d200 at 400 iso

I have a d200 camera and find using 200 iso is fine but if I try 400 iso the image gets the grainy look. Especially in blue water backgrounds.

Is there a technique, either in camera or post processing, where I can reduce this noise.

I think I read somewhere about manipulating only the blue channel??

I should learn more before jumping to an upgrade. Maybe I can avoid the expense.

Thanks

Mary

I have a d200 camera and find using 200 iso is fine but if I try 400 iso the image gets the grainy look. Especially in blue water backgrounds.

Is there a technique, either in camera or post processing, where I can reduce this noise.

I think I read somewhere about manipulating only the blue channel??

I should learn more before jumping to an upgrade. Maybe I can avoid the expense.

 

Thanks

Mary

With respect to shooting, the concept of ETTR (Expose to the right) is the best noise mitigation technique of which I am aware. Basically, one attempts to expose the frame in such a way that the image histogram is pushed as far to the right as possible without blowing out detail in the highlights. Even if this pixel distribution isn't the ideal final distribution of the processed image, starting with a RAW file exposed in such a manner will create the minimum noise - all else equal. There is a ton of information on this technique on the web ... search the forums at DPREVIEW and Luminous Landscape ... you find tons of discussion.

In post, there are specialized PS plugins to reduce noise ... like Noiseware ... that can be helpful. Clever layering and masking can also help focus the efforts on parts of the image where it is needed and the detail-destroying effects of NR are mitigated in the parts where it is less important or even harmful.

HTH ... for what it is worth, I am pretty familiar with the D200 ... and with respect to Noise, it is left in the dust by the newer models like the D90 and the D700. I regularly shoot my D700 at 1600 and get shockingly clean images. Even at 6400, if I crush the blacks, I get amazingly clean prints ... and that's with very basic NR applied.

Thanks Jeremy,

All good advice, except the last paragraph!! Because I think that's going to cost me money

Mary

A little noise reduction works at ISO400. I'm not very noise tolerant. ISO400 is as far as I go on the D200 if I can help it. While some rave about how great Noise Ninja or Neat Image is, I try to limit its use, too. Even for us users with a D200 who are noise sensitive and think noise reduction programs aren't a panacea for noisy images, ISO400 and a little Noise Ninja still works.

I have a d200 camera and find using 200 iso is fine but if I try 400 iso the image gets the grainy look. Especially in blue water backgrounds.

Is there a technique, either in camera or post processing, where I can reduce this noise.

I think I read somewhere about manipulating only the blue channel??

I should learn more before jumping to an upgrade. Maybe I can avoid the expense.

 

Thanks

Mary

Depending on the particular type of noise you are seeing, you could try this with Photoshop CS2 or newer. When you open a RAW image the 'Camera RAW' dialog window has several small tool cons just beneath the histogram at the upper right. If you click on the one with the little pyramid shapes, it will reveal some sharpening and noise reduction sliders. I find that by dragging the slider labeled, "Color" to a value near 30, that this greatly reduces the bright colored artifacts that ruin the purity of an image's shadow areas. Dragging the "Luminance" slider to a value near twenty should help even more. Once I discovered this method I never used NoiseNinja again, as it doesn't seem to degrade the sharpness of the image the way NoiseNinja can. I hope this helps you.