Nikon D500 and High ISO = Noisy Photos

[@tmeeten3195]

Love my D500 and what you say is so true. Shooting small birds I have found it best and mostly more appealing to leave most of the surroundings in the image rather than cropping to just see the bird. Adds to the story of the bird rather than just being a portrait.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Yes, as if there's no surrounding, you don't get an appreciation for where the bird is

[@ambrosechiu2338]

completely agree with you. we can adjust shutter speed to lower the ISO depending on the subject's movement. thank you Charles.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Absolutely!

[@tonysanders1633]

I have had my D500 for nearly 2 years. I use it with a Sigma 150-600 for wildlife photography. As this video highlights you do get more grain when using at high ISO but a lot of this can be solved in post processing. There are now some really great software products that will de-noise and re sharpen the image

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thanks for sharing!🙏

[@fixitright9709]

Great video, you're absolutely correct on everything, I use a d750 now and want the d500 to increase the range of my lens because of the cropping issue you mentioned with birds, especially small birds, but one thing you did not mention about hi ISO is the loss of dynamic range and color depth as your ISO increases, noise is noise, but if you compare an image at ISO 100 and an identical image at ISO 4000 even with Optimum noise reduction the quality of the image there is no comparison, I definitely notice image quality degrading above ISO 2000 even when the noise is low

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you

[@elisekisyma2688]

Thanks Charles. Very helpful explanation. I didn't think about how my cropping affects the final image. Makes sense though.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Glad it was helpful! and thanks for letting me know that you got value from this video.

[@buselakeju]

Thank you Charles again. :) Auto ISO rescue / provide correct exposure shooting in M mode.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you, the D500 is one of the best Nikon Crop-Sensored DSLR's that you can own if you're wanting to push the ISO higher than 6400 😉

[@buselakeju]

Thank you Charles. Great and useful advice. I am fighting with noise quite often in range from ISO 1250 -1600, croping only15% in post processing. Shooting auto sports with 1/1000 f4. Afted this videoI will try different approach to shoot. Appreciate for this video.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

If you are using the D500 then at this ISO range I didn't find any problems shooting at even 1/2500sec. The secret is to make sure that your photo is exposure correctly, if it's underexposed then this is when noise is induced when you edit it as you have to increase the exposure in post and the dark shadows will show grain. Hope this helps you out. 🙏

[@buselakeju]

@@CharlesNPhotography Thank you Charles. This is great advice. Definitely I will take attention on correct exposure. I mostly shoot with less exposure then over expo. Now your point well taken. Just one remark, if I can :). I am looking for lens 80-400 first generation for D500 and d750 which I gave as backup camera. What do think about this combination for sports and wildlife/travel. Cause its lens fit in my budget range. Thank you, mate!

[@caster0007]

hello i am shooting nikon d7100 mostly sports so bad lighting... the internals are pretty much the same as the d500..would you think bying the D500 is an upgrade on ISO range. The tip of cropping from you is the best i ever got. thank you.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

No the D7100 and D500 are very much different.The D500 has a much better dynamic range than the D7100 and also the D500 auto-focus system is far superior. But upgrading your camera is only part of the solution as it depends on the lens that you are using. if you're using a standard zoom with variable aperture, then before upgrading maybe look at getting a lens like the Tamron v2 70-200mm f2.8.

[@caster0007]

I am just looking at 1 70-200 2,8 however dust is between the elements it says in the buyers description

[@Steven-wo2oi]

Great video, well said and well made. Actually for this 200-500 lens, even for handheld, sharp shots can be taken at 1/80sec. 1/40 possible also. A very legendary lens in the VR. Sth I envy a lot about this lens.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

I'm unable to shoot at anything lower than 1/200sec, unless the camera/lens are on a tripod due to my shaking hands

[@Steven-wo2oi]

I see. I did tried at 500mm and 1/80 sec before. And because of the excellent VR system, it made me feel that my Tamron 150-600 G1 feels like trash. And the Nikon lens is sharp wide open at f5.6. Very impressive considering the price. Only thing is I wish that it reaches up to 600mm, haha

[@photoswisscore]

for sure the 200-500 can really good compensate vibration, it's not rare I'm around 1/100-1/200s without problem, if subject not moving...

