D500 and ISO problems

[gossamer]

Hi, I just upgraded from a D300 to a D500, and the pictures I took at a kids party yesterday are very grainy. My first thought is the ISO setting was too high, but I'm not sure. This is using my 16-85mm.

It was an overcast day with no direct sun. I had it set for Aperture Priority, and the ISO set for 6400 so I would have expected the shutter speed to have compensated for the relatively high ISO. In fact, I set it that high figuring the shutter would adjust, especially knowing the "high ISO" isn't really until around 51,200.

I think it was cloudy and overcast enough that my D300 would have had a hard time.

I understand there are ways to clear up the grain, but is that at the expense of sharpness? Is there anything that can be done with this picture, and those like it, to bring it back to something usable?

I see the max is 4MB, so I've uploaded the 15MB NEF sample here:
Dropbox - DSC_0175.NEF

 

[jaomul]

I can't open the file, but I will say that ISO6400 on any aps-c is high. Don't mind the iso 51,200 b/s

 

[DarkShadow]

I cant open it either but I would say 6400 is high for and any camera in crapy lighting especially if it was underexposed then brought up in post. In good light I can get clean images @6400 with my D7000 and around 10,000 or more on the D7200 but in crapy lighting they both look like crap at much less ISO. I use to have and shoot with a canon 6D though much better at high ISO then crop sensor body's still lighting was everything. It's a great camera the D500 but think you might be expecting to much from it considering the conditions you described.

 

[jaomul]

I updated my lightroom and it opens, not sure why but its about a 10mp file, not 20.

I think for iso 6400 it looks rather good. However, you have it at f6.3 and iso 6400 and its giving a ss of 1/5000 second. It is kids playing, 1/1000 sec or even 1/640 would probably have been loads, and your iso would have dropped right down to about 1000, or even 600 ish,

For something like that party I suggest you go to manual exposure, set the f stop to what you require, and set the ss to a realistic level, put iso in auto and leave the camera do the rest. You dont need to be at iso 6400 for whole party

 

[DarkShadow]

I don't even use 1/5000 on fast flying birds in great light I wonder why.

 

[Peeb]

Ran noise reduction in DXO Pro then exported to jpg

.
Sharpened in Photo Shop (didn't really need it), then reduced size for posting.

Seems nice to me!

 

[KmH]

It isn't grainy.
It's noisy.
Digital Camera Image Noise: Concept and Types

 

[goodguy]

I absolutely mean no disrespect, just an advise.
The D500 is a great camera, it looks to me like you still need to learn you camera and dive deeper into its capabilities and know how to set it right to get maximum best results.
So don't doubt your equipment just keep shooting and keep researching.
Also I don't know what lens you used but a fast lens is very important to get lots of light onto the sensor, this way you can get iso lower.

 

[gossamer]

Thank you all so much. I was working with Lightroom, but then look at it directly in Photoshop and it looked much better, not nearly as noisy. I think it may have been because it was the first set of images I was reviewing with not only a new version of Lightroom, but a new camera.

The reason the shutter was 1/5000th was because I was using Aperture Priority because I was more interested in shorter aperture to blur the background than being concerned about the shutter being too fast.

I also appreciate the comment about noise/grain. I was explaining it to my wife, and got stuck on using words more easily explained to her

Any criticism is greatly appreciated.

 

[coastalconn]

You would have been much better off using auto-ISO and setting a minimum shutter speed of say 1/500th and then shooting in aperture mode. This would have kept the ISO as low as possible (in this case around 1200) while maintaining enough speed to freeze the kids moving around. Depending on your technique you may need to go higher.

 

[zombiesniper]

Agree with above but if Aperture Priority is a must.
Select a more appropriate ISO to get the shutter down to an appropriate speed or go Auto ISO. Just because you're in Aperture Priority doesn't mean the camera has a clue what you want. You still have to monitor what it's doing and adjust when it's going astray.

 

[gossamer]

You would have been much better off using auto-ISO and setting a minimum shutter speed of say 1/500th and then shooting in aperture mode. This would have kept the ISO as low as possible (in this case around 1200) while maintaining enough speed to freeze the kids moving around. Depending on your technique you may need to go higher.

I actually had it set to auto-ISO initially and changed it. Obviously not the right choice, but the background in the pictures were then extremely dark. I'm assuming the camera metered on the foreground, where the focal point was, at the expense of detail in the background.

I don't know what I could have done to prevent that, while still trying to blur the background, particularly while the kids party was going on.

 

[coastalconn]

You would have been much better off using auto-ISO and setting a minimum shutter speed of say 1/500th and then shooting in aperture mode. This would have kept the ISO as low as possible (in this case around 1200) while maintaining enough speed to freeze the kids moving around. Depending on your technique you may need to go higher.

I actually had it set to auto-ISO initially and changed it. Obviously not the right choice, but the background in the pictures were then extremely dark. I'm assuming the camera metered on the foreground, where the focal point was, at the expense of detail in the background.

I don't know what I could have done to prevent that, while still trying to blur the background, particularly while the kids party was going on.

Exposure compensation is your friend...

 

[3rown]

Thank you all so much. I was working with Lightroom, but then look at it directly in Photoshop and it looked much better, not nearly as noisy. I think it may have been because it was the first set of images I was reviewing with not only a new version of Lightroom, but a new camera.

The reason the shutter was 1/5000th was because I was using Aperture Priority because I was more interested in shorter aperture to blur the background than being concerned about the shutter being too fast.

I also appreciate the comment about noise/grain. I was explaining it to my wife, and got stuck on using words more easily explained to her

Any criticism is greatly appreciated.

High ISO is crazy you want to use the least you can get away with 800 or under, the lens say it has a 5.6 aperture is limiting your camera to that apetute lenses capable of a bigger apature 1.8 or 2 or lower will be better in low light, faster and give you that blur and you can still go to f/16 depending on lens, they but are pricey, open up and slow down use ISO as last resort.

 

[coastalconn]

Thank you all so much. I was working with Lightroom, but then look at it directly in Photoshop and it looked much better, not nearly as noisy. I think it may have been because it was the first set of images I was reviewing with not only a new version of Lightroom, but a new camera.

The reason the shutter was 1/5000th was because I was using Aperture Priority because I was more interested in shorter aperture to blur the background than being concerned about the shutter being too fast.

I also appreciate the comment about noise/grain. I was explaining it to my wife, and got stuck on using words more easily explained to her

Any criticism is greatly appreciated.

High ISO is crazy you want to use the least you can get away with 800 or under, the lens say it has a 5.6 aperture is limiting your camera to that apetute lenses capable of a bigger apature 1.8 or 2 or lower will be better in low light, faster and give you that blur and you can still go to f/16 depending on lens, they but are pricey, open up and slow down use ISO as last resort.

I certainly do not limit myself to ISO 800 with the D500. The OP has the lens he has. He had a setting glitch that is resolved now. If you nail the exposure with the D500 is is good to quite high ISO with a little BG noise reduction at least for an 8x10 if not larger..

Like this at ISO 5000 I was already at F4 and needed 1/2000th at the minimum to freeze the action
George Jr. In Flight 8_11 High ISO by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr

Sometimes you really have to push. Again, my low light settings wide open at f4 and 1/2000th Pushed my ISO to 20K
George Jr High ISO 7_19 20K by Kristofer Rowe, on Flickr

Telling someone to limit the D500 to ISO 800 is kind of a disservice.. Here is another forum user with high ISO shots from the D500.. Friday night football w/ D500