Downsampling-need help

goodguy · Nov 20, 2017

Since I got my Nikon D850 I have been very happy with it except the fact its not as good as my D750 in low light/high ISO performance.
I am getting all the time the reply to downsample the picture.
So I will admit

1.I don't know exactly what this mean
2.How do I do that on Lightroom

I bought the D850 to become my main body for my wedding photography but due to the rather unimpressive low light performance I am forced to still use my D750 as main camera and the D850 is with the 70-200mm 2.8 lens which means it is my second body.
Would love your help and guidance as I really would like to make the D850 main body as it should for such a great camera.

benhasajeep · Nov 20, 2017

Down sampling means to reduce the size of the image to reduce the noise from high ISO for a better quality picture. Bassically your taking the best elements of the information and tossing out the bad. Thus you will have a smaller file / picture, but at a higher quality output. This is using software and algorithms and noise settings.

As far as I under stand it. Sure there is a much better technical explanation of it.

goodguy · Nov 20, 2017

benhasajeep said:
Down sampling means to reduce the size of the image to reduce the noise from high ISO for a better quality picture. Bassically your taking the best elements of the information and tossing out the bad. Thus you will have a smaller file / picture, but at a higher quality output. This is using software and algorithms and noise settings.

As far as I under stand it. Sure there is a much better technical explanation of it.

That sounds exactly what I need, now how do I do that in Lightroom ?

Anyone else can walk me through the process ?

benhasajeep · Nov 20, 2017

goodguy said:
benhasajeep said:

Down sampling means to reduce the size of the image to reduce the noise from high ISO for a better quality picture. Bassically your taking the best elements of the information and tossing out the bad. Thus you will have a smaller file / picture, but at a higher quality output. This is using software and algorithms and noise settings.

As far as I under stand it. Sure there is a much better technical explanation of it.

Click to expand...

That sounds exactly what I need, now how do I do that in Lightroom ?

Anyone else can walk me through the process ?

I have been searching since this has peaked my interests. Many of the results are for file size reductions. Some are for regular noise reduction. But not many how toos on downsampling for high iso noise reduction. Have not search for Photoshop. That might be better for it.

benhasajeep · Nov 20, 2017

Just found this statement - Question was -

"How do I get optimal noise reduction while downsampling?

Let's say I have a 20Mpixel image with significant noise I want to resize to 4Mpixels. What would be the best approach for ensuring optimal quality in the final image?

1) Add noise reduction then resize

2) Resize then add noise reduction

3) Some intelligent algorithm that does both at once (If so, how and with what software?)

4) Some fourth option I'm unaware of

I mostly use Lightroom, so how to do it in Lightroom would be most helpful."

Reply was -

The best tool for the job by quite a considerable margin, is DXO Optics Pro version 10.

Use the "Prime" noise reduction option, leave the luminace slider at the default 40, and when you " export to disk" click the allow image resampling, and then enter the longest edge.

It is worth about 5 stops of ISO performance, it really is a remarkable tool. I have tested it vs Adobe noise reduction and Topaz and it is vastly better.

30 day free trail available as well. I sometimes sound like a paid shill for DXO as I give this answer a lot, but I have a lot of images that I have been forced to use high iso for ( think baby pictures in low light ) and its the only thing that has ever given decent results.

There is a way to integrate DXO with lightroom, but its a bit clunky and involves import and export of DNG files.