Noise with Leica DIgilux 3 - What to do?

[Ida]

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Hi everyone!

 

I own a Leica Digilux 3 and lately I have been noticing a noise even when shooting with only ISO 200, not to speak more ISO. I need the camera for work and with this amount of noise it's almost impossible to use it. Is this usual with this camera? I doubt that it was that bad when I bought it.

Thoughts, anyone? Thanks.

[pop]

A sample of a noisy image would possibly be useful. Take a small portion of the image (no more than - say - 500 pixels on a side) at a magnification of 100%.

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[Ida]

here you go:

[pop]

The problem with this (partial) picture is not with noise. The picture is completely out of focus. I would suggest submitting a properly focused image.

[Ida]

yeah, out if focus, because the focus was on something else in the photo. this was the part of the photo where you can see the noise best.

[Guest zoz]

I don´t know the Digilux but other FT Cameras and think this is normal.

Noise is changing with different light situation and WB-Settings.

 

Use a tool like noise ninja or neat image and it will be gone...

Of course You must be careful because these tools are also able to cost You a lot of detail.

[ziggurat]

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Hi Ida,

 

I use the Dig 3 with kit lens which I guess you are doing. Obviously it is not possible for me to give you a definitive answer based on one image but:

 

The file looks immediately familiar noise wise, but I would not expect to see it show up so aggressively at ISO 200. This looks more like 800 or even 1600. You may also notice some banding of the noise from top to bottom and slightly slanted. If you really want to use the ISO function it helps a lot if you create a film 2 setting with maximum red suppression - and zero everything else off.

 

Personally I always stick with ISO 100 - mainly because of the banding. And I have just bought the Leica 25mm f1.4 for faster work.

 

Hope this helps

Johnny

[jvan01]

A few tips to reduce noise: Make sure you don't underexpose your shots. Try bracketing or shooting in manual mode with an incident meter. Shoot in low-contrast mode. Set the white balance manually instead of automatic. Basically try to get the exposure/colors correct in camera rather that recover them in post.

[carlosecpf]

I would recommend shooting RAW and using Nik's Dfine 2.0 to reduce chroma noise in the pictures. I use this with my Digilux 2 and Digilux 3 and I am pretty happy with the results!

[rob_x2004]

I'd just split it in LAB obliterate A and B with Gaussian recombine and live with the result.

Since I dont know how big the original is I have no idea if the 'grain' is a problem or not. Depends I guess.

 

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[jankap]

here you go:

Just a question. Your picture "example" has a format of 960 x 960 pixels. It is transported as jpg in 60 kb. In png it would take 830 kb.

Is the jpg-format (not loss free) the right choice for your problem?

Jan