Shooting in S mode; getting rid of "noise"?

Anybody responding will probably want to see an image. Can you attach one to a post?

I can't answer all of your questions but "white balance" adjusts the light temperature to prevent a color cast. If set incorrectly, you can end up with a blue, green or yellow cast.
"Active D Lighting" is whatever process the camera does to help preserve shadow and highlight details. According, to my manual, it works only in matrix metering mode.

Shooting mode has nothing to do with noise. It's all about the ISO used.

As for your 3 questions:
1. Do noise reduction in post.
2. White balance means something that is white is rendered white in the final image. Not with an off-color tint or tinge. Active D-lighting is an attempt to stretch the dynamic range of the camera sensor. Picture control is a slight modification of basic camera settings such as sharpness, color balance, tint, etc.
3. But Bryon Peterson's book Understanding Exposure.
4. By it's unofficial definition, HDR really cannot be used for moving subjects and it requires at least two separate and distinct exposures.

1/4000 is probably Way to fast. Birds in flight can be at 1/1500 or so and kids probably aren't moving near that fast. Try it around 1/500 or so to start and then go from there. In auto ISO set the maximum at around 3200 to start with and work your way from there. Unless you are trying to shoot in the dark that should do well for you


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I shoot totally manual because I started out in film with a manual camera and I'm used to manual. The only time I use Auto ISO is when the light is changing (sun to shade, etc.) and even then I don't mind adjusting on the fly (no Auto ISO).
Agree that shutter speed is way too high.

Shoot RAW, forget Active D and all the other add-on crap. Watch some youtube videos on how to set your camera up/use it or buy a user guide by Thom Hogan or Darrell Young to learn how to use your gear.

TheWired said:

Picture one (monkey) was shot with scene mode

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/emailbox911/DSC_4605_zpsacjaqucr.jpg~original

Picture two was shot using S mode with settings mentioned above. Not sure if you can see how grainy it is (can you zoom at all?)

http://i764.photobucket.com/albums/xx287/emailbox911/DSC_5116_zpst5evdynd.jpg~original


Can't seem to link the second photo properly; hope it works

Click to expand...

As mentioned before, noise is caused by ISO. The higher the ISO more the noise. Read up about the exposure triangle and see how ISO, shutter speed and f/stop relate to each other.
Without understanding this, you will not understand why your shots turn out the way they do.

Shoot RAW
Switch off - NR, WB, Distortion etc. They can be changed in RAW processing and slow the camera due to extra processing load.

Set Base ISO to 100
Set Auto ISO on
Set Maximum ISO to 3200. The minimum will be the base ISO
Set Minimum speed to 1/500 or 1/1000. The maximum will be the maximum supported
Set Aperture to F4

Now shoot. The body will start with the base settings. If the light goes down it will increase the ISO till it hits the MAX. If the light goes up it will increase the shutter speed. If the light is really low and ISO is at max set, then the shutter speed will keep decreasing (or in some bodies the aperture will open up).

You've been given good advice here, but the key to all of it is to learn the basics of exposure. Specific suggestions can be given, Aroy gave a great settup. But in the end, it is best to know the relationship of shutter, aperture, and iso.

In a short time this will come easily to you and you will be able to quickly adapt your settings to changing situations. You are almost there. You have recognized that auto modes do not always produce what you need and that you must take more control of the process. You just need to learn the how shutter, aperture and iso all come together to make a good exposure. The balance can be shifted to favor one parameter over another, but there are benefits and downsides. You will learn to make quick decisions based on your needs and the amount of light. You dont have to go full manual. Shutter or Aperture priority will do fine and still give the control you need.

Shooting RAW will give you better ability to make adjustments after the shot, but I would wait a few weeks until you are comfortable with the exposure triangle. The Understanding Exposure book mentioned above is good and there is plenty of free stuff to get you started.

Try:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8T94sdiNjc

Camera Exposure: Aperture, ISO & Shutter Speed

Thanks so much guys! This is really useful!

It would be better if you posted the photos here so we can see the EXIF data and we don' have to go to another site.

Guidelines to adding a photo to your post.

1. Resize photo to 1000px on the long side.
2. Resolution set to 72ppi (Pixels Per Inch)

These guidelines will be good for viewing on a computer but will not be good for printing. This will help safeguard your copyright.

Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D750
Image Date: 2016-03-26 16:39:33 (no TZ)
Focal Length: 120mm (35mm equivalent: 120mm)
Aperture: ƒ/11.0
Exposure Time: 0.0025 s (1/400)
ISO equiv: 400
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
Software: Ver.1.01



You think ISO 400 is 'too much noise'?













Camera Maker: NIKON CORPORATION
Camera Model: NIKON D750
Image Date: 2016-03-30 12:01:53 (no TZ)
Focal Length: 24mm (35mm equivalent: 24mm)
Aperture: ƒ/20.0
Exposure Time: 0.0003 s (1/4000)
ISO equiv: 12800
Exposure Bias: none
Metering Mode: Matrix
Exposure: shutter priority (semi-auto)
White Balance: Auto
Flash Fired: No (enforced)
Orientation: Normal
Color Space: sRGB
GPS Coordinate: undefined, undefined
Software: Ver.1.01


F/20 for shooting at 24mm is way to small, and 1/4000 is way way way too fast. You can easily shoot that at f/8 and 1/250 and get your ISO down to 125.

Hi the EXIF data is showing on my Picasa photos but as soon as I upload them to this forum, then nothing lol time to call it a day I think thanks for your time and trouble ,Brian.

scarrabri said:

Hi the EXIF data is showing on my Picasa photos but as soon as I upload them to this forum, then nothing lol time to call it a day I think thanks for your time and trouble ,Brian.

Click to expand...

It is matter of sizing them correctly before you upload them.

Guidelines to adding a photo to your post.

1. Resize photo to 1000px on the long side.
2. Resolution set to 72ppi (Pixels Per Inch)

These guidelines will be good for viewing on a computer but will not be good for printing. This will help safeguard your copyright.

Thanks a lot guys; this is all great advice. I'll try to play some more with the S function and grab one of the books from the authors mentioned. Really appreciate it!