With one addition the D300 is totally usable in 2021

[Solomon]

I do most of my shooting with a D7000. I bought it refurbished by Nikon and it has been a great camera for me. But, I thought I would try an FX camera so I bought a D610. My plan was to sell most of my DX lenses and keep one DX body for the rest. I looked into FX bodies and chose the D610 for its small size and weight.

But, I didn't like it. Its low light performance with just marginally better than my D7000. But, in the meantime I picked up a mint D300 with 3 Nikon batteries for under $200. I thought it would be at least as good as my D7000 in terms of low light. It isn't. With the D300 ISO 1600 is way too noisy to use. Then I thought I would try it by passing it trough DxO's PureRAW utility. I found that if I shot the D300 @ ISO 1600 and ran it through PureRAW, it looked identical to images shot @ ISO 200. It is incredible. At this point I may sell my D7000 and focus on my D300. These AI-based denoise products are truly amazing. (I think Adobe and Topaz also have an AI-based denoise)

 

[David Lal]

Then I thought I would try it by passing it trough DxO's PureRAW utility. I found that if I shot the D300 @ ISO 1600 and ran it through PureRAW, it looked identical to images shot @ ISO 200. It is incredible. At this point I may sell my D7000 and focus on my D300. These AI-based denoise products are truly amazing. (I think Adobe and Topaz also have an AI-based denoise)

Well, I have a D300 and I still love it. However, it is absolutely not the right choice for low-light/high-ISO photography. Not for me anyway. A couple of years ago I acquired a D750 (wonderful box that can see in the dark!).

The stimulus to the acquisition was coming back from a holiday in an old Spanish city and my night time photos with the D300 were totally eclipsed (pun intended!) by my companions' photos and they were using far lesser cameras.

I am no fan of noise removal software, especially not AI-based (way too slow). So, your solution is not for me.

 

[Blufftonian]

...
I am no fan of noise removal software, especially not AI-based (way too slow). So, your solution is not for me.

My Win10 desktop PC is hardly state of the art with its i7-6700 3.4GHz processor and 16GB RAM but I just ran Topaz DeNoise AI on a 10GB jpeg and it took 28 seconds. I can live with that considering the noticeable improvements to the image.

And if I'm too impatient to wait for half a minute I can easily set the software to run in batch mode on a folder full of files while I do something else.

 

[Solomon]

I am no fan of noise removal software, especially not AI-based (way too slow). So, your solution is not for me.

I understand. In fact, I was feeling that way until recently. I just really like the D300. I think it is one of the best digital cameras Nikon has made. And now with PureRAW higher ISO is really no problem. I typically import 30 or so files at a time (many years of shooting film, makes 30 a natural stopping point for me). I send them as a batch and search the web for 30 min or so. It's really not a problem. And the results are astounding.

 

[David Lal]

I am no fan of noise removal software, especially not AI-based (way too slow). So, your solution is not for me.

I understand. In fact, I was feeling that way until recently. I just really like the D300. I think it is one of the best digital cameras Nikon has made. And now with PureRAW higher ISO is really no problem. I typically import 30 or so files at a time (many years of shooting film, makes 30 a natural stopping point for me).

The D300 is/was an iconic box and mine is still doing good service. 30 shots natural stopping poing? Should that not be 36 or even 24?

;-)

 

[Blufftonian]

I am no fan of noise removal software, especially not AI-based (way too slow). So, your solution is not for me.

I understand. In fact, I was feeling that way until recently. I just really like the D300. I think it is one of the best digital cameras Nikon has made. And now with PureRAW higher ISO is really no problem. I typically import 30 or so files at a time (many years of shooting film, makes 30 a natural stopping point for me).

The D300 is/was an iconic box and mine is still doing good service. 30 shots natural stopping poing? Should that not be 36 or even 24?

;-)

After 30 shots you slowed down thinking, man I’ve only get six shots left! :-(

 

[photonut2008]

I am no fan of noise removal software, especially not AI-based (way too slow). So, your solution is not for me.

I understand. In fact, I was feeling that way until recently. I just really like the D300. I think it is one of the best digital cameras Nikon has made. And now with PureRAW higher ISO is really no problem. I typically import 30 or so files at a time (many years of shooting film, makes 30 a natural stopping point for me).

The D300 is/was an iconic box and mine is still doing good service. 30 shots natural stopping point? Should that not be 36 or even 24?

;-)

Average of 36 and 24 is 30.

 

[photonut2008]

With the D300 ISO 1600 is way too noisy to use.

Everything is relative:

https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Canon EOS 5D,Nikon D200,Nikon D300

I remember when I upgraded from the D200 to the D300, and it really made a difference back then. ISO 1600 with the D300 wasn't that bad given that it was 2008; of course the D3 had come out and was the cat's meow, and to put that in context with what we have today:

https://www.photonstophotos.net/Charts/PDR.htm#Nikon D3,Nikon D500

--
DPR, where gear is king and photography merely a jester

 

[VadiV]

Hi Solomon,

I have a D300 , and I love this camera. Like to experiment with the SW. Do I need to shoot "RAW" ? Can you please share couple of samples before and after ?

Thanks,

VadiV

 

[Breakfastographer 2]

I do most of my shooting with a D7000. I bought it refurbished by Nikon and it has been a great camera for me. But, I thought I would try an FX camera so I bought a D610. My plan was to sell most of my DX lenses and keep one DX body for the rest. I looked into FX bodies and chose the D610 for its small size and weight.

