(fyi-I have open this new discussion as a reference point)
Seems like I am having the same issue with the grainy photos, I shoot in raw, for wildlife (birds) in flight I shoot manual, auto ISO with shutter speed above 1200 for eagles, ducks and 5000 for hummingbirds. The shots look clear and clean when taking them and even after in the camera but when downloaded to my PC, it shows as below, even after processing in lightroom, it still does not look as sharp as should be.
Using Canon EOS R6 mk2 with Sigma 150mm - 600mm contemporary glass.
Not sure why the raw is so grainy, anyone having the same issue?
No problem - it wasn't a criticism, but intended to reduce confusion - one gets people reading one thread and answering another, and all sorts of other cross-talk confusion. I know this site takes a bit to get used to!🙂
On the subject of noise:
Inevitably, a RAW file will show more noise and less dynamic range than, say, a JPG file. That said, with respect, I can only agree with the comments that your ISO values are too high, in order to achieve what seems to me to be an unnecessarily high shutter speed. For the static image in particular, you could get away with a shutter speed in the area of 1/200 sec, that would give you 3 stops of light that can reduce the ISO from 25,600 to 3,200 which would make all the difference. In my shots, I don't have the same lens as you, but the settings are relatable.
For example, this shot was taken in extremely dim light, and despite that there is essentially no noise. Part of this is the other settings that allow a lower ISO, and part is slightly brighter exposure setting to reduce under-exposure and thus noise from that source. Both shots taken in available light, hand-held. The originals were RAW and processed in Photoshop using default lens corrections, possibly cropped, and file is resized for posting here as JPG files.
This second image, also in very dim light also shows little noise, and that is the older original R6.
I agree with Ernie that given the lighting conditions (and aperture limitations), you need to drop the shutter speed. 1/1600 is fast enough to freeze the subject motion and you would probably be OK at 1/1000 for many captures.
Attached eagles were captured with 1DX II and III bodies with EF 400 f2.8 and EF 800 f5.6 glass using 1/1600 shutter speed. Had lighting conditions required, I wouldn't have hesitated to drop down to 1/1000 or 1/800 as needed.
Rodger