[@mikepressey9971]

Great information, as You are aware this also applies to My D850 and all other cameras.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thanks for sharing

[@josdenis3684]

In analog days, noise was called grain. And it added a special kind of charm to a photo.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Ys, and it some photos it looks good, but for Wildlife Grain/Noise doesn't suit the photo as we like a fairly clean image to highlight our subject🤔

[@josdenis3684]

@@CharlesNPhotography Yes, I get your point. And for bird photography, high shutter speeds and low ISO … that must be a difficult task.

[@阿巴阿巴阿巴-t4c]

good job! I couldn't agree more🎉

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you for your acknowledgement 🙏😊

[@EgoundderRest]

Hallo! Ich fotografiere seit 7Jahren mit der D500 und seit etwa 5 Jahren in Kombi mit dem 200-500 Nikkor. Super! Meine bevorzugte Einstellung ist ISO - Automatik mit 2000 als Obergrenze und 1/2.500 Sek.. Das passt bei Flugaufnahmen von Schwalben, Eisvögeln und Libellen, wenn das Licht nicht zu schlecht ist. Wenn die Schärfe korrekt liegt, mache ich davon noch ordentliche Ausschnitte in DxO 6 bzw. 7. Die Rauschunterdrückung ist beeindruckend und die objektivbezogene Schärfung ein Knaller. Die Funktion "Schärfen" brauche ich nie. Wenn alles stimmt, erkennt man oft noch die Facetten im Komplexauge der Herbst-Mosaikjunger. Die D500 ist gegenwärtig für mich schwer ersätzlich. Übrigens auch nach inzwischen mehr als 160.000 Auslösungen noch immer vollkommen störungsfrei! Ich hoffe, das bleibt noch lange Zeit so...

[@CharlesNPhotography]

German to English Hello! I've been taking photos with the D500 for 7 years and in combination with the 200-500 Nikkor for about 5 years. Excellent! My preferred setting is ISO - Auto with 2000 as the upper limit and 1/2,500 sec. This works for flight photos of swallows, kingfishers and dragonflies if the light is not too bad. If the focus is correct, I'll make decent sections of it in DxO 6 or 7. The noise reduction is impressive and the lens-related sharpening is a blast. I never need the “sharpen” function. If everything is right, you can often still see the facets in the compound eyes of the autumn mosaic young. The D500 is currently difficult to replace for me. By the way, even after more than 160,000 activations, it is still completely trouble-free! I hope it stays that way for a long time... Thank you for your feedback, very much appreciated 🙏

[@Gazzab6]

I find that Topaz DeNoise does a great job these days. Too many people don’t have enough exposure to start off with. If the image is well exposed in the first place, that will reduce the look of the noise. I agree everything you said Charles.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you very much, you're right that many people underexpose their photos and that normally leads to more noise being added when they edit their photos.

[@Gazzab6]

@@CharlesNPhotography I also spend a lot of time learning about fieldcraft and use concealment which enables me to get closer without causing a disturbance, especially with Birds of Prey. Being able to get closer reduces the amount I have to crop resulting in less noisy looking images.

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

Awesome Video as always man :D

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thanks again!

[@sasskin1]

now i see cheers now can you tell me why you have that stuff on the lens when subject see the front of the lens if anything seems stupid .

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Some people use this product as to camouflage the lens. But I use it to protect my lens from the elements

[@scottmurphy650]

So many photographers nowadays want something for nothing. For those of us who started in film like I did back in 1973, grain is a part of the photographic process. Noise is just digital grain. I have news for you youngsters, there is no such thing as a free lunch. Yes, the D500 has higher noise levels at high ISO with heavy cropping, but so does every other DSLR. There are ways to reduce noise, but there is a cost, Grow up and deal with it.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Exactly, and that was the whole point of this video, to try to explain that most of the time it's operator error and not the camera that is at fault.

