1600 ISO oops!

[Digital Louie]

:o I just shot a full bridal session in 1600 ISO. I had shot several images at a previous wedding at that faster ISO and didn't revert back to 100. I shot the bridals in JPEG not RAW. I'm sure they'll be usable somehow, but probably noisy in their appearance; not a good quality for bridals. Is there anything I can do, save a reshoot, to salvage the images? I've heard of software for noise reduction and wondered if this would be a time to use such software. I'm certainly willing to purchase the software if it will help in this situation. Any comment, other than I'm an idiot for making this mistake, would be appreciated.
Shawn

[bauerman]

Another reason why current ISO setting should be on more LCD displays - please Canon!?!!

I use the Noiseware program - Community Edition - which is free to download and use. You can check it out here:

www.imagenomic.com

I wish you the best of luck - what camera were you using?

[robertwgross]

Another reason why current ISO setting should be on more LCD displays

My 20D shows it on the top LCD. We don't know about the original poster.

---Bob Gross---

[markubig]

I shoot 1600 a lot with my 20D and they require minor noise reduction. when my 1600 exposures are dead on, you can't really see the noise unless you really zoom in.

[bauerman]

I REALLY wish the 300D had the current ISO displayed on the lcd......oh how I wish...........I have been in this exact same situation a few times myself.

[Digital Louie]

It was on my 20D and the wedding dress is just way over exposed. I have PS'd several of the images though and they will most likely be OK. I'll try the noise reduction software that was listed. Thanks!!!

[Adam Hicks]

Bob what do you mean it shows it on top? It does when you hit the ISO button... but it's not like the 1DS where it's shown constantly. I agree it should be there, although I had this same problem a while back (though I wasn't doing weddings that early in my photography career!) and said the same thing, but I've since learned to check all of these things every time I go out to shoot, and have never had a problem. It's just one of those things you grow into.

I don't shoot ISO100 at any time on my camera except in the extraordinary circumstance where I want to shoot shallow DOF in bright light and need it to avoid 1/8000+. Otherwise the color range is shown better at ISO200 and there's really not any noise all the way up to 400, so why not enjoy the extra flexibility!

But as far as your ISO1600 problem is concerned, I second the Noiseware comment. Free and excellent!

Adam

[tim]

This is a common mistake, everyone's done it one time or another.. I have "ISO, White Ballance" written in the front of my notebook, and some people tape it to their cameras so they don't forget to check/set it every time they use the camera, or they have their assistant remind them. After a while it becomes automatic. I've made a habit of setting the camera back to reasonable defaults (Av, F4, ISO 400, Auto WB, AF) every time I finish using my camera.

I use noise ninja as a photoshop plugin, and sometimes as a standalone product. There's a comparison of NR progs here

http://www.michaelalmond.com/Articles/noise.htm

[robertwgross]

Bob what do you mean it shows it on top? It does when you hit the ISO button...

Exactly.

---Bob Gross---

[davidwegs]

I shoot 1600 a lot with my 20D and they require minor noise reduction. when my 1600 exposures are dead on, you can't really see the noise unless you really zoom in.

Same here.. not much of an issue unless you messed up the exposure. It is more noisy than lower ISO's (duh), but usable and with Noise Ninja or Neat Image, you should be able to use them at smaller sizes (say upto 12x18) with some success.

[Wazza]

I've had it happen to me for a couple of shots before, before I realised the exposure meter was well overblown, or wondered why shutter speed was 1/8000th on a dull day. :D

I just shot my entire birthday last night ISO1600 last night, no flash, 50mm 1.8. Still had 1/10-1/30th shutter speeds. And shots are all usable.

Just try those noise removal programs as mentioned.

[tim]

I've had it happen to me for a couple of shots before, before I realised the exposure meter was well overblown, or wondered why shutter speed was 1/8000th on a dull day. :D

I just shot my entire birthday last night ISO1600 last night, no flash, 50mm 1.8. Still had 1/10-1/30th shutter speeds. And shots are all usable.

Just try those noise removal programs as mentioned.

I find that shots of people at 1/30th are often blurry, even people that are relatively still, and 1/10th is way below what i'd attempt of a person. You must have a much more steady hand than me, and maybe friends who move a little slower ;)

[bauerman]

So even the vaunted 20D does not show the current ISO setting on the LCD at all times? I really think that this is something that could be improved upon. I beleive the my Canon Powershot G3 had the ISO displayed on the LCD - why not these cams?!

Shawn - I'm glad that your pictures are going to turn out to be useable. That is good news.

[Michaelmjc]

Can you post some pics of how they turned out? That definately does suck though.

