Minimize noise on a point & shoot?

[TheStupidForeigner]

I have a Canon powershot sx150 which is a pretty decent point and shoot camera but has a lot of problems with noise, in both low and medium light situations. I of course use the lowest ISO possible, and max aperture of 3.5 but unless I have strong sunlight it has huge amounts of noise. I also edit some pictures in lightroom, but there's only so much it can do

Does anyone have any suggestions on anything else I can try to reduce the noise on this cheapo camera?

 

[jaomul]

Not sure if this camera shoots raw but there seems to be good success exposing to the right and removing noise while pulling the exposure back in post. Try exposing but not clipping highlights, usually one third or two thirds positive exposure comp may work. Level exposure in Lightroom. Only works if you have raw though

 

[bratkinson]

Apparently, it's a matter of you get what you pay for. At the low end of the camera scale, at just over $100 (US) these days, it would appear you are expecting too much from it. As the c/net review below indicates, it gets noisy quite quickly once ISO speed exceeds 200.
Canon PowerShot SX150 IS Review - Digital cameras - CNET Reviews
To quote the review: "the SX150 is at its best below ISO 200. At ISO 400 there's a noticeable increase in noise and softness from noise reduction.:the SX150 is at its best below ISO 200. At ISO 400 there's a noticeable increase in noise and softness from noise reduction."

In short, you may be expecting more than it can deliver other than than vacation type snapshots and using the popup flash for all indoor shots.

As far as reducing the noise, while Lightroom can do a fairly decent job of reducing noise, after reading a number of threads on this forum, I'm strongly considering trying/buying Noiseware from imagenomic Noiseware - the Better way to remove Noise It looks very promising as in my low light shooting at high ISOs, the noise is 'acceptably' reduced with Lightroom alone, but still a bit distracting when the pictures are strongly cropped.

 

[TheStupidForeigner]

@Jaomul, you mean setting the exposure compensation in the positive? I always thought this was a digital brightener and no different from doing it in light room later, am I wrong? Also, no the camera can't shoot raw unfortunately, would you suggest I try this anyway?

Another thing I heard and thinking to try is using lower resolution. I usually resize my pictures anyway and because of noise avoid cropping them at all unless I really need to, maybe this can help?

@bratkinson, about the cnet review, I agree with it... this is a very good camera in very high light pictures, but it sucks with 400 ISO or more, I used to have a sx130 and sx110 and those were actually less noisy than their newer model for some reason...

 

[KmH]

The way to minimize image noise with any digital camera is by Optimizing Exposure

A typical consumer DSLR recording 12 bits per sensel is able to record up to 4,098 separate tonal values.

• If we assume a 10 stop dynamic range this is how this data is distributed...
  • The brightest stop = 2048 tonal values
  • The next brightest stop = 1024 tonal values
  • The next brightest stop = 512 tonal values
  • The next brightest stop = 256 tonal values
  • The next brightest stop = 128 tonal values
  • The next brightest stop = 64 tonal values
  • The darkest stop = 32 tonal values
• As can be seen, each stop from the brightest to the darkest contains half of the data of the one preceding it.

• This helps explain why noise is seen most in the darkest areas of a file. In the brightest areas there is a lot of data and so the noise floor (which is always present) only represents a small percentage of the total signal (or data). In the darker areas, where data is sparse, ever-present noise becomes easily visible.

 

[AniTakesPhotos]

You probably don't want to invest in new software, but DxO Optics Pro 9 works miracles when it comes to reducing noise.

 

[hirejn]

First you need a perfect exposure. If you're attempting to fix exposure in software or process beyond the file's capabilities, noise is unavoidable. If you have a perfect negative at low ISO, and edit carefully, noise should be minimal. If you shoot RAW, you have additional flexibility with reducing noise in software. Also, you could use a noise reduction program, such as Nik or Topaz Labs. I don't make many equipment recommendations because I believe better photography is the responsibility of the photography; however, I do recommend that anyone serious about photography use a DSLR system. The larger sensors are much better with noise and any DSLR will be better than a pocket cam. Used kits are available for around $300-$400.

 

[cynicaster]

One technique you might want to try is stacking several exposures and averaging them. I think later versions of Photoshop provide this capability. Pretty much only suitable for static scenes, though.