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 p.1 #1 · D2H tricks and techniques > Color > High ISO noise | |
D2H tricks and techniques > Color > High ISO noise
Ok guys, I've gotten more than a few emails or private messages regarding the D2H and the color I have been getting out of it. I have also been asked about the noise performance at high ISO regarding the D2H.
So I figured I would compile one post to encompass both questions and try to answer some of the questions that have been sent my way regarding the D2H. Hopefully it may help some of you who are on the fence about buying one... or just aren't getting the results you want out of it with your workflow.
The Key for me to not die in post process is AUTOMATION using CS's batch capabilities.
Color:
First a little background on tools and settings. I start by shooting RAW (compressed only). I also use Photoshop CS's raw converter to process all of my images. That goes for All RAW adjustments; Exposure, Color settings, White Balance, etc.
I first really liked the way Nikon View and Capture rendered the colors out of the camera when the shot was well exposed and nicely saturated from brightly lit natural light. So I used Nikon View's color and density properties to base my settings in PSCS's raw converter and saved those sub-settings as a base for color. I then started tweaking my color settings, saturation, contrast, etc. The more testing and processing I did the more I tweaked my sub-settings, each time I was saving them as separate settings sets so I could go back to one instance and compare/contrast the results. After much trial and error I finally came up with a sub-setting set that gave me the more natural skin tones I wanted, while giving me some extra contrast and color punch where I wanted it. It's still honestly a work in progress, but I have been using the same sub-setting for all of my weddings for a while now. I apply this color sub-setting to ALL of my images in one step using CS's file browser and the right click > "Apply Camera RAW Settings" selection. Easy.
Naturally I still have to adjust exposure and white balance for some shots, since I tend to shoot Auto White Balance and 0 on exposure compensation. Any time the D2H sees white it tends to over expose a bit to conserve highlight detail. Which I am fine with by the way.^_^ White balance in natural light is great, in mixed light is a crap shoot, and tungsten/fluorescent is ... ehhh... but then again shooting RAW makes it really easy to fix. I also gel my SB-800s to match the lighting in most cases. And it tends to help a lot! With gelled flashes and shots that are from particular rooms I batch apply a white balance setting for each lighting instance. So basically I adjust the first image of a series that have similar light and white balance needs, and then batch apply to all similar images.
Back to Color...
After applying Camera RAW settings to all the shots that I have flagged, and adjusting whatever white balance and exposure I need to (I don't convert to JPEGs just yet, as I adjust and let CS save the settings to each RAW file in the sidecar file before making JPEGs) I batch process all of them using an action that converts the RAW to JPEGs and saves them in a new folder. You can have your action convert to a color profile like SRGB, Adobe RGB, or change the mode to LAB Color (preserves color space of file) before making into JPEGs so if you use the "Save for web" tool you won't de-saturate your colors.
Finally If I feel that a shot is still a little flat, or that I want some more separation between the elements, I apply an action that I created that adds four adjustment layers; Contrast/Brightness, Levels, Curves, and Channel Mixer for B&W. This way with everything in Adjustment layers I can toggle on/off the changes to see their effect and determine if it's needed, as well as have layer mask for each to really tweak the effects. (I could apply this en masse by batching it of course and making tons of PSDs, but I find it not necessary for all images so I obsess only over a few.)
Sounds like a lot... and it is, but with automation there's a minimal amount of fuss to be had as long as your exposures are good, and/or white balance doesn't have to be messed with much or at all.
Examples
First we have an image straight out of the camera
Next we Have the Raw with all the sub-settings applied
Finally we have the action with 4 adjustment layers applied (If needed or wanted)
Another example That shows AWB SNAFUs
AWB in Tungsten
Default Camera settings but WB fixed
After Sub-settings applied
Final Four layer Action applied (not necessary but does have a slight effect on image clarity I feel
So I bet you are wondering... "What are these color settings?" Here are the base settings that I use in CS's RAW converter to get the color out of the D2H files.
I'll start with Shadows since Temperature, Tint, and Exposure will vary depending on your shots.
Adjust Tab
Shadows: 11
Brightness: 50
Contrast: +57
Saturation: +30
Detail Tab
Sharpness: 47 (you can adjust this anywhere you like, but I have been using other sharpening methods in post if this doesn't get it sharp enough for large prints
Luminance Smoothing: 0
Color Noise Reduction: 25 (This setting is key to Taming the Amount of color in the noise/grain of the D2H's higher ISO shots, which I explain more on later)
Lens Tab
Nada... I touch nothing here ZERO on all
Calibrate
Shadow Tint: 0
Red Hue: +26
Red Saturation: -38
Green Hue: +41
Green Saturation: 0
Blue Hue: -9
Blue Saturation: +22
Try those and tell me if it's better than what you've been getting. Your mileage may vary of course. Tweak from there to get what you like. This is just a base setting. My Cyans tend to be a little over cooked... but I like it.
