lets talk about noisy macro shots.....

[flyyyguy]

Im having issues with my new D80...and I cant figure it out.

My first problem is Im still a noob.........and just barely undestanding how it all fits together, looking for some direction.

I can take better pics at the moment with my old d-100 I picked up used a year or so ago. Im having issues with noise with the d-80, and nothing I do seems to make it go away. A shot every now and then wont have it but I dont know what I did on these shots, and looking at the exif information is proving fruitless.

I dont ever get noise with the d100, like some of the shots I am regularly taking now with the d80

Shooting with a Tamron 90mm macro(same lens im using n both cameras).

What should I be thinking about to get rid of this noise??

here is an example of what Im talking about.

all of these pics were taken within minutes of each other......same settings..........none are great pics, but good examples of the noise I am talking about from shot to shot.....why do you think the second pic is so much noisier/grainier than the first??

and then the third is another pic that is downright awful....same settings within minutes/seconds maybe of the other two??

anything anyone can offer for me to think abouot??

 

[NeveSSL]

Exactly what were your settings?

Brandon

 

[maroun.c]

Could it be possible that you have the Noise reduction ON on the 100 and OFF on the D80? Its either that or the D100 is a much better performer at higher ISO or longer exposures...Not really knowledgeable on this but there was a lot of debate in the past over higher Pixels models suffering more from noise due to craming the pixels in a the same small space...Also I believe the 100 is a higher class camera than the 80 even if only 4Megapixels.

 

[Blazer88]

How are you processing the pics? If you underexpose a shot and then your software automatically "brightens" it up, that will add a lot of noise. Maybe the first two shots had better exposure and then third was processed to brighten it up.

 

[flyyyguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12313101#post12313101 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Blazer88
How are you processing the pics? If you underexpose a shot and then your software automatically "brightens" it up, that will add a lot of noise. Maybe the first two shots had better exposure and then third was processed to brighten it up.

you might be on to something there.......

I just started using Lightroom to process. And one thing I find with my d80 vs the d100 is the pics come out much darker on my computer overall than they seem to when im actually taking the shot, so i do end up having to up the exposure on most every pic in post processing.

Thanks for the thought there..............here in a while I will go snap some shots and make sure to not underexpose them as I have been regualry doing and see what happens.....

 

[maroun.c]

That's also a possibility Blazer but he did mention that shots were taken with the same settings and lens and minutes after each other so I'm assuming the same lighting.

 

[flyyyguy]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12313035#post12313035 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by maroun.c
Could it be possible that you have the Noise reduction ON on the 100 and OFF on the D80? Its either that or the D100 is a much better performer at higher ISO or longer exposures...Not really knowledgeable on this but there was a lot of debate in the past over higher Pixels models suffering more from noise due to craming the pixels in a the same small space...Also I believe the 100 is a higher class camera than the 80 even if only 4Megapixels.

I didnt catch this post earlier.....


bingo on the noise reduction.......lol It was off on the d80....and on on the d100.

anybody else have any input on the d100 (6mp) being better than the d80 in some resepcts?? From my understanding I was upgrading all the way around going to the d80.


Thanks for the input all, and thanks for bearing with me and my silly questions.

Im going to go take some pics.

 

[maroun.c]

This Page on Dpreview gives you a direct comparison of the D80 100 and 200 on the same page.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/com...eras=nikon_d80,nikon_d100,nikon_d200&show=all
Not really too much difference however it seems the built in flash of the 100 is more powerfull than the 80 and 200.
it does seem to aquire at the same rate of the D80 3 fps but for 23 shots on the 100 compared to 6 on the 80. Part of this is due to the smaller file size however it does not justify such a big difference so I'm assuming it does have a faster processor or bigger buffer. it is a 6 Mp camera sorry thought it was only four. it does offer ISO up to 1600 with 3200 as boost which I presume is due to a good noise at high iso performance as when the 100 was released most cameras suffered from noise so not all camera manufacturer pushed their cameras to such high values unless the camera was really good. Anyway even the D2x the top of hte pro Nikon models until recently is a very bad performer (ISO wise)
All this leads me to think that it's a higher class camera. Also I remember reading somewhere that the metering or maybe the focu on the 100 is much better than the 40-50-70 and 80. Finally on the discussion Forums of Dpreview they place the 100 with the 200 and 300 in a separate forum than the 40-50-60-70-and 80 so I believe you did not upgrade at all. except maybe for the higher pixel count which is not really the criteria. How do you compare the viefinder on the 100 to the 80 is the 100 as wide and bright as the 80? how is the build of the two bodies as I believe the 100 should be much better built.