[@scottmurphy650]

@@CharlesNPhotography I am dismayed just how little Generation D knows about photographic principles but can quote all the technonerd stats. They don't get that the camera is only a tool and how many MP it has is secondary to what you do with it. I can take better images with my 1967 vintage Nikon FTN and TX film than 90% of them with their tricked out DSLR's because I have spent the last 50 years learning and practicing everything I can about the entire photographic process.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

@@scottmurphy650 You're right about that. I learnt photography using film and there was no give and take with it. You either got your settings right and had a photo or not.

[@scottmurphy650]

@@CharlesNPhotography I still shoot film both 35mm and 6x6/6x4.5 with the Hasselblad. Digital will never have the "feel" of film, especially medium format. I have done some 4x5 and although I would love to get a Sinar P or a Calumet and a few Rodenstock or Nikkor lenses, it would mean a new enlarger and enlarging lenses as well. I use a Chromega B 67 enlarger and 50mm f/2.8 and 75mm f/4 EL Nikkor lenses. I would have to get like a Beseler 45 and a 150mm f/5.6 EL Nikkor and the color head, that would be $$$.

[@Linda-kq8ef]

Thank you for the info.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

You're welcome, thanks for letting me know 🙏

[@MoinKhan-yu7gx]

Very useful explanation

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Glad you think so!

[@GatorWinup]

I like how Charles blames the ISO noises to cropping. I agree.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you 🙏

[@Mr09260]

It is good at high ISO the D500 but it wasnt long before I went back to Full Frame D800 then D850 ...better Noise handling even at 2x Resolution than my Beloved ex D500 .. I now have the Full frame Z7 FF I just prefer the better FF quality and when I put a 24mm or a 105 mm on I get exactly that ...20 mm on Astro is perfect on my FF ..that would be 30 mm crop which can be good but I would prefer in that case to put on a 35 mm f1.8 on FF for Astro >> Great Video and I see your point with tiny stuff >> I shoot Buffalo and Ellies in Africa and FF Z7 and 70-200 S lens plus 1.4 convertor is fine for 95%

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you for your feedback

[@javad4azadi]

Hi there, I have a nikon D5300, and shoot birds too sometimes. Do I need a D500? And why ?

[@CharlesNPhotography]

The advantage of the D500 over the D5300 is! Better/quicker auto-focus and faster frames per second. You could also look at the Nikon D7500 which is still a good camera for bird photography. But if you're serious in photographing birds, then the D500 is the way to go.

[@javad4azadi]

@@CharlesNPhotography ok, thanks. Can you also tell me what is the advantage of d850 ?

[@NeustrDm]

@@javad4azadi D850 has a D500-level sensor scaled up to 48 MPix. Pixel density (resolution) and iso performance are identical, and focusing modules are the same. For longer distance targets, I'd prefer D500, because there is no need for a wide angle anyway, but there is always a need to crop images.

[@oscarb3139]

I personally like to auto-iso and focus on the shutter speed, thanks for the video. I have one question and hope you can help me, does the D500 can go HSS with flashes like Xplor 600 or AD600?

[@CharlesNPhotography]

I don't know, has I don't use flashes

[@Gazzab6]

The D500 does support HSS. It works perfectly on my Godox TT685.

[@dennisg4196]

Excellent advice.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Glad you think so!

[@andrewgynn4502]

Always good what it is learn how to use your camera look forward to the next vlog thank you.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thanks for watching!, and thanks for commenting

[@haripkartha]

Is the iso performance is same on both Nikon d7500 and d500

[@CharlesNPhotography]

yes, the ISO performance is about the same, but I found for Astrophotography that the D7500 was better

[@haripkartha]

@@CharlesNPhotography thanks sir

[@rhinoTube]

I had the D7500 before I had the D500, and out the box they are pretty much the same, but the D500 has uncompressed RAW files and in many instances that gives you much greater dynamic range in the highlights and shadows, but the files are mich bigger

[@Mohamad_Alias]

Good discussion

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thanks for commenting

[@TomekKogutah]

You're so right. Thank You for advice ^_^

[@CharlesNPhotography]