Now What about the D2H'S Noise? This is the #1 knock about the D2H that I hear/read thrown around on the internet and in social circles. "The Noise on the D2H is so bad I'd rather use a PS" or some sort of nonsense... or my Favorite "Canon's 20D is noise free..." Or "______Mark II______ vs. D2H ______" (Fill in Blanks). Canon makes awesome cameras, and that is no lie. However let's get back to the D@H noise issue since it seems to be a point in contention with people paying loads of $$$ to switch systems or shying away from the D2H because they feel they can't get useable high ISO images from it.
I won't go into a lengthy discussion about digital noise as we all know what it is and how it hampers our photography when it is nasty looking. But let's talk about Film grain a little. Film grain is random in nature. The Grain is more apparent and the emulsion is more grainy/larger with the faster the speed film being used. Many of us would use 800, 1600, and even 3200 speed films at times when we needed available light shots. We knew that there would be a large amount of film grain and that fine detail would suffer. However, many of us felt that the grain actually heightened the artistic appeal of such shots. That being said, the D2H has one of the more naturalistic renditions of digital grain (noise) that I personally have seen. The variance of colors inherent to digital grain is at a low point, even if the camera's overall grain amount at higher ISO is more than some others. This means that like film, you WILL see grain in high ISO shots... but with the D2H, the random colors and patterns shown in the grain will be less than some other cameras.
I find the grain characteristics of the D2H at high ISO to be pleasing to my eye, as it seems nice and random just like film grain. But at really high ISOs there is still some random color that I'd like to get rid of. The "Color Noise Reduction" setting in CS's RAW converter allow me to get a more natural/more film grain look to my D2H noise at high ISOs.
Examples from a 1600 ISO test I did earlier this year:
1600 straight from camera. Processed in Nikon Editor with No changes made, Shot in AWB in Fine JPG:
100% Crop
This one was processed from NEF. 1600, low sharpening in Nikon Editor only, no color/density corrections:
100% crop
The same shot but processed in Photoshop CS (default settings...NO sub-settings applied at all)
100% Crop
Now what I see is that Photoshop CS's RAW Converter and Nikon Editor process these two shots differently. One with more contrast, and one with more shadow details preserved. But what I'm looking at here is how apparent noise is at 1600 ISO. Nothing else. These are test shots only to show 1600 ISO... ignore focus, composition, exposure etc. We're talking noise here... and it just doesn't look any worse to me than some high-speed films.
Aside from rendering the noise better, I felt that CS also hold highlights and shadow detail over Nikon's software. (shrug)
How large can you go?
I've seen someone on the web post a picture of a 30x40 print from a D2H file. Personally I have done up to 20x30s for clients.
Here are a few pics of a studio sample we have of a 20x30 print. MY thumb is there for scale, and there's a quick macro snapshot of the eyeball... keep in mind that no one but us tech junkies will look this closely, but it is clean and sharp. These pics are ISO 400 and 620 with the print shot being taken at ISO 400 and upsampled through PS CS using a one-step bicubic smoother process.:
The white of the eye you see in these pictures... are pictures of a print, so there's a lot of light going on in the house when I snapped that. The other reason is, my custom sub-setting that I use to process RAWs has a lot of cyan and blue punched up, and I like my blues to be over saturated. I can dial that out of the white if I need to, but there's a great deal of sky being reflected in his eye as well so I chose to leave it. Basically it's a processing choice on my part.
As for noise... you can see even blown up to stupid proportions the noise looks more like film grain.
Before up-rezing I change to LAB color mode. Then for upsampling I have been simply using bicubic smoother interpolation and changing the image size in inches to my target print size and applying in one step. I then re-save the image in the highest quality JPG file and upload to Miller's for printing.
Last of this post for now:
(Disclaimer: The Prints look awesome... Metallic prints don't photograph well  )
20x30 Print
100% crop of the photo of the print
16x20
100% crop of the photo of a photo
thumb for scale: This is supposed to show that even at close up there is no pixelation or problem with the images printed very large. When you view this is ral life, it's awesome. This photo you could very well pick on the sharpness... but look how large my thumb is
Going to bed... I hope this helps... please at least tell me if it does. ^_^ This took hours to write!
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