Photons are particles.
But so is dust, which is probably what DonaldB is thinking of.
One cause of noise in photos is that the photons arrive at the sensor in a random distribution, like a crowd arriving for a football match, not in an even distribution like soldiers on parade.
My opinion is that the better answer to ISO and Noise and Exposure questions in general should first be about Lighting. There’s a very important step we all have to take as we progress as photographers, which is developing the ability to “see” light the way the camera will capture it. That is, the difference between how we perceive the living world with our eyes and how it will be rendered as a photograph, and how the lighting impacts it and how we can modify the light or seek out better light to produce better results.
I know this to be true, yet it seems very difficult for other forum experts to say this simple truth. It’s infinitely more important than understanding how photons scatter on a sensor.
That may all be true if the goal is a nice looking sooc jpeg. The lighting is also important for the final image when shooting raw, but ISO is not very important.
But if shooting raw, and if as in my case the aim is to minimise visible noise then ISO has zero influence on how I set the optimal exposure** when hand-holding the camera. When I am ETTRing using a tripod then I lock in base ISO.
* exposure - amount of light that struck the sensor per unit area while the shutter was open
** optimal exposure - the maximum exposure* within dof and motion blur requirements without clipping important highlights.
*** under exposed - more exposure* could have been added with the DOF and blur constraints still being met without clipping important highlights.
iso 4000 raw processed no adjustments. iso 100 pushed to reach the same brightness as the iso 4000 image. the difference is in the shadows. WB is also off shooting underexposed.
Those images are meaningless because I cannot verify what processing might have been applied to the jpegs.
Post links to the raw files.
The exposures* are clearly different for each image because the scene luminances are different.
* exposure - amount of light that struck the sensor per unit area while the shutter was open
** optimal exposure - the maximum exposure* within dof and motion blur requirements without clipping important highlights.
*** under exposed - more exposure* could have been added with the DOF and blur constraints still being met without clipping important highlights.
ISO has nothing to do with it, assuming the values displayed in your jpeg image are not falsified which is very easy to do.
The aperture and shutter speed are the same in both, again assuming you didn't falsify the exif data displayed in the jpeg image, so the difference in exposure* is due to a difference in scene luminance as I described earlier.
Those jpegs could have had strong noise reduction and who knows what other processing applied to them.
You are withholding the raw files so clearly you are hiding something 🙂
* exposure - amount of light that struck the sensor per unit area while the shutter was open
** optimal exposure - the maximum exposure* within dof and motion blur requirements without clipping important highlights.
*** under exposed - more exposure* could have been added with the DOF and blur constraints still being met without clipping important highlights.
That's another example of you making statements that are not true.
It is you I don't trust because you have not told the truth on too many occasions in these forums for me to just blindly accept any images you post as being authentic and legitimate.
You are withholding the raw files, which is obviously your choice to make, but who knows what noise reduction or other editing might have been applied to those jpeg images.
Don, my own experience is that very often your posted 'tests' should be take with a very large pinch of salt. I'm sure that a lot of other users here that have wasted time taking them seriously could attest to the same. we even have examples in the lifetime of DPReview. I for one would not trust them an inch until you published every bit of surrounding information which would allow where the trick is without wasting time.
I think it's wisest to tread Don's 'demonstrations' as entertaining conundrums, if you enjoy hunting out trickery, not as statements of fact. If you don't enjoy hunting out trickery, just ignore them.