EOS-1D Firmware v1.4

Written: July 30, 2002
Last Updated: July 30, 2002

Testing out the noise reduction algorithms in the EOS-1D Firmware v1.4.

New noise reduction menu

Canon recently released version 1.4 of the EOS-1D camera firmware for download. One of the five listed changes in the update mentioned noise reduction tone curve settings have been added to the EOS-1D's monitor menu. According to the PDF Instructions, the new menu allows the user to enable noise reduction to "reduce noise in long (slow shutter speeds) or bulb exposures and reduce horizontal stripes in images taken at high ISO speeds."

The menu can be seen in the image to the right. After updating my firmware -- which took several tries, it should be known -- I shot 18 frames from ISO100 to 3200 using the three possible settings. I've included some large 300x300 pixel sized crops from the original images. Exposures ranged from 4 seconds at ISO100 to 1/8th of a second at ISO3200.

It is worth noting that I did not take shots of this scene prior to updating to Firmware 1.3. Hopefully, readers of this article who are still shooting with Firmware 1.3 will perform their own tests and post their results of the update in the comments section below. It's also important to note that in Firmware 1.3 and before, I've always set the Noise Reduction menu to On.

EOS-1D Firmware 1.4 Noise Reduction Crops Set #1

EOS-1D Firmware 1.4 Noise Reduction Crops Set #2

Preliminary Analysis

At the higher ISO's, it appears to me that the two noise reduction algorithms are actually increasing the level of noise in the images! With noise reduction set to either NR-On1 or NR-On2, a slight blue/red color cast could be seen in images shot with ISO400 and above. I do wonder what these images would have looked like with Firmware 1.3 and the noise reduction menu set to either On or Off.

When you look at the color channels individually, you can see less noise at the lower ISO's. At the higher ISO's, the noise looks more random with NR-On1 or NR-On2 set (see Hoon's comment below for more detail).

Regarding the strangely dark and posterized image for the ISO3200 ON1 image, I have no idea what happened here! I figured that the camera's firmware got "confused" processing this photo. I've never seen it happen in any of my photos in the past using Firmware 1.3 and below. In future tests, we'll see if this image phenomenon reproduces itself.

Long Exposure Crops

Long Exposure Analysis

July 30, 9:34 am: Well, I guess there is a benefit to using the NR settings after all. I performed some long exposure tests this morning and the results clearly point to using either the NR-On1 or the NR-On2 setting for very long exposures.

I shot the image crops to the right at ISO100 and ISO400 for 25-30 seconds each at f/11 and f/22 respectively. The two images that were shot with NR-Off demonstrate extreme artifacting and noise, whereas the images shot with noise reduction were much cleaner. Exposure and processing times double when using either of the NR settings, so a 30 second shot takes 60 seconds to shoot and process.

The hot pixels that you see in the four images shot with noise reduction can be minimized or removed altogether by running the Dust and Scratches Photoshop filter, typically with the settings at Radius 1 and Threshold 30.

Conclusion

Well, one things clear. If you're shooting long exposures, make sure that one of the noise reduction settings is turned on. It's not quite clear for those times when you don't go beyond a few seconds of exposure. Over the coming days and weeks, I'm going to experiment in real-world situations using the three different noise reduction settings to which settings work best for me.

Enter The Photo Gallery

Reader Comments

Hi Adam,

Interesting results. Have you looked at high magnifications of these images for any discernible patterns? Looking at your images, it seems to me that NR-Off images have a slight pattern to the noise while the NR-On1 and On2 images seem more random. And I do agree with you that NR-On1 and On2 images seem to be noisier than NR-Off images. Maybe in their attempt to make the noises more random, the side effect is the added noise.

-- posted by Hoon @ Tuesday, July 30 2002, 7:26 am EDT

I do a lot of action sports photography, can I use 2 for 8 frames a sec. shooting... It looks to me that is is only good at slow shutter speeds.. The upgrade to Breeze Brower has a noise reducting that good. This adds another step to my work flow.. Shooting 6 to 700 image at a game and uploading to site. bob

-- posted by Bob Morin @ Sunday, September 15 2002, 9:04 am EDT