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Nikon D90 Gordon Laing, October 2008

Nikon D90 results : Outdoor resolution / Studio resolution / High ISO Noise / Noise Reduction

  Nikon D90 High ISO Noise Reduction

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Nikon ML-L3

The Nikon D90 offers High ISO Noise Reduction with four different settings: Off, Low, Normal (the default) and High. At Low, Normal and High, NR is applied at 800 ISO and above. When set to Off, NR is only applied at H0.3 (4000 ISO) and above, although the amount is less than the Low option.

To compare the effect of Noise Reduction, we photographed our High ISO Noise composition with each of the NR options at 800 ISO and above.


The entire composition can be seen in the image above, and the crops are taken from an area in the very middle of the image.

The image was taken with the Nikon D90 at a sensitivity of 800 ISO, using the DX 18-105mm VR kit lens at 18mm f8; the original Large Fine JPEG file measured 5.26MB.

As you'd expect, the steadily higher noise reduction settings smooth out the grainy textures, but also take some fine detail with them. Judging from the crops below, we'd say Nikon has made the right choice for its default setting on in-camera JPEGs, but some may prefer the Low option at 800 and 1600 ISO. If you're intending to apply more sophisticated noise reduction in software later, you'd be better off using the Low or Off setting.

At the other end of the scale, the High setting is applying quite heavy-handed processing, and while it's certainly delivering a smooth result, there's loss of detail - some may however prefer it, especially at 800 ISO where it's not yet having too detrimental an effect.

Now let's have a look at some more real-life examples including several low-light indoor compositions in our Nikon D90 sample images gallery.

Nikon D90
High ISO NR off
 
Nikon D90
High ISO NR Low
 
Nikon D90
High ISO NR Norm (default)
 
Nikon D90
High ISO NR High
Nikon D90 at 800 ISO - High ISO NR off   Nikon D90 at 800 ISO - High ISO NR low   Nikon D90 at 800 ISO - High ISO NR norm   Nikon D90 at 800 ISO - High ISO NR high
800 ISO
 
800 ISO
 
800 ISO
 
800 ISO
             
Nikon D90 at 1600 ISO - High ISO NR off   Nikon D90 at 1600 ISO - High ISO NR low   Nikon D90 at 1600 ISO - High ISO NR norm   Nikon D90 at 1600 ISO - High ISO NR high
1600 ISO
 
1600 ISO
 
1600 ISO
 
1600 ISO
             
Nikon D90 at 3200 ISO - High ISO NR off   Nikon D90 at 3200 ISO - High ISO NR low   Nikon D90 at 3200 ISO - High ISO NR norm   Nikon D90 at 3200 ISO - High ISO NR high
3200 ISO
 
3200 ISO
 
3200 ISO
 
3200 ISO
             
Nikon D90 at 6400 ISO - High ISO NR off   Nikon D90 at 6400 ISO - High ISO NR low   Nikon D90 at 6400 ISO - High ISO NR norm   Nikon D90 at 6400 ISO - High ISO NR high
H1.0 (6400 ISO)
 
H1.0 (6400 ISO)
 
H1.0 (6400 ISO)
 
H1.0 (6400 ISO)



Nikon D90 results

Outdoor resolution / Studio resolution / High ISO Noise
/ Noise Reduction
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