 Tara R. Swartzendruber |
ISO and Shutter Speed Questions How high of an ISO can one safely choose without too much noise/grain in the photos? Or does this depend on the camera (I have a Nikon D80)? Also, how slow is too slow for shutter speed for a handheld exposure? Thank you in advance!
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W. |
"How slow is too slow for shutter speed for a handheld exposure" With a 50mm lens, for some (very few), that is 1/15th or 1/30th, for most, it's 1/60th or 1/125th. As a rule of thumb, the shutter speed ought to be 1 divided by the focal length of the lens. Or faster.
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- Carlton Ward Contact Carlton Ward Carlton Ward's Gallery |
I have had some success shooting with ISO 1600. But I have to be dialed in perfectly in terms of exposure, because if I need to lighten the image at all - it gets real noisy real fast. I use a monopod a lot for low light situations when a tripod is inappropriate (such as when I am taking pics of musicians on stage in a small club with terrible lighting), and even then, I tend to have a low rate of keepers. I can usually shoot at ISO 800 with few problems, but after that, it is hit and miss. I just took some pics the other day using a tripod and ISO 1600 and didn't lighten the images in PS but still had too much noise.
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Pat Harry |
I could definitely tolerate bluegrass noise. But not the heavy metal noise! :)
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Martin J. Preslar |
ISO: It does depend on the camera. With my old Canon Digital Rebel (300D) I shots taken at 800 were ok but genereally I needed to use noise reduction software even then. Anything beyond that and I would need noise reduction unless the lighting was actually very good and I just forgot to change the ISO. (Interestingly enough, in good lighting you can get noise free shots with fantastic shutter speeds for action photos if you aren't afraid of the ISO setting!) On my Canon 20D I don't worry until I get to 1600, and I am not afraid to go to 3200 in really bad light, I just assume that I will need noise reduction afterward. I took some hockey pictures over the weekend at 1600 in a fairly dark arena and I batch processed the small JPEG versions (I shoot RAW+JPEG) with PSE (using auto correct) and posted them without noise reduction. They look fine on the web without it. When orders are placed, I expect I will run the pictures through NeatImage before sending the order through, but I may not have to. Marty in Central Illinois - The Land of Corn and Flatness!
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Tara R. Swartzendruber |
Marty, Thanks for the reply. Is NeatImage what you use for noise reduction software? Is it fairly easy to use? I have not tried anything like this yet, so I try to be careful with ISO, however it IS difficult to take pictures in some places due to this. PS I'm from Nebraska... also the land of corn and flatness. :) But I love it.
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Martin J. Preslar |
Tara, Yes, NeatImage is the noise reduction software I use, and it is pretty easy to use. It has many more capabilities than I am using, such as the ability to download or shoot 'profiles' for your camera as a baseline for the noise reduction process. I have found it very helpful! Noise Ninja is another that I have heard is very good. It took me a few years of living here, but I have grown to love the awesome grandure of the Flatness! The huge sky above the flat prairie has a magnificence about it! Not to mention the sunsets! Marty in Central Illinois - The Land of Corn and Flatness!
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- Carolyn M. Fletcher  Contact Carolyn M. Fletcher Carolyn M. Fletcher's Gallery |
You can also try Noiseware Community Edition from www.imagenomic.com It's free and I like it about as well as NeatImage.
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W. |
The latest incarnation of Apple's iPhoto, and Photoshop Elements (from version 4 onwards) also feature noise reduction.
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Oliver Anderson |
I love Noise Ninja...which is why I'm dressing as a Ninja for Halloween.
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