With my primary photography being the creation of stock imagery in controlled lighting environments, I rarely venture above ISO 800 with my Canon 5D Mark II. Hanging out in Las Vegas this past week at Photoshop World reinforced to me the value in having a camera body capable of increasingly high ISO captures.

I was fortunate enough to be invited to several parties. Since the best parties always seem to happen after dark, shooting at ISO 3200 and above was the easiest way to capture images.

Today’s image of the fire eating woman was shot at the incredible iStock Dollhouse Party last Friday. The sole light source for the image was the torch flame. If I were carrying either of my two other cameras (Canon 5D or G7), I would not have been able to leave with a usable image.

What this outing also solidified was my realization that it is time to retire my point-and-shoot Canon G7 for a model with better low-light performance. Right now it looks like the soon-to-be-released Canon G11 will be the replacement.

Canon 5D Mark II, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/160 second, f/4, ISO 3200