I'm using CS4 with Windows 7 on a 7i 4-Core PC. I'd appreciate some advice about the best noise reduction software. I know CS5 is good with noise but I'm unwilling to spend up big time on yet another version of PS.
Is Noise Ninja any good, or is there some much better that doesn't cost a rock star's ransom?
Fanks.
Bazz.
Posted by Barbara Graham on September 26, 2011 at 10:21 AM
DeNoise for me too, and often run a couple times.
Try