Camera Advice - High Noise

Firefly86

Firefly86

Firefly86

Associate
Joined
19 Jul 2006
Posts
258
Location
Gibraltar
Hi guys,

Just come back from a trip to Tromso to see the Northern lights,
I was lucky enough to see them why then they were quite active, and I got lots of nice pics too!
Only problem is there is quite a bit of noise when I zoom in.

I used a Nikon D80 with a Sigma 20mm f1.8 lens.

Question is, I've had this camera for a while now and Im wondering wether its worth investing in a new camera as I've read there are cameras that deal with higher ISO noise and produce much better quality image.s

I am by no means a photography expert, just an enthusiast :) So any advice appreciated :)
 
Yeah something like Noise ninja, neatimage (the one I use) or Noiseware would sort that out nicely. I suppose you could have tried lowering the ISO to 200 or 100 and increasing the exposure time appropriately. I think the noise is quite noticable on these are a lot of the image is quite dark, which obviously couldn't be avoided. If you want a low noise camera, then have a look at the D3:D
 
I have the same problem with the D70s. Anything other than ISO 200 (which annoyingly is the lowest it goes) is noisier than a MacDonalds giving out free happy meals. Its especially frustrating when you see what cheap compact cameras are capable of producing today.
 
Messiah Khan said:
..... I suppose you could have tried lowering the ISO to 200 or 100 and increasing the exposure time appropriately.....
Click to expand...

generally accepted practice for Aurorae photos is a fast lens with a shortish exposure time to get some of the sense of the movement. Otherwise the whole sky just take on the colour cast of the aurora. Having said that, for low noise, low ISO is the way to go, you just end up needing a faster lens.

I can't see your pictures from here, but generally I attack noise first on the RGB channel, and then Luminescence using Lightroom. I've yet to get a dedicated noise package, but get reasonable results with lightroom.
 
Tumbletop said:
Its especially frustrating when you see what cheap compact cameras are capable of producing today.
Click to expand...
Nikons are noisy (:p) but cheap compacts are off the scale above ISO400.

See below ;)

istockphoto_2164185_tv_noise.jpg
 
The problem you are going to have with that noise is removing it will also affect the stars, which to a NR program will look like more noise. Try noise ninja, as with the profiles it may help a little.

Do you have RAWs? If you do it may be worth going through the RAW converter in PS, the colour noise reduction option could work quite well. :)
 
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