Do you use high ISO Settings?

[Kev Lewis]

Originally Posted by DaiTheDragon

When i have to get rid of noise I use Noise Ninja but I mask the Bird first, apply Ninja to the background and then just sharpen the bird.

Dai

I do the same with Neat Image, very similar programmes

[eeyore]

i generaly find that my 20D is fine up to 800 but produces a lot of red channel noise in black areas when used on 1600 or 3200 - mind you i will still use these settings if there is no other way of getting the shot - any pic being better than no pic , and you can always convert to b+w and claim it is grain

[Kev Lewis]

or send it to the Daily Mail and win the wildlife photographer competition The chaffinch in snow shot was high iso as well lol

[tristanba]

I do frequently in less than great light, or sometimes just to get really high speeds. Canon have a real edge over Nikon here and it must be taken advantage of. 800 on the 20D is quite useable and even 1600 can be reasonable. I usually use NoiseNinja (plugin for Photoshop) on these shots although you will lose detail.

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by DaiTheDragon

When i have to get rid of noise I use Noise Ninja but I mask the Bird first, apply Ninja to the background and then just sharpen the bird.

Dai

Can I ask a really dumb question? How can an image have noise?

Can someone do a dummies list of camera jargon, make a sticky of it, put it in the camera forum ,so I (and probably 1 or 2 others) can nip into it to understand what you clever camera folk are talking about.

[Oy]

Originally Posted by Wild-Woman

Can I ask a really dumb question? How can an image have noise?

Noise is the digital equivalent of "grain" in film.

[Wild-Woman]

Originally Posted by Oy

Noise is the digital equivalent of "grain" in film.

Ah! I see.

[Chumley]

Originally Posted by DaiTheDragon

When i have to get rid of noise I use Noise Ninja but I mask the Bird first, apply Ninja to the background and then just sharpen the bird.

Dai

Do you use Ninja as a standalone or as a PS plug-in?

I do the latter, but I find it hard to tell what I'm masking and what I'm not.

[DaiTheDragon]

I use PS plug in. I dont create the mask in Noise Nija, I creat a Quick Mask in PS by painting over the bird. I then apply NN, then exit Quick Mask Mode and reverse the selection and apply the Unsharp filter.
Hope this helps. If you still have diificulty I will do a tutorial for you.

Dai

[Chumley]

Thanks Dai, makes sense. I'll give that a try and maybe come back to you