Noise Reduction - Plugin Still Needed?

[wsolum]

I haven't gotten acceptable results with LR's noise reduction and am considering a plugin for PS to do the job.  Is LR's noise reduction poor or am I doing something wrong?

If it's not adequate, what's the top two noise reduction plugins?  I've used Neat Image freeware but have no experience with the others.  The other two I know of are Noise Ninja and Noiseware.  Which is the best bang for the buck?

Thanks,
Wayne

[dtphotography]

Hi Wayne-
I only have experience using Noise Ninja. It has proven extremely valuable thus far. As you mentioned, Lightroom still doesn't have really good noise reduction (although it is better than it used to be) - Noise Ninja does an amazing job. But I've heard very good things about the other options you mentioned as well. Many of these programs have free trials available, you may want to check that option out before purchasing. Hope this helps. Let us know what you end up choosing if you get a chance and maybe do a quick review?
dt

[NikoJorj]

Is LR's noise reduction poor or am I doing something wrong?
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178781\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

As far as I have used it, and according to my taste, it is very good since v1.1 if you stay on a rather conservative side.
With my 300d, I typically set luminance NR between 0 and 15, and chroma NR between 10 and 50 : I do end up with noise, but it's a monochromatic and not-so-ugly one, that blends rather elegantly with original textures.

I didn't manage to achieve the very smooth look of NeatImage, but it may also be because I don't like this "plastic-like" look that much  . In my taste, these powerful NR plugins are at their best with scans or other very grainy images.

[francois]

For moderately noisy images, I find that Lightroom does a good job. On noiser photos, I'm using Noiseware or Noise Ninja in a layer. Using a layer mask and playing with opacity usually gives me good results. But it's always a trade-off and the plastic look is not easy to avoid…

[GuyScharf]

If it's not adequate, what's the top two noise reduction plugins?  I've used Neat Image freeware but have no experience with the others.  The other two I know of are Noise Ninja and Noiseware.  Which is the best bang for the buck?[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=178781\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

I like and use Noise Ninja.  Dfine 2.0 seemed comparable in my testing; sometimes I like NN and sometimes Dfine.

Guy

[wsolum]

Thanks.  I'm not sure what to do.  Should I need noise reduction when shooting low key at ISO 100 on a 5D?  I have black paper as the BG with no light on it but my images display quite a bit of pixelation where it should be black.  I assume this is noise that NR software should eliminate.

The numbers when moving over the areas with an eyedropper show variations from 0 to 4 or 5 in all three channels.  Should I even be able to see this small difference?  I calibrate my monitor to brightness of 125 cd/m2 and let the black point fall where it may b/c my brightness is set so low that there's really no way to darken them anymore.

[Nat Coalson]

You won't see luminance noise with level variance from 0-5 in a print.

Even if you are shooting a solid/smooth black surface a small amount of noise will always appear in a digital capture. This is usually caused by "hot pixels" - photosites with above-normal charge or charge leakage.

Long exposures also amplify noise; ISO isn't the only consideration.

I currently use the Noiseware Pro Photoshop plugin. I've also used Noise Ninja and Neat Image. All produce excellent results.

Lightroom's noise reduction is adequate for most properly-exposed images but offers only a miniscule level of control.

[oldcsar]

I think results for LR NR depends largely on the camera used, the exposure, and ISO... if you're using cameras that have heavy chroma noise, such as Canon G9 raw, even maxing out chroma noise reduction won't fix all the blue blobs. When it comes to DSLRs, such as the 30D, I find that chroma noise reduction of 25-35 is enough for any shot, and I leave the luminance noise. For underexposed shots and special cases, such as long exposures (or the case of G9 RAW), I will use 3rd party noise reduction...

I have Neatimage Pro Plus, and it yields its best results when profiles are generated using the calibration target and converting with a unique LR preset as the image I want to treat. However, Noiseware Pro's automatic profiling is really quite impressive, and it can yield comparable results to Neatimage's profiled noise reduction.