Grain/noise problem? at low ISO, 1DMk2

[paulhillion]

I've just bought a 1DMk2 and of course still very much in the learning to use phase. But on a few images I've noticed after processing there's a grainy look in part of the darker areas. Here's an example, the image here was shot in raw, iso 400 (I know I could have been in iso 100 but I'd forgotten to change the setting) and at f5.6. All I have done is adjust levels and shadow/highlight and then applied unsharp mask at 300 and 0.3. I tried unsharp mask at different levels and still got the grainy look? This was using my 24-70L lens but when using my 100-400 yesterday the images were totally clean.

is it just me doing the usual complaint and viewing the images far too magnified and therefore being far too critical?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/hillion/test1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v116/hillion/test2.jpg

[CyberDyneSystems]

Did you use Adobe ACR to convert RAW?

Three things,.

1. Underexposed images show much more noise,.. in this case given the strong sunlight, white Van and contrast,. the shadow areas could be deeply underexposed.

2. I rarely apply USM to an entire image,. I like the leave the large areas like those you are objecting to untouched. There are several ways to acheive this,. check the Post Processing stickies for more info.

3. I shoot ISO 400 most of the time,. and find that I too have to run NR on large areas to reduce noise. I don't mind this,. as I need the shutter speed. Again,. check the PP stickies to see how to run NR and USM selectively.