Canon R100 Low Light Settings: ISO, Shutter Speed, Noise

For low light on the Canon EOS R100, try to keep ISO at 3200 or below, step up to 6400 only when you need it, and treat ISO 12800 as a last resort, which matches what The-Digital-Picture's reviewer reported. The R100 has no built-in stabilization, so your other tools are a steady hold or a tripod, a shutter speed you can hold still for, and more light from a brighter lens or the flash.

Why low light is harder on the R100

In low light, your camera is like a person walking into a dark room. It needs more light to see, and it has three ways to get it. Each way has a small cost.

• Aperture works like the pupil of your eye. A wide pupil lets in more light. On a lens, a smaller number such as f/2.8 means a wider opening than f/6.3.
• Shutter speed is like a door opening and closing. The longer the door stays open, the more light comes in, but if you or your subject move while it is open, the photo blurs.
• ISO is like the volume knob on a radio. Turn it up and you hear more, but you also hear more static. In photos, that static is called noise.

These three always work together. If they feel new, the exposure triangle guide walks through them one at a time.

The R100 uses a 24.1MP APS-C sensor. Digital Camera World called the ISO range the only real limitation of that sensor, saying its top end is conservative and grain appears sooner if you rely on ISO alone in low light.

Low light feature	Canon EOS R100
ISO range	100 to 12,800, expandable to 25,600
Fastest shutter speed	1/4000 second
Longest timed shutter speed	30 seconds, plus Bulb
In-body stabilization	None
Video stabilization	Movie Digital Image Stabilization
Autofocus in dim light	Down to -4EV with an F1.2 lens
Flash	Built-in pop-up flash

ISO limits: how high you can push the R100

Canon lists an ISO range of 100 to 12,800 for the R100. An extended setting called H takes it to 25,600. You can change ISO in 1/3-stop or full-stop steps.

A stop is just a doubling or a halving. For example, going from ISO 800 to ISO 1600 is one stop brighter.

ISO	What The-Digital-Picture's review reported
100	Quite clean, as usual for EOS cameras
3200	The reviewer's usual personal tolerance for APS-C noise
6400	Noisy, but can be usable
12800	A last resort
25600 (H)	A large share of detail gets lost

There is one more thing ISO affects. Dynamic range is how many shades the camera can hold between deep black and bright white, like the number of crayons between black and white in a box. Digital Camera World found excellent dynamic range at low ISO, but at ISO 800 and above the R100 captured around 2EV less than the Nikon and Fujifilm cameras it was compared with. EV means the same thing as a stop.

For noise, the same test found the R100 similar to the Nikon and Sony cameras at low ISO, while the Nikon Z30's high-ISO shots were cleaner.

What this means when you shoot

Think of ISO 3200 as a comfortable ceiling. If your photo is still too dark there, go to 6400 and accept a little grain. A slightly grainy photo that is sharp almost always looks better than a smooth photo that is blurry.

Darker scenes also lose shadow and highlight detail faster as ISO climbs, so try not to underexpose and then brighten a lot later. If a high-ISO photo comes out too noisy, that is useful information, not a failure. It tells you that scene needs more light or a steadier camera next time.

Noise reduction: helpful, with a trade

Noise reduction smooths out speckles. The-Digital-Picture found the difference can be big in some images, but the cost is lost detail and lower sharpness. That reviewer uses no noise reduction for low-ISO images and a low amount for higher-ISO images. You can apply it in the camera or later during editing.

The R100 also offers Multi-Shot NR. Try it on a still scene and compare it with a normal shot so you can see what it does.

The R100 can record both RAW and JPEG files. A RAW file is like keeping all the ingredients instead of a finished cake. Shooting RAW at high ISO lets you choose how much noise reduction to use later, instead of locking it in.

Stabilization: what the R100 has and what it lacks

Stabilization helps cancel out small wobbles from your hands. Photography Blog lists no built-in stabilization among the R100's limits. For photos, that means the body will not steady your hands for you.

There is some good news. PetaPixel's reviewer noted the R100 uses an electronic first-curtain shutter, which is quiet and stable, said they could barely feel any disturbance, and expected the camera to handle sharp pictures even at slower shutter speeds.

For video, Digital Camera World says every mode can use Canon's Movie Digital Image Stabilization to remove camera shake.

Ways to hold the camera steady

• Tuck your elbows against your body, like holding a cup of hot cocoa close.
• Lean on a wall, a post or a doorframe.
• Breathe out slowly and press the shutter button gently instead of stabbing it.
• Take a few frames in a row. One is often sharper than the others.
• Set the camera on a table, a bag or a tripod for very slow shutter speeds.

Canon says the R100's built-in Bluetooth can connect to a phone and work as a remote control. That lets you fire the shutter without touching the camera when it sits on a tripod.

