High Noise in 5D Mark III

[jackai]

Hey Everyone,

I'm getting a random issue with my 5D Mark III. I usually shoot in AV mode, RAW at ISO 100. I don't like to increase my ISO because I want to avoid high noise and plus I'm shooting in HDR.  In dim lighting conditions when I have to lengthen the shutter speed and then view/process the dng images in Camera Raw, I get a mixed bag of results. Some images at 1/8 sec or 2 sec have the grainiest noise in the shadows, but then I'll have an image at 10 or 15 seconds and the image is smooth and sharp.  I'm at my wit's end.

It also helps to know that I just bought a 16 - 35mm 2.8L lens and it's been working fine up until today when the autofocus went bust. Could it be a body issue or lens issue?   I'm driving to Canon repair on Monday morning to drop off both lens and body. Any help or insight will help. 

[hsbn]

His case has nothing to do with LNR. It was the raw file got pull up extremely, thus the noise. And LNR is not good to be turn on all the time especially if you're shooting ISO1600 or higher.

[jackai]

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@hsbn wrote:

His case has nothing to do with LNR. It was the raw file got pull up extremely, thus the noise. And LNR is not good to be turn on all the time especially if you're shooting ISO1600 or higher.

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HSBN, What did you mean that my raw file got pulled up?  I'm still playing with controls on my camera and managed to turn noise reduction off.  I just upgraded to PS6 and am hoping I won't have this problem anymore, but I just want to understand how that image had an exposure of +3.4 when I set it at +2.  What did I do wrong?

[VinWeathermon]

Shooting portraits in my studio using ISO 50; why on earth is there so much chunky, blocks of noise in the shadows in the RAW file?  The exposure is supposed to turn the background dark...and it looks like limited color depth or tonal range is weak.  Am using LR 5.    I can turn up the noise removal, but this seems really odd to me.   Maybe because I used film and the much slower ISO film had a much finer grain I expect better.

Is the answer to push ISO higher?  That forces me to ND my strobes and lenses, a pain in the butt.  Not sure if it shows up in this jpg, but it has not been adjusted for exposure in LR, no noise removal, just a export to JPG with Adobe 1998 color space, 100% quality @2024 pixels wide.

[jackai]

I don't perform a lot of studio lighting, so I'm not sure what your issue is with the images.  I generally don't like to use flash and rely on natural light to photograph my subjects.  I will tell you that I still get noise from time to time in my images.  I do turn Noise Reduction off which tends to help, but it's still annoying.  I hope you have better luck.

[TCampbell]

Hi VinWeathermon,

I do not see these "clunky blocks" you speak of in your image... nor in my own 5D III in general.  

But keep in mind that when you post a reduced size image, the forced resampling that the computer has to do to make a smaller image has the side effect of smoothing things out.

Remember... when you shoot RAW there is NO NOISE REDUCTION applied to the image... no exceptions!  If even the tiniest amount of noise-reduction is applied... then what you have isn't technically a "RAW" image anymore.

Also keep in mind that your computer monitor is also part of the image.  A while back, someone posted an image that had "banding" in it.  I have two computers and an iPad.  I notice on my "oldest" computer (which had a pretty good display for it's day -- but is now getting to be a bit dated) I could see *some* banding... but not much.  On my newest display (very high end) I could not detect *any* banding at all... and these two monitors are literally side-by-side on my desk.  Also on my retina display iPad I could not see the slightest hint of banding.

My conclusion was monitor was the problem and not the camera.

As I look at YOUR image above... I do not see any clunky blocks (and I'm also using my oldest monitor -- this is the one in which I could see *some* banding on the previous post).  But the real question is... do YOU see the "clunky blocks" on THIS WEBPAGE (not on your original image).  If you see the blocks on the webpage (meaning after the resampling to down-size the image has been performed) and I do not see the image, then you're in a need of a monitor upgrade.  If, on the other hand, you do not see the clunky blocks in this image but still do in the original then the resampling has taken the problem away.

The 5D III is an exceptionally good camera.

One other thing... I haven't used LR in years.  But I do use Aperture and the two are a LOT alike.  When you import a RAW image, there's a JPEG preview embedded.  Also Aperture generates two JPEGs... one is a "thumbnail" and the other is a larger JPEG "preview" image.  The point of these is to let you fly through your images quickly.  But when you pull up an image to start work on it, it immediately reverts to the real "RAW" image.   Make sure you're not getting fooled by looking at a "preview" version of an image and not the RAW.  

[VinWeathermon]

Hi Tim, yes I'd thought of that.  I used to have a 1DS MK II and it banded in the shadows with magenta lines; this is more like a gradient that missed a large part of the tonal range.   I don't see them on this webpage because it is too small.    I rarely use camera JPG, and don't fool with noise removal when I do (but I know it does this a bit no matter what camera presets are used.)

I have other raw files that have similar shadows with other cameras and this isn't visible like it is with this 5dMKIII (including two other 5dMKII bodies.

It is fascinating that your monitor could not see banding that the older one could....I'll try looking at raw files on other monitors. 

[Tim]

Hello VinWeathermon,

Upon looking at the image, chunky blocks of noise are not apparent.  It's possible it has to do with the low ISO straining to develop details in the shadow areas.  Since you're shooting with strobes, you may wish to up the output versus raising the ISO.  You want to have enough light in the shadows to expose properly.  If you aren't using a dedicated light meter, it may be beneficial to your photography to use one especially when shooting strobes. 

As the old adage goes, you want to expose for shadows and develop for highlights.  The same is true across digital and film, except the computer/ software suites are now your darkroom and development tools.  We wish you the best of luck and believe your issue can be resolved with an adjustment of the exposure and more careful handling of contrasting areas.

If this is an urgent technical support matter, please feel free to contact support directly, either by phone or email, through the Service and Support section on Canon's web site.

[RobinS]

Hi there,

I used the original 5D for years and have recently upgraded to the 5D Mark III.  I shoot RAW, converting to TIF, and I'm getting noise like never before, especially magenta and cyan colour noise... even in brighter areas of the photo.  It's definitely a very serious issue for me.  Is this a common problem that has a fix or could it be a faulty camera body?  Thanks for your help.

[Skirball]

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@RobinS wrote:

Hi there,

I used the original 5D for years and have recently upgraded to the 5D Mark III.  I shoot RAW, converting to TIF, and I'm getting noise like never before, especially magenta and cyan colour noise... even in brighter areas of the photo.  It's definitely a very serious issue for me.  Is this a common problem that has a fix or could it be a faulty camera body?  Thanks for your help.

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Can you post an example, it's hard to comment without knowing what you're looking at.  The 5D3 handles noise considerably better than the old 5D, so if you're getting results that are worse then something is off.