Kinda frustrated... guess it's normal when one is starting..

[rzozaya1969]

Yesterday my sister had the baptism of her daughter.

I decided to take my Canon P&S camera and just happily shot and shot a lot of pics. That's a cool side of digital, you can just take as many pics as you want and just select the good ones! A plus of the P&S was that I was able to just drop it in my shirt pocket and take fast pics rather than carring my Alpha. Although I was kinda of envy at a friends Nikon SLR, which had easier focusing and faster speeds.

I tried a lot of stuff, and trying to get better composition. But at the middle of the pictures, I decided I didn't want to use the flash, so I just put the ISO on the high settings (I guess it would have been ISO800). Sooo, dumb me, I forgot about the noise. So, about a quarter of my shots were very noisy :cryin: It was a bummer when I opened the pics on my computer, and saw that a lot of pics just didn't work!

Anyway, I guess I learned my lesson, don't go to the most extreme ISO settings! Today with more time and patience, I reviewed them again and took some time to experiment with software. Fortunately, Paint Shop Pro XI has a nice digital camera noise removal algorithm that helps quite a bit! It was able to rescue some shots.

[JSPhoto]

Neat Image and Noise Ninja are excellent for the noise reduction. I use NeatImage myself. But since going to the 1D MKII N I rarely need it.

JS

[yogestee]

Yeah,,,Canon do a great job controlling noise on higher ISO settings on their DSLRs...Both my 20D and 350D produce good images at higher ISO..In an emergency I wouldn't hesitate shooting at 1600ISO on either camera...
While we are on are subject of noise reduction programmes Imagenomic have a terrific noise reduction programme..Its freeware....

www.imagenomic.com

Jurgen
Australia

[another view]

Try converting to b&w - this isn't the answer if you're shooting professionally, but for your own shots this gives something along the lines of high speed b&w film with it's grain. It does take some Photoshop work to get the look, but it might be a good option to rescue a shot that otherwise won't work.

[livin4lax09]

and keep in mind, p&s cameras will have infinitely worse grain than DSLRs due to the extremely small size of the sensor.

[freygr]

I have an older D-70, and in low light and at max ISO and slow shutter speeds it has lots of nose. That in it self is why I now own a F1.4 50mm lens. ;)

[rzozaya1969]

I have an older D-70, and in low light and at max ISO and slow shutter speeds it has lots of nose. That in it self is why I now own a F1.4 50mm lens. ;)

So different lenses might help on noise in low light or high ISO?

[pisco]

you gan get the Minolta 50mm f/1.7 and you would be ok with ISO 400 indoors maybe 200with the SS of the Alpha. Any low f/ number would be better for low light.

[another view]

I don't know that camera, but longer shutter speeds and high ISO speeds will increase noise. Put them together and it adds up. You'll be farther ahead with just about any DSLR over just about any p&s.

However, one of the biggest causes of noise is underexposure. If you underexpose and try to lighten with curves or levels in Photoshop, the noise will go thru the roof. In a lot of low light situations, the light levels are not even (high contrast) so even though your subject has proper exposure, the background might be dark - and because of it, noisy.