Finnegan
Well-known member
I bought a Canon 7D two days ago after much research, debate, and footage viewing. As someone who comes from a traditional film background, I was very hesitant about buying into the DSLR movement but after seeing countless videos from 5D MKII and 7D users displaying gorgeous footage with very little or available light, I decided to jump in.
Unfortunately, I have to say I'm a little worried - my footage is quite a bit noisier than other people's at the same ISO ratings. I spent a good chunk of the last two days trying to find solutions as to why this might be the case. I turned off highlight tone protection and I switched the camera setting for noise reduction to "strong" - and yet, I still seem to be getting a visible but passable amount of noise around 800 ISO, and a distracting amount of noise at 1600 ISO.
Yet, I still see many people shooting night exterior footage at 1600 ISO and higher, with a great deal less of noise. A couple of them claim to have little or no noise reduction or color correction. So, I decided to shoot a test. Here are the results.
http://vimeo.com/10278847
As you can see, there it's around 640 ISO that video noise becomes apparent, if you look closely. In my opinion as a cinematographer it's passable, because it's only in the darker of shadows that it's evident and even still, you have to look very closely. However, moving into 800 ISO that noise is even more present in the shadows of the image. Again, in my opinion it's passable and doesn't really change the aesthetic of the image.
However, moving onto 1600 ISO and beyond the noise is apparent and distracting. I even asked my roommate (who you hear enter and begin to watch the Sharks hockey game) if he saw anything weird in the images at 1600 ISO and higher, and he said it looked a little "pixelated". Course, he's not a film or video guy so it's a little bothersome that he noticed it.
My question and topic of discussion is if I am doing something wrong, or if all those people who say they aren't using noise reduction/color correction are lying. As I stated before, I am dumbfounded how Philip Bloom and others are getting such clean and pristine images at night, with available light, shooting at 3200 ISO and higher...especially when I start to see noise around 800 ISO in my own footage with the same camera. Is it a possibility I have a defective camera? Because it seems much more likely that I'm doing something wrong.
And of course I realize there aren't many times, if any, where I'll be shooting such a high ISO with a closed down shutter to F11 or so. But the point was to see where noise starts to get too much to handle.
Unfortunately, I have to say I'm a little worried - my footage is quite a bit noisier than other people's at the same ISO ratings. I spent a good chunk of the last two days trying to find solutions as to why this might be the case. I turned off highlight tone protection and I switched the camera setting for noise reduction to "strong" - and yet, I still seem to be getting a visible but passable amount of noise around 800 ISO, and a distracting amount of noise at 1600 ISO.
Yet, I still see many people shooting night exterior footage at 1600 ISO and higher, with a great deal less of noise. A couple of them claim to have little or no noise reduction or color correction. So, I decided to shoot a test. Here are the results.
http://vimeo.com/10278847
As you can see, there it's around 640 ISO that video noise becomes apparent, if you look closely. In my opinion as a cinematographer it's passable, because it's only in the darker of shadows that it's evident and even still, you have to look very closely. However, moving into 800 ISO that noise is even more present in the shadows of the image. Again, in my opinion it's passable and doesn't really change the aesthetic of the image.
However, moving onto 1600 ISO and beyond the noise is apparent and distracting. I even asked my roommate (who you hear enter and begin to watch the Sharks hockey game) if he saw anything weird in the images at 1600 ISO and higher, and he said it looked a little "pixelated". Course, he's not a film or video guy so it's a little bothersome that he noticed it.
My question and topic of discussion is if I am doing something wrong, or if all those people who say they aren't using noise reduction/color correction are lying. As I stated before, I am dumbfounded how Philip Bloom and others are getting such clean and pristine images at night, with available light, shooting at 3200 ISO and higher...especially when I start to see noise around 800 ISO in my own footage with the same camera. Is it a possibility I have a defective camera? Because it seems much more likely that I'm doing something wrong.
And of course I realize there aren't many times, if any, where I'll be shooting such a high ISO with a closed down shutter to F11 or so. But the point was to see where noise starts to get too much to handle.
