Optimize D60 for Low Light?

<p>Seems I am not the only one having low light problems with my D60.<br>

Searched the forum and found a lot of good ideas some of which are:<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00avAH<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00R0Xp<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00L2nm<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00WPhG<br>

Things I have done to improve my low light shooting include only shooting RAW, a f1.8 50mm lens and switching to manual focus.<br>

Generally I am unable to use either a flash or tripod. A real compromise are the low f stop, high ISO settings and depend on the situation.<br>

There are times when could use some additional help without using the flash so reread the D60 reviews for additional ideas and<br>

am thinking about trying "optimize image presets" like<br>

using softer and contrast -2 http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond60/18<br>

Still an unanswered question is Active D-Lighting http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond60/19<br>

Have read a number of negative posts concerning Active D-Lighting such as<br>

http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00ZTih<br>

http://www.flickr.com/groups/nikondigital/discuss/72157623298578772<br>

Does anyone have any positive comments for Active D-Lighting in low light situations?<br>

If you have any Nikon DSLR and would like to share any other tips, am always interested.<br>

Thanks<br>

Ken</p>

<p> </p>

<p> </p>

<p>What are the problems you are having in low light? Are you unable to achieve focus? Or unable to achieve focus quickly? Are your photos too noisy? Are your shutter speeds too long and therefore your photos are blurry from camera shake? </p>

 

<p>A D60 is very old sensor technology. Newer sensors are appreciably better in low light, so the first way to optimize the D60 is to buy something that's not a D60... (The D7000 or D5100 are much better, for example.) The next would be to get a faster lens than the f/1.8 (f/1.4 or f/1.2), though that'll only buy you up to a stop and has its own problems. If you specifically want to improve a D60, having the colour filters removed ought to improve colour response somewhat.<br />

<br />

Assuming you're restricted to technique, shooting in RAW and manually tuning the noise reduction in your image editor may do you more good than trying in the camera. Active D-Lighting can be mildly detrimental for RAW sooting, since it messes with the exposure slightly in order to allow for more dynamic range (this may or may not be what you want). If you're getting a lot of noise, expose to allow as much light as you can onto the sensor without clipping highlights (expose-to-the-right) and adjust the exposure in the RAW converter - but if you're in low light, that may not be an option.<br />

<br />

What kind of thing are you shooting? Is a monopod an option? Reflectors for more light? One possibility is shooting sequences of frames, in the hope that one contains less motion blur than the others (easier if the camera is on continuous release than if you're pumping the shutter).<br />

<br />

Best of luck. I prescribe a lottery ticket and a D3s. :-)</p>

<p>It would help if you would clearly state what the actual problem is.</p>

<p>A second thing is: sure there are plenty threads on what a D60 cannot do - it's a nice camera, but it's always been an entry-level camera, and as such it has some limits. One has to be a bit realistic about that. In low light, the AF will simply not work well, its 3-pt AF isn't top notch. On top of that, Andrew is right that the sensor will show its age in comparison to newer designs. I've had a D80 with the same sensor, and when exposed well, ISO1250 still gave pretty good quality - but that's pretty much where it ends. Long story short: the D60 is a D60, it won't compete with a D7100.</p>

<p>Active D-Lighting is a nice trick, if you shoot JPEG. If you shoot RAW, its usefulness is already a whole lot less. It's basically underexposing by a bit, and using the additional headroom to push the image overall a bit to gain dynamic range. It works well in good light. It's not very good in low light, since underexposure is a great way to add noise. So, it certainly won't solve problems in low light.</p>

<p>If you want more specific information, do upload a photo to show what problem you experience. What I've seen quite a bit is photos not only in low light, but in diffuse, washed out, shadow-less light. This kind of flat dull low light is never going to make pleasant photos, and it usually ends up looking noisy, grey and murky. This is not a camera issue, it's just bad light. In good low light, you can make great photos with a D60, as long as you know what its limits are.</p>

<p>Rob,<br>

"What are the problems you are having in low light? Are you unable to achieve focus? Or unable to achieve focus quickly? Are your photos too noisy? Are your shutter speeds too long and therefore your photos are blurry from camera shake?"<br>

As Andrew mentions "D60 is very old sensor technology." but I do not want to buy a new DSLR at this time.<br>

My question concerns Camera Presets, have purchased all the hardware I want for low light so had hoped that others had tested the camera image presets under low light conditions. May have to myself.<br>

Andrew "shooting in RAW and manually tuning the noise reduction in your image editor may do you more good than trying in the camera." Agree, that has been my experience.<br>

Ken</p>

<p> </p>

<p>What do Camera Presets have to do with low light conditions? </p>

<p>I've been taking excellent photos with the D70 and D80 at iso 1600 and even above. You do have to expose properly and not underexpose. I shoot raw with normal settings. Do not sharpen until you have your final size of output. All cameras will have noise in underexposed areas. As someone has mentioned above, it would be good to see an example of what you are talking about. If I do get more noise than anticipated, I simply use Neat Image to reduce the noise, but I don't over do that either so it doesn't end up looking plastic and fake.</p>

