Olympus OM-D EM-5 ISO 1000 & 2000 test

This weekend I decided to see how the Olympus OM-D EM-5 camera image quality stood up when using a higher ISO rating for taking pictures of birds. The question: How much noise extra noise would this ISO setting introduce?

Historically I have tended to use a low ISO rating, ISO 200-400, to minimise the level of noise, however the disadvantage with this approach is that there is an increased chance of hand/camera shake or movement blur.

ISO tested 1000 & 2000.

The weather conditions: Average brightness & medium/strong wind.

ISO 1000 at 100%

ISO 2000 at 100%

These are the final full size post processed results with denoise & sharpening.

ISO 1000

Olympus OM-D EM-5 & Sigma 50-500mm F4-6.3 APO DG at F6.3.

ISO 2000

Olympus OM-D EM-5 & Sigma 50-500mm F4-6.3 APO DG at F6.3.

Conclusion: Surprised at the results. I was expecting a lot more noise to show especially at ISO 2000. Use of either ISO 1000 or 2000 looks on first try to be a good trade off between minor noise increase to less image deletion caused by hand/camera shake or movement blur.