Noise

[mmeyer]

I have been noticing some noise issues with my D50 lately. I don't know if it's something new or something I haven't noticed before. It shows up no matter what ISO I'm shooting at. All the way from 200 to 1600. It is worse as you go up like it should be but it doesn't seem like I should be getting much noise at ISO200. This is a shot from today. Please help if you can. Is there something wrong with my camera or just the way I'm shooting.

This shot was at ISO200 f9.5 and 1/350. I had flashes on both sides. I circled the areas that are bad. The top has a vertical line at the top that shows up on all shots. In the apple you can also see the vertical lines although less pronounced.

I should point out that it is only on dark backgrounds or in low lighting. I assumed that using a flash and shooting at ISO 200 I wouldn't get it but I might be wrong.

Thanks for any help you can offer.

Mike

[finnbay]

Mike,

I'm no techie on issues like this, but I've seen the same things at times when the dynamic range from light to dark is severe. My thinking (as far as it goes)is that the camera is struggling for a compromise. As to the top line, some cameras have what are called "banding" issues in certain light conditions, but it's usually worst at high ISO's. I might google that with your D50 and see if it's been an issue with that sensor.

[JohnK]

First thing I would try is another SD card if you have one. It hasn't happened to me (yet), but I've seen similar banding/line problems posted by other people where the problem was with the SD card.

Is the picture kind of grainy, or is that just the texture of the background? Underexposing tends to bring out the grain/noise, maybe try it again with the same F/9 and ISO 200 but drop the shutter speed to 1/200th or slower.

[mmeyer]

John, The background is smooth with no texture. I might be wrong but when using the flashes as I had set up, changing the shutter speed wouldn't change much would it since the flash is so much faster? I was intentionally going for an underexposed look so in this case I don't want to increase exposure at all. I was hoping by using the ISO 200 even though I was underexposing it, I would be ok.

I will try a different SD card. Hopefully that helps.

Thanks for the input. Please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm new to this stuff.

Ken,

I did a search after I read your response and found that the D200 had lots of banding problems but I haven't found anything with the D50 yet.

Mike

[mmeyer]

I just tried a different card. No difference. Bummer!

[mmeyer]

Ok, I did a bunch of test shots and found that I get the most noise in Raw. When I'm shooting jpeg even at 1600 ISO I hardly get any noise. Is this normal?

[MN Shutterbug]

That's interesting, if not a bit scary. Hopefully, Steve will have an answer for you when he checks in.

[buzzsaw]

 Quote:

When I'm shooting jpeg even at 1600 ISO I hardly get any noise. Is this normal?

If your shooting the D50 and getting hardly any noise... that would be a miracle with that camera. I had that camera for three months and wouldn't shoot over ISO 400 with it with any hopes of getting very good quality images.

[JohnK]

 Originally Posted By: mmeyer

Ok, I did a bunch of test shots and found that I get the most noise in Raw. When I'm shooting jpeg even at 1600 ISO I hardly get any noise. Is this normal?

Sounds normal, the camera is probably applying some noise reduction at ISO 1600 on the JPGs but not in RAW. You should be able to turn off high ISO noise reduction through the menus if you want, some people prefer to do it in post using Noise Ninja or other noise reduction software.

[mmeyer]

Buzz,

I meant relatively low noise reduction. I guess I should have been more clear. You are right, above 400 there is very noticeable noise but not nearly as much as in Raw images.

John,

So what you are saying is that even at 200 it would be normal to get that much noise?

[Steve Foss]

Mike, that much noise at iso200 is not normal unless that portion of the image is pretty badly underexposed and then brightened up later in pp. If it only happens in RAW and not in jpg, there may be some issue with the camera' firmware, which is just a fancy way for camera manufacturers to label software.

You should be able to find a Nikon site for a free download and directions to re-install the firmware.

It could also be a problem with the processor, but if that's the case I don't know what to tell you.

Try the firmware thing and if that doesn't work, I'd call Nikon service and see what they recommend. No doubt they've run into this before and can give you some guidance.

[mmeyer]

Steve, thanks. That image wasn't pp'd at all. But I did notice that when I take a jpeg at the same settings as Raw that raw image is very much overexposed when I open it compared to the same jpeg. I don't shoot much in jpeg so I'm not sure if that's normal either. I did check into a firmware upgrade a while back and there wasn't any so I guess I'll have to get in touch with Nikon.

Thanks again

Mike

[JohnK]

 Originally Posted By: mmeyer

John,

So what you are saying is that even at 200 it would be normal to get that much noise?

No, not at all Mike, just explaining why RAW could look noisier than JPEG, nothing more.

At ISO 200 the D50 should be very clean RAW or JPEG, the D50 has a great reputation for low noise images. I'd expect your camera to do at least as well as my D80, I don't see that kind of noise even at ISO 800 unless the shot is underexposed and I have to brighten it up. I posted some lure shots here with a black background that don't show any noise (completely different settings than you used): http://www.fishingminnesota.com/forum/ub...905#Post1218905

I took a look at your gallery (nice work), this shot in your gallery looks great, no noise in the black at all that I could see: http://www.pbase.com/mikemeyer/image/87896617

If all of your photos tend to come out noisy and grainy like the apple photo now, especially the ones you aren't deliberately underexposing, it might be time for the camera to take a trip to Nikon to be checked out.

Just as a test and out of curiosity could you try the apple shot with the camera in the green automatic mode? It would be interesting to see what settings the camera picks for that shot and the results. I would turn off Auto ISO and set it at 200 just to try and keep that variable the same as your original photo.

[mmeyer]

Ok, I got it figured out. It wasn't actually the camera. I had a setting wrong in Camera Raw. It was making adjustments when it was uploading the images from the card. That's why my raw images were coming out overexposed compared to the jpegs. I noticed it the other night too but it wasn't as noticeable. It only did it when my images were underexposed like these were. I turned it off and it works fine.

Thanks everyone that had input. All of the responses kept me thinking and playing with it and for some reason I thought about checking that. I was a little nervous there for a while. I thought my camera was doomed.

Thanks again.

Mike

[MN Shutterbug]

Glad to hear you figured it out. It would be nasty to be without a camera for a couple weeks, especially with spring right around the corner.