Help with noise. Shooting in low light

[sk8ting]

No zoom lenses are available with f stop faster than f/2.8. In these kinds of situations a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 is your best friend.

Somebody needs to tell Olympus!

Olympus 14-35mm f/2.0 ED SWD Zuiko Zoom Lens 261011 B&H Photo

Olympus 35-100mm f/2.0 ED Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens 261012 B&H

Hold on, let me cut off my arms and legs to get those lenses.

 

[mjhoward]

No zoom lenses are available with f stop faster than f/2.8. In these kinds of situations a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 is your best friend.

Somebody needs to tell Olympus!

Olympus 14-35mm f/2.0 ED SWD Zuiko Zoom Lens 261011 B&H Photo

Olympus 35-100mm f/2.0 ED Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens 261012 B&H

Hold on, let me cut off my arms and legs to get those lenses.

Those are pretty standard prices for fast, quality zooms (as others already mentioned).

 

[MTVision]

Hold on, let me cut off my arms and legs to get those lenses.

If you get a d lens - you won't have autofocus. The 50mm 1.8g is about 200.00 and is a phenomenal lens from what ive heard. I've also heard it is better then the more expensive 50 1.4g.

You can go higher then ISO 800 without a lot of noise.



This picture was shot at ISO 3200. Printed out at 8x10 you can't see any noise. Granted it wasn't an area as dark as yours but...it's just to show you that the d5100 can handle high ISO's. I think the d7000 an the d5100 have similar ISO performance.

 

[sk8ting]

I found one on Craigslist I am gonna take a look at tomorrow. If not ill take a run around to some stores and see what they have

 

[Aloicious]

ah yes, I forgot the 5100 doesn't have the motor. yeah the D lenses won't autofocus, look at the G series ones unless you're okay with manual focus.

what are you planning to do with these shots? yes you CAN go higher than 800ISO and not have much visable noise for vairous applications without a problem...but from the sound of your first post, you're probably pixel peeping and looking for the noise....if you're printing them in reasonable sizes or only using them for web use or something, then higher ISO won't be a problem, but if you're looking at them at 100%+ and searching for noise and just don't want to see it at that level, for whatever reason you might have, then staying at 800 or below would be ideal. best advice I can give is try everything out and see what you like as far as ISO....everyone has their own preferences...

 

[sk8ting]

The shots I posted are what I will be taking. I'm okay with the manual focus I much prefer it over autofocus. Except for shots of my friends skating or snowboarding.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Hold on, let me cut off my arms and legs to get those lenses.

If you get a d lens - you won't have autofocus. The 50mm 1.8g is about 200.00 and is a phenomenal lens from what ive heard. I've also heard it is better then the more expensive 50 1.4g.

You can go higher then ISO 800 without a lot of noise.

This picture was shot at ISO 3200. Printed out at 8x10 you can't see any noise. Granted it wasn't an area as dark as yours but...it's just to show you that the d5100 can handle high ISO's. I think the d7000 an the d5100 have similar ISO performance.

Completely agree. I routinely shoot indoor soccer at ISO 6400, and sometimes higher, on a D7000. Don't get me wrong... I'd love to be shooting at 800 or lower, but in my case its just not an option. 6400 is very usable, especially if you have options for noise reduction in post.

 

[Aloicious]

The shots I posted are what I will be taking. I'm okay with the manual focus I much prefer it over autofocus. Except for shots of my friends skating or snowboarding.

yeah, but what will you be using the images for? printing? web usage? billboards? how you plan on using them will determine how picky you need to be about noise.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

The shots I posted are what I will be taking. I'm okay with the manual focus I much prefer it over autofocus. Except for shots of my friends skating or snowboarding.

Is flash an option for you?

 

[sk8ting]

The shots I posted are what I will be taking. I'm okay with the manual focus I much prefer it over autofocus. Except for shots of my friends skating or snowboarding.

yeah, but what will you be using the images for? printing? web usage? billboards? how you plan on using them will determine how picky you need to be about noise.

Both, print for album covers, and posters. Then their Facebook page and website.

 

[sk8ting]

The shots I posted are what I will be taking. I'm okay with the manual focus I much prefer it over autofocus. Except for shots of my friends skating or snowboarding.

Is flash an option for you?

In their basement as well as other areas, yes. At a concert, no.

 

[Aloicious]

Both, print for album covers, and posters. Then their Facebook page and website.

album cover size printing and facebook/website stuff will be fine at a little higher ISO and noise shouldn't be an issue...posters may not like higher ISO depending on their size since most of the time posters are large prints that are looked at a fairly close range so noise and such will stand out more...

best thing would be to experiment and find out what you like and what you feel is usable, we can all show you images of high ISO that are usable and acceptable for us, but in the end, you are the one that needs to decide what is right for your situation, and your client...maybe recreate similar lighting situation and do some test shots so you know what to work with before you're at the actual event...but regardless, a fast lens will definitely be a worthwhile investment.

depending on what processing software setup you use, another option might be going slightly higher ISO and using a noise reduction software to help combat it. just be careful not to use too much noise reduction as it can make things appear fake/over processed, you can also lose fine detail in the image if its used too much.

also read up on exposure metering modes if you haven't already. since noise is directly related to exposure quality, getting it metered for your subject properly will help improve the results even at higher ISO.

 

[sk8ting]

Does photoshop have the noise reduction? If not what software should I acquire, if need be

 

[MTVision]

Does photoshop have the noise reduction? If not what software should I acquire, if need be

Of course photoshop has noise reduction! Photoshop comes with adobe camera raw - the noise reduction in camera raw works great!

 

[sk8ting]

Alright good. I use illustrator and indesign, never ps.