Hey guys...For those of you who have a 450d/xsi and have always wanted to be able to use iso 3200 or iso 6400 I thought I'd share the work I've done on this....
I've came up with two carefully crafted Neat Image profiles and a photoshop action to use with iso 1600 shots that are under exposed by 1 or 2 stops then brought up by 1 or 2 stops in post to be the equiv of iso 3200 or 6400.
Basically my action gets rid of the obnoxious white specks, noise reduces the image without hurting detail very much, especially in the highlights, then applies much stronger noise reduction to the horrible noise in the shadow areas, then blends the image back into one layer. Iso 3200 looks great, iso 6400 is pretty bad but looks fine for 4x6 prints.
Requirements: photoshop (i used cs4, i don't know if other versions will work or not). You can get a free trial from adobe. Neat Image (again, you can get a free trial). Digital photo professional (free, came with your canon camera, to develop the raw files).
HOW TO INSTALL
1. The .dnp files are the Neat Image profiles. Put them in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Neat Image\PROFILES directory.
2. The .nfp files are the Neat Image presets. Put them in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Neat Image\PRESETS directory.
3. Load the action in Photoshop and run it as needed.
HOW TO USE
1. Shoot in raw. Use iso 1600.
2. Under expose by 1 stop for iso 3200. Under expose by 2 stops for iso 6400.
3. Open the raw file in Digital Photo Professional. Bring up the exposure by 1 stop for 3200 or 2 stops for 6400.
4. Turn sharpening to 0 and both noise reduction sliders to 0.
5. Turn the picture style to standard and leave everything else at its default settings.
6. Convert and save the image to .jpg at maximum quality.
7. Open the image in Photoshop. Correct white balance as needed.
8. Run the action.
9. Sharpen and edit as needed.
10. Enjoy a delicious kumquat as a reward for your efforts!
The action, profiles, and presets:
Here
or
here
If someone would like to take the files and host them somewhere else you are of course free to do so. (Do whatever you want with the profiles as well--the normal profile by itself is very high quality and works great used by itself with normal iso 1600 shots).
Samples:
Iso 3200 after being processed automatically via the action. This is sort of a "best-case" image, bright, lots of highlights, etc. This shows you what you can "get away with" using iso 3200 on the xsi outdoors for those times when you want a high shutter speed.
Iso 3200 after processing
Worst case scenario, dark, indoors, iso 6400, almost no real highlights.
Before processing
After processing
Anyway, hopefully this is of use to someone and don't let anyone tell you your rebel has poor image quality!
I've came up with two carefully crafted Neat Image profiles and a photoshop action to use with iso 1600 shots that are under exposed by 1 or 2 stops then brought up by 1 or 2 stops in post to be the equiv of iso 3200 or 6400.
Basically my action gets rid of the obnoxious white specks, noise reduces the image without hurting detail very much, especially in the highlights, then applies much stronger noise reduction to the horrible noise in the shadow areas, then blends the image back into one layer. Iso 3200 looks great, iso 6400 is pretty bad but looks fine for 4x6 prints.
Requirements: photoshop (i used cs4, i don't know if other versions will work or not). You can get a free trial from adobe. Neat Image (again, you can get a free trial). Digital photo professional (free, came with your canon camera, to develop the raw files).
HOW TO INSTALL
1. The .dnp files are the Neat Image profiles. Put them in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Neat Image\PROFILES directory.
2. The .nfp files are the Neat Image presets. Put them in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Neat Image\PRESETS directory.
3. Load the action in Photoshop and run it as needed.
HOW TO USE
1. Shoot in raw. Use iso 1600.
2. Under expose by 1 stop for iso 3200. Under expose by 2 stops for iso 6400.
3. Open the raw file in Digital Photo Professional. Bring up the exposure by 1 stop for 3200 or 2 stops for 6400.
4. Turn sharpening to 0 and both noise reduction sliders to 0.
5. Turn the picture style to standard and leave everything else at its default settings.
6. Convert and save the image to .jpg at maximum quality.
7. Open the image in Photoshop. Correct white balance as needed.
8. Run the action.
9. Sharpen and edit as needed.
10. Enjoy a delicious kumquat as a reward for your efforts!
The action, profiles, and presets:
Here
or
here
If someone would like to take the files and host them somewhere else you are of course free to do so. (Do whatever you want with the profiles as well--the normal profile by itself is very high quality and works great used by itself with normal iso 1600 shots).
Samples:
Iso 3200 after being processed automatically via the action. This is sort of a "best-case" image, bright, lots of highlights, etc. This shows you what you can "get away with" using iso 3200 on the xsi outdoors for those times when you want a high shutter speed.
Iso 3200 after processing
Worst case scenario, dark, indoors, iso 6400, almost no real highlights.
Before processing
After processing
Anyway, hopefully this is of use to someone and don't let anyone tell you your rebel has poor image quality!
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