Excessive noise creeping in.

Kell

Kell

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Kell
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Forgive me if this has been covered before.

Bought SH 5D3 last year and been very pleased with it - producing images that are far 'cleaner' than the ones I got with my 80D/

But have noticed on the last couple of times I've been out that the images are excessively noisy (in comparison to what I've been getting for the past year) even at low ISO - i.e. 100.

I've also noticed that the sensor needs a damn good clean.

Are these linked - i.e. can a dirty sensor start to give excessive noise?

If it's not that, could someone enlighten me (or even just post a link) to the reasons why this might be the case.

Thanks in advance.
 
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I don't think a contaminated sensor is the cause of the noise.

Where the noisy pictures taken under artificial lighting? Sometimes when it looks quite bright and ok to us humans the light can in fact be horrible and lead to noise. Another issue with the Canons I had was upping the exposure post capture, that lead to noise. So, I suppose the worst things could be pushing the exposure post capture on shots under artificial lighting?

Other than poor artificial light and pushing the exposure, I'm a bit stuck :D
 
I've just thought of something else.

How are you viewing the pictures?

I've been processing in CS5 and viewing with Faststone for quite a while but a while back my pictures started to look very noisy in Faststone. I couldn't see anything in the settings but deleting it and downloading it again cured the noise. Any clues there?
 
woof woof said:
Where the noisy pictures taken under artificial lighting? Sometimes when it looks quite bright and ok to us humans the light can in fact be horrible and lead to noise. Another issue with the Canons I had was upping the exposure post capture, that lead to noise. So, I suppose the worst things could be pushing the exposure post capture on shots under artificial lighting?
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As it happens, the latest batch of shots I took over NY, the ones under artificial light (indoor spotlights and flash) were the sharpest/least affected ones there. Although it was a different (arguably 'better') lens.

I went out on three separate mornings with my wife and friends as they went for a sea swim.

The first morning was 7:30, it was dark when we left the house and not much brighter at the beach. Misty etc. The 'action' shots where I tried to keep shutter speed high enough and had to let the camera pus its ISO to 12800 are understandably noisy and only 'just' usable. But I'd fully expect that.

But I also had my tripod and tried to get something atmospheric of the beach, but they just seem too grainy to use. ISO of 100, f/8 and +/- one second exposures. I wouldn't have thought this would introduce too much noise into the equation through bad setting choices, but maybe (definitely) I still have a lot to learn.

The next morning was pretty bright and sunny as it was later and the weather was better - but I'm still seeing a bit of noise in the shadows. Which I wouldn't expect.



woof woof said:
I've just thought of something else.

How are you viewing the pictures?

I've been processing in CS5 and viewing with Faststone for quite a while but a while back my pictures started to look very noisy in Faststone. I couldn't see anything in the settings but deleting it and downloading it again cured the noise. Any clues there?
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Shooting RAW, processing in LR Classic.

Just seeing more colour noise than I'd expect (or have seen in the past) in the blacks.

Do lenses affect this?

The lens in question is a Canon L 35-350mm. But I used this in the summer without issue.

Is it just longer exposures on dimly lit scenes?
 
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I think (just doing some further reading) I'd have been better off raising the ISO in camera.

Though it seems counter-intuitive (to me at least). Especially as I used longer shutter speeds to ensure the shots were correctly exposed - I'm not trying to up the exposure in post.
 
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I can't see how a lens can affect noise. Noise should be just down to the amount and make up of the light.

Maybe you need a 5DIII user to come along and comment.
 
Kell said:
I think (just doing some further reading) I'd have been better off raising the ISO in camera.

Though it seems counter-intuitive (to me at least). Especially as I used longer shutter speeds to ensure the shots were correctly exposed - I'm not trying to up the exposure in post.
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Does your camera have long-exposure noise reduction?
 
You might try a camera reset just in case something is accidentally changed.
Don't underestimate how low light levels are a month either side of Christmas it really make a big negative impact even if sun is out it can be harsh and unflattering yet weak - how ever odd that sounds.
 
How do you expose? Have you checked the histogram on the noisy images?

I have a 5Div and that can sometimes produce noisy images, even at ISOs of 800 or below. I have a bad habit of protecting the whites a bit too much at times and if the background is dark (with birds), it will be underexposed and lifting it in post will show the noise. I'm not sure if it's noise as such, it's more a grainy type phenomenon.

I recently photographed red kites against a bright sky, I exposed for the sky aiming to bring the shadows out in post. The shadows, ie the birds were very grainy, even from a 5Div. It's not a good way to work.

Have a look at your histogram, if it's over to the left, this could be why you're seeing grain/noise.
 
I have read on another forum where there there is an issue of the electronics (pcb))causing an increase in the noise as the camera ages. You know your camera and if you feel it’s not linked to how you edit your photos it’s probably best to get an authorised repair place to examine it.
 
can you post a couple of examples? I had a 5D3 for a long time, just sold it, and I don't recall having any noise issues when properly exposed at ISO 100.
 
I have never had this issue with any of my Canon cameras. Have you tried a reset? Do you shoot raw or jpeg? Have you tried the camera since returning home?
 
You know what - I think it's important to do a couple of things.

The first is to thank people for their comments. So thank you all.

The second is to be able to admit where your failings are. Going back to the RAWS,.. the ones in question are much darker than I would have said they were - especially compared to the viewing JPEG you get on the camera screen.

It may be down to the way I process them as well, so it could be a good thing to ask the camera to slightly over-expose by half a stop in those situations and see how that effects processing.

Cheers.
 
If the scene is particularly bright or dark, then try setting the exposure compensation.
 