No problem 😊 and thanks for commenting

[@_systemd]

the iso advantage with fullframe comes in those situations when the shutter speed is at the reasonable minimum yet the noise is still high. otherwise, really, 1 stop of advantage is equivalent to dropping shutter speed by half, which is often possible with some effort/better setup/lower keeper rate. Unless shooting a diving kingsfisher or sth. When I shot some mtb in a dark forest, well 12800 was painful with d500 and FF would benefit me keeping reasonable shutter speed. Same with indoor sports. When I shot stationary bird and dropped to 1/15th, I can't care less. Noise advantage of FF is mostly visible at the higher ISOs anyway.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

The D500 isn't a full-frame camera and I didn't compare it to FF at all. This video was to highlight what some people about the D500 having a lot of noise when shooting at high ISO settings. Nothing more!

[@_systemd]

@@CharlesNPhotography yes sir, nothing more. When we discuss apsc and noise performance, we always kinda end up including FF in the comparison, particularly in case of d500 that in terms of price as well as some of its initial review hype was supposed to intersect with the FF market. I assume whoever complains about d500 noise , which is one of the best ISO performing apsc cameras ever, is influenced by the full frame world. Hence I dared to add an additional thought, if that's allowed, to the content of the video and mentioned some scenarios in which the larger sensor provides advantage and vice versa. In addition to that, if we consider filling the frame versus cropping, it is clear that going FF may often not help to cut the noise at all. Have a good day

[@NeustrDm]

@@CharlesNPhotography Fullframe is thought to be better by 1+ stop in iso performance than a crop, not because of sensor size, but because of the area of a single pixel. If we have a full-frame sensor and a crop sensor both having 24 megapixels, this rule will hold, because the area of any full-frame pixel is 2.25 times larger than in cropped sensor. That is why a full-frame 24 MPix sensor will perform 1 stop better than cropped 24MPix sensor. However, if we compare D500 with 21 MPix on the cropped sensor with D850 or Z7 with 48Mpix on a full-frame sensor, we will see, that this rule of 1 stop advantage does not hold anymore: both cameras perform similarly on higher iso and D500 is no worse than D850. Why? because individual pixel sizes are identical between the two. The larger area of the full-frame sensor was consumed by adding more pixels, not by enlarging existing ones.

[@ajc1482]

@@CharlesNPhotography I'm a little confused, people are complaining about high ISO with the D500?. I've managed to shoot as high as 6400 and get a clean image with barely any loss to detail or dynamic range.

[@Gazzab6]

@@NeustrDm That is a valid point. I tend to crop a lot so negates the advantage of having a FF camera where the noise would be more prominent due to the larger crop required. I hope Nikon eventually release a crop version of the Z9 like they did with the D500 / D5.

[@kirkize]

Thx for video I just got my new d500 ans I seem to fight noise when cropping but trying to get tack sharp images is not easy I get lucky sometimes and get no noise or not notice the noise . This camera blows my d3400 away . I love my 500mm lens is awesome. I am still learning a lot !

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thanks for sharing, understand that when you crop an image you are magnifying the details of the image and any noise in the image will also be magnified. This is why people say that you shouldn't crop you i ages to much.

[@Gazzab6]

FAO Kirk of All trades; Sometimes it is better to slightly over expose and then bring down the exposure in post to suite. The noise will look less prominent in your final result. I have had my D500 for four years and the best bit of advice I can give you is set the function buttons to different AF Area / Focus Modes. For example, I have mine set as follows. The AF-On button is Single Point AF, PV Button = Dynamic Area 25 Point, Fn1 Button = Group AF. This means you can track a bird in flight and if one of the AF Area modes is struggling, you can press one of the other buttons to change to another AF Area Mode instantly, all without having to take your eye away from the viewfinder. Practice this like you're using a video game controller so it becomes second nature and you will get the best of the D500. Adjust your AF Sensitivity so for panning, set it to 4 or 5 (*Delayed) so if your AF Point wanders of the subject, there will be a slight delay before it grabs the background. Basically it's giving you more time to get the AF Point / Group back on the subject. For much less cluttered backgrounds, a setting of 1 or 2 is fine. I have found the AF to be so sensitive, especially in AF-C, that some images do not look sharp after reviewing them as you have found. That's not a fault of the camera, it's because the AF is doing it's job by making tiny micro adjustments so with static subjects or if using good support such as a tripod, it's worth trying AF-S (opposite to AF-C) as it is more accurate. Hope this helps.