Shutter speed settings for low light

The R100's fastest shutter speed is 1/4000 second. Its longest timed shutter speed is 30 seconds, and a Bulb mode allows longer exposures. Bulb keeps the door open for as long as you hold it open.

Handheld starting points

These are starting points to test, not rules. Take a shot, zoom in on the screen, and check if the details look crisp.

• Still subjects, lens zoomed wide: start around 1/60 second.
• Still subjects, lens zoomed in: go faster, around 1/125 second.
• People talking or walking: try 1/125 to 1/250 second.
• Kids running or pets playing: go faster still, and raise ISO to keep the picture bright.

The sensor's 1.6x crop factor magnifies the focal length of your lenses. When you zoom in, small wobbles look bigger too, which is why a faster shutter speed helps at the long end.

Tripod and night scenes

Photography Blog called its R100 night photograph very good and pointed to the 30-second maximum and Bulb mode as ways to gather enough light. On a tripod, you can keep ISO at 100, where results are quite clean, and let the shutter run long. This works well for city lights, stars and still scenes. People moving through the frame will blur, which can look nice as a creative effect.

Watch out for Silent mode

The-Digital-Picture notes the R100 only uses its full electronic shutter in Silent mode, and that mode limits you to full auto exposure. It also points to a slow 78ms sensor readout, whose effects show up only in that mode. PetaPixel explains that a fully electronic shutter can bring rolling shutter. If you want full control of your low-light settings, leave Silent mode for times when quiet matters most, like a sleeping baby.

Light and lenses: the other half of low light

The R100 kit lens is the Canon RF-S 18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM. PetaPixel called it not a very good lens and said it does even worse in anything other than bright sunlight because of that weak aperture range. TechRadar described it as pretty basic.

The kit lens still works in low light if you help it. Zoom out to the widest setting, add light, and steady the camera.

When you are ready for more light, there are brighter options. The Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM pancake lens was released at the same time as the R100. After Canon opened its RF mount to third-party APS-C lenses, Sigma launched RF versions of many of its DC DN Contemporary lenses. TechRadar's reviewer recommends the Sigma 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary as a second lens after the kit lens. A wider opening like f/1.4 lets you use a lower ISO or a faster shutter speed in the same dim room.

The built-in flash

Photography Blog found the R100's pop-up flash worked fairly well indoors, with no red-eye and good overall exposure. The flash settings are Auto, Flash On and Redeye Reduction. Canon also suggests using it as fill light when your subject stands in front of a bright background. Flash works best when people are fairly close to you.

Focusing when the lights are low

Photography Blog reports the R100 can focus in light as low as -4EV when used with an F1.2 lens. That number comes from a very bright lens, so with the kit lens you may see focus search back and forth sooner. Canon says the R100 offers Eye Detection AF with Dual Pixel CMOS AF.

If focus hunts, point at an edge with some contrast, like the line where a face meets a darker background. Add a lamp or move closer to a light. PetaPixel notes the R100 has no touchscreen, which makes moving the focus point slower, so practice moving it with the buttons in daylight first.

Low light video settings

The R100 records 1080p video at up to 60p with Dual Pixel AF, and 720p at 120p for slow motion. Its 4K mode records at 25p with a 1.55x crop and switches to slower contrast AF. For low light video, 1080p is the friendlier choice because you keep Dual Pixel AF. Turn on Movie Digital Image Stabilization if you film handheld.

A simple low light starting recipe

1. Move off full auto. The R100 has full manual controls. PetaPixel notes it has only one control dial and a clunky way to switch between exposure settings, so practice in good light before the sun goes down.
2. Open the aperture as wide as your lens allows.
3. Pick a shutter speed you can hold steady, starting around 1/60 second for still subjects.
4. Raise ISO until the picture looks bright enough. Try to stop at 3200, and use 6400 when you must.
5. Shoot RAW so you can handle noise later.
6. Zoom in on the screen and check sharpness.
7. Still too dark or too grainy: add light, use the flash, or put the camera on something solid.

How the R100 compares with the R50 in low light

Feature	Canon EOS R100	Canon EOS R50
ISO range	100 to 12,800, expandable to 25,600	100 to 32,000, expandable to 51,200
Fastest shutter speed	1/4000 second	1/8000 second

Digital Camera World says that for stills, unless you plan to shoot in very low light, you probably will not see any image quality difference between the two. The R50 covers its own settings in the Canon R50 low light settings guide, and the step-up models have the Canon R10 low light guide and the Canon R8 Mark II low light guide. If you are still choosing a body, the guide to choosing a Canon camera for beginners puts the R100 side by side with other options.

Every dark photo you take teaches you something about light. Keep the settings simple, check your shots often, and each evening out will feel easier than the last.