Getting rid of noise

Dirk Bouwen · January 31st, 2007, 01:12 PM

Having experience with both Sony VX2K/PD & Canon A1, I feel that both camera's behave quite different.

With the Sony I had the habit to maintain a more underexposed mode (then f.i. the Auto modes ever would do), resulting in excellent detail, somewhat filmic colours and surely an acceptable noise level.

The Canon has a completely other behavior. It clearly needs the driven into a more explicit exposure to achieve an acceptable noise level in the image, certainly in the dark area's - but by doing this, it remains to my feeling somewhat more stable in the resulting detail & colours over the exposure range.

I can imagine that the signal treatment in the Canon is a little more advanced and solid then the Sony VX ever was - which is after all a design of quite a few years ago. Probably the new Sony's FX1/7 and V1 behave as different as the A1, but I have no in depth experience with this.

Jeremy Naus · January 31st, 2007, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steven Dempsey

I'm glad this is looking better for you. It still looks like you have the NR filter on. I would definitely not use that because it turns detail into mush.

Steven, it could be that in some images the NR is on. In the shot I went twice through the 18 presets that I found here. But between each preset I go the default setting (which is at the moment the low light setting which has some NR (it's default since the first days I only shot at low light))

Steven Dempsey · January 31st, 2007, 01:19 PM

It could also be the compression of the Web files.

Dennis Wood · January 31st, 2007, 02:17 PM

A great way to illustrate exposure and noise is to do what I did at Christmas. Put the cam in auto mode, including auto gain and start chasing a 3 year old around. With the cam stabilized, I was jetting around from low light to very good light. The effect on noise was profound in the recorded footage. The noise "melted away" as I approached well lit areas, and returned (as expected) in very low lit areas. Although grainy, I was surprised I got any footage at all in some of the nearly dark areas.

I spent some time yesterday with the A1 hooked up to a Dell Ultrasharp 24" LCD (2407FPW) via component HD, and started playing with presets. This is a great way to tweak settings as the 1920x1200 monitor does a good job highlighting subtle differences in noise, contrast, noise reduction settings etc. A few hours like would be very productive in looking at the preset differences, and seeing immediately how they change the A1's image.

Jeremy Naus · February 20th, 2007, 03:25 AM

I have removed the clips from my site since they were eating bandwidth.
Also since the problem is solved I deemed it unnecessary to keep them online :)

Dave Mody · February 22nd, 2007, 09:47 PM

Having dealt with this issue with still camera quite a bit, the best solution I have seen is now available for video cameras (www.neatimage.com). I have not tried it though. I would be curious to see it anyone has used it and if they like the results. It sure works wonders in 'still land' though.

cheers dave

January 31st, 2007, 01:19 PM	#33
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	It could also be the compression of the Web files. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

February 22nd, 2007, 09:47 PM	#36
Dave Mody New Boot Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Kingston Posts: 23	Software for removing noise Having dealt with this issue with still camera quite a bit, the best solution I have seen is now available for video cameras (www.neatimage.com). I have not tried it though. I would be curious to see it anyone has used it and if they like the results. It sure works wonders in 'still land' though. cheers dave

January 31st, 2007, 01:12 PM	#31
Dirk Bouwen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: AC, Belgium Posts: 75	Having experience with both Sony VX2K/PD & Canon A1, I feel that both camera's behave quite different. With the Sony I had the habit to maintain a more underexposed mode (then f.i. the Auto modes ever would do), resulting in excellent detail, somewhat filmic colours and surely an acceptable noise level. The Canon has a completely other behavior. It clearly needs the driven into a more explicit exposure to achieve an acceptable noise level in the image, certainly in the dark area's - but by doing this, it remains to my feeling somewhat more stable in the resulting detail & colours over the exposure range. I can imagine that the signal treatment in the Canon is a little more advanced and solid then the Sony VX ever was - which is after all a design of quite a few years ago. Probably the new Sony's FX1/7 and V1 behave as different as the A1, but I have no in depth experience with this.

January 31st, 2007, 02:17 PM	#34
Dennis Wood Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 916	A great way to illustrate exposure and noise is to do what I did at Christmas. Put the cam in auto mode, including auto gain and start chasing a 3 year old around. With the cam stabilized, I was jetting around from low light to very good light. The effect on noise was profound in the recorded footage. The noise "melted away" as I approached well lit areas, and returned (as expected) in very low lit areas. Although grainy, I was surprised I got any footage at all in some of the nearly dark areas. I spent some time yesterday with the A1 hooked up to a Dell Ultrasharp 24" LCD (2407FPW) via component HD, and started playing with presets. This is a great way to tweak settings as the 1920x1200 monitor does a good job highlighting subtle differences in noise, contrast, noise reduction settings etc. A few hours like would be very productive in looking at the preset differences, and seeing immediately how they change the A1's image.

February 20th, 2007, 03:25 AM	#35
Jeremy Naus Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Antwerpen, Belgium Posts: 60	I have removed the clips from my site since they were eating bandwidth. Also since the problem is solved I deemed it unnecessary to keep them online :)