Best Noise Reduction Software

[CNCO]

Just wondering what people are using for noise reduction?

 

[KmH]

A range of applications, because there is no one 'best'. Image noise comes in various types.

It is often advantagous to reduce color noise, but not luminance noise.

Plus, whichever noise reduction technique is used has to be balanced with whatever sharpening method you intend to use.

 

[table1349]

Actually there is one best noise reduction application available to all photographers and that is a Dead On Proper Exposure. If your exposure is dead on it will go a long way to reducing noise at high ISO.

After that like KmH said, there is no one right or best answer.

 

[Green Li]

i use Noise Ninja and I like it (don't like the name though )

 

[thingsIsee]

I use LR3 for 95% of all my PP. noise reduction too.

 

[subscuck]

I use the community version of Noiseware. I have no big complaints about it. It does a nice job of preserving detail.

 

[Buckster]

LR3 mostly, sometimes Noise Ninja.

 

[dallasimagery]

Actually there is one best noise reduction application available to all photographers and that is a Dead On Proper Exposure. If your exposure is dead on it will go a long way to reducing noise at high ISO.

After that like KmH said, there is no one right or best answer.

"Proper" exposure isn't always possible without a high ISO value.

For my noise reduction i use adobe camera raw, which is essentially the same thing as lightroom.

 

[cabrosh]

The community edition of Noiseware is free. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the Standard version, but you can download it, try it, and not be out any money if you hate it. Use a light hand; it can make your image look like a poster. I upgraded, love being able to filter only the sky. Suppose you could do the same thing in the free version by selecting and pasting.

 

[table1349]

Actually there is one best noise reduction application available to all photographers and that is a Dead On Proper Exposure. If your exposure is dead on it will go a long way to reducing noise at high ISO.

After that like KmH said, there is no one right or best answer.

"Proper" exposure isn't always possible without a high ISO value.

For my noise reduction i use adobe camera raw, which is essentially the same thing as lightroom.

Really, so if you are using a high ISO you can't get a proper exposure? Funny, I don't have that problem.

High ISO does add noise, that is true, but noise and proper exposure are two different things. With a proper exposure at high ISO you reduce the amount of noise. Reduced noise means less noise to clean up which translates to less image degradation.

To finish the job I prefer Noise Ninja.

 

[Joseph Westrupp]

Photoshop is pretty effective in its latest incarnation (big improvement on CS4).

 

[RyanLilly]

I use Noiseware Pro. I tried the demo first and its really great software. I still don't know how to really fine tune images; there are a lot of advanced adjustments if you want to use them.

The full version of and the Pro version are both reasonably priced, Its been a while, but I think you have options to buy just the standalone program, the photoshop plugin, or both. One benefit of pro, is that it lets you work on 16 bit images.

Just a side question, Because noise reduction can have a significant effect on sharpness, do you guys sharpen in you noise reduction software, or do you still sharpen in you image editor?