D200 High ISO Reduction

[ross nolly]

Has anyone had much experience at using their D200 at high ISO's? I'm wanting

to attempt some natural light photography in a sheep shearing shed.

 

I've normally used slide film (50-100ASA) and of course have had to use flash

(with omnibounce). It's very dark in the sheds and even using primes must

shoot at slowish shutter speeds. E.g 40th sec @ 800ASA @f2.8!

 

Even using primes is not a solution because the cropping factor has turned my

35mm f2 & 50mm f1.4 into normal & tele lenses. I need to use wideangles (my

20mm f2.8)

 

Today I tried using the D200 at 800ASA and set NR at high, but lost heaps of

detail, even at 400ASA.

 

I've done a bit of research and am wondering if NR Normal might be better in

real world situations! For stopping action I need to use flash though.

 

I know I'll get quality degradation at high ISO's, but I'd get that pushing

film too. I've also seen that mixing flash and high ISO's seems to give

strange results too.

 

Oh and of course, I found out doesn't pay to forget to turn off the NR High

when you shoot at 100 ASA!

 

Sorry for the long winded post but any help will be appreciated! Thanks

[john.mathieson]

I find the grain at 1600 on the D200 to be noticeably less than on previous cameras I have used including the D100 - but still very obvious. Still, allows for some useful pictures of action in lowish light. I found the 800 also a lot less noisy than other cameras, and WAY less noisy than 1600 - more of a difference than you would expect.

 

Sheep shearing in the dark - I can just hear the snide remarks from the comedians. !

[michelle jones]

<p>With the D200 it's best to add a bit of light to the high ISO's as it's the dark pixels that show up the grain more. Practise a bit with low light before going into the sheep.

</p><p>

The best thing with the NR facility on the D200 is to keep it as low as possible, not off but low.</p>

<p>

Consider using naked flash and bouncing it off a corner of the shed, preferably where the wall and celing meet or where two walls meet. Using a stofen in this kind of situation dosen't help, it hurts more as you lose at least one stop of light and won't help soften the light any.<br>

Alternativley if the barn is huge then consider using a bounce card taped to the flash pointing straight up. Even if the ceiling is high then you will still get enough light, especially if you shoot wide open.</p>

<p>If you are using a dedicated Nikon flash such as the SB-600 or 800 then set it to TTL BL setting it to -1 to -2 compensation and the camera on manual exposing for -1 ambient.</p>

<p>

Try some shots without the flash on and off seeing which looks best. With sheep shearing contests there is always at least six sheep per shearer so you will have plenty of time.</p>

[conrad_hoffman]

Haven't done anything at high ISO with the D200, but I have to wonder if the barn has power, and if you could just put one or two clamp-on lights in stratigic places. That would do wonders compared to cranking up the ISO or using flash.

[ross nolly]

Thanks everyone for their answers. I'm going back out today & will try the NR on low or auto.

 

I have shot a lot in shearing sheds but this is the first time with digital. I'm looking at getting more atmospheric type shots than straight action E.g. smoko breaks etc.

 

The omnibounce works well for stopping action and gives a much softer natural light, especially if balanced with the daylight. When I shoot competitions I can usually get 125th sec because it's in a stadium/hall and pretty well lit.

 

Work situations are much darker (& they're large buildings) and it's hard to balance flash, background ambient light & shutter speeds etc.

 

I might try not using flash and see how it looks for other shots. I've seen hand (blade) shearing shot on a leica rangefinder and fast film & it looked good.

 

Oh for a 35mm f1.4 equivalent for digital! Especially one that I could afford!

 

Thanks for your help.

[jcuknz]

The shed must have power or how do the sheep get sheared :-) Though as to if it would be available to you ... or confusion ... is it out in the back blocks and all done with blades?

[mark pav]

I shoot with my D200 at high ISOs regularly. I have two recommendations (and forgive me if I'm stating the obvious):<br><br>

 

1. You're much, much better off upping the ISO compared with underexposing with a lower ISO.

<br>2. If the room is dark, don't try to make it light. Low-key is the key. A lot of the time people make shots in a dim room look like it was taken at noon and then complain about all the noise (not saying you do that).

[ross nolly]

Thanks again for the responses.

 

Seems that NR High doesn't help resolution etc. It's raining today so no shearing.

 

I've attached a pic from yesterday taken near a door and the light was lovely. It's a bit of an idea of what I'm looking for.

 

A lot of the problem comes down to not having a full frame sensor to make good use of the 35mm f2.

[rconey]

Are they sheering people's heads or sheep? (sorry couldn't resist)

[Uhooru]

Ross, one thing I've noticed when I've shot in low light at 1600 on the D200. And this will be obvious to all, but the better exposed an area is, the less noise it will have. Generally in natural low light you will have part of your subject lit and alot of areas going to black. The worse noise is when you try to lighten those very dark areas, but usually the black areas are that which make the photo lighting interesting. The real problem is then, in the lower exposed areas where you still want some information/detail. I recommend using normal reduction. Than post processing you can create a duplicate background layer, apply your noise reduction to the degree you want to clean up the dark grey areas that you want some detail in. This of course creates a loss of detail throughout the photo, however,but then you can go back in with the history brush and remove the noise reduction to the areas that do not need it, and modulate in the areas that do to get the balance of detail/noise that's acceptable to you. This often works in creating very usable photos at high ISO with acceptable noise and the right "look".

Cheers and mind the sheep...

[g-man1]

Try shooting RAW, noise reduction off (you still get some), and use photoshop RAW to reduce noise or Neat Image noise reduction software. This works better than in-camera noise reduction and shooting JPEG.

[ross nolly]

Thanks everyone. It certainly seems that correct exposure is the key. The 1600 shots that showed the least noise were the best exposed ones. It seems it's pretty similar to shooting slide film re. accurate exposure.

 

To give an idea how dark it is I was just able to scrape 160th @ f2.8 @ 1600 ASA. Still it makes a change to not have to use flash as I had to do with slow slide film.