Coming Home to Roost – Austin, Texas

I was a little late getting downtown with peak blue hour hitting while I was still in the car. Despite the what name might suggest, blue hour is Austin only lasts, at most, 15 minutes. I was stuck at 6th and Lamar when I noticed a flock of grackles coming home to roost. These packs of flying vermin seem to pick a spot in town and inundate it, laying claim to every perch-able surface.

With my new DXO One in hand, I was excited to try it out at my first real-world, low-light setting. I featured those 6th Street photos yesterday but this is also one that I quickly shot from inside my car. The windshield created an interesting streak and glow which added to the urban landscape, surrounded by the new high-rises that increasingly popup in downtown.

Shot at ISO 3200, this may be the practical limit for this camera, when exposed correctly. There’s a fine grain of noise that doesn’t look too objectionable, though I did run noise reduction via Topaz software to make it smoother. Pretty impressive, really and significantly better than what the Canon G7X Mark II can do.

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