But, I didn't like it. Its low light performance with just marginally better than my D7000. But, in the meantime I picked up a mint D300 with 3 Nikon batteries for under $200. I thought it would be at least as good as my D7000 in terms of low light. It isn't. With the D300 ISO 1600 is way too noisy to use. Then I thought I would try it by passing it trough DxO's PureRAW utility. I found that if I shot the D300 @ ISO 1600 and ran it through PureRAW, it looked identical to images shot @ ISO 200. It is incredible. At this point I may sell my D7000 and focus on my D300. These AI-based denoise products are truly amazing. (I think Adobe and Topaz also have an AI-based denoise)

DxO PRIME has always been good - and it's been around since 2013! IMO, it doesn't really benefit from adding AI (because of the downsides), but I guess that's part of what it took to now finally make their product popular.

 

[Solomon]

I have a D300 , and I love this camera. Like to experiment with the SW. Do I need to shoot "RAW" ? Can you please share couple of samples before and after ?

Yes, you will need to shoot raw. And here's the good news, DxO will let you try it before you buy it. I will try to get out tomorrow and get some before and after shots for you. I find it amazing.

 

[Solomon]

The D300 is/was an iconic box and mine is still doing good service. 30 shots natural stopping poing? Should that not be 36 or even 24?

;-)

I know this is a joke, but there is a back story. I used to fill my own cassettes and I never would use all of a 36 picture load, so I started making them 30 exposure loads. Then I found myself not using all of the 30 so I would make them 28. But, for some reason I had it in my head that 24 was never enough. Now of course, I can shoot 300 exposures if I want to, and on some family events I have gotten close to 300, but when I'm just shooting for fun, for some reason it seems to stop at 30.

 

[David Lal]

The D300 is/was an iconic box and mine is still doing good service. 30 shots natural stopping poing? Should that not be 36 or even 24?

;-)

I know this is a joke, but there is a back story. I used to fill my own cassettes and I never would use all of a 36 picture load, so I started making them 30 exposure loads. Then I found myself not using all of the 30 so I would make them 28. But, for some reason I had it in my head that 24 was never enough. Now of course, I can shoot 300 exposures if I want to, and on some family events I have gotten close to 300, but when I'm just shooting for fun, for some reason it seems to stop at 30.

That sounds like a good number, 30, for a family occasion. Among my family and social circles I am well-known for always having a camera and there is an expectation now that it will be I who documents the event. Nonetheless, if I get anywhere near 30, I'll be moaned at ... "for Heaven's sake, put that camera away" ...

 

[Blufftonian]

For social occasions that my wife and I attend I'm always asked to bring a camera. There again it's my wife and not me that takes all the photos. She's a former professional portrait and wedding photographer and she's petite, cute, friendly and sociable, basically everything I'm not! We end up giving the hosts a Dropbox link or a USB stick so they can distribute the images as they wish.

 

[Dweeble]

Have you tried de-noising fine fur? That always seems to be the problem.....

 

[David Lal]

Have you tried de-noising fine fur? That always seems to be the problem.....

Or feathers? I have a penchant for photographing birds with short, sometimes very short, lenses. Then there can be issues with Moiré as well ...

:-(

D

 

[Blufftonian]

I don't think denoise software is generally needed for smaller prints or for images that will be displayed on PC screens or tablets, but for larger sizes it helps a lot. Over the last two weeks I've had one client ask me for 36'"x36" prints of my photos and another for 12"x36" metal prints. In those cases the software helped a lot to sharpen the images and smooth out backgrounds.

I've been using Topaz DeNoise AI for almost a year now, mostly on bird photos, and I have yet to see any anomalies, including moiré patterns. I'm sure there were issues with earlier software but the algorithms now seem to be quite mature. Processing times have also been radically reduced with a preview of a 10MB image typically taking about 5 seconds and the full processing taking about 15 seconds on my 5 year old Win10 PC.

Both the leading players Topaz Labs and DxO are confident enough in their products to offer free fully-functioning trials so people should check them out and decide for themselves.

Here's a comparison of the leading denoise contenders with many examples...

https://fstoppers.com/originals/ima...-compare-best-noise-reduction-software-493510

 

[Dweeble]

Not yet sold on the basis of that link, I fear......

Rather than all-image de-noise perfection (which may simply be very hard on some textures) I would give my eye teeth for a masking programme which selects subjects with complex flyaway hair without effort.

darktable parametrics can be brilliant if you chance on the right parameter! Which is easier said than done.......

 

[Blufftonian]

… I would give my eye teeth for a masking programme which selects subjects with complex flyaway hair without effort.

…

I’d certainly like that too.

 

[VadiV]

Hi Solomon,

I downloaded DXO and tried with D90, looks like I can go up to ISO1600 easily. Even I tried with my FZ80 zoom results are good.


Camera JPEG




DXO




Camera JPEG




DXO

I may end up in purchasing this SW. I can use all my existing cameras to the fullest to their potential before buying another gear. This weekend I am going to experiment my Panasonic ZS50.

Thanks,

VadiV

Back Yard Birds

Birds, Backyard, North American birds, Pakshi

backyardpakshi.blogspot.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vadkal