Graininess w/ 50mm.

cailinp · Aug 13, 2010

So I just got my Nikkor 50mm 1.4 and I had it out today shooting some pics. As soon as I got my photos into LR3 I noticed that each photo when zoomed in seemed to be extremely grainy. Normally I get really clean crisp focus out of my kit lens. I have no idea what I'm doing wrong or why this is happening. Anyone got any ideas?

Robin Usagani · Aug 13, 2010

Are you on auto ISO?

tirediron · Aug 13, 2010

Can you post some examples? Full images, and 100% crops of the 'grainy' areas, as well as what you consider to be acceptable with another lens?

Remember that when you're shooting wide open with your 1.4, DoF, especially at shorter camera-to-subject distances can be VERY shallow, sometimes in the order of an inch or two. Is it possible you were shooting wide open and slightly missed focus?

benlonghair · Aug 13, 2010

Graininess shouldn't be from a lens, it's probably because the camera hiked the ISO on you.

KmH · Aug 13, 2010

Digital noise won't be directly influenced by the lens, but can be influenced by the exposure.

Grain is a term the relates to film and the size of the light sensitive particles in the emulsion.

If you are shooting JPEG and pixel peeping, you could be seeing the 8x8 pixel squares that JPEG converts an image into. As JPEG quality is reduced those squares become much more noticeable.

Derrel · Aug 13, 2010

Good detectives we have here! The ISO is a prime suspect...police are expected to arrest the ISO any day now and charge it with excessive graininess inducement, contributing to the ruination of photographs, and disorderly conduct.,and inciting Noise Reduction,and possibly a couple other charges.

Robin Usagani · Aug 13, 2010

your f/1.4 is bad!.. send it to me

Early · Aug 13, 2010

benlonghair said:
Graininess shouldn't be from a lens, it's probably because the camera hiked the ISO on you.

A logical explanation that most of us, including me, wouldn't even think of.:thumbup:

cailinp · Aug 13, 2010

ISO set at 250 and shooting in A mode. Here are some examples.

_DSC0241-2 by CailinP, on Flickr

_DSC0241-2-2 by CailinP, on Flickr

_DSC0220-2-2 by CailinP, on Flickr

_DSC0220-2-3 by CailinP, on Flickr

Derrel · Aug 13, 2010

Those photos are not what I would classify as "extremely grainy". I would substitute the word slightly for extremely.

Josh66 · Aug 13, 2010

I don't really see what you're complaining about... They look fine to me.

How far are you zooming in when they look 'grainy'?

cailinp · Aug 13, 2010

Ok, Ok.....so maybe not "extremely" grainy but def. more grainy than my kit lens.

Sw1tchFX · Aug 13, 2010

Those aren't grainy, in fact that last one is quite sharp.

Show us an example of something that isn't grainy like this.

benlonghair · Aug 13, 2010

cailinp said:
Ok, Ok.....so maybe not "extremely" grainy but def. more grainy than my kit lens.

Two things. Those do not appear to be 100% crops. Can you show us what they look like pixel-for-pixel?

Also, bad exposure will also cause noise. Basically it boils down to the darker an area is the less shades the camera will pick up. Therefore if you underexpose then pump up the exposure in post you will end up with a much noisier photo.

For example this one was at ISO 800 and underexposed (100% crop). This one's a little better, because the exposure was better (ignore the background, it was underexposed).