 

[flyyyguy]

They feel very much the same in my hands to be honest with the d80 being a touch lighter. I like the viewfinder on the d80 better. These are the only two dslr's I have ever used so me giving any input/comnparison isnt exactly founded on much.

I bought the d80 for the sole reason that I wanted more pixels, and was under the impression that I could get more resolution on macros with the extra 4 mp.

was that incorrect thinking??

 

[maroun.c]

Don't think the additional 4 Mp would be much an advantage unless you do larger prints as usually you would need much more than 40% more pixels to have a visible effect especially if the sensor size is the same as the pixels are cramed in the smaller size sensor.
In the old film days they had to increase the film size (medium format or larger than 35mm film) for larger and higher resolution prints.
Still you would benefit from the larger and brighter viewfinder.
In my case (i have a D70s which is not as good as your D100) I didn't find the upgrade to a D80 worth it. I would have at least upgraded toa 200 for the additional weather sealing and better built. The D300 is more worth the upgrade as it offers additional advances such as low noise high Iso performance....

 

[Blazer88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12313147#post12313147 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flyyyguy
you might be on to something there.......

I just started using Lightroom to process. And one thing I find with my d80 vs the d100 is the pics come out much darker on my computer overall than they seem to when im actually taking the shot, so i do end up having to up the exposure on most every pic in post processing.

Thanks for the thought there..............here in a while I will go snap some shots and make sure to not underexpose them as I have been regualry doing and see what happens.....

The first two shots are at 1/30 sec, ISO320, and F/16. The third shot is at F/22 which would come out considerably darker assuming the same lighting conditions. I'm thinking that third shot was under exposed and then auto corrected in LR, which will bring out and exaggerate any noise that is present. The easiest way to check the exposure is to check your histogram when you shoot. Try to keep the information "to the right" without blowing out any highlights. It's always better to darken a picture rather than lighten it up when processing.

 

[flyyyguy]

Thanks blazer. So in essence......the better your shot is originally......and the less you have to tweak the basics, the better its going to come out. And I need to err on the side of overexpose vs underexpose. With the tiny DOF this tamron macro has I am always trying to use the highest f-stop possible.......which makes for lots of underexposed pics.

any suggestions for trying to get the most DOF without underexposing stuff??


Anyway........a little better here I think today.......

 

[Hop]

Look like good shots to me fly!

Once you get it figured out let me know:lol:

 

[NeveSSL]

Those look great, bro!

:thumbsup:

Brandon

 

[Blazer88]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12314660#post12314660 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flyyyguy
Thanks blazer. So in essence......the better your shot is originally......and the less you have to tweak the basics, the better its going to come out. And I need to err on the side of overexpose vs underexpose. With the tiny DOF this tamron macro has I am always trying to use the highest f-stop possible.......which makes for lots of underexposed pics.

any suggestions for trying to get the most DOF without underexposing stuff??

Doing less in PP is always better. I also wouldn't use the highest f-stop either since you really loose sharpness due to diffraction, I stick between F/8-16 for coral macro shots. You may not get the largest DOF but it will give you the sharpest picture (which is generally more important). Also, using the highest f-stop won't cause underexposed pics if you compensate with a longer shutter speed. This is why I generally shoot in aperture priority (for coral shots). I set the f-stop, let the camera meter the shot and determine the shutter speed, and then shoot. If the shot is too dark, I set the exposure compensation a 1/3 or 2/3 of a stop to the right or opposite if it is too bright. Just keep practicing.

 

[flyyyguy]

Thanks for the insight Blazer. It is much appreciated coming from a photographer like yourself.

 

[submytion]

Powder Blue looks awesome.

 

[maroun.c]

Very nice shots. Much better than the first ones.
Were these taken with the D80 or 100?

 

[flyyyguy]

thank you

D80

one more...........this is a piece of my new avatar.......but I like this one a lot......

 

[flyyyguy]

Just6 wanted to say thanks again blazer....you gave me some things to think about and cleared up a couple misperceptions I had about F-stop and ISO.

check this out.......this fish is VERY difficult to get a pic of. Besides never stopping, he is so dark that he comes out black and its hard to get his true beauty. This might not be the clearest pic......but with a new thought process goiing on on ISO and f-stop and PP....I managed to get this, which is the best pic to date I have gotten of this fish with any camera.