Why do my Nikon D50 photos look noisy with an external flash, and how can I reduce it?
Asked 9/7/2010
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2 answers
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My Nikon D50’s built-in flash no longer works, so I’m using an external speedlight instead. Since switching, photos show a lot of visible grain/noise in dark or black areas, even when I try different ISO settings. The built-in flash didn’t seem to give the same result. What camera or flash settings should I check to reduce the noise, and is this likely to be a flash setup issue rather than a camera fault?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
2
"Grain" (really, noise) in your photo is principally determined by the ISO level. More stictly speaking,
- by the electronic amplification applied to the electrical signal captured from the photosites in your camera's sensor
- by the shot noise inherent given a specific photosite (sensor element) physical size and actual light level
- by the temperature of the inside of your camera
It seems unlikely to me that the speedlight is directly causing noise; I can't think of a physical mechanism for this. It's more likely that you are seeing a higher ISO level or there are image processing differences. The second could just be different camera settings.
The first could be caused by low flash output causing your camera to push its ISO settings; this will only happen in auto-ISO mode. But since you said "no matter what ISO setting I have" I'm not certain you'd be uaing auto-ISO.
Try posting an A/B comparison pair of images if you would like more specific advice.
Originally by user1359. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1359
15y ago
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An external speedlight itself doesn’t usually cause noise. What you’re seeing is more likely image noise from camera settings or exposure.
Things to check:
- ISO: Noise is mainly tied to ISO/amplification. On a D50, ISO 200 should be fairly clean.
- Auto ISO / metadata: Check the EXIF on the noisy images and compare ISO and exposure settings to good shots.
- Exposure: If the image is underexposed, dark areas will look noisy when brightened. Make sure the flash is giving enough usable light.
- Flash output: If the speedlight is overpowering or behaving differently than the pop-up flash, try flash exposure compensation to fine-tune it.
- Test in daylight: Shoot at ISO 200 outdoors in natural light. If those images are clean, the camera sensor is probably fine and the issue is your flash/exposure setup.
So before replacing the camera, compare settings carefully and test at low ISO. This sounds more like a setup/exposure issue than proof the camera is failing.
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