High noise with high ISO day light photography

[arun_seetharam]

<p>I was shooting D80 with 80-400 in broad day light. This is a slow lens for action photography. So, I was shooting in the range of ISO 400-600 so I get good speed. I got like 1/1000 to 1/1600. Which was perfect for flying birds. I got a lot of shots too. Well frozen but the noise was terrible. You could just see it all over bright and dark areas.....more so in the grayer areas. At both speeds.<br>

Have you experienced this? This should not happen, isnt it? Atleast the noise should not be visible upto 800. Any idea why?</p>

[umesh_bhayaraju]

<p>Normally from ~ ISO 600 atleast I found a noticable noise. Because you are saying it is broad day light, may be it is due to the sun light reflecting from surfaces.why dont you post the picture too.....as "noise was terrible..." is a qualitative term. Isn't it? :).....there was a discussion day on noise. It looks like under bright sun light the noise like stuff is high....check this link <a href="../beginner-photography-questions-forum/00SJkQ">http://www.photo.net/beginner-photography-questions-forum/00SJkQ</a></p>

[robertbody]

<p>Someone should come up with a longer description, but basically it's what's to be expected.<br>

The film/digital sensor is more sensitive to light at higher ISO, and is not meant for bright daylight, or you get grain. The results would be worse with D80 than with D300 or D3, but even with my D300 i would never shoot sky only with ISO-400 +, already i see grain with ISO-200 when the exposure is not right-on and i need to lighten/darken -- the other reason for seeing grain.<br>

If you get NoiseNinja ($40-$80 program) you can reduce grain [it's a Photoshop plugin or standalone too], at the expense of loosing some sharpness at times.</p>

[ramon_v__california_]

<p>the d80 is not a very good/reliable camera at iso higher than 400. but in broad daylight, you should be able to get by with just iso 400, even with 1/1000. i hope the known erratic focusing behaviour of the d80 outdoors didn't play a role in your shoot.</p>

[eric_arnold]

<p>ramon, i think you're being a little hard on the d80. it's pretty good up to and including ISO 800, and 1600 is acceptable under certain conditions. the issue with this camera isnt the focusing but the metering--it overexposes by 1/3rd to a full stop when using matrix.</p>

<p>arun, it's difficult to offer advice without you posting a shot.</p>

[ramon_v__california_]

<p>point taken, eric. thanks.</p>

[photo5]

<p>I agree, up to ISO 800 it's pretty good, and gets very noisy at ISO 1600. However, the noise on the D80 is fairly monochromatic and it's ugly like the D70 is at 1600. I shot all the time at ISO 1600 with my D80 and got very good results.</p>

[luis_g]

<p> Arun's problem reminds us to test any camera we own, on the tripod, through its full ISO range, so you know what's acceptable and what to expect as the ISO inches up well before a critical situation arises. Get to know your camera inside out. With digital, there's simply no excuse not to do so.<br>

Arun may be able to apply a noise cleaning software like Noise Ninja (or any other) to lessen the effect.</p>

<p> </p>

[bmm]

<p>I join the others in my surprise at this post. I set myself a self-imposed limit of ISO800 on my D80 (reflected both in my own manual inputs and my preferences for auto-ISO settings) and find that noise is kept to what I consider very acceptable levels within that range.</p>

[paradoxbox]

<p>you are probably under exposing your images a little bit. expose them by a third or half stop more and see if you get better results. you may be surprised to see the noise magically disappear.</p>

[rene gm]

<p>Like so many times in this forum, a post without a sample image to judge the judgment and techniques of the poster.</p>