I learn something new every day.

Just found out I could push my ISO up to 6400 on my little R50 without the world coming to an end. I snapped a pic of my dining room that was fairly dark. Lo and behold, you can actually slow the shutter speed down and let more light in. The resulting image was actually decent. But wait, there’s more. There is a gizmo in Lightroom called “denoise”, and when you press the button, it magically polishes up the image to remove the dreaded noise. This is a breakthrough moment for a newbie like me. I know that this is old news to all you veterans out there, but remember I’m still in kindergarten eating the crayons. I’m going to go full daredevil mode, and see how far I can push the ISO without things turning ugly.

Seriously, it’s fun when I start to make sense of things. I literally learn something new every time I pick up my camera. I also learn something new every time I login to this site. I really appreciate that there is no gatekeeping here, and all you folks have been very generous with your talent, wisdom, and experience.

Attached is a pic of my dark dining room. This isn’t a perfect picture, and the craw file had a little noise, but once it got denoised, it’s much better. Just don’t zoom in.

Bonus points: those of you who are really observant will see my “Canon Rebel T6 For Dummies” book on the bookshelf.

It's amazing what these sensors can capture, and what a little tweaking in software can do. I'm glad that you're learning and having fun - that's what it is all about. BTW, I can't spot the book, but I'm curious about that thing that looks like a telescopic sight sitting on the top of the book shelf.

My want for taster lenses has diminished with modern day NR. Lens Blur too. Adobe, DXO, ON1 etc are al saving us pools of cash.

ISO 20,000 using LrC.



ISO 40,000 using LrC.

Did you know about Raw Details just under the Denoise button? It applies automatically when you use Denoise AI. If I don't use Denoise AI, I always apply Raw Details. These days Denoise AI does not create a separate DNG so I pretty much use it most of the time and just scale back on the slider.

Julieanne explains what Raw Details does.

MikeZ said:

It's amazing what these sensors can capture, and what a little tweaking in software can do. I'm glad that you're learning and having fun - that's what it is all about. BTW, I can't spot the book, but I'm curious about that thing that looks like a telescopic sight sitting on the top of the book shelf.

Click to expand...

MikeZ,
I am having fun, and I too am astounded by what even an entry level camera like the R50 can do. At this stage of my journey, the camera is not the limiting factor. One day I want to move up to a more capable rig, but until then I have my hands full with what I have.

The thing sitting on top of the shelf is a Surveyors level from the 1950’s . I used one like it when I worked for the Georgia Highway Department surveying Interstate Highway 95 through coastal Georgia. That was my first job out of high school in 1973, and I have been at it since I retired in 2021. I had my own surveying business for 18 years after working for various engineering firms. Talk about seeing the technological revolution up close, but I went from dragging a steel measuring tape through the swamp to using GPS units that get measurements down to a centimeter.

The book is on the far right of the shelf kind of hidden behind another book. I had forgotten I had it until I took this picture.

SwampGrizz said:

MikeZ,
I am having fun, and I too am astounded by what even an entry level camera like the R50 can do. At this stage of my journey, the camera is not the limiting factor. One day I want to move up to a more capable rig, but until then I have my hands full with what I have.

The thing sitting on top of the shelf is a Surveyors level from the 1950’s . I used one like it when I worked for the Georgia Highway Department surveying Interstate Highway 95 through coastal Georgia. That was my first job out of high school in 1973, and I have been at it since I retired in 2021. I had my own surveying business for 18 years after working for various engineering firms. Talk about seeing the technological revolution up close, but I went from dragging a steel measuring tape through the swamp to using GPS units that get measurements down to a centimeter.

The book is on the far right of the shelf kind of hidden behind another book. I had forgotten I had it until I took this picture.

Click to expand...

I had the 50D. Excellent camera. I sure wish I had access todays NR tools when I was using it.

SwampGrizz said:

MikeZ,
I am having fun, and I too am astounded by what even an entry level camera like the R50 can do. At this stage of my journey, the camera is not the limiting factor. One day I want to move up to a more capable rig, but until then I have my hands full with what I have.

The thing sitting on top of the shelf is a Surveyors level from the 1950’s . I used one like it when I worked for the Georgia Highway Department surveying Interstate Highway 95 through coastal Georgia. That was my first job out of high school in 1973, and I have been at it since I retired in 2021. I had my own surveying business for 18 years after working for various engineering firms. Talk about seeing the technological revolution up close, but I went from dragging a steel measuring tape through the swamp to using GPS units that get measurements down to a centimeter.

The book is on the far right of the shelf kind of hidden behind another book. I had forgotten I had it until I took this picture.

Click to expand...

Yes. I posted those two samples to illustrate what can be done these days. The only thing worry about is getting the shot. Much easier to fix a noisy image than a blurry one because of holding back with a slower shutter speed.

Only RF said:

Did you know about Raw Details just under the Denoise button? It applies automatically when you use Denoise AI. If I don't use Denoise AI, I always apply Raw Details. These days Denoise AI does not create a separate DNG so I pretty much use it most of the time and just sale back on the slider.

Julieanne explains what Raw Details does.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Click to expand...

RF,
Those are spectacular! 20K and 40K!!!

Is the Raw Details specific to Lightroom Classic? I use regular Lightroom on my iPad and Laptop. I looked on my iPad, and didn’t see the checkboxes like in the video. Even then, the denoise tool I have is great.

I did a little more daredevil scientific research, and bumped the ISO up to 12,500, 25,000, and 32,000. The resulting images were actually not too bad, and with a little denoise magic, were acceptable. Not going to win any awards, but I’ve seen worse.

I totally agree with your statement “The only thing worry about is getting the shot. Much easier to fix a noisy image than a blurry one because of holding back with a slower shutter speed.” Well said.

RF,
You wrote above “My want for taster lenses has diminished with modern day NR. Lens Blur too. Adobe, DXO, ON1 etc are al saving us pools of cash.”

I ran headlong into this scenario when I went on my fall leaf colors trip. It was late afternoon, and it was overcast, so the light wasn’t too good. I was on a high overlook trying to get photos of the valley below, and was really struggling to get acceptable results. It got me to thinking that I needed a faster lens, and I really did not want to go down that rabbit hole. I was using a 24-105 f/4-7.1 STM lens, and up to that point had been pretty satisfied with it. It does what I want in good light, and most importantly, I could afford it. It isn’t the best lens out there, but it suits my needs given my level of expertise. Now that I have discovered that ISO doesn’t necessarily have to be so low, and with higher ISO more light can be let in, I am looking at my lens differently. Your quote above really makes sense. With noise reduction, I think I can live with my lens a little longer. Now I don’t have to approach the Chief Financial Officer to plead my case.

When it comes to apertures four things stick in my mind

Depth of field
Circle of confusion
Display size (of the image)
Viewing distance (of the image)

Of course, software can introduce its own interpretation.

Ultimately

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

The porest low light camera I have used was the 60D. 400 ISO was noisy. The R7 on the other hand, Almost no noise.