How can I reduce digital noise in Lightroom exports and when shooting?
Asked 7/22/2016
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I shoot landscapes in the early morning and evening, and when editing my RAW files in Lightroom I notice a lot of visible noise. My camera usually stays at ISO 400 or below, but the images still look noisy or pixelated. Is this likely caused by the lens, or is it more related to camera settings and processing? What are the best ways to reduce noise both while shooting and when exporting from Lightroom?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
10y ago
2 Answers
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my camera don't go over 400, but still I find lots of those pixelated noises
It looks like this statement assumes that 400 is a low ISO value in some absolute sense and thus there should be no noise.
This is not true at all. Noise is mostly relative to the ISO range provided by the camera. The closer you are to the maximum value, the more noise you get. You cannot tell absolutely how much noise should be visible at ISO 400 because that depends on the camera. For some cameras that would be the highest setting, thus they would produce a lot noise, for others it would be a very low setting with only little noise.
Originally by user35348. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user35348
10y ago
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This is usually not a lens problem. Noise mainly comes from the sensor, exposure, ISO setting relative to your camera, and processing/export settings.
A few key points:
- ISO 400 is not universally “low.” On some cameras it can still show noticeable noise, especially in low light.
- To reduce noise while shooting, try using a slower shutter speed and/or a wider aperture so you can keep ISO lower. A tripod helps a lot for landscapes.
- In Lightroom, use the Detail panel’s noise reduction controls: increase Luminance for grain-like noise and Color for color speckles.
- If the noise seems worse after export, check your JPG settings. Heavy JPG compression can add artifacts, so export at high quality.
- Also check whether extra output sharpening is enabled during export, because oversharpening can make noise look more obvious.
So the main fixes are: maximize light captured in-camera, keep ISO as low as practical, apply Lightroom noise reduction carefully, and export with high JPG quality and restrained sharpening.
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