Comments

Chienworks wrote on 9/21/2010, 2:54 PM
Can't really tell you anything from the information given. ISO refers to the light sensitivity of the image sensor in terms of film speed. ISO 200 is 2.5 times as sensitive as 80, which means it will perform better in lower light levels, or give you faster shutter speed/smaller aperture for the same light conditions. Is this a good thing or a bad thing? The answer is ... yes.

Lower sensitivity sensors tend to be less grainy. Higher sensitivity ones tend to be sharper. In practice, there really isn't much difference between 80 and 200. There are so many other contributing factors such as lens quality and image processing that far overshadow just the sensitivity that you can't really make a decision based just on that.
OGUL wrote on 9/21/2010, 3:18 PM
Thank you for reply!
So I'd better switch to Sony Nex 5 or maybe better than that to
Panasonic GH2 because of their swivling LCD panel!
rmack350 wrote on 9/22/2010, 1:45 PM
Since cameras usually offer an array of ISO settings, if the camera supports 80 it'll also support 200.

Usually, lower ISO settings give you less noise so you'd think you'd want to set the ISO as low as you could. However, I've read some posts where people talk about a camera having a "native ISO" So, you example, the camera might perform best at 200 even though you can drop it down lower.

Some people think the native ISO idea is BS but I think it might depend on the camera. It doesn't really matter a lot though if a camera has a lower limit of 80 ISO since you could always set it higher if you wanted.

I think if you're going to shoot video outdoors with a still camera then the lower ISO would come in handy. It'll allow you to get your shutter speed down to a speed that looks more natural. Maybe you wouldn't need an ND filter.

ISO range isn't the only concern, of course.

Rob
rmack350 wrote on 9/22/2010, 1:58 PM
Had to read back to the beginning. Seems like you're just asking which camera will give you the best stills for the timeline. I have no answer.

I have a GH1 which I like a lot. It's good for the price. I could give a short list of criticisms but maybe the first one is that the body is very small. It's perfect for a small handed person but it's a little cramped for me. Not prohibitive, but small.

The swiveling display is great, but mostly use the viewfinder. The LCD can be folded to tuck against the camera body where the screen is protected. I like that.

I run the GH1 down around 80 ISO most of the time.

Rob