CR2 vs JPG issue. Please help.

[wbsimpson11]

I have a Canon Rebel XT and recently been trying to use more of the Manual settings and using RAW format, but in low light using RAW am getting huge amounts of grain in my photos. Grain to the point the photo is useless. After looking at how to fix it, I dropped my ISO to 100, F/8, and then began doing some evening shooting, but still was getting huge amounts of grain. It made no difference what I did. I took a pic with the cap on to get a pure black to see if I could merge it with a grainy photo to help, and again, even with the cap on, major reddish grain. I took a JPG with the cap on in auto setting and nice pure black photo. Now here is where I know I there is a problem. I switched the camera to take a JPG and RAW, and the difference in the photos is ungodly. RAW is pure grain noise and the JPG of the same pic is pure black. The two pics I have attached are the exact same photo, 1/60, f/4/5, ISO 400 with cap on. Please help.

[wbsimpson11]

I use Corel PSP 12 and apparently this program is not working with the CR2 files like I thought it was. I started using DPP and the clarity is spot on. I need to get the camera cleaned, but otherwise, within this program my pics are crystal clear. Apparently all the originals RAW files I have been importing into Corel, were being converted to .jpg files even though I never save over the originals, The odd thing is that it was not converting all of them. I truly have no idea what the deal is.

[dlambert]

I believe there are a couple of things going on here that are affecting your results. First, your camera is most likely doing in-camera noise reduction on the JPG file, but not the CR2 file, but I think the biggest source of noise is most likely the process of importing the CR2, which is boosting the exposure significantly in an attempt to brighten the photo. You should be able to see an exposure or brightness setting, and it's most likely cranked way up, which will add a ton of noise to the shot.

You're definitely going to want to pay attention to those exposure & brightness settings when doing your RAW conversion, and understand that you'll have to use PSP's noise reduction tools to control the noise in the camera, because the camera isn't helping with that anymore. Be sure to save the original RAW's in case you move to another software package, as you may find that different software is better at noise reduction. I started using Lightroom a couple months ago, and I've been really impressed with its noise reduction capabilities. I'm far more likely than before to boost my ISO in order to get a proper in-camera exposure now, and let LR control the noise in post-processing.

[OsmosisStudios]

JPG is showing you after noise removal
CR2 is showing you before noise removal.

You get to do that step manually.

[jamespdavid]

Originally Posted by wbsimpson11

I have a Canon Rebel XT and recently been trying to use more of the Manual settings and using RAW format, but in low light using RAW am getting huge amounts of grain in my photos. Grain to the point the photo is useless. After looking at how to fix it, I dropped my ISO to 100, F/8, and then began doing some evening shooting, but still was getting huge amounts of grain. It made no difference what I did. I took a pic with the cap on to get a pure black to see if I could merge it with a grainy photo to help, and again, even with the cap on, major reddish grain. I took a JPG with the cap on in auto setting and nice pure black photo. Now here is where I know I there is a problem. I switched the camera to take a JPG and RAW, and the difference in the photos is ungodly. RAW is pure grain noise and the JPG of the same pic is pure black. The two pics I have attached are the exact same photo, 1/60, f/4/5, ISO 400 with cap on. Please help.

There are several reasons for grains in a photograph. The most commonly known and talked about reason for grains is ISO. In old days, when people used film, a general thumb rule was that grain in a photo increases as the ISO goes up. So, the higher the ISO, the grainier the photo would be.

[Gfresh]

Yikes, 008a is nasty looking. You shouldn't get any grain at ISO 100. Can you post the RAW file?