best ways to reduce noise

hi everyone im new to digital slrs. my main issue revolves around shooting cars in dim light situations at car shows. in the past my pics have resulted with a lot of digital noise... how can I reduce/ eliminate noise??? ...(ive been told to deal with iso/ exposure/ aperture) how should i alter these factors to reduce/eliminate noise and still have a well lit clear/sharp picture?? i need as much advice as i can get

-thanks

Probably the biggest factor is the exposure. This gets worse as you increase ISO. As you process the shot by adjusting the brightness to compensate for exposure errors, more noise you introduce.

Anther factor is ISO, higher you go, more noise you get. I personally don't worry about noise till above ISO 400.

So I'd say, use the lowest ISO possible, expose correctly, be judicious with your processing, and use noise reduction.

I find noise to be a problem as well, although usually only noticable when viewed at 100% (and as I like to submit my photos to desktop wallpaper and stock photo sites, this becomes important).

Not really sure what the answer is though. I always shoot at ISO 100 and I *think* I'm getting the exposure right, but still some shots are very noisy. I've found Noise Ninja to be useful, but it can only do so much.

dpouldar wrote in post #6084257
hi everyone im new to digital slrs. my main issue revolves around shooting cars in dim light situations at car shows. in the past my pics have resulted with a lot of digital noise... how can I reduce/ eliminate noise??? ...(ive been told to deal with iso/ exposure/ aperture) how should i alter these factors to reduce/eliminate noise and still have a well lit clear/sharp picture?? i need as much advice as i can get

-thanks

Car shows at night or low light. I recommend a tripod to help keep your ISO down if noise is an issue. Higher ISO will result in more noise but help to keep you shutter speed high.

There are programs like Noiseware or Noise Ninja which is software based noise reduction software.

If you try to brighten your photos to correct under exposure this will often result in some noise being added. It is better to get your exposure correct and try to "expose to the right" which will reduce the appearance of noise. Don't be too afraid of the high iso ranges. You will actually get more noise using iso 100 and correcting an under exposed shot than you will using iso 400 and nailing the exposure.

michaelgreen78 wrote in post #6084967
If you try to brighten your photos to correct under exposure this will often result in some noise being added. It is better to get your exposure correct and try to "expose to the right" which will reduce the appearance of noise. Don't be too afraid of the high iso ranges. You will actually get more noise using iso 100 and correcting an under exposed shot than you will using iso 400 and nailing the exposure.

The voice of sanity.

High ISO is something not to be scared of. You'll get much more noise in attempting to "push" a low ISO exposure (under-expsosing and then pushing with EC or post-processing) than having a safe exposure at a higher ISO.

These shots were taken with a 5D at ISO800. No noise reduction was made in post-processing.

http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos​/large/IMG_0767.jpg
http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos​/large/IMG_0790.jpg
http://www.the-aperture.com/EE/photos​/large/IMG_0779.jpg

True. What camera are you using?

The first shots here are of a black car at ISO 800. See the noise?
MOVE YOUR FEET! A <rant> of sorts.

Gavin shoots a lot at high ISO & provides fun captions as well. The first & many other images are at ISO Speed Ratings = 1600!
The week's sporting events in images...

Try manual in those tough conditions. For a good starting point, first set the f-stop & shutter speed you need. Then adjust the ISO.
Need an exposure crutch?

Seen this?
A few Car Lighting Tips - Updated

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