Nikon D300 Complete Manual page 297

general shooting. These settings are usable in extreme
lighting, but realize that edge definition and resolution is
seriously compromised. Absolutely use a High ISO NR
value of Normal or High and no sharpening in the Picture
Control you use in order to minimize noise production,
and avoid high JPEG compression settings.
• Shutter speed before ISO (but remember to use Long
exp. NR). In dim situations you're often faced with a
choice of using a higher ISO value or a longer shutter
speed. Both choices will increase image noise, but which
one does so the least? Well, if you can, put the camera on
a tripod, turn on long exposure noise reduction (Long
exp. NR is on the SHOOTING menu) and use longer
exposures. It's no contest. You can produce nearly noise-
free images with exposures of 10, 20, or even 30 seconds
on a D300.
• The automatic ISO option is quite useful in some situations
as long as you keep its range of operation limited. See my
specific recommendations in "Auto ISO" on page <290>.
Tip: For noisy NEF images taken at high ISO values, try using
Nikon Capture NX to convert the image to 16-bit TIFF.
Open the resulting file in Photoshop to make your color and
image adjustments. Convert the image to Lab Color. Then
use the Median filter (on the Filter/Noise menu) to remove
noise on the A and B (color) channels. Don't sharpen the
image until you're satisfied with the results.
Thom Hogan's Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
V1.02
Page 297