Posted by Les McDonald on August 28, 2008 at 1:27 PM
I am seeking a recommendation for a noise reduction program. I am aware of noiseninja, neatimage, nik Dfine and noiseware. Which one is considered "best" and why? Are there any others that I should consider?
Posted by Scott Reeves on August 28, 2008 at 4:09 PM
Les, I now use ninja much more than I used to. I disparaged it in the past claiming I knew how to use it properly but that it caused too much loss of detail. I was wrong at the time. Of course, one should read the help files and understand profiles, which I had done; but oddly I was not using the control sliders properly, which should be the most intutive part. Still, you do have to be careful about NN leaving little blurry areas sometimes, which is where the brush can be helpful. Overall it's a nice combination of sharpening and noise reduction. I'd be interested to hear other opinions about the sharpening feature and if/when it should be used in the workflow. Generally I think NR should be applied early and sharpening late, thus the quandary of applying them at the same time ... I've been interested in trying Nik as I have other Nik software, but not Dfine yet. Note: you will find other older threads discussing many of these same products.
Posted by David Bostedo on August 28, 2008 at 5:32 PM
Definitely check out the old threads, but I don't know that any one is considered "best". They all do a good job from what I've tried out (although I haven't tried DFine, and I own NeatImage). I haven't seen a real comparison of them lately, except that I've seen very good recommendations for all of them.
Les,
I too use Noise Ninja and am very pleased with the results. I have not tried others simply because I'm too "frugal" to pay for a bunch to do the same thing. However, I did do a lot of Internet research before opting for NN and all the research at that time pointed to either Noise Ninja or Neat Image. Tim Grey also recommended either of these. Frankly, I can't recall why I picked NN except I think most reviewers mentioned it first. I suspect you can't go wrong with any of them.
John
Posted by Mark Kraus on August 29, 2008 at 5:26 PM
I use Noiseware Pro and love it. Easy to use and great value. You can download a free trial.
http://www.imagenomic.com/download.aspx
I think the others offer a free trial. See what works best for you.
Mark
Les, I would download the trial version of both Noise Ninja and Neat Image and see which fits you best. While the other SW is probably very good most of us either use NN or NI.
As you know, I use Noise Ninja and use about 75% brushes and 25% entire image effects. My decision in getting NN rather than NI was based on my preference for the interface in NN. This, of course, is just a personal decision.
Discussion
5 repliesI too use Noise Ninja and am very pleased with the results. I have not tried others simply because I'm too "frugal" to pay for a bunch to do the same thing. However, I did do a lot of Internet research before opting for NN and all the research at that time pointed to either Noise Ninja or Neat Image. Tim Grey also recommended either of these. Frankly, I can't recall why I picked NN except I think most reviewers mentioned it first. I suspect you can't go wrong with any of them.
John
http://www.imagenomic.com/download.aspx
I think the others offer a free trial. See what works best for you.
Mark
As you know, I use Noise Ninja and use about 75% brushes and 25% entire image effects. My decision in getting NN rather than NI was based on my preference for the interface in NN. This, of course, is just a personal decision.