Maybe it'll be a good idea to try not to under expose or boost the exposure too much on the PC. It's a long time since I had a Canon but afaik Canon haven't been competitive on sensors until very recently so if the Canon is an older one, as the 5DIII is, I wouldn't be surprised if there is noise, especially with pictures that are under exposed and / or boosted post capture.

So yes, I'd either expose "correctly" or expose to the right and leave it as it is or back the exposure off a bit post capture. You may blow some highlights though but sometimes I don't think it matters.

If it helps at all...

Our wedding was shot with a 5DII and I have the raws. At ISO 100 with a 0.5 stop push post capture there's noise in the shadows at 100%, to give you some idea of the lighting these were relatively well lit indoor daylight pictures with no artificial light at f4.5, 1/100 sec. I don't know how much better a mk III is but it's still a relatively old Canon from the days when Canon were afaik using the same sensor tech so I'd expect there to be noise in low light shots, higher ISO shots or even lower ISO shots if the exposure is boosted post capture.
 
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In my book and picking up on a few comments from the OP ,I would tend to think it’s just down to time of year .even though the light may look good in winter the actual brightness level are far lower bringing in noise . Our eyes can adjust daily a camera has a pre.set range .
Also are you using auto W/B or setting it up each time to current conditions ?
 
the black fox said:
In my book and picking up on a few comments from the OP ,I would tend to think it’s just down to time of year .even though the light may look good in winter the actual brightness level are far lower bringing in noise . Our eyes can adjust daily a camera has a pre.set range .
Also are you using auto W/B or setting it up each time to current conditions ?
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I’m afraid i’m lazy on that front.

almost always leave WB on auto.
 
the black fox said:
In my book and picking up on a few comments from the OP ,I would tend to think it’s just down to time of year .even though the light may look good in winter the actual brightness level are far lower bringing in noise . Our eyes can adjust daily a camera has a pre.set range .
Also are you using auto W/B or setting it up each time to current conditions ?
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My thoughts exactly Jeff :)
 
I think the OP is shooting RAW, so WB setting will have no difference.
 
Noise is almost always a result of lack of light (under exposure) the clue is in the histogram.
The resulting noise always appears in the shadows first.

Raising the ISO does not add any light.
 
It's not that the lens I used in itself is adding to the noise levels - at least not directly. I just happen to know that that lens is unusable under F/8 which means that combined with the low levels of available ambient light, there's more to do in post to try and push certain shots.

Without being back at the same place (in the same conditions) and reshooting the images with an equivalent focal length but with a wider aperture and comparing the two, I'll never know for certain, but I suspect you're all right.
 
Kell said:
It's not that the lens I used in itself is adding to the noise levels - at least not directly. I just happen to know that that lens is unusable under F/8 which means that combined with the low levels of available ambient light, there's more to do in post to try and push certain shots.

Without being back at the same place (in the same conditions) and reshooting the images with an equivalent focal length but with a wider aperture and comparing the two, I'll never know for certain, but I suspect you're all right.
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Just take it as a learning experience.
But sometimes putting up with some noise is the best that you can do.
 
Here's a couple.

This is from the first morning (think this particular one is shot at 10000 ISO - so you can see red/green noise all over it as I had to push the exposure to get anything out of it. Nothing more than a record shot. But this is as I would have expected.

5D3_7767 by Kell Lunam-Cowan, on Flickr

This is from the second morning. Which brought its own problems. Shooting into the sun meant everyone was pretty much silhouetted, so the noise I'm seeing is me really pushing the shadows to recover some details. I think I've just gone further than perhaps I've need to in the past.

5D3_8004 by Kell Lunam-Cowan, on Flickr
 
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the first shot as stated excessive i.s.o , second shot could have been cured by spot metering and/or exposure compensation .. as in your initial post I note your using a very old lens (gleaned from flickr) but in the right conditions and with correct camera settings still gives good results .
instead of thinking about a new lens ,which as your on canon and would require a L class one why not invest in topaz de-noise that would cure most of your problems right away .plus learn to get closer to subjects theres not many cameras/lenses that will resolve good details at those ranges.
as for your g5x camera different type of camera and sensor so you cant really compare . there is no such thing as a perfect camera
 
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Maybe I have low standards but I don't see excess noise in any of those shots.:)
 
the black fox said:
the first shot as stated excessive i.s.o , second shot could have been cured by spot metering and/or exposure compensation .. as in your initial post I note your using a very old lens (gleaned from flickr) but in the right conditions and with correct camera settings still gives good results .
instead of thinking about a new lens ,which as your on canon and would require a L class one why not invest in topaz de-noise that would cure most of your problems right away .plus learn to get closer to subjects theres not many cameras/lenses that will resolve good details at those ranges.
as for your g5x camera different type of camera and sensor so you cant really compare . there is no such thing as a perfect camera
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I wasn't thinking of a new lens, I took a punt on that one SH and I actually really like it. It just was not the right conditions for what I know to be its limitations. (i.e. only really usable at f/8 and up).

My thread is here. Review and sample images from post 14.

Unfortunately, I didn't take a load of other options with me that weekend and I wanted one lens that would cover a broad range of focal lengths.

It was just wrong for a dark, misty, low-light morning. As I said in my post...

Beautiful bokeh, but you're not going to be going out and shooting handheld on a grey, dull day.
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Should have listened to myself...

As for Topaz, I've not tried it myself, but a friend of mine offered to give it a go on a shot of mine a while back (won't go into details) but I couldn't really detect much of an improvement. His shots are normally very crisp, but I've noticed a few of his recently seem to be suffering from sharpening worms. So maybe it is the time of year and everyone's struggling.
 
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