[RbrtPtikLeoSeny]

Aw, that's too bad. I did that the first day I had my 20D. Shot a whole bunch of flower pics outside at ISO 1600... Haven't done it since though. I do what tim does. Everytime I'm done shooting, I change my settings to what I call my "default". Typically ISO 400, f/4, AWB, center focus point, ect..... Don't have any software to recommend... sorry... haven't felt the need for it as of yet. Good luck! Hope everything works out!

[canon2od]

I also set it back to what I consider my default--ISO 100. Then I make adjustments as required for my next photo shoot and then back to 100 when I am done.

[Andy_T]

I've had it happen to me for a couple of shots before, before I realised the exposure meter was well overblown, or wondered why shutter speed was 1/8000th on a dull day. :D


That, to me, is akin to having ISO 1600 displayed in the viewfinder :wink:

On the other hand, my normal setting is 400 for 'normal' days and 800 for inside or 'dull' days.
If it is really a bright day outside, I turn it to ISO 200, and if it's getting darker, I use 1600.
Actually, I find ISO 1600 to be quite usable ... with a sprinkle of noiseware, that is :wink:

Best regards,
Andy

[dsze]

Set Noise Reduction masks to mask the edges and sharp areas and then run something like NeatImage on them. Thats what I'd do. Your images should turn out just fine if you take your time and do this right...if the ISO 1600 noise is the only problem with the images. Talk to Scott...I believe he's the guy who posted an action for the NR masks awhile ago. I did a wedding that was inside, at night, with no flash and shot ISO1600 on a 10D, and still ended up with usable images by doing this.

-daniel

[puttick]

The "smart noise reduction" feature in Breezebrowser works very well for me, and it's free to try (cheap to buy, too).

[ARTSPACE]

I've been there as well. I use noise ninja with my 10D and love it. It does require some adjusting as the one-click noise reduction is usually too soft for my taste. Great program though and cheap as I remember.

[Rob612]

My 20D shows it on the top LCD. We don't know about the original poster.

---Bob Gross---

My 20D does the same, but only when you setup the ISO parameter. In normal operating conditions ISO value is not shown. Or there is a CF that I am not aware of that makes the ISO value showing on the LCD all the time ?

I suppose that what was intended with the original post was to have the ISO value always visible, either in the VF or on the LCD. And that's something I really would like to have.

[tim]

My 20D does the same, but only when you setup the ISO parameter. In normal operating conditions ISO value is not shown. Or there is a CF that I am not aware of that makes the ISO value showing on the LCD all the time ?


Nope, you have to push the button.

[Rob612]

Nope, you have to push the button.

So that exactly wat I was saying, or am I missing something here ? You see the ISO only when you press the button (and eventually turn the wheel to change it).

[tim]

So that exactly wat I was saying, or am I missing something here ? You see the ISO only when you press the button (and eventually turn the wheel to change it).

Exactly what you were saying.

[ducdubbq]

many people have talked about the various softward means of saving the photos.

what about turning them to b/w.

b/w photos look far better in that grainy way than color photos and maybe they could be turned into arty moody photos

[mwinog2777]

1. whenever I turn camera off make sure ISO is set at 400. Great habit to get into.

2. Should get good enough pictures with noiseware programs listed above. Just will have to work harder. the "negatives" are that good if properly exposed. Good to 8x10 with no noise, done well.

[rich_yau]

I use the Noiseware program - Community Edition - which is free to download and use. You can check it out here:

www.imagenomic.com (http://www.imagenomic.com/)



What do i gain if i prchase a full version?

[Huckaback Photo]

Rich
One of the main differences is you can then use there noisware as a plugin (in photoshop)
the comunity edition is just great, I use it so much as a lot of my stuff is on stage work etc.
Just get it and install it and then open a high ISO image, would sugest zoom up the image to show the the grain/noise. Have the noiseware set on default (to start with adjust to your needs later) then press GO, a few seconds later you can click the mouse on that image and it will imediately show before and after, I fail to see how anyone can not be impressed with this software.

Going back to the original post, whilst the 1600 ISO is not usually a problem for interior shots, it does not work to well if outside in bright lighting situations, as if you don't notice the exposure level you could easilly get over exposed shots. as I believe there was mention of burnt out detail in the brides dress, this of course is more difficult to sort.
There are some neat actions around to improve this particular problem .
wish you luck.
Martin (Huckaback Photo)

[Poco]

Rich
One of the main differences is you can then use there noisware as a plugin (in photoshop)
the comunity edition is just great, I use it so much as a lot of my stuff is on stage work etc.
Just get it and install it and then open a high ISO image, would sugest zoom up the image to show the the grain/noise. Have the noiseware set on default (to start with adjust to your needs later) then press GO, a few seconds later you can click the mouse on that image and it will imediately show before and after, I fail to see how anyone can not be impressed with this software.


