I posted an article yesterday describing a method to reduce noise from photographic images shot at high ISO by using a free Action for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom called the OD Virtual Tripod Action.

In that article I used an example image that was shot at ISO 400. I realized when I was writing it that the example image may not have been the most convincing; however, it was the best example I had at the time.

So I went out at sunrise and created a new series of images that could really demonstrate how well this action works.

This new example image was created from a series of 11 images that I shot in rapid fire on my Canon 1D Mark IV at ISO 12,800. I deliberately underexposed the images, which always results in noiser images than images that are exposed correctly. I also turned off all noise reduction in Lightroom. The resulting image (upper left) after applying the action is still somewhat noisy, but I think it’s a much more pleasant or organic noise than the originals.

Check out a closeup of the original image on the left below. It is really, really ugly. Now compare it to the image on the right. This is the resulting image after the OD Virtual Tripod Action has been applied. I think the result speaks for itself.

For more information about the OD Virtual Tripod Action check out the original article.

Download the Free OD Virtual Tripod Photoshop Action

• OD Virtual Tripod (Photoshop Action)

There was a post on the Imaging Professional Blog a few months ago showing how to use Adobe Photoshop to dramatically reduce the noise in a series of images that were shot at high ISO.

“This technique describes a method to stack several high ISO source images in Photoshop CS3 or CS4 Extended, in order to minimize random noise – in effect creating a synthesized long duration low-ISO exposure.”

Sometimes you really just don’t have the light you need to shoot at low ISO and still get the high shutter speeds you need to shoot hand held. If you don’t have a tripod with you then your only option may be to crank up the ISO. This will likely create some very noisy images. Using this Virtual Tripod technique will allow you to easily reduce that noise in post processing after the fact. In my experience this method works far better than noise reduction software and can result in some really great looking, noise-free images.

The original article described in detail a method to do this once you already have a series of images loaded up in Photoshop. I took those instructions and modified them slightly to simplify their use with Adobe Lightroom. I also created a Photoshop Action to automate the process. Depending on how many images you use, the resolution of your camera, and how fast your computer is, this method could take several minutes to run (or maybe even longer in some circumstances. But using this method is very easy, and extremely effective!

Example Images

The first image is one of the original images, essentially straight out of the camera. There may have been some minor global edits applied in Lightroom, but no noise reduction has been performed.

The second example is the resulting image after application of the OD Virtual Tripod Action. This was done using a series of 5 images that were shot using the high speed shooting mode with my Canon 40D.

The difference isn’t really noticeable when the images are rezzed down for on-screen display, but when you zoom in the noise in the original is extremely obvious (I’m really not that much of a pixel peeper, but even when looking at the originals in Lightroom the difference was extremely obvious.)

Here is a close up of one of the original images with no edits applied.

And here is a close up of the resulting image after application of the OD Virtual Tripod Action.

I think you will agree that the difference is simply amazing. These images were shot at ISO 400. Imagine if I had used originals at ISO 1600 or even 3200. I generally find the images shot at ISO’s above 800 on this camera are barely useable. Using this technique has allowed me to create a few really nice images that I wouldn’t even have tried to make if I didn’t have this tool in my kit.

Try it, you’ll like it!

Install the OD Virtual Tripod Action

1. Skip down to the end of this article to download the Free Virtual Tripod Photoshop Action
2. Extract the file called “OD_Virtual_Tripod.atn” from the zip file you just downloaded, and save the action to a safe place on your computer (that you will remember).
3. Open Photoshop
4. In the Actions Palette choose “Load Actions…” and navigate to the file you just saved. Choose “Load“.
5. You will now have a new folder in your Actions Palette called “OD Virtual Tripod“

If you need more help with loading actions (or using them) then you should check out the article called Photoshop Actions for Photographers over at PhotoshopSupport.com. They do a great job of teaching all about Photoshop Actions.

Using the OD Virtual Tripod Action

1. Shoot a series of photos in rapid fire. Use your best “Human Tripod” technique while shooting them. Hold your arms in tight to your body and try to be as still as possible. If there is a small amount of camera shake or body movement then the Photoshop Action will take care of aligning the images properly. This won’t work so well for large movements or for moving subjects. I suggest that you use at least 5 images, but any more than 12 is probably overkill. You can read more about how to actually make the images in the original article over at the Imaging Professional Blog.
2. Import the files into Lightroom. Do any basic edits you want to the images, but be sure to do the same edits to all of the images.
3. Select all the images.
4. Right Click on one of the files and choose “Edit In” and then “Open as Layers in Photoshop…“
5. Run the OD Virtual Tripod Action
6. When the action finishes, Save and Close the resulting file in Photoshop. The finished image will automatically get imported back into Lightroom.
7. Inspect the resulting image to ensure that there is no ghosting and that the edges are clean. If the images didn’t line up properly, or if one (or more) of the images was severely out of alignment with the others then you may need to do some additional cropping to clean up the images. You may even need to repeat the process after deselecting the offending image(s) that were badly aligned.

Download the Free Virtual Tripod Photoshop Action

• OD Virtual Tripod (Photoshop Action)

That’s it. Try it out and drop me a comment to let me know how it works! This action should definitely works in Photoshop CS4, and it may also work in prior versions. Please let me know if you try it with other versions and I will compile a compatibility list.

