D300 Noise problems

[Everythingisnt]

I am wondering if this is normal performance for a D300..

The following photo was taken at ISO 800, shutter speed 1/30th on a D300 with a diopter screwed to the end of the lens.

As you can see in the %150 magnification, there is some serious noise going on.

Thoughts? thanks

 

[ChrisA]

As you can see in the %150 magnification, there is some serious noise going on.

150% is not a good why to look at this. In the image you posted each pixel is made up of data from more then one camera pixel in a rather complex way. (Is this a bi-cubic enlargment or what?) A 100% crop is the best size to post so we can see the pixels one to one.. Also a lot depends on how the raw file was processed either in-camera or on the computer, so you'll have to tell us some more details.

When you make a 150% enlargment and put it on a 72 DPI monitor, you have in effect printed a four foot wide print. Yes of course defects will be visable in such a hugh print. When matters is the final product. If you print this to paper at 300 DPi the noise will not be detectable or if you down ample the file to fit on a web page or TV screen the noise will also go away. I'd say the image is very good, within the limits of a DX format SLR.

 

[taylorwilsdon]

You have to nail your exposure to get the lowest noise, regardless of ISO

I have shot iso3200 shots that looked very clean and iso800 shots that had tons of digital noise because I missed the exposure on the latter. The d300 is very forgiving though. Wish I still had it.

 

[James L]

Totally agree with the above. Why would you look at it at 150%?

 

[compuwar]

Thoughts? thanks

Box it up, send it to me and let me know what you want pictures of. I'll send back prints

(Yes, poorly exposed, yes too much pixel peeping- make a print and see how it looks at the correct viewing distance.)

 

[Everythingisnt]

Box it up, send it to me and let me know what you want pictures of. I'll send back prints

(Yes, poorly exposed, yes too much pixel peeping- make a print and see how it looks at the correct viewing distance.)

Thanks for the advice all. It's just worrisome because the noise is visible even at the normal viewing size on my monitor (around %30 I think).


It was processed using Aperture (not capture NX), so maybe that's why there's a bit more noise.

Guess it's also because of underexposure.. I was struggling for light.

 

[arogge]

It looks acceptable to me, especially for a 150% crop. The noise is low enough to not suggest applying any noise-reduction.