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08-03-2011, 02:50 PM   #1
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Excesive noise in moderate light, please help

Hey all. I recently switch from an old D3000 to a K-R(kit lens) and keep having a lot of noise in situations where it shouldn't be. Camera is lightly used and i am bit worried that something may be wrong. I have never had this with my old nikon so i am alarmed...to say the least.


FIrst pic was with plenty of light with UV filter. Looks fine to me.


Second is same Automatic settings, outside with what i feel is a decent amount of light, but cloudy.

Please help me out! Could it be a setting that i am not familiar with that previous owner changed??





08-03-2011, 02:58 PM   #2
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Join Date: May 2011
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That second pic isn't so bad, for ISO 12800. You need to limit your ISO range to cut down on noise. There is no reason to use such a high setting, and extremely fast shutter speed, for a portrait like this. Your shutter speed was 1/4000th of a second, and the camera is doing this in auto mode because you have the ISO set so high. It's trying to compensate for that (by using a very small aperture too, f/14). If your ISO were set to 200, or 400, then the other two settings would adjust accordingly and you would get better results. If you find that a scene is too dark for low ISO, and the shutter speed suggested by the camera is too long to comfortably shoot handheld, then you can ramp up the ISO a bit to balance it.

Exposure is a balancing act of shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. The more you experiment and learn about this, the easier it'll get, and the more sense it will make.
08-03-2011, 03:02 PM   #3
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The solution to your problem is quite simple. You've set the ISO far too high at ISO 12,800 and underexposed the shot. Combine the 2 factors and you will get noise.

There's no need of f14 and 1/4000 to capture a portrait shot. Either you or the camera exposed for the sky and not the subject. The meter reading needs to be off the face and had that been done, you would have shot at least 1.5 stops brighter and had a lot less noise. But even so, the ISO is still far too high. I wouldn't shoot above ISO 800 even in cloudy skies outside. Preferably ISO 200

See the histogram here and the 1.5 stop increase below. The "hump is all to the left and should be an even hump in the middle, or more to the right.

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Now with the proper exposure on the face, you are really seeing the noise from using an ISO that's too high combined with a shot that's underexposed by 1.5-2 stops.

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08-03-2011, 03:09 PM   #4
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Bump your ISO down a couple stops, that will help a lot. In both of those situations you had more than ample light to get a shot at a slower shutter speed, but the camera chose the highest ISO setting available (12800). If you set the upper limit of Auto ISO to 3200, you will likely get much less grainy photos.

I personally like using the P mode and adjusting aperture as I need based on the type of shot that I would like.
Hope your K-r treats you well!

08-03-2011, 03:28 PM   #5
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Original Poster
Thanks!!! I didnt realize the iso was set to 12k, i assumed it was on auto and didnt even think to check there.
So far i absolutely love this camera, everything about it feels better then nikon dont know why...
Thanks again!!!!
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