<p>Here's a typical shot done in room light at night with the D80 at 1600 iso with the 50mm f 1.8 lens. I did not use any noise reduction software in this shot. </p><div></div>

<p>Here's one with the D70 at 1600 iso, natural light. No noise reduction used here either. </p><div></div>

<p>Here's the D80 at 3200 iso with a bit of Neat Image to reduce noise.</p><div></div>

<p>D80, 1600 iso, manual focus 50mm f1.4, no noise reduction use.</p><div></div>

<p>Kenith, camera presets have little to do with improving low light performance. As Steve shows, these "old sensors" can actually work quite well in low light, if the light is good enough.</p>

<p>Why don't you just upload a photo to show in which ways you struggle in low light? That will give a far more practical discussion, where you might actually get useful advice. You now seem to seek some wide-sweeping general statement on "never use Vivid picture style with low light photos", but that's frankly nonsens. Post-processing the look of a photo is something done in respect to a particular photo - not just the light level, but also the subject, style, atmosphere.</p>

<p>What works for me: Camera has normal settings with raw format. In ACR noise reduction option, set luminance slider to zero, in order to retain sharpness. Set color noise slider to 100%, which will get rid of colored noise. I set sharpness sliders all at zero. I sharpen later with smartsharpen after the final image size is determined. Underexposing will create much more noise to deal with, so expose for a full range of values. If you have to increase brightness or exposure in ACR, you will increase noise. When noise is unavoidable, like I said, I use Neat Image and tweak the luminance noise to be less noticeable. I would rather have a "film grain" look with low color noise rather than an artificially smooth, plastic look.</p>

<p>Rob,<br>

"What do Camera Presets have to do with low light conditions?" If you check http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond60/18 'Optimize Image' presets the slope is very different depending on the settings used.<br>

Tried to copy/paste the graph .<img src="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond60/18" alt="" /></p>

<p>Wouter,<br>

"camera presets have little to do with improving low light performance." My last hope for this camera is to somehow optimize the initial software for low light.<br>

Steve,<br>

"What works for me: Camera has normal settings with raw format. In ACR noise reduction option, set luminance slider to zero, in order to retain sharpness. Set color noise slider to 100%, which will get rid of colored noise. I set sharpness sliders all at zero. I sharpen later with smartsharpen after the final image size is determined. Underexposing will create much more noise to deal with, so expose for a full range of values. If you have to increase brightness or exposure in ACR, you will increase noise. When noise is unavoidable, like I said, I use Neat Image and tweak the luminance noise to be less noticeable. I would rather have a "film grain" look with low color noise rather than an artificially smooth, plastic look."<br>

Thanks for the tips!<br>

Ken</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Steve,<br>

Very Impressed with All your photos!!! <br>

<br />Am wondering about low light high dymamic range photos because the table at http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond60/18 shows dynamic range of 9 at 100 ISO and just 6 at 3200 ISO.<br>

Am guessing that the settings you mentioned minimize this problem.<br>

Will have to make some low light tests.</p>

<h3>ISO Sensitivity and Dynamic Range</h3>

<p>No complaints here; we were impressed with the D40X's performance and the D60 actually does a little better (probably thanks to the change in noise handling), delivering a good nine stops of dynamic range virtually all the way from ISO 100 to ISO 400. From ISO 800 you lose about a stop of shadow range for every stop you move up the ISO range.</p>

<table width="480" align="center">

<tbody>

<tr><th scope="col"><b>Sensitivity</b></th><th scope="col" width="110"><b>Shadow range </b></th><th scope="col" width="110"><b>Highlight range </b></th><th scope="col" width="110"><b>Usable range </b></th></tr>

<tr><th scope="row"><b>ISO 100</b></th>

<td align="center">-5.7 EV</td>

<td align="center">3.3 EV</td>

<td align="center">9.0 EV</td>

</tr>

<tr><th scope="row">ISO 200</th>

<td align="center" width="110">-5.7 EV</td>

<td align="center" width="110">3.2 EV</td>

<td align="center" width="110">8.9 EV</td>

</tr>

<tr><th scope="row"><b>ISO 400</b></th>

<td align="center">-5.7 EV</td>

<td align="center">3.2 EV</td>

<td align="center">8.9 EV</td>

</tr>

<tr><th scope="row">ISO 800</th>

<td align="center">-4.7 EV</td>

<td align="center">3.3 EV</td>

<td align="center">8.0 EV</td>

</tr>

<tr><th scope="row"><b>ISO 1600</b></th>

<td align="center">-4.0 EV</td>

<td align="center">3.2 EV</td>

<td align="center">7.2 EV</td>

</tr>

<tr><th scope="row">ISO 3200</th>

<td align="center">-3.0 EV</td>

<td align="center">3.1 EV</td>

<td align="center">6.1 EV</td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

<p>Kenith,</p>

<p>The camera presents from the D60 have zero impact on the RAW file. It is just metadata. It does not change anything about the RAW files. It does not change their dynamic range, nor does it change their noise levels.</p>

<p>Shoot RAW. Expose properly. Develop to taste.</p>