Aging bodies get noisy?

[jawsborne]

I've had my Canon 30D since they came out and in the past year or so the noise is increasing a lot in my photos.  Is it normal for bodies to do that as they age?

[jawsborne]

: /

[te4o]

Probably your PC, screen, skills and eyes got better and you demand more from your gear and you compare it to newer cameras and suddenly you are aware of it...
No, I'm not earnest, sorry! Do you compare your old shots with the recent ones on the same screen?

[mb66energy]

I have not observed an increase in general background noise in my cameras (including a G2, 10 years old) but I see some "firing" subpixels/pixels which are always on - if and only if I have long term exposures (1/4 s and above) on all cameras (CCD and CMOS on 20D/40D), increasing perhaps one subpixel per year ... easy to correct.

IMO it might be radiation damage from cosmic particles.

My pictures exhibit more noise if I try to correct the curves of images taken at extreme lighting conditions. I switched from JPEG to RAW and I learned to use Canons DPP more extensively to increase the visibility of textures in shadowy or highlighted regions of images. So this is my reason, that I SEE more noise compared to earlier images.

Another reason might be the temperature rise by climate change ... just kidding, that's to slight to affect noise production by sensors ... do you use live view more extensively? Perhaps moved to a warmer region? Higher environmental temperatures/chip temperatures increase noise slightly.

Just another point: I decided to shut down all noise cancelling options in DPP. Since that I have slightly more noise in the pictures but MUCH better sharpness resulting in higher reproduction quality of fine textures!

Perhaps it helps - combined with te4o's thoughts - to understand your observations!

Best - Michael

[tt]

Have you done a general dust calibration shot recently? Might be worth ruling that out

[ejenner]

I have not observed an increase in general background noise in my cameras (including a G2, 10 years old) but I see some "firing" subpixels/pixels which are always on - if and only if I have long term exposures (1/4 s and above) on all cameras (CCD and CMOS on 20D/40D), increasing perhaps one subpixel per year ... easy to correct.

IMO it might be radiation damage from cosmic particles.

My pictures exhibit more noise if I try to correct the curves of images taken at extreme lighting conditions. I switched from JPEG to RAW and I learned to use Canons DPP more extensively to increase the visibility of textures in shadowy or highlighted regions of images. So this is my reason, that I SEE more noise compared to earlier images.

Another reason might be the temperature rise by climate change ... just kidding, that's to slight to affect noise production by sensors ... do you use live view more extensively? Perhaps moved to a warmer region? Higher environmental temperatures/chip temperatures increase noise slightly.

Just another point: I decided to shut down all noise cancelling options in DPP. Since that I have slightly more noise in the pictures but MUCH better sharpness resulting in higher reproduction quality of fine textures!

Perhaps it helps - combined with te4o's thoughts - to understand your observations!

Best - Michael

I would expect that with a camera such as the 30D, sensor read noise would overshadow these potential causes.  I've not heard of this being a generally noticeable phenomenon, but with electronics who knows,  it's possible it is not actually the sensor.

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The number of hot pixels is known to increase over time, as well as "Dark Noise".  However, unless you are doing astronimical Photography, you are not likely to notice.

The oldest sensor I owned was from 1995, and is a Kodak 6mp sensor in a DCS 620.  Plenty of noise now, but then, it probably had plenty in 1995.  ISO 64!

[jawsborne]

Thank you all for your replies!! 

I know it's not that my eyes got better because years ago I was submitting to micro stock agencies who were very picky on any amount of noise in a photo.

I'm not referencing any photos over iso 100 nor am I editing levels/curves.   It does seem to be much worse in the dark areas photos.  But some not so dark too.   For example, a shot of the sky with the sun behind a large cloud, the cloud was a just a little bit dark and it is quite noisy!

I do not know how to do a "general dust calibration shot".

(and 30D's can't shoot in live mode)

[AJ]

I read the title of the thread, and I was going to write something about my creaky knees, rumbling gut, and frequent passing the gas.

But then I realized you're talking about something else

[jawsborne]

lol

[Beautor]

I read the title of the thread, and I was going to write something about my creaky knees, rumbling gut, and frequent passing the gas.

But then I realized you're talking about something else

That's the exact same thought process I went through reading this thread title!