NR software.

[coffee]

I was wondering what everyone was uses for noise reduction. I've heard of and used a bit, the demo of Noise Ninja 2, as well as Neat Image demo. I found Noise Ninga a little daunting, and never used it much, but have heard good things. I can use Neat Image pretty well with good results. Has anyone tried these two, and which you like best. Is there any other programs you use besides these two?

Thanks

[jerryph]

Noise Ninja was VERY easy to use. Neat Image gave me results not quite as good as NN... but my favorite is a Photoshop plug-in called Imagenomic Noiseware Professional. It does some incredible noise reduction with very very little loss in detail compared to either Neat Image or Noise Ninja.

It does cost a fair bit more, though.

[LensBaby]

hhhmm never used one before.

[coffee]

hhhmm never used one before.

I never either until a few months back. As I take more photos especially near dusk, I find myself uping the ISO to get the shot. Thus increasing the noise. These programs work great in reducing it. Try the demo of one of these and see Sue.

[dkippen]

Joseph - I use Neat Image as a plug-in for PS and it seems to work pretty well. So far, the only downside is that it works in a small frame so it's hard to see a preview.

[jerryph]

I used to just turn off the NR of my D200 and do all that processing in post.

About 2 months ago, someone showed a picture of a D200 at ISO 1600 and very low light conditions, straight out of the camera and it was a LOT less noisy than mine normally were. I turned on the NR, and (likely the MOST important thing to add is to expose properly), and you will have to use noise reduction software a LOT less.

Even at the highest ISO your camera takes, pics in good light will result in low to no noise... however, start shooting in churches without flash or in places even darker, and I will say that proper camera exposure settings will lower your noise by at least 20-30%. Then, using a noise reduction software minimally will let the picture retain the maximum resolution it can and still be quite noise free.

[LensBaby]

I will have to try one of those out for some of my noise shots. I can only think of a few photos that I have with noise, and it was at a dark wedding ! lol

[jerryph]

Those are usually some of the best places to practice at. That is why I so often go to churches in and around Montreal. Great places to practice in, so that when I do go into a low light high ISO situation, I already will have a better feel for what is needed to get proper results before I start.

[solo1]

Reducing the noise in picture can be done with photoshop but you must realize that when you reduce the noise you also soften the picture, so you
must be carefull

[jerryph]

It is not so much softening the pic as a loss of detail. When you are reducing noise to the point where faces look plastic, you are WAY too deep into the settings. Reducing it in Photoshop is not near the quality of noise reduction that you would get in other 3rd party software.

Nikon D200s are not known for being clean above ISO 400, yet I squeezed this out:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3065/2966190055_ea174f6909.jpg

That was with VERY moderate and low settings at ISO 1600. I have pics that are "ok" at ISO 6400 and as high as 25,600 but they are with a D700, good technique and noise reduction software.

ISO 6400:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3273/3063790643_a8730d5402.jpg