A huge step for me
 

I have shyed away from using any ISO on my D50 other than 200 as my first trys proved to be very grainy.

However, after digesting some of the very helpful threads these past couple of weeks I cautiously, and with a great amount of trepidation, moved the ISO to 1600 and the shutter speed to 1/1000 and tried my luck with the very fast moving Humming Birds. It is very cloudy here today and I probably could have stepped up the shutter speed a bit more but I've gotta tell you, I was impressed with what I wound up with. Not so impressed with the original image but once cropped and reduced in size, it really wasn't that bad. Is it?

KC

Then if you put through a noise cleaner program it will look something like this. I've used my camera profile so I suspect it will look beter with the D50 profile.

Yeah, it certainly does look better. Any noise reducing program I have used, tends to soften the subject quite a bit. Here it is not. Did you, by any chance, mask the bird before you ran it thru? If not, it did a beautiful job Rob.

No need to shy away from high ISO's. Noise can also appear in post image processing and sharpening, providing exposure is correct noise shall be kept to minimum and should not look unsightly. As Rob has mentioned noise reduction software can work wonders with care and respect.

Nice image, KC.

KC

I'll do a step by step guide later on for you.

It just took 1 min to do your image.

Noise reduction can be simple or complex. The problem with complex is if you don't really understand it there is more chance of screwing it up.

The two programs that most folk use for jpeg are Picture Cooler and Neat Image.

I tend to favour Neat Image and I will use it to show you in it's simplest form.

When you download the program from Neat Image make sure that you also download the Noise Profiles for your model of camera.

Once the program is installed unzip the Profiles into the Profiles directory of Neat Image.

Running Neat Image in it's simplest form is as easy as one, two, three.

1) Load your image ( I tend to denoise a jpeg before Post processing as sharpening can leave noise that is difficult to remove and your image exhibits some of that).

2) Select the Camera Noise profile that matches the shutter speed and ISO setting.

3) process and save.

The problem with using Auto profile method your image must have a suitable area for it to generate it from or it will blur fine detail.

The Downloaded versions of profile are not perfect but will deal with 85% of the noise with little effort on your behalf.


Perhaps if you denoise the humming bird before cropping and sharpening it may look cleaner still.



Tab 1 to 4

1) Open and load your image

2) Don't use Auto - On the Right marked by green circle open profiles.
Select a profile that matches ISO and shutter speed.

3) Skip this tab - Advanced setting - by skipping it you are accepting the defaults.
When you feel more confident you may want to nose around and see what you can tweak.

4) Click on apply, when it has processed save the new image.

Yep, I neatimaged it with a one click auto profile... I think it did a good job with K.C's The auto profile seems far better with the newer versions of neatimage.
Best to use auto profile on the full size image, then it has a better chance of finding a large spot of even tone.

Top half of the shot hasn;t had neatimage, the bottom half has

There really is quite a difference. I guess I need to get me Neat Image. Thanks guys. I really appreciate this.

Good shot,KC,is that a waterproof feeder?.Or is it a feeder designed esp for Humming birds.It does seem to have tiny feeding ports.Very snazzy.Good luck with Neat Image.I tried it,but found it too complex.

Rob, I have just purchased the download and now will work through your steps once I get the registration number. I cannot thank you enough for spending some time on this. Thanks

Hi Christine.

Yes it is a hummingbird feeder. I used to have some very elaborate feeders but they were almost impossible to keep clean and free of fungi. I have learned that the hummers don't really care what the container looks like as long as you have fresh nectar in the container. This specific feeder is so easy to keep clean. I still want to try the soda can with the straw. I saw a photo of this and it was amazing. Looked like the hummer was sipping Pepsi ;)

Well dang!!! This is probably going to be the best 30 bucks I've spent in a long time ;)

Nice Picture
 

I am really happy to see that the the D50 is capable of this quality of picture.

Now if I only knew what "noise" your talking about! To my untrained eye all the pictures look the same.

Frank
www.decoysbyfrank.com

Frank

When you Compare the background of KC's shot to this one below shot at ISO400 you can see a snow storm. When you increase the ISO setting the noise levels increase. You see the same sort of effect with film which is called grain.

Ok
 

Ok, I see it now, it's a subtle difference in the texture of the picture.

Thanks for the explanation.

Frank

Frank,the higher the ISO the more likely you will find the grainy bits in your images.Most modern cams ,esp the SLR's are fine using up to 400,but when you go higher,eg 800 or 1600,then noise is likely to appear,esp when the image is cropped.

Dang! What a difference a day makes
 

Okay guys, all these were shot with an ISO of 1600 and the day was brilliant sunshine wise.

learning
 

Christine, thank you for the iso information and what bearing it has on a picture.


KC nice pictures, what lense were you using to shoot the pictures shown.

Thanks,

Frank

Hi Frank and thank you.

I was using the Sigma 80-300mm APO

'pon my soul, my little Chickadee, you'll do for me!!
Ian