What about Digital Noise?

 

Marlee dancing. ISO 12,800, about a 200% enlargement. Click on photo to enlarge.

Since digital photography came into general use, digital noise at higher ISOs has been a recurrent bugbear for some photographers. To combat the perceived problem, various software developers brought forth their solutions. Meanwhile, camera manufacturers were designing better and better sensors, enabling photographers to shoot at higher and higher ISOs with less and less noise. 

I began digital photography in 2003 with a Canon EOS 10D. It showed noticeable noise, somewhat resembling film grain, at an ISO of 1600. I was photographing quite a few weddings in those days, and only used high ISOs in low-light situations, such as the interiors of churches. The noise was noticeable on my computer monitor, but did not show up badly at all in the 8x10 prints I was selling my wedding clients.

Dennis Mook, who blogs at The Wandering Lensman, has written two recent blogs on the subject of digital noise. You can read them here and here. Dennis is more concerned about noise than I am, but he apparently concludes it's not much of a factor anymore. Personally, I haven't worried about noise in a long time. But, I don't do a lot of high ISO stuff.

However, when I photographed Marlee's latest dance performance at ISO 12,800, the first time I had used that setting, I was pleased with the resulting files. Although I shot both RAW and jpeg in my Fuji X-H1, I used only the straight out of camera jpeg files. The only things I did to this file in Photoshop was lighten the image slightly in curves and apply an unsharp masking action that raises the mid-tone contrast a bit without affecting the highlights or shadows. 

The sensor in my X-H1 is not the latest version, so I'm sure the newer ones from Fuji and other manufacturers are even better. But I'm okay with what I have. Maybe I'm too easy to please, but I'm satisfied with this photograph. But then, I've always valued content above technique, as long as the technique is adequate to express the idea of the photograph. 

Blog note: Louise is making a remarkable recovery. Heartfelt thanks to all of you who have prayed. There are still some issues to be dealt with, so please don't stop.

Check out the pictures at my online gallery: https://davejenkins.pixels.com/  Looking is free, and you might find something you like.

Photography and text copyright 2023 David B.Jenkins.

I post Monday, Wednesday, and Friday unless life gets in the way.

Soli Gloria Deo -- For the glory of God alone.