Sports shooting High ISO Low light MK II HELP!

[kgoings]

So I recently upgraded from a 40d to a 1D Mk II. The AF is great, and so is the speed..but shooting gymnastics there is terrible light. And my pics at ISO 800 and up are just not sharp, they seem to be filled with noise.

Any tips? I normally shoot with a 85 1.8 and 135 2L.

[Oliviero]

Post a sample so we can see what's going on

[kgoings]

http://i.pbase.com/o6/27/904227/1/110193562.wU9eaxcr.nharris.jpg

This is probably the best of the bunch, but I dont think it is super sharp (this is 50% of orig size)

Am I being too picky?

[Oliviero]

I don't see a photo =)

[kgoings]

Thats weird I see it, and I am not logged into pbase...hmm

well here are two links you can try

http://i.pbase.com/o6/27/904227/1/110193562.wU9eaxcr.nharris.jpg

http://www.pbase.com/kgoings/image/110193562

[SnapLocally.com]

Any tips?

"Post-production".

[JeffreyG]

I'm shocked if you can shoot gymnastics at ISO800 to be honest. What settings are you using.

I shoot some youth gymnastics and I typically use ISO3200, f/2 and 1/400 or so. ISO800 would have me shooting at 1/100 or underexposing, both of which would lead to the issues you describe.

[Cadwell]

The most common cause of "excessive" noise in high ISO images is under-exposure.

[DC Fan]

The image looks fine to these old eyes. That's how pictures look in the real world when you need to use available light.

If you're unhappy with "noise," use a noise reduction program such as Neat Image (http://www.neatimage.com/) or Noiseware. (http://www.imagenomic.com/nwsa.aspx) Or, purchase a few thousand dollars worth of strobes, then convince the arena management to let you install the strobes and the event organizers to let you use them.

[DDCSD]

The first shot gives me "Forbidden", the second one looks great at the size that its posted.

I find that the less I view my images at 100%, the happier I am with them.

[felixapproach]

Your picture looks great to me. This was the best I was able to do at the same meet. I was shooting about 8 rows up using a 40d with 85mm 1.8. The settings were f2.0 1/500 and iso 1600. Go Devils!

[Borderfox]

Anything I shoot indoors I overexpose by about 2/3rds of a stop and that kills most noise and leaves the subject nice and bright. The shot doesnt look too bad and is very salvageable

[rdompor]

I agree with everyone here saying that the image looks fine, especially since it is a tad underexposed.

[dmwierz]

First of all, here is how you post from pBase: take the URL shown at the top of the image, choose the "insert image" icon in the banner of POTN; paste the URL in this dialogue box and add ".jpg" to the end of the URL. Like this, and here's your image:

http://www.pbase.com/kgoings/image/110193562.jpg

Now, as for this image - it's a little under-exposed but nothing some good post processing couldn't handle. As stated above, the worst thing you can do with a low-light image is under-expose it as this will multiply your noise appreciably

[Pessica]

I think the shot looks fine and any noise can be filtered out with a noise reducing program like in lighthouse or photoshop

[rhurwitz]

The most common cause of "excessive" noise in high ISO images is under-exposure.

Could you (or someone else) elaborate on this point? I need to shoot at an indoor swim meet this weekend and I will have to deal with higher ISOs. I am not familiar with exposure techniques for noise management.

Thanks,
Roger

[DDCSD]

Could you (or someone else) elaborate on this point? I need to shoot at an indoor swim meet this weekend and I will have to deal with higher ISOs. I am not familiar with exposure techniques for noise management.

Thanks,
Roger


When you under-expose a shot and then bring the exposure up in post-processing, the noise will be more apparent. If you nail the exposure and therefore don't need to bring the exposure up, the noise will be much less noticeable.

[snapzz]

Noise can also be a problem if cropping into the image. Regarding exposure just make sure you nail it in camera to eliminate that problem. If its still a problem run the images through any noise reduction software as previously suggested.