With the recently announced release of the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV many photographers, myself included, have a major dilemma ahead of us. It’s not that this won’t be a great camera; it appears to be a fantastic upgrade to its predecessor, the Canon EOS 1D Mark III, and it would be very hard not to love it.

The problem is that Canon really muddied the waters in the SLR market with the recently issued Canon EOS 7D.  Although these two cameras have different target markets, their feature sets overlap in many areas and a lot of photographers will find both to be very attractive.

The main difference between the 1D series cameras and the rest of the SLR’s in the canon family is that the 1D’s are designed to be much more rugged, much more weather proof, and built to much tighter tolerances.  These things definitely have value, but how much is going to be a personal opinion.  For the price of the 1D Mark IV you can pick up 3 of the 7D’s.  It will be very compelling for many people to buy a much cheaper camera that has most of the high end features of a more expensive model.  In fact many people will never even take advantage of all of the high end features found in the 7D, never mind the few extra offered by the Mark IV.

My personal dilemma is that what I really want is a  mix of the two cameras.  I’ve been looking forward to buying a new camera for almost year, but none of the available cameras fully met my needs, and I was happily and patiently waiting for the right camera to show up.  Now there are two cameras that get me most of the way there, but neither takes me all the way.  Unfortunately it appears that the less expensive model is missing a couple of the main features that were on my “must have” list:

• Autofocus that works with lenses (or combinations of lenses and teleconverters) having a maximum aperture as small as f/8
• Auto Exposure Bracketed (AEB) sequences of more than 3 images

The 7D also falls short of the Mark IV on my list of “high wants”:

• expanded usable ISO range
• integral battery grip
• only 1 memory card slot

The 7D does have a couple of features that I wish the Mark IV includes:

• built-in popup flash with wireless E-TTL Speedlite master flash transmitter
• dedicated Live View/Video mode start/stop button

While these features would be really nice to have, I can easily live without them.

Putting all of this together, I’ve decided that my next camera will be the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV.  The Canon EOS 7D looks to be a great contender, but for me it just doesn’t quite match up where it counts. 

What would you decide if you were in my position??

For interest’s sake, here is a table I put together showing a comparison of the key specifications for both cameras:

	Canon EOS 1D Mark IV	Canon EOS 7D
Sensor	16.1 Megapixels APS-H, CMOS 1.3x Crop Factor	18 Megapixels APS-C, CMOS 1.6x Crop Factor
Processor	Dual DIGIC IV	Dual DIGIC IV
Autofocus System	Redesigned 45 point AF 39 cross-type points Range: -1.0 to 18 EV	Brand New 19 point AF 19 cross-type AF points Range: -0.5 - 18 EV
ISO	100-12,800 default, 50-102,400 extended	100-6400 default, 100-12,800 extended
Shutter	10 fps max 300,000 actuations	8 fps max 150,000 actuations
Metering	63 metering zones linked to all 45 AF points EV 0 to EV 20	63 metering zones linked to all 19 AF points EV 1 to EV 20
Memory Card	Dual card slots 1 CF, 1 SDHC	Single CF card slot
Battery	LP-E4 (same as 1D Mark III) Integral Battery Grip	LP-E6 (same as 5D Mark II) BG-E7 Battery Grip
Movie Mode	up to 1080p Video 30, 25, or 24 fps	up to 1080p Video 30, 25, or 24 fps
Lenses	EF Lens Mount (no EF-S lenses)	EF-S Lens Mount (all EF and EF-S lenses)
MSRP (Body Only)	$5499 USD	$1699 USD
Release Date	Expected December 2009	October 2009

Today Canon announced the upcoming release of the next camera in the professional EOS 1D series, the Canon EOS 1D Mark IV. Although this camera physically appears to be almost identical to it’s predecessor (the 1D Mark III), the new camera brings a host of new and upgraded features to the table.

The most notable new feature is the addition of high definition 1080p video and a jack for an external stereo microphone, while the biggest improvement over the previous release is the vastly expanded ISO sensitivity, which ranges all the way up to a whopping 102,400 in extended mode.

According to Vincent Laforet, on this camera “6400 ASA is the new 1600 ASA – maybe even the new 800 ASA”. Check out his video “Nocturne” which was shot using the 1D Mark IV locked at ISO 6400. The video is a bit cheesy but the image quality is amazing!

Here is a summary of some of the other specs for this camera:

• Sensor: APS-H (1.3x) Crop Factor
• Processor: dual DIGIC IV
• Resolution: 16.1 Megapixels
• ISO: 100-12,400 by default, 50-102,400 in extended mode
• Autofocus: 45 user selectable points (39 cross-type)
• Shutter: 10 fps max, shutter rated to 300,000 cycles
• Metering: 63-zone sensor, 0 to 20EV range
• Memory Cards: 2 card slots (1 each for CF and SD/SDHC)
• Battery: Canon LP-E4 (same as in the 1D Mark III)

The camera is due out in December of 2009 and will list at an MSRP of $4,999. Ouch.

If you want to learn more about this camera you should check out the initial information posted at Imaging Resource or you can visit the official Canon EOS 1D Mark IV product page. Canon has posted some sample still images and videos that are also worth a look.

No sniplet called Amazon-Canon1DMarkIV-Graphical