Disappointed With Nikon Z7 Noise!

[BruceSD]

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A few weeks ago, I purchased a "new to me" Nikon Z7 digital camera.  It looks like new, and has only around 1500 clicks on it.

Been shooting test shots with it, and while the overall IQ is good, the noise is excessive.    Whether shooting at ISO 64 or ISO 1000, RAW or JPG, the noise is excessive and objectionable.  Definitely more noise than my Z6 body.

Could it be that this noise is caused by some menu setting?  Or, would the smaller size of the pixels be the cause?   I welcome any and all advice.

Thanks...

[pluton]

I haven't noticed any unusual noise from my copy of the Z7II compared to my Z6II.  I don't know if the "II" makes any difference.

[Netr]

Hello Bruce, I never noticed this issue with my Z7.  (1) Noise usually relates to under-exposure rather than ISO. There could be a setting that causes under-exposure - check them if you didn't rest all setting when you bought the camera. (2) It isn't surprising that the Z6 has less noise than the Z7 at any ISO, as it has bigger pixel sizes (with 24MP on a 36x24 image instead of 45MP). This means at any ISO the noise is relatively larger compared with the signal when using the Z7. (3) Another possibility is how you input your images off the card. Are you inputting your images using an Adobe product?  There is a setting that may need changing.Try opening a raw image off the card using Nikon's NX Studio and compare with what you usually do.  Hope this helps, Ross

[Erik Lund]

You will need to share some images that show this noise to be able to evaluate,,, Sounds very strange Z7 is extremely clean at low ISO

[Macro_Cosmos]

If everything stays the same (scene, iso settings, etc etc etc) of course the higher megapixel camera will have more readout noise. 

[BruceSD]

Hello Bruce, I never noticed this issue with my Z7.  (1) Noise usually relates to under-exposure rather than ISO. There could be a setting that causes under-exposure - check them if you didn't rest all setting when you bought the camera. (2) It isn't surprising that the Z6 has less noise than the Z7 at any ISO, as it has bigger pixel sizes (with 24MP on a 36x24 image instead of 45MP). This means at any ISO the noise is relatively larger compared with the signal when using the Z7. (3) Another possibility is how you input your images off the card. Are you inputting your images using an Adobe product?  There is a setting that may need changing.Try opening a raw image off the card using Nikon's NX Studio and compare with what you usually do.  Hope this helps, Ross

Indeed, the test photos I had taken were mostly under exposed a bit (because I didn't want to blow the highlights).   I shot a few new images this morning that were exposed better, and found that the noise mostly went away.

Also, I prefer Lumar Neo to any Adobe product.  But, per your suggestion, I just opened the same RAW file in both Neo and in NX Studio.   I could not see any difference in noise between the two softwares.

Thanks to all, especially Ross.

[MILLIREHM]

Well it is common sense that higher resolution sensors tend to generate more noise (in comparison) and lower resolution sensors have better high-ISO performance. But that does not explain a Z7 having excessive noise in all situations and in low ISO. My only idea so far is carefully check the camera settings (or set them back to default) and then run a test series with low to moderate ISO and good lighting including bracketing  to check whether the noise effect is persistent or indeed solely depending on specific exposure. If you cant get any pictures that are not noisy under any circumstances I would contact a nikon repair facility

[BruceSD]

Good advice, thank you Wolfgang Rehm!

[pluton]

If you haven't yet, please try using the EVF live histogram feature. It reduces the incidence of surprise underexposure/overexposure.  It has saved me a lot of bracketing and general exposure goofs.