hope this is the case here. 

I still don't know if it's a normal thing for the ISO numbers to be jumping around too much on the SL before pressing the shutter to focus. On the T6, the ISO was pretty steady.

[BurnUnit · Accepted solution]

As ebiggs pointed out, until the metering is activated any change in the displayed Auto ISO reading would seem meaningless. Though I'm not familiar with either of these two cameras, it makes me wonder if they do make some kind of a "pre-evaluation" of the lighting under certain shooting conditions.

The newer the camera, sensor and processor, the more amazing they are at handling noise when shooting under low light and high ISO conditions. And doing a little careful editing of a RAW image file will fix most problems.

My main camera is a 60D that I bought new to make a big step up from my Canon G5 several years ago. The G5 was nearly unusable at ISO 400 and higher. The 60D blew me away at 400, 800, and 1600 with its lack of noise. Coming from the G5 and years of shooting film, it took me some time to convince myself to push it to 3200 and 6400 and usually still get acceptably low noise levels.

I can imagine a noticeable improvement in this area between the T6 and the SL2. As far as noise concerns in general, you may be making things worse for yourself if you're "pixel peeping" and just looking for a problem until you find one. If you view an image at 100% on your monitor at 18" or further away and don't see obvious problems you should be good to go. Even if there are slight traces of noise at 100% you'll likely never see them in a print.

[Trancer365]

OK. Thanks for the reply, BU.

All those years they made it sound like all high ISOs are equal, and equally bad across the board. I guess that's not exactly the case. Good to know.