[@Eric_492]

Well said

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you so much

[@Audimann]

Problem is that the D500 has a max ISO of 1640000 in boost mode and people are using way to high iso settings. Totally unusable of course.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Totally agree with you 😉

[@FoxyCAMTV]

I once met this lady who was pleading to the shopkeeper to fix her cheap mobile phone becuase she was baffled as to why her friends $ 500 phone didn't show noise when zooming photos but her 200 dollar phone did.She didn't understood resolution at all.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you for your analogy 😉🙏

[@shadyninja1]

This camera is the official camera for national geographic for a reason.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

It is a great camera

[@shadyninja1]

@@CharlesNPhotography I had one and used it for weddings but sold it to get the Z6. It nails focus faster and better than the Z6 in my opinion.

[@kaak4737]

And post processing..the "underestimated factor" you could ruin everything with bad choices and overscharpening... then ther is pixel pixelclustering in JPG , the wrong setting in NX-D for RAW or in Adobe Camera raw... A small detail that is 1 pixel in with , can be rendered bij Adobe with 3 pixels.. If everything is done with care , using the right software and settings, pixel in ( camera sensor) = pixel out ( end result in Tiff ) Fine details can be better with a old 10Mp D200 , processed in a fine mased way versus a D7100/D7200 24Mp where Adobe was used. or heaving the details of a 600mm with a 400mm , just by process the file to the max , low or high ISO , sensor + lens optimum is the same strength or weakness / proof in the Flikr link is erased bij youtube.. sorry for that... if you like i could mail it. It is reach/fine details at a distance when you could not dictate a bird at a close distance for fulling the frame , that is the sport !! D850 high ISO , adobe versus NX-D is also a big difference

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Thank you for your feedback

[@Steven-wo2oi]

LOL, so funny. Pixel peeing at 200%, haha. No problem, but purposely find problem. Maybe for those people, only the A1 will satisfy them XD

[@CharlesNPhotography]

You're so right about that!

[@Steven-wo2oi]

@@CharlesNPhotography LOL

[@rinaldodelucca8073]

I get noise with my D500 even with ISO 800, and I don't get noise like that with my D610.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

At ISO800 you shouldn't see any noise when using the D500. But! this is only if your images are correctly exposed, as if your images are under-exposed and then in post-processing you increase the exposure, then you'll definitely see noise at ISO800

[@rinaldodelucca8073]

I agree with what you said, the D500 should work fine if the exposure is right, and I never underexpose. I don' t understand why the results with this camera are kind of difficult to predict sometimes.

[@artsmodelstation9396]

I’ve cropped with the Nikon D850 45MP and no noise. So maybe 🤔 if you’re a “cropper” get a higher MP camera.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Why, If I was using the D850 I would have to crop 1.5x more to get the same photos that I was getting with the D500.

[@Raj-ym4cu]

Morale of the story: Cameras don't produce tissue slides, so don't view the output thru a microscope and complain.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

Yes

[@nethbt]

You can't make miracles out of a crop sensor, IT WILL be noisy. I get better results with my 24 mp D7100 compared to my D500. Also, I get way higher quality images out of my SIGMA ART 135mm 1.8 cropped compared to my Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR ii. It just astounds me that a 135mm portrait lens is just superior.

[@CharlesNPhotography]

You can't compare a zoom lens to a prime lens, the prime lens will always be sharper. Also I've owned both the D7100 and the D500 and the D500 was a far superior camera. The D7100 is a prosumer camera whereas the D500 is a pro-camera.

[@Gazzab6]

I like Charles own the D7100 and D500 and the D500 performs better at higher ISOs. The D500 was a game changer when it came to photographing fast action and BIF and is why it can still be a great tool today. Also Charles is right, you can't compare IQ between a Prime Lens and Zoom Lens - this is common knowledge.