Noise with RAW files

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charlottemarie_15

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Hello, I've just switched to using RAW instead of Jpegs on my Nikon D80 and I'm really liking it. I'm not a massive post editor but I do like the choices and changes, however it at 100% it seems to be producing a lot of noise, is there anything I can do? I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong. All I'm doing is opening the image in Photoshop (the newest version, CS5?) altering the exposure mainly and maybe the temperature, and thats it.

Also, how 'sharp' should an image be at 100%? I ask because I'm sure my camera or lens isn't focusing properly, it appears lovely but then when zoomed it just doesn't look sharp. I am using a second hand 18-70mm nikkor lens so that maybe it. I've made sure the optical precision has been set just next to the eyepiece. It doesn't matter whether its manual or automatic zoom. I've tried attaching some images to show but not sure how useful they are. I've attached the full image where it looks focused, and then a crop at 100% to show what I mean. If anyone has any examples of better focus that would be good to see.

I'd like to submit to Alamy soon but until I get this sorted I know I'll get rejected.

Ignore the image artistically, unless you think its good! It was a practise shot with my new filter! :)

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/focus_issue.jpg

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/gallery/data/500/close_up_focus_issue.jpg

Thanks!
 
Your linked images are to small try 1024 on the longest side..:)
 
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How? I can't get my image under 200kb with it 1024 on the longest side, the smallest I can get is 2mb. This is at 72dpi. Am I missing something? I am quite tired so forgive me if its something silly....
 
Have you tried the save for web options, you can resize in there and it'll make the filesizes nice and small, although you should be able to get under 200kb with the normal resizing.

You don't tell us what iso you shot at, that will affect noise and sharpness (especially if it's high iso) Theres a lot of factors at play here, camera shake, iso, lens, focusing, exposure can also affect the noise.
 
Ok! Finally worked out how to upload images, i think... (I know, it was very simple lol)

This is what I'm talking about;

This is the full image;

focus_issue1.jpg


this is the close up at 100%;

close_up_focus_issue.jpg


Its happening on all of my images, I do have more examples if need be.

Thanks!
 
Oh and this is an example of the noise issue, although it doesn't appear as bad as in photoshop :S

I have noticed the Nikon D80 has a Long exposure NR facility which may help for long exposures such as this one, but as for my other shots I dont know :(

Pebblesnoise.jpg
 
Are you using a tripod or are these handheld?
What aperture?
Raw images have no in camera sharpening (jpegs do) so you have to sharpen with software.
Dark areas/low light will tend to produce noise, especially if you manipulate them/try to lighten them with software.
What iso are you using?
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
I have just purchased a remote for my camera to fire the shutter without me pressing so maybe that will help?
Click to expand...

Shutter remote release will help as you could be causing camera shake.
F22 is unlikely to be as sharp as say F13 or F16.
Where you focus can determine how sharp the rest of the image is, as a rough guide if you focus about 1/3 into the frame you should get front to back sharpness.
 
It's not so much that the raw files aren't as sharp or are noisier, it's that when you save the images as jpegs the camera processes them for you and sharpens them, applies noise reduction etc.

The best analogy I can think of is that a raw file is like a negative, complete with all the data captured by the sensor, whereas a jpeg is more like a Polaroid image, processed in-camera to produce an acceptable image.
 
canon_togger said:
Shutter remote release will help as you could be causing camera shake.
F22 is unlikely to be as sharp as say F13 or F16.
Where you focus can determine how sharp the rest of the image is, as a rough guide if you focus about 1/3 into the frame you should get front to back sharpness.
Click to expand...

Ok, I've been doing photography for a few years now but can you just remind me again why my image will be sharper at F13/16 than f22? I'm having a slow day today :(

And yes I remember reading about where to focus so thanks for that :)
 
Flash In The Pan said:
It's not so much that the raw files aren't as sharp or are noisier, it's that when you save the images as jpegs the camera processes them for you and sharpens them, applies noise reduction etc.

The best analogy I can think of is that a raw file is like a negative, complete with all the data captured by the sensor, whereas a jpeg is more like a Polaroid image, processed in-camera to produce an acceptable image.
Click to expand...

So by saving them in Photoshop when I'm finished that whats creating the noise? If so, is there something I can do to reduce this?

Or have I misread you?
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
Ok, I've been doing photography for a few years now but can you just remind me again why my image will be sharper at F13/16 than f22? I'm having a slow day today :(

And yes I remember reading about where to focus so thanks for that :)
Click to expand...

A lens will have a sweet spot (where its sharpest) e.g. F8
If you stop down near to the minimum e.g F22 it will generally be softer
I dont know the sweet spot for your lens but its possibly something to factor in to the reasons for your images being soft.
 
Ahhhh, thanks I'll do some research :)

So this weekend, try my new remote so I don't touch the shutter, carry on with the tripod, aperture at f15/16 instead of f22, ISO keep at 100, focus a third or so into the image.

Cant wait!

Just the raw issue now....
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
Ok, I've been doing photography for a few years now but can you just remind me again why my image will be sharper at F13/16 than f22? I'm having a slow day today :(

And yes I remember reading about where to focus so thanks for that :)
Click to expand...

With very small apetures you get difraction which can soften the image slightly.
 
Have you got image stabiliser on your camera or lens? This should be off if using a tripod.
 
I'll double check the image stabiliser option on my camera as I do use a tripod, thanks :)

So, how do I go about processing my RAW image to make sure its as sharp as it was whilst taken? No noise etc - is there specific software? At the minute I'm using Camera Raw in Photoshop, but I don't know much about RAW at all....
 
charlottemarie_15 said:
I'll double check the image stabiliser option on my camera as I do use a tripod, thanks :)

So, how do I go about processing my RAW image to make sure its as sharp as it was whilst taken? No noise etc - is there specific software? At the minute I'm using Camera Raw in Photoshop, but I don't know much about RAW at all....
Click to expand...

I only use camera raw in ps and I find it works well. Click on the the triangle tab(I think) that has noise reduction sliders, zoom pic in to 100% and adjust to suite, I find luminance and colour soften noise too but should only be needed on hi iso shots. Failing that go into camera menu and reset to default manufacture settings? Good luck .
 
There is a plug in for Photoshop called Noise ninja I use it and think it does a great job.
Sadly its not cheap but as I said it does do a great job you can download a trial version from here http://www.picturecode.com/download.htm
Hope this helps
Allan
 
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charlottemarie_15 said:
I'll double check the image stabiliser option on my camera as I do use a tripod, thanks :)

So, how do I go about processing my RAW image to make sure its as sharp as it was whilst taken? No noise etc - is there specific software? At the minute I'm using Camera Raw in Photoshop, but I don't know much about RAW at all....
Click to expand...

You can download View NX2 which is Nikon's free editing program. It will apply all the camera settings to your raw files, eg WB, sharpness, contrast etc but you can change them if you wish.
It does not have noise reduction though.
It uses the same algorithms as Capture NX2 but is a bit faster as it does not have all the features of Capture NX2 which does have noise reduction and more.
Capture NX2 is not free however.
 
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