Acceptable noise w/ D90 for wedding photog.

[gl600]

Hey,
I was wondering what ISO you think is acceptable to shoot with in low light situations for wedding photography (with a D90)? I.e. how much noise do you think is passable? Shooting with an f/2.8 will still require me to boost the ISO up to at least 1600 in some situations. How high do you go?
Thanks

 

[Daver123]

I got married in the summer and checked out some of the darkest pics (during our first dance) for you. Looks like he stayed at 800 for all of them. He was shooting with a Canon 5D, using a flash, but I'm not sure which lens; looks like his largest f-stop was 2.8.

Hope that helps!

 

[KmH]

It's hard to say without knowing how much ambient light is available, what high ISO de-noise menu settings you have set in the camera, what de-noise software you have available on your image editing workstation, and how much time your willing to spend editing noise.

 

[Aritay]

what high ISO de-noise menu settings you have set in the camera

^^^^

does that effect the raw files??

 

[chip]

for 4x6 prints I think ISO1600 is fine.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

probably wouldn't want to go any higher than 1600.

For the reception part, you can always drag the shutter and do rear curtain sync, otherwise, i'd rent a 50mm f/1.4 and/or 85mm f/1.4 for when you need the speed.

 

[Garbz]

Here's a question. Is noise or motion blur, or completely missing the shot acceptable. Choose one of the three.

Unless you have external flashes and other ways to work around the issue I say standard D90 + standard lens you're somewhat stuck with the 3 above at some point during many weddings (especially receptions).

 

[gl600]

What camera would dramatically improve the chances for less noise?

 

[schumionbike]

well, it depend on what you shoot but an external flash is pretty useful if you can bounce it, it's a much cheaper option than a new body. The D90 is pretty good with noise and there are few cameras out there that can beat it, and those that that perform better cost much more. Also, noise don't show up in prints as much as they do on the computer screen. I had prints from 1600 ISO files on my D40 and the noise don't show up at all, not even in dark areas. Granted, the pints were only 4x6 but still.

 

[KmH]

What camera would dramatically improve the chances for less noise?

From the D90 you would need to step up to the full frame D700 to go to the next ISO level.

 

[lamergod]

What camera would dramatically improve the chances for less noise?

leica m9
d3s
d3
d700
5dmII

 

[AtlPikMan]

With a D90? I'd say 1600 with use of Noise reduction software in PP and you should be ok. Just dont underexpose shots.

 

[usayit]

What camera would dramatically improve the chances for less noise?

leica m9
...

No no no... I shoot with Leica. The m8 and m9 can produce absolutely stunning images with excellent image quality, resolution, etc.. Just like many of Kodak made sensors found in Hasselblad digitals, they are ~not~ known for high iso performance. Simply put, the R&D budget of the big players have put they ahead of the game in that respect.

Would I switch to something else? Hell no...

 

[robertwsimpson]

With a D90? I'd say 1600 with use of Noise reduction software in PP and you should be ok. Just dont underexpose shots.

exactly. You can shoot at ISO 800 and end up with a noisier shot than at ISO 1600 if you don't expose it properly. Shoot at whatever ISO you need to in order to get the shots that you want. If you don't shoot, you're not going to get the shots anyway, so what's the difference in having shots with a little bit of noise in them. Most people won't be scrutinizing every photo anyway. They probably wouldn't even notice a little bit of noise unless they wanted an 8x10 print of something that you shot above 1600 anyway.

 

[gl600]

The D700 and D3 is out of my price range right now. It looks like getting the correct exposure at whatever ISO is the best thing to do and then deal with it later if there are any issues.
Thanks