I just tried this Noiseware thing and I am very impressed. I just got back from Disneyland and accidentally did the same thing (took some pictures inside and forgot to reset the ISO when going outside). They look amazing now. Wow.

As for the whole "showing the ISO" that would be GREAT! This wouldn't have happened to me if the ISO showed up in the viewfinder on my XT. I will eventually learn not to make this mistake, but it is so easy to see the f/stop and shutter speed that they are always set to what I want them to be (not always the right settings :-). In fact, I change them regularly. Because the ISO is a few clicks away, I tend to forget about it and certainly don't play with it as much.

I'm sure this is available on the higher end cameras, and it sounds like the 20D has more control, but I would really appreciate some way to control the ISO the same way that I can control the aperture and shutter speed (and see it in the viewfinder). I guess you get what you pay for.

Well, for now I'm getting Noiseware Community Edition and can't complain about the cost. Also, one of the drawbacks of this over the paid editions is that it removes all the Exif data from the file. But it will be trivial to write a batch file using exiftool (http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/) to copy the exif data from the original file (there is even an option to do just that).

[MarkH]

This is surely a good reason to develop a habit of checking settings when you first get your camera out and prepare to shoot.

Step 1: Check all settings.

Step 2: Take test shot, review shot and check info & histogram. On my 10D the info when reviewing an image includes ISO setting and exposure compensation.

Step 3: Go for it.

If you do these steps every time then you are much less likely to screw it up. (and yes, I did decide to do this after screwing up without noticing (got home and realised that I had been shooting with exposure compensation at -2))

[malla1962]

:o I just shot a full bridal session in 1600 ISO. I had shot several images at a previous wedding at that faster ISO and didn't revert back to 100. I shot the bridals in JPEG not RAW. I'm sure they'll be usable somehow, but probably noisy in their appearance; not a good quality for bridals. Is there anything I can do, save a reshoot, to salvage the images? I've heard of software for noise reduction and wondered if this would be a time to use such software. I'm certainly willing to purchase the software if it will help in this situation. Any comment, other than I'm an idiot for making this mistake, would be appreciated.
Shawn
i have done the same thing on my 20d a few times,now i allways set it to iso 100 before puting it back in my bag.

[rich_yau]

Rich
One of the main differences is you can then use there noisware as a plugin (in photoshop)
the comunity edition is just great, I use it so much as a lot of my stuff is on stage work etc.
Just get it and install it and then open a high ISO image, would sugest zoom up the image to show the the grain/noise. Have the noiseware set on default (to start with adjust to your needs later) then press GO, a few seconds later you can click the mouse on that image and it will imediately show before and after, I fail to see how anyone can not be impressed with this software.


IT WORKS!!! Thats crazy. Abt 7 seconds on my p4 prcessing. If canon could put a processor in their cameras fast enough, ISO 6400&12800. :D

I noticed one thing though. It exagerates the noise in "before" when zoomed out!! Compare an image in Photoshop next to the before. YOu can tell easily at an image about 480 wide. That seams kind of a cheap.

[Poco]

It is awsome. I have gone and restored some of my old low light @ 1600 photos that I thought would always look bad and have some amazing results. You have to be careful not to set the NR too high or things will beging to look plastic.

I am this close '' to buying the full version for the TIFF and batch processing and more control over the parameters. Does anyone know if there are any features that make it worth the extra for the Photoshop plugin or if it just the fact that you can run in from within photoshop. The price difference between the plugin and the stand-alone produce seems rather extreme. I already use another program to process the RAW anyway (I'm using elements 2.0 so no RAW support), so I guess I can add one more program into my work flow :-(

[tim]

I run Noise Ninja from inside photoshop. The main advantage is you can put it into an action, so you can easily batch process the files. If you use the standalone client you have to batch from RAW to TIFF, batch them in noise ninja, then run the action on the TIFF. I use the standalone client occasionally, not often though. They work the same.

[CyberDyneSystems]

Simple solution..

I made a label that says "ISO" on it and stuck it to the top of my 10D's flash housing....

Never made this particular booboo again.

[Poco]

So which is better, Noise Ninja or Noiseware?

[tim]

Review/comparision

http://www.michaelalmond.com/Articles/noise_print.html

[Andy_T]

Tim,

very helpful comparison :D

Best regards,
Andy

[karusel]

I've made lots of oopsies so far... let me summarize, things I used once and forgot to turn off for the next scene:
-shot in wrong light metering mode
-shot with +/- exposure compensation
-too high ISO
-shot withouth CF card in
-shot something in Tv mode, that required much higher Tv
-shot in Av mode not noticing the times are too low to avoid camera shake blur
-shot static subjects in panning IS mode
-shot moving subjects in static IS mode

Typically I'd notice the wrongdoing after a good bunch of shot images.