Which do you prefer: A Shoot w/ Noise or No Shot At All?

I've seen this question receive different answers often, so I figured I'd make a poll.

Me personally, I'd rather miss a shot than force one and have complete crap..then again I hate hate hate noise. Even a little plaid is too much for me in a color photo. In B&W I'm not so critical because it often helps the image. I'd rather miss a shot than put my name on crap though... what say you?

I think there is a point where noise renders an image too damaged to use, but that varies from image to image and therefore I cant agree with any blanket statement.

If you take the shot, you don't have to use it. If you don't take it, you can't use it. No contest. Take the shot. Then decide if it's usable.

I'd rather try to take the shot with noise, if its not acceptable I try it in black and white. If not then I pitch it.

if there is not to much noise there is always noise reduction software, and like Pmolan said, black and white would look good

For a given camera, the better the exposure, the less noise you'll see which also means that the darker areas will usually show more noise than the lighter ones.
I use PP noise reduction when I need it so I can put it only on the part of the image that needs it most.

Gavin shoots a lot at various high ISOs & provides fun captions as well.
The week's sporting events in images...

Some from Christan at ISO 800 using a 40D: New Pee Wee (11-12 yr old) Baseball

ISO 1600 @ 20D. EXIF is included in:
The Johnny Headband Band

ISO 3200 & 20D is pushing the 20D limits. EXIF is included in:
Barbara Payton & Her Band @ ISO 3200

Barbara Payton @ ISO 3200

I checked "gray area." I often shoot fire scenes at night. Why I chose gray area is that I pretty much want to get the shot. I'll trade more noise for less blur anytime. Yes, that means cranking the ISO up to 3200 on my 40D at times - which is painfully noisy. But I'd rather than noise in the shot than nothing at all.

AudibleSilence wrote in post #9301419
I've seen this question receive different answers often, so I figured I'd make a poll.

Me personally, I'd rather miss a shot than force one and have complete crap..then again I hate hate hate noise. Even a little plaid is too much for me in a color photo. In B&W I'm not so critical because it often helps the image. I'd rather miss a shot than put my name on crap though... what say you?

You sound like someone who shoots film, not digital. With digital, as I see it, there's virtually never any reason NOT to take the shot. If it can't be PP-ed into shape, fine, dump it. But as a previous poster noted, at least you'll have it to work with. In addition, I cut my photo teeth back in the 70s shooting film. Unless you were using Kodachrome (or other comparable top-quality, low-speed films), grain was simply a way of life -- no getting around it. Someday in the distant future, we may achieve digital photo perfection, for now, instead of chafing against the limits of the medium, I'd respectfully recommend that you embrace them. Avoid noise where you can, cheat with NR software if necessary, and otherwise USE noise the way we used to use grain with film.

Hey, if a saucer full of Martians lands in my front yard tonight, and the only camera nearby with a live battery is my high-ISO-noise-plagued G-10, you can bet your grandmother's butt that I'm taking the pictures, and I'll worry about the noise later.

Several years ago I bought a Sony H5 superzoom P&S. That camera really got me into photography, but at ISO400 and higher the noise was terrible. I was very limited what I could do in low light. Then I got my XTi, and was amazed how clean ISO1600 looked compared to anything the P&S could do. I don't use ISO3200 much, but I will if I have to. I don't mind a little noise, if it's too harsh it can always be made into B&W.

PhotosGuy wrote in post #9301657
For a given camera, the better the exposure, the less noise you'll see which also means that the darker areas will usually show more noise than the lighter ones.
I use PP noise reduction when I need it so I can put it only on the part of the image that needs it most.

Gavin shoots a lot at various high ISOs & provides fun captions as well.
The week's sporting events in images...

Some from Christan at ISO 800 using a 40D: New Pee Wee (11-12 yr old) Baseball

ISO 1600 @ 20D. EXIF is included in:
The Johnny Headband Band

ISO 3200 & 20D is pushing the 20D limits. EXIF is included in:
Barbara Payton & Her Band @ ISO 3200

Barbara Payton @ ISO 3200

At what point though do you say it's bad IQ? Not saying any of that is bad, just asking a personal question. I mean when my images go to plaid Spaceball One style, I throw in the towel!

Tallking wrote in post #9302622
You sound like someone who shoots film, not digital. With digital, as I see it, there's virtually never any reason NOT to take the shot. If it can't be PP-ed into shape, fine, dump it. But as a previous poster noted, at least you'll have it to work with. In addition, I cut my photo teeth back in the 70s shooting film. Unless you were using Kodachrome (or other comparable top-quality, low-speed films), grain was simply a way of life -- no getting around it. Someday in the distant future, we may achieve digital photo perfection, for now, instead of chafing against the limits of the medium, I'd respectfully recommend that you embrace them. Avoid noise where you can, cheat with NR software if necessary, and otherwise USE noise the way we used to use grain with film.

Hey, if a saucer full of Martians lands in my front yard tonight, and the only camera nearby with a live battery is my high-ISO-noise-plagued G-10, you can bet your grandmother's butt that I'm taking the pictures, and I'll worry about the noise later.

A lot of folks think this way..they push and push and push. I am a bit old school, I prefer to have a clean image if and when possible. I think noise can help an image if it's done right..but sometimes a picture is just horrid, NR software or not.

Are you measuring the capabilities of the camera or taking photographs? That's what it seems you're debating. I go places where the lighting is sometimes poor and I bring my camera. I accept that I'm an amateur pushing the limits of whatever camera I have with me at the time.

Case in point: I took a photo of a t-rex fossil at the Natural History museum back in August of last year. I had my XSi with me. The room was so bloody dark it was actually a bit difficult to safely navigate parts of the room. The only way I could take the photo was to set the ISO to 1600 and put my Rebel on a rail. A handful of shots later, a bit of white balance correction in PP, and I have this great photo of a full size t-rex. Is it noisy? Probably. Regardless, I have this great photo of this huge dinosaur that I wouldn't have if I'd whined, "It's too dark in here." (The one of the triceratops is better.)

If you want a lighting/white balance challenge, we have the Udvar-Hazy Center down here, the Dulles Air and Space Museum. Lighting inside is awful on a sunny day. If you don't go mad in there, you've done well. Last August I had to resort to a choice of dropping a photo or using the pop-up flash on my Rebel. (I left the 430EX at home, and do not yet have a cord for doing OCF.) I have the photo now. Is it perfect? No, but I got it anyway.

I still want to be able to take low light photos, so I just bought a 50mm f/1.4 EF lens. I'll find its limits too. To me, noise is either a challenge or just the price to pay for getting a photo I might not otherwise have gotten.

Just my two cents.

Photographs are all about memories....if you don't take a photo, you lose part of the memory....and I think a noisy memory is better than nothing. Not every photo taken is destined to hang on the wall of the Louvre.

Woolburr wrote in post #9303764
Photographs are all about memories....if you don't take a photo, you lose part of the memory....and I think a noisy memory is better than nothing. Not every photo taken is destined to hang on the wall of the Louvre.

That is a bit personal... Not every pic is a memory to folks. I'm a bit neurotic...I'd stare at a picture and go over what was wrong with it over and over and over again in my mind. It would drive me absolutely nuts to have an extremely noisy pic. It's supposed to be an photo image not a sonar image..

mathogre wrote in post #9303650
Are you measuring the capabilities of the camera or taking photographs? That's what it seems you're debating. I go places where the lighting is sometimes poor and I bring my camera. I accept that I'm an amateur pushing the limits of whatever camera I have with me at the time.

Case in point: I took a photo of a t-rex fossil at the Natural History museum back in August of last year. I had my XSi with me. The room was so bloody dark it was actually a bit difficult to safely navigate parts of the room. The only way I could take the photo was to set the ISO to 1600 and put my Rebel on a rail. A handful of shots later, a bit of white balance correction in PP, and I have this great photo of a full size t-rex. Is it noisy? Probably. Regardless, I have this great photo of this huge dinosaur that I wouldn't have if I'd whined, "It's too dark in here." (The one of the triceratops is better.)

If you want a lighting/white balance challenge, we have the Udvar-Hazy Center down here, the Dulles Air and Space Museum. Lighting inside is awful on a sunny day. If you don't go mad in there, you've done well. Last August I had to resort to a choice of dropping a photo or using the pop-up flash on my Rebel. (I left the 430EX at home, and do not yet have a cord for doing OCF.) I have the photo now. Is it perfect? No, but I got it anyway.

I still want to be able to take low light photos, so I just bought a 50mm f/1.4 EF lens. I'll find its limits too. To me, noise is either a challenge or just the price to pay for getting a photo I might not otherwise have gotten.

Just my two cents.

Eh, this is why I got the 5d2...my ISO 3200 looks like ISO 800 on other cameras. I take shots I wouldn't have bothered to before. Lots of venues don't allow or strongly discourage the use of flash.

Shoot it, convert to black and white, Noise Ninja.