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turbodls1ta · Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 440 Location: T'exas, y'all

I'm starting to get fed up with my 450D. I know its not a high end camera by any stretch of the imagination, but Im getting noise in just about all my photos under 1/200 second, at 100 ISO, and in just about all lighting conditions. Besides night shots, its really only visible at a 1:1 viewing ratio, which my teacher tells me not to worry about because the noise isnt visible on a 8x10 print. However, I know its there, and it bothers the s**t out of me. Do I have a setting on my camera screwed up? Is my camera screwed up?
T.I.A.

jeffbanke · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 12:32 am

Tell your teacher to get some new glasses! LOL!
If he/she cannot see noise at 100% they should see an optician.

6MP camera at 300 DPI at 100% produces a print smaller than 8x10, and nose is easily seen, just have to know where to look, perhaps your teacher doesn't know?

tverkhovynets · Joined: 12 Jun 2010 Posts: 749 Location: Kiev, Ukraine

I used 350D before and cannot say it was a noise machine. I don't know anything about 450D at noise perspective, but I think the best way to figure out what problems you have and what causes noise to appear is to show us your images with 100% crops. Most of the times noise is caused by incorrect exposure.

Taras

copidosoma · Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Posts: 3783 Location: Canada

turbodls1ta · Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 440 Location: T'exas, y'all

Here is an example from a few days ago

turbodls1ta · Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 440 Location: T'exas, y'all

Not sure why the Exif data is being blocked for me, but in case you cant see it... 1/800, f4.0, 200 ISO, 10mm (10-20 Sigma WA lens)...
And yes, I know the crop is OOF.. I was looking for a shallower DoF for a school project, but wasnt able to produce it..

turbodls1ta · Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 440 Location: T'exas, y'all

copidosoma · Joined: 17 Nov 2009 Posts: 3783 Location: Canada

I don't think it is actually possible to get shallow DOF at 10mm.

Noise wise (softness aside). I can see that it is there but is it really significant? Honestly, you would need to be looking pretty closely in the shadows of an 8 1/2 x 11 to see that noise. Personally, anyone who looks that closely at my prints gets a smack on the back of the head.

I'd almost chalk this up to the folks who regret buying a camera body because the alternative might be better. You end up mind-pucking yourself (oops, mistype, I meant to type "f" not "p") into thinking that the image is noisy.

How much of that noise is actually texture in the stone?

Selective noise reduction or using iso 100 rather than 200 might help but is it really worth the time?

Try shooting something else with the same settings. Then, print it out big (like 24x36") and see how noticeable the noise is. Seriously, you will have to have your nose right against the image to see it and how reasonable is that?

Still not convinced? Buy some iso 200 35mm film and take a shot at the same time as you do the digital one. Print them both out 24x36" and see how far we've come.

turbodls1ta · Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 440 Location: T'exas, y'all

I know its not really a big deal, and the noise reduction software does a pretty good job of removing it. Its just ever since I started taking these classes, I've been over-scrutinizing my own work. Every time I look at my photos, I think "is this ShutterStock worthy?"
This noise problem, coupled with hot pixels is making me think I need to send my camera in for some repairs, but I want to be sure its not some setting or method Im incorrectly using.
Here are some more examples with different settings..

turbodls1ta · Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 440 Location: T'exas, y'all

Last crop...

tverkhovynets · Joined: 12 Jun 2010 Posts: 749 Location: Kiev, Ukraine

Let me ask, are these image straight from the camera of did you do some processing? Did you do any lighting enhancements?

Taras

markrhiggins · Joined: 28 Jan 2008 Posts: 1996 Location: Australia

any adjustment in levels /contrast will cause noise, especially if original is underexposed. Prints are very forgiving. 100% on screen is a severe test. For your assignment go with the teacher's wants. For more pure photography set the bar higher and keep trying to lift it all the time.

chinchoi · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 7:29 pm

Shot your photo brighter, it will solve your noise problem 80% of the time. When doing this, take note of the blown clipping and you can always darken the image in post processing.

turbodls1ta · Joined: 17 Jun 2008 Posts: 440 Location: T'exas, y'all

Only the sunset-clouds image was post proccessed with some more saturation, and also noise reduction, but that was pulled out for the sake of this post. I've tried just about every exposure- when I go mire, I blow out highlights beyond recovery, when I go low, the noise does increase.
Just to refresh my memory, the 3 things that create noise are heat, high ISO, and long exposures, correct?

kenny123 · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2012 10:50 pm