Handling Noise in the Digital Darkroom

[bwana]

An interesting read from the guys at Adorama

Shooting in low light often means we need to boost the ISO, which leads to more noise in our images. And that leads to more care in post-production. Here’s how I mitigate noise after the shot. I really dislike noise, and a few years ago I hated to venture above ISO 400. Now I have the full-frame Canon 5D Mark II and with the right subject I can shoot at ISO 3200. But I won’t go to such an extreme ISO unless I couldn’t get the shot otherwise.

From a standpoint of image quality I would always prefer ISO 100, and in low light I would prefer to be able to use a tripod and a long enough shutter speed to get the proper exposure. And, of course, I would turn on Long Exposure Noise Reduction. But some subjects won’t sit still for a long shutter speed. And there are places I can’t take a tripod (museums, for instance) and places forbidden to tripods are also often not well-lit.

Check out http://www.adorama.com/ALC/Article....&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=EmailALC030911 for the full article.

 

[koffiejunkie]

It's a nice article, but I'm inclined to think someone who's nervous about exceeding 400 ISO on a 5DmkII is spending far too much time pixel peeping.

 

[bwana]

It's a nice article, but I'm inclined to think someone who's nervous about exceeding 400 ISO on a 5DmkII is spending far too much time pixel peeping.

He's not.

 

[koffiejunkie]

No but he was:

I really dislike noise, and a few years ago I hated to venture above ISO 400.

"A few years ago" I had a 40D on which ISO 400 was just about indistinguishable from ISO 100, unless you pixel peeped, and even then the differences between ISO 100 and 400 are slight even under the worst conditions. Ditto ISO 800. But he goes on to say:

Now I have the full-frame Canon 5D Mark II and with the right subject I can shoot at ISO 3200. But I won’t go to such an extreme ISO unless I couldn’t get the shot otherwise.

3200 on a 5DmkII Extreme? He's pixel peeping. Even on the 50D, you have to pixel peep to see the noise, and the 50D is pretty noisy compared to the current line up of 1.6x crop bodies, let alone the 5DmkII.

I'm not saying it's not a good article - it certainly has some sensible advice. I'm just commenting on the "extreme ISO idea." I don't consider 3200 to be extreme. Half the pictures I took in the last year has been at 3200.

 

[bwana]

3200 on a 5DmkII Extreme? He's pixel peeping. Even on the 50D, you have to pixel peep to see the noise, and the 50D is pretty noisy compared to the current line up of 1.6x crop bodies, let alone the 5DmkII.

I don't know about the 5DMkII but on the 1DMk3 3200 is noisy, on the 7D 3200 is noisy. I may have to shoot there regularly but I sure as heck don't enjoy doing it because it is visibly noisy and the overall IQ gets hammered. I'm not a pixel peeper but if I can see the noise on my 13" on a normal fit-in-window view then as far as I'm concerned its safe to call it noisy.

 

[koffiejunkie]

Hmm. On both My 15" MBP screen and 17" Dell screen at work, at full screen display size, I can see no difference in my test shots (bookshelf - lots of colour, lots of detail) between 100 and 4000. Only at 5000 do I see a very very slight shift (more like a WB shift) and at 6400 I can start seeing grain. Of course, that's under good light. On my Samsung 24" at home, noise does show up a lot more prominently - not sure why.

These are 7D shots btw, I picked up one a few weeks ago

 

[bwana]

These are 7D shots btw, I picked up one a few weeks ago

Congrats on the upgrade.

I was about to throw mine through a wall the other night - white balance was going all over the place and it was driving me insane. I set it the same way as I did on my 1D which had zero problems.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I was about to throw mine through a wall the other night - white balance was going all over the place and it was driving me insane. I set it the same way as I did on my 1D which had zero problems.

Yeah, AWB on the sub 1D cameras have never been great. The 7D seems to be consistent with 50D and 40D though in this respect. Or are you referring to setting a specific WB?

 

[koffiejunkie]

Congrats on the upgrade.

Thanks. I'm really liking it, but bizarrely both my 50mm f/1.8 and 30mm f/1.4 front focus like crazy on it. About a foot at sort of head and shoulders distance. I haven't looked at setting the micro-focus adjustments for it yet - need to print out something to use for focus.

The other thing that surprised me, was selling the 50D and accessories on eBay, I did some research on completed listings to get a realistic idea of what I can get, and to see if selling the body and grip separately is likely to fetch more than selling them together. As it turns out, the average price for camera and grip is *less* than for camera alone!

 

[bwana]

Yeah, AWB on the sub 1D cameras have never been great. The 7D seems to be consistent with 50D and 40D though in this respect. Or are you referring to setting a specific WB?

I shoot jpg so it helps to set the WP beforehand.

 

[koffiejunkie]

I shoot jpg so it helps to set the WP beforehand.

Aah. One thing I'd like is a setting comparable to the tint in Aperture under the white balance brick. And ability to set the temperature below 2500K

 

[bwana]

Thanks. I'm really liking it, but bizarrely both my 50mm f/1.8 and 30mm f/1.4 front focus like crazy on it. About a foot at sort of head and shoulders distance. I haven't looked at setting the micro-focus adjustments for it yet - need to print out something to use for focus.

That doesn't sound right.

 

[koffiejunkie]

That doesn't sound right.

Nope. Especially not since the 24-105L focuses with it's usual deadly accuracy, and so does the 200L. The 10-20mm is pretty hard to mis-focus, so I'm not too concerned about that.

 

[bwana]

Nope. Especially not since the 24-105L focuses with it's usual deadly accuracy, and so does the 200L. The 10-20mm is pretty hard to mis-focus, so I'm not too concerned about that.

Is it a new 7D?

 

[MadMailMan]

These are 7D shots btw, I picked up one a few weeks ago

Welcome to the dark side.

You have a G10 too don't you? Can you do me a favour? Can you compare the colour and contrast from an identical shot from your 7D and your G10? I'm getting far more vivid colours and better contrast from my G12 than I get from my 7D (with 24-105) and I'm not 100% sure of how to fix it. Or if it even needs "fixing."

 

[Dolby]

This is really scaring me now, as after so long I'm settled on a 7D ... now I hear horror stories

 

[MadMailMan]

This is really scaring me now, as after so long I'm settled on a 7D ... now I hear horror stories

I hope you are not refering to my post. No horror story really I'm just wondering if the G12 has all the colours jacked right up and mybe my 7D is just a little off and with some minor adjustment will be spot on. As for focus mine does an awesome job with all the lenses I've used on it (24-105, 70-200, 50, 10-22). My bigest focus issue is getting used to the extra focus points when selecting individual focus points. I had my 20D for many years and with 9 FPs it was easy. <--- A user issue more than a camera one.

 

[Dolby]

... and bwana white balance issue

 

[MadMailMan]

... and bwana white balance issue

Yeah, nothing I can do about bwana. I think he has been an unballanced white for quite some time now.

 

[Dolby]

hehe ...

Mad - is there something (like CHSDK or something) that will enable more than 3 shots in AEB?
Or does one need to tether?