14. In Practice, Continued

One issue with digital cameras is typically performance at high sensitivities, but this is not as big of a problem as it may seem, especially with the D200. One reason is that the camera has adjustable noise reduction (high ISO noise reduction, not to be confused with long-exposure noise reduction). In general we can say that noise is low and the D200 compares favorably with other models on the market. People are sometimes greatly impressed by the results, but forget that they're attained using the noise reducer; this of course reduces noise, but also erases fine details in the image, so you can't expect miracles.

Again, this all has to be put into perspective: digital SLRs generally produce significantly better results than film cameras at equivalent ISO levels, as long as you know how to use them. In any event, regardless of the camera, you can't expect the quality of images shot at ISO 1600 or 3200 to compare with the same images shot at ISO 100 or 200. You always have to be ready to accept a loss in image quality if you have to shoot in very low light, but the shots you get can still sometimes be very good indeed...

Shot taken at ISO 1600 with noise reduction at "Normal." The noise is very low.

Shot taken at ISO 1600 with noise reduction set to "High." Quite a few details have disappeared...

Naturally it's still preferable, for the most demanding users, to shoot in RAW and process the image with more sophisticated noise-reduction software.