you could take many shots and average them, this would reduce noise.

also you should try this - http://www.guillermoluijk.com/article/virtualraw/index_en.htm

Hi there!! Geoff noise problems are very common and hard to correct sometimes specially if you have to increase the ISO too much, is very high recommended to use a tripod, a monopod should work sometimes, but is not a 100% as good as a tripod, but you know all that and like you said you can't use tripods there, I have not any other solution in my mind now but...

What I do is process the images using the same method that your digital camera use "the Black frame technique", but for that I use a tripod, because the trick is replace the hot pixels in your image for the black version ones of the black frame (using the same time exposure of your images for the black frame to replicate the same conditions), then I use a software that allows me to combine the Raw files into one replacing the hot pixels that are in the original image, that's basically the same thing that Jeffrey's article said, very useful information there by the way!, all this should work for night photography or very low lighting conditions,(not for day light photography) consider using softwares for Astronomy photography too (Iris software), most of then has a very effective noise reduction algorithms' built in.

Check out this link too. http://theory.uchicago.edu/~ejm/pix/20d/tests/noise/index.html

I just hope you can solve your issue. Nuurs.

I have found Topaz De-Noise 4 to be remarkably successful in reducing noise. The D300 that I most often use was reputed to have good (low) noise when it came out, but is showing its age. The Pentax K-x I bought as a second camera does rather better. Now, with Topaz De-Noise I can use the D300 up to 800 or even 1,600 ISO with some confidence, and the K-x up to 3,200. This is about the limit, though, and sometimes the results are not too satisfactory. Topaz is definitely worth a trial.

Like you, I have problems with a monopod for indoor panoramas, mostly due to shaky hands these days. Probably an age-related factor. The higher ISO helps, Topaz helps, but I would also recommend you try a mini-mini tripod that screws into the foot of your monopod (if you are fortunate enough, as I am, to have one with a screw-threaded socket on the foot). Anyway, the idea is you use this very small tripod to provide some extra stability. It doesn't look anything like a conventional tripod, and if someone says "Hey, isn't that a TRIPOD!" you can say, "No, of course not. It isn't nearly big enough for one thing. It's a monopod base stabilizer."

I've never actually tried it myself, but I have heard of folks having success with longer exposures and mono-pods by placing the tip of the mono-pod inside their shoe. It apparently makes the base more stable and therefore less motion. Again, never tried it myself, but it might be worth a try.