My pal Josh Holko has done some painstaking work over the last week to create his new noise reduction presets for the Canon EOS R5 Mark II. He has previously released leading noise reduction presets for the EOS R3 and EOS-1D X Mark III. The noise reduction presets for each camera are $20.
These presets will help give you a much better and consistent baseline in regards to noise reduction. You can use the preset on import and never really have to interact with it again. Even if you feel you're going to apply more noise reduction, you're going to be starting in a better place.
Josh explains below where there aren't any demonstrable visual results, the short version is that it would be impossible to give an honest representation of the results with an exported JPG through a web browser.
Note: This is not a sponsored or affiliate post and we receive no revenue from the sale of these presets.
How these presets are created are also important and Josh shares his methodology.
Methodology:
Over the last few days, I have done very extensive testing and analysis in the creation of these ISO-specific noise reduction pre-sets for the Canon EOS R5 MK2. To create them, I photographed a large X-Rite Color Checker (A4 video version) in a D6500 light D6500-controlled graphic light workstation with the Canon EOS R5 MK2 and an 85mm f1.2 L series lens at f5.6 at every single ISO stop from 50 to 51,200. Technically, you can push the EOS R5 MK2 to H1 ISO 102,400, but RAW files at this extreme ISO setting break down so badly that it is little more than a marketing gimmick. Thankfully, this extreme ISO range is disabled by default in the EOS R5 MK2, and that is how I suggest you leave it – permanently. Even ISO 51,200 should be used as an absolute last resort. Whilst ISO 50 is an option on the Canon EOS R5 MK2 and has no noise of consequence, it does have a more limited dynamic range than ISO100 and, as such, is not recommended. You are better off using a Neutral Density filter if you need to shoot at ISO lower than 100.
1/3rd stops are ‘push’ or ‘pull’ ISO stops that use in camera software ‘under the hood’ to adjust the exposure +/- 1/3rd of a stop accordingly. As such, I never use 1/3rd stop ISO increments and have my EOS R5 MK2 and EOS R3 cameras set to full stop ISO only. I also find that when I am shooting in the field, I prefer one click to go from ISO 400 to 800, for example, instead of having to make multiple clicks to gain a stop of light. Noise Reduction pre-sets are included for 1/3rd stop increments for those who like to shoot this way or who prefer to shoot Auto ISO.
Aperture priority was used meter as read (no exposure compensation), and only the ISO and shutter speed were varied. The X-Rite Color Checker was used as it enabled me to carefully monitor and check for noise in the shadows and because I wanted to be able to check for individual colour shifts and bleeding at each specific ISO in very specific colours. It should be said that any differences in colour shift would, in all likelihood, not be visible in normal photographic scenes, but using the X-Rite Colour Checker makes it far easier to visually detect shifts or bleed in colour and thus makes it far easier to apply optimal noise reduction in Lightroom.
The RAW files were then imported into Lightroom with the Adobe Color Profile and very carefully analysed at 100%, 200% 400% and 800% magnification. Unlike sharpening, which must be gauged at 1:1 100% magnification, Noise Reduction really requires additional zooming, and with some of the noise control sliders, it is necessary to zoom in significantly to see the differences as you adjust the sliders. I probably spent the better part of three days just staring at these RAW files at different magnifications and visually comparing them side by side as I tweaked the settings in the detail panel for each ISO. The goal was never to make ISO 51,200 look as good as ISO 100 (that simply is not possible); instead, ISO 100 was used as a reference point for all other ISO RAW files to be compared. Then, the sliders were adjusted for each full stop of ISO difference. In other words, the goal was to make ISO 200 look as close as possible to ISO100, ISO 400 as close as possible to ISO200, etc., all the way up to making ISO51,200 look as close as possible to ISO 25,600. Once this was done and checked I then went back and compared the results two full ISO stops difference and then three full stops difference and tweaked further. Finally, I rechecked my settings and results over three days to satisfy myself that I could not optimise them further. It is worth noting that ISO 51,200, in particular, looks very different (horrible) to ISO 25,600 and is the most difficult ISO to make look ‘good’ – don’t even try ISO 102,400. Hence, it has the highest degree of tweaking in the pre-set. Even with this optimised pre-set for ISO51,200, I would strongly encourage you to avoid this ISO at all costs. In real practical terms, I recommend setting a virtual ceiling of ISO 6,400, pushed to 12,800 when you have no other choice. Exceed 12,800 and things begin to significantly break down, and by ISO 25,600 start to become quite horrible. In real-world practical use, I personally try not to exceed ISO 6,400 with the EOS R5MK2 and have a preference to shoot at ISO100 or 200 as my baseline. I will happily go to ISO 3200 and even ISO 6400 before I start worrying too much about noise, with ISO 12,800 being my absolute ceiling.
Demonstrable Visual Results
In case you are wondering why I have not dotted this long post with visual examples comparing various ISO’s pre and post ISO specific noise pre-sets, it is because the images, once converted to jpeg and resized for the web, are not representative of the RAW file results.
Conversion to jpeg and downsizing to something suitable for the web has a very significant effect on the visual noise in an image. Downsizing removes visible noise and thus distorts the visual results significantly.
However; I have included a copy of all the RAW files I photographed of the X-Rite Color Checker in the creation of these pre-sets from ISO 50 to ISO 102,400; so you can visually see the differences yourself. Just import the RAW files into Lightroom, apply the pre-sets and do a before/after comparison. You may need to zoom in to 200%, 400% or even 800% to see differences.
Conclusion
Creating these ISO-specific noise reduction pre-sets for the Canon EOS R5 MK2 was a worthwhile investment in time and energy. It has been very educational (although time-consuming), and It should considerably speed up any workflow for someone that is shooting with this camera as the pre-sets can be applied on import. As they are ISO specific, Lightroom will then apply them correctly to each different ISO file you import. Since significant time and effort went into optimising these pre-sets, you will not have to worry about whether you are setting your noise reduction optimally. Just make sure you expose optimally in the field, apply the pre-set on import into Lightroom and you can then focus on processing your photograph. Just remember, you still need to apply an appropriate level of capture sharpening for your RAW file in addition to the ISO-specific sharpening that may be being applied in the pre-set. Happy processing!
Learn more about the EOS R5 Mark II noise reduction presets.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here's how it works. |
3 comments