Used 40D producing more grain than expected?

MuteGoose wrote in post #13761062
I will experiment with different ISOs, and the majority of the shots were underexposed. I had the camera on AV, and it was set dead center.

Depends on your metering mode... Just set your EC to +1/3 or even +2/3, and see how the shots pan out. You are just giving the camera a bit more bias to the right a bit, and your noise issues will undoubtedly diminish. (or shoot manual if you get comfortable doing that)

Snydremark wrote in post #13761278
It's really hard to read there; you should get it in your hands

You can read a few pages anyways, with Amazon preview!

MuteGoose wrote in post #13761256
I know I have a lot to learn, and I'm excited to do it. That book has been on my amazon wishlist for a while.

I'd recommend the "understanding exposure field guide" instead. It's got the main "meat" of understanding exposure, plus a bunch of other additional info. I consider it to be a more complete resource than "understanding exposure" alone. And it is the same price.

http://www.amazon.com …TF8&qid=1327443​681&sr=8-4

Like others, I don't see excessive grain. The exif data shows you were shooting wide open (f4) and at ISO 250, which isn't a "native" ISO for that camera. Better off using a native ISO, perhaps something like ISO 400. Shutter speed is 1/500, and no compensation is applied, evaluative metering. In snow scenes the meter is often fooled into underexposing because there is so much white in the scene. I would let this thing have about a +1/2 stop compensation.

Some quick touch up done to the attachment.

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I agree with all the above, about 1 stop underexposed. plus the ISO...250? ISO 200 properly exposed would have gotten you a shutter speed of 1/200.

I think ideal settings would have been f/5.6, ISO400, 1/200

There is some noise in the 40D raw files, but it is mainly chroma noise which is fairly easy to remove in Lightroom. For ISO 400, i use color NR of 10-15

Don't be too quick to overexpose as others have said. I'd agree that for snow this is usually a wise move, but in more normal situations where there isn't high contrast or uniform brightness, leaving the exposure dial dead centre in AV mode should be fine, then you can play about with it in post-production if necessary. I would say that if you constantly have it on +2/3, +1, you run the risk of blowing out highlights that can't be recovered. Try a wide variety of shooting conditions at dead center and then review them to see if you generally need to overexpose at all. I bet on average you will not.

Interesting. Mine usually needs to be +2/3 all the time when not using flash. Admittedly, I tend to use Av for general shooting and M for flash shooting. I rarely use Tv personally.

it's normaly to have noise cause it's a raw file.I work with 40d about 3 years and im very satisfyied with the quality of image , even at iso 3200. only shoot in raw and in lightroom with a little NR applied was very good.

No, you need to dial in a lot of + Exposure Compensation shooting a snow scene. Probably at least +1.3 or +1.7 stops... maybe even more if the sun is out. Snow scenes are one of the most extreme.

Another strong recommendation for Understanding Exposure

Then stop wishin'... get the $16 book and start learnin'! I've been shooting for 30+ years and this was one of the best reads I've done in a long time. You can teach an old dog new tricks.

When using any of the auto exposure modes, I tend to keep my Canon at +1/3 stop pretty much all the time... more in some situations (strong backlighting, a very bright white subject filling the viewfinder, etc.). To keep noise to a minimum, you need to avoid underexposure at all costs. Exact exposure is great. But it's much better to err slightly overexposed and pull back exposure in post processing, than underexposed. If you have to dial up exposure in post processing, you will invariably increase noise.

This is called "ETTR" or Expose to the Right and is common technique among Canon shooters... more info about it here at the Luminous Landscape website.

tkbslc wrote in post #13761084
The older cameras kind of suck at exposure.

Amen...my G7/G9 (especially the G9) couldn't get exposure right to save their lives...the S100 is bang on.

amfoto1 wrote in post #13770683
No, you need to dial in a lot of + Exposure Compensation shooting a snow scene. Probably at least +1.3 or +1.7 stops... maybe even more if the sun is out. Snow scenes are one of the most extreme.

Another strong recommendation for Understanding Exposure



Then stop wishin'... get the $16 book and start learnin'! I've been shooting for 30+ years and this was one of the best reads I've done in a long time. You can teach an old dog new tricks.

When using any of the auto exposure modes, I tend to keep my Canon at +1/3 stop pretty much all the time... more in some situations (strong backlighting, a very bright white subject filling the viewfinder, etc.). To keep noise to a minimum, you need to avoid underexposure at all costs. Exact exposure is great. But it's much better to err slightly overexposed and pull back exposure in post processing, than underexposed. If you have to dial up exposure in post processing, you will invariably increase noise.

This is called "ETTR" or Expose to the Right and is common technique among Canon shooters... more info about it here at the Luminous Landscape website.

+1

I usually have at least +0.3EC dialed in for ETTR and lately in the barren snow wasteland, +1.6EC is common when shooting outdoors.

Agreed, pretty much any image I capture at 0 EC ends up getting pushed in post which is not an ideal practice. Once you get comfortable with the standard exposure practices, go ahead and jump into expose to the right (ETTR). Pulling an image back is a lot less destructive than pushing one given you aren't loosing highlight data.

Also, that book is probably on the shelf at your local library.

John from PA wrote in post #13761907
Like others, I don't see excessive grain. The exif data shows you were shooting wide open (f4) and at ISO 250, which isn't a "native" ISO for that camera. Better off using a native ISO, perhaps something like ISO 400. Shutter speed is 1/500, and no compensation is applied, evaluative metering. In snow scenes the meter is often fooled into underexposing because there is so much white in the scene. I would let this thing have about a +1/2 stop compensation.

Some quick touch up done to the attachment.

What is "native" iso and why is it? Does Canon list such info? I also shoot a 40D... Thanks.

On "native" ISO...as to what a native ISO is one of the best discussions on this topic I have ever seen is at http://shootintheshot.​joshsilfen.com …canon-hd-dslr-native-iso/. The author goes in depth to what is native (100, 200, 400, etc.) and what settings are derived and why those settings may yield noise or minimize noise. In the summary, the author further suggest that there is no silver bullet and that knowledge of what is really happening may improve IQ depending on the situation. Well worth the time to read.

For a 40D (along with just about all Canon DSLR's AFAIK) native ISO's are 2 power multiples of 100. i.e. 100 (100* 2^0), 200 (100*2^1), 400 (100*2^2), etc...