Time for noise reduction software.

I just took some shots wide open at 1600 ISO and want to reduce noise in them.

What do you recommend? Noise Ninja? Noiseware? Plug-ins for Photoshop?
I'm using Lightroom and PS3. (Not very well.)

Thanks

Tapeman wrote in post #4249799
I just took some shots wide open at 1600 ISO and want to reduce noise in them.

What do you recommend? Noise Ninja? Noiseware? Plug-ins for Photoshop?
I'm using Lightroom and PS3. (Not very well.)

Thanks

I used to use Neat Image, but I switched to Noise Ninja. Very very solid! It clears it up, but won't turn them into plastic.

Do you have the latest version of Lightroom? If not, I'd get it, it has some improvements in NR. I'd start with that because it's a bit kinder and gentler. Then, if that doesn't work, well, I have Noise Ninja, but I've seen that remove a lot of detail, so use with care!

If you do use Noise Ninja in PS, try using it on a layer with a copy of your original, rather than on the original itself. That way you can adjust and/or mask parts of the image and keep the original intact.

Tony
Tony

Tony, I have version 1.2. I won't buy a noise reduction program if it is only slightly better than what I have already in LR or PS3.

I would go with Noise Ninja but get the plug in version for PS not the stand alone version. Don't ask me why but the plug in works better than the stand alone version IMO I have both, but like I said the plug in works better!!!

I'll add a vote for Noise Ninja... I too have the plug in for CS3 and it's great.

Pretty cool that it can identify and tweak images by camera body and ISO. Been real happy with it.

You need to use the camera profile for the most accurate results with Noise Ninja. Having said that and used both I prefer Imagenomic Noiseware Pro plug in for CS3.

They offer a free stand alone version too that works alright.

Another fan here of Noise Ninja.

Noiseware above NN or NI any day...

Now I an unsure which program to get.

Noise Ninja can be d'loaded and demo'd for free. It will put a grid over your image until you buy a license, but at least you can do some pixel-peeping to see how well it works.

I think I will try Noise Ninja and Noiseware. Noiseware is almost a hundred bucks!
Free trials are a cool way to compare products.

I bought Neat Image. It's decent enough as long as you don't go overboard. I seldom use it anymore though.

I have Noiseware, and it works well, but I don't use it as much as I used to. I do use it as sort of a quick skin smoother occasionally. I think the key to using any NR software is to not take it too far. In many cases, you don't necessarily need to eliminate the grain (killing detail in the process)...just reduce it a little. Using a layer mask is a good idea too.

I use Noiseware too so I can recommend it.

However, I have to ask....you say you're using Photoshop CS3....have you attempted to use the Noise Reduction features of Adobe Camera Raw that is present in both Lightroom and CS3? It has made most NR software obsolete.

Between the new ACR Noise Reduction introduced in version 4.1 and the native Noise Reduction filters in Photoshop itself, I hardly ever have to use third-party NR software. The trick is to begin editing any image - even if its not a RAW format - in Adobe Camera Raw. Then you can open the image as a Smart Object in Photoshop and complete the editing.