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Anonymous
Hey everyone,
I got a Lumix DMC FZ8, not too expensive but its got a nice optical zoom and I guess its a good camera for a beginner like me.
Now the thing that bothers me a bit is the noise. When I see some of the photos here, I get a bit jealious some times lol. I know I can reduce noise through using lower ISO values and slower shutter. But theres still some noise, not the pure black I would like to get, somehow. My question now is, how I could lower the noise, with PS or other programs.
A bit ago, someone at my university told me about how he do stuff like that, through working on the different color channels to clean up pictures, but he didn't go into detail. Anyone got an idea what he meant? Or maybe some other suggestions about how to reduce the noise in the darker areas, would be awesome. Thank you.
EXIF data available. Clickhereto show/hide.
Camera-Specific Properties:Equipment MakePanasonicCamera ModelDMC-FZ8Camera SoftwareAdobe Photoshop CS3 WindowsMaximum Lens Aperturef/2.8Sensing MethodOne-Chip Color AreaFocal Length (35mm Equiv)64 mmImage-Specific Properties:Image OrientationTop, Left-HandHorizontal Resolution72 dpiVertical Resolution72 dpiImage Created2007:12:04 18:43:34Exposure Time0.3 secF-Numberf/3.2Exposure ProgramNormal ProgramISO Speed Rating200Exposure Bias0 EVMetering ModePatternLight SourceUnknownFlashNo Flash, CompulsoryFocal Length10.50 mmColor Space InformationsRGBImage Width1000Image Height667RenderingNormalExposure ModeAutoWhite BalanceAutoScene Capture TypeStandardGain ControlLow Gain UpContrastNormalSaturationNormalSharpnessNormal
>> Anonymous
i've used an fz8 extensively. it is definitely a noisy son of a bitch. it's a shame, because that camera comes with a great lens and awesome image stabilization.

so, shoot ONLY in ISO 100, and shoot in RAW mode. if you convert to jpg and you're still seeing noise, download the community edition of Noiseware from www.imagenomic.com
>> Anonymous
>>97749
The FZ8 will work well at ISO 200, too, and 400 is usable for black and white sometimes.

But yeah, OP: shoot raw, use noise reduction in Photoshop if you need it. If you're converting to black and white, avoid using lots of the blue color channel: it carries the most noise. Green carries the least. But that only works with monochrome images, unless you want a screwed-up white balance.

If you can, overexpose just a little bit. Don't burn anything out (run an Internet search for "expose to the right" and you'll find more detail on this), though. Then, when processing the raw file, pull back the exposure to where you want it. It's mostly used for increasing dynamic range, but it also reduces noise, so long as your shutter speed doesn't get too slow. (Long exposures increase noise, too, but not as much as high ISOs.)

Temperature also effects noise. If the sensor gets hot, it'll get much noisier. Don't store your camera in the sun or in a closed-up car on a hot day; keep it as cool as possible. And also, since it generates heat, the longer you're shooting, the noisier your shots will get. Don't worry too much about this; when it cools back down, it'll be back to normal.

Something I've found gives some extra pop to files, as well as hiding noise a little bit, is bumping up the "Blacks" slider in Adobe Camera Raw. Don't go overboard, of course.
>> Anonymous
>>97786
Lastly, don't really worry about it in most circumstances, as long as you stay at ISO 100/200, which pretty is easy to do so long as it's not night out, especially with the IS. At any sort of display size, what you're seeing looking at your monitor zoomed in to 100% won't even really be noticable.

But yeah, the FZ8 is a great camera. Get to know it and get in the right working habits with the raw files, and you'll get great results, assuming you don't suck as a photographer. A few other things on it: get to know the steps on the zoom. Find a few places you like on it and how to consistently get them. The sharpest aperture of the lens is f/5.6; bokeh is (at least to me) best at f/4; in somewhat soft, high-key light f/3.2 will give you a really nice look. Also, manually focus it; the autofocus is pretty slow. The EVF is sharp enough to make it easy, and once you have it in the right place, you can often just leave it there at the wide and normal lengths.
>> Anonymous
     File :-(, x)
Thanks alot guys, will try that out.

>The sharpest aperture of the lens is f/5.6; bokeh is (at least to me) best at f/4; in somewhat soft, high-key light f/3.2 will give you a really nice look.

Sorry, I didn't understand one word. Pic related lol No but honestly, what does that mean? As I said I still quite new to photography. Really would like to understand what you just said.
>> Anonymous
>>98163
Do you know what aperture is? If not, look it up on Wikipedia. Read around the different articles linked to it... "exposure," "depth of field," etc.

Every lens has a point where it's sharpest. Opening up the aperture too much (why I don't know where) will make the image less sharp, and closing it down too much leads to something called diffraction. f/5.6 is the perfect balance point for sharpness on the FZ8.

"Bokeh" is Japanese for "blur" and refers how a lens makes the out of focus areas look. Some lenses have "good bokeh," meaning bokeh that adds to the aesthetic appeal of the image; some of "bad bokeh," yucky, distracting stuff. Bokeh varies by the design of the lens, aperture, focal length, and how closely it's focused at any particular moment. Bokeh being "good" or "bad" is subjective, of course; IMO the FZ8 has rather good bokeh, and I like it best at f/4.

High-key light is that that's pretty uniform across the image. The lens looks great overall, but it just looks downright gorgeous if you get it in some gentle lighting and open it up to f/3.2. Again, at least in my opinion.
>> Anonymous
Awesome. Thx alot for your reply again!

After some research on wikipedia, and reading your posts several times I think I got it now =^_^=

Going to test the difference between the automatik, and your recommended manual settings tomorrow.