Beginner ISO & Noise Correction

gothgirl

gothgirl

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What is the best way to avoid / correct noise in a low light situation? (I'm talking shooting outside on low / overcast days, without using any additional lighting other than natural lighting)

Usually I shoot with the lowest ISO I can get away with, I shoot in RAW, so in Lightroom I will adjust the exposure and correct any noise until I get the result I am happy with.

However Would it work out better to shoot at a higher ISO? (1000+ etc) Rather than using a low ISO (400-640) so that I get the exposure I want, but then correct the noise from the high ISO ?

I usually try not to shoot above 640 ISO

It doesn't help I have a black dog, so I lose details very easily in the face.
 
I may be stating the obvious here but it Depends on your subject.

As a rule I'd aim for the lowest ISO which for low light landscapes just requires a tripod.

You mention a dog ?

If you're shooting 'action' then you will just have to use whichever ISO you need to maintain the required shutter speed.

You say you're reluctant to go above 640.

I'd stick to 'whole' ISO settings - 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600 etc

Under exposing will by you some speed but that's not best for noise.
 
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all depends on your camera tbh as you should with most dslrs be able to shoot at 1600 ISO ( and above ) with very little or no noise . you can of course shoot a low iso outside and use fill flash to help light your subject , but even on overcast days ISO 400-800 should easily be achievable.
 
There's a few fundamental issues here, but I'll start with:
Shooting at a higher ISO and getting a clean exposure is less noisy than shooting at a lower ISO and 'correcting' in post.

Shoot with as high an ISO as you need, sharp noisy shots are better than clean blurred ones.

If you're shooting moving things indoors, there's a point to consider flash and taking control of the situation.
 
Also the size of your final image can help to mitigate noise - an image at 1024 x 800 pixels (say) from the full size original will show much less noise than cropping the image then reducing it to 1024 x 800.

Also the degree of sharpening you do will also sharpen the noise too.
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It sounds like you're under-exposing (to keep the ISO down) and then bringing the brightness back up in post. This is guaranteed to increase noise, as Phil said.

When you raise the ISO in-camera, exposure is adjusted at sensor level, before the analogue-to-digital converter. This is much better for noise than brightening in post. Basically, push the ISO as high as you need to get a good looking histogram. You may still get noise, but at least that will minimise it.

If noise is still a problem, then add light. If that's not possible, get faster lenses or throw some money at a newer full-frame camera.
 
Phil V said:
There's a few fundamental issues here, but I'll start with:
Shooting at a higher ISO and getting a clean exposure is less noisy than shooting at a lower ISO and 'correcting' in post.

Shoot with as high an ISO as you need, sharp noisy shots are better than clean blurred ones.

If you're shooting moving things indoors, there's a point to consider flash and taking control of the situation.
Click to expand...

This has pretty much answered my question, that is what I was wondering.

Thank You very much, it was a very helpful post :ty::plus1:

HoppyUK said:
It sounds like you're under-exposing (to keep the ISO down) and then bringing the brightness back up in post. This is guaranteed to increase noise, as Phil said.

When you raise the ISO in-camera, exposure is adjusted at sensor level, before the analogue-to-digital converter. This is much better for noise than brightening in post. Basically, push the ISO as high as you need to get a good looking histogram. You may still get noise, but at least that will minimise it.

If noise is still a problem, then add light. If that's not possible, get faster lenses or throw some money at a newer full-frame camera.
Click to expand...

At minute my fastest lens in a nifty fifty, which seems to work well.

Thanks for all the replies, and helpful posts, I will consider this question answered!
:ty:
 
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