Leigh Edwards , Jun 26, 2008; 10:53 p.m.
I must be doing something wrong. Several people have posted examples of gorgeous, noise-free shots taken in low
light with the D300 at ISOs of 800 and greater. I just got a D300, and I can't see any improvement over my old
D70, at least not at ISO 800. There's plenty of noise. The attached photo was shot at ISO 800, with in-camera
noise reduction set to "normal" (the default setting), and the noise reduction sliders set to "25" in Adobe
Camera Raw. It's hard to tell with this tiny image (I can't figure out how to post anything larger), but perhaps
you can still see all the noise on the ceiling and in the subject's cheeks. At 100%, the noise is very obvious.
Are people getting the noise-free results by cranking in-camera NR up to "high," or is there something else I
need to be doing?
Leigh Edwards , Jun 26, 2008; 10:56 p.m.
If it matters, "Active D Lighting" is turned on.
Tiny Pic - click link above for larger file
David Chu , Jun 26, 2008; 11:02 p.m.
Active D-Lighting definitely matters. Turn it off :).
Dave Lee 
, Jun 26, 2008; 11:10 p.m.
Active D-Lighting does add a bit of noise in the shadow areas, but it's no different from post-processing and boosting the shadows then, which also will add some noise.
What ISO did you shoot this at? If it's 400 or above, there will be some noise. Why is this a problem for you? It's a nice photo.
Shun Cheung 
, Jun 27, 2008; 12:06 a.m.
The EXIF data indicate ISO 800, and Leigh has some noise in the shadow area.
The D300 should be able to do a bit better but this doesn't seem to be totally out of line.
Rene GM , Jun 27, 2008; 03:02 a.m.
Noise is not the only quality measure, nor is it sharpness. Looking at your natural skin colors and the well exposed image, I am tempted to cash out the fortune for the D300.
Of course, D-lighting will lighten the dark areas and thus amplify the noise too. You can remove this with any noise filter, applied on the dark areas only, if you need to. Or with Camera RAW developed twice with different noise settings, and blending the two images. Or you just don't care.
Jose Angel 
, Jun 27, 2008; 03:23 a.m.
It seems a bit noisy to me too... probably it is due to a slight overexposure, thought. Check my attached image: same settings as you, except for the NR (which I think it must have a little effect at 800 ASA), straight RAW file converted to .jpg. D-Lightning set to "normal".
My scene were really dark except for the Coke dispenser room; I exposed for that dispenser. Check that the dispenser is bright black, it shows a little noise, but the also very dark corners of the frame show a little higher noise... this areas are overexposed thought. I`m not an expert here, perhaps others could corroborate (or not) my words. (Please no comment allowed about the image, I know it`s one of my worst ones!) ;P
Jose Angel , Jun 27, 2008; 03:53 a.m.
I`ve found D-Lightning is very convenient on most shots, but annoying on others, more thoughtful shots, where light can be under control.
Elliot Bernstein 
, Jun 27, 2008; 06:36 a.m.
I doubt that your D70 would have done nearly as good as your D300 with this shot. Did you shoot RAW or JPG?
Have you tried opening and processing the file with NX rather than an Adobe product?
My guess is that the 'problem', if there truly is one, lies with your post processing (either the program or your
settings).
Garry Morris , Jun 27, 2008; 08:43 a.m.
Or it was underexposed to start with and was boosted automatically by the raw editor.
If you're using Photoshop, what settings were set automatically in Camera RAW - specifically the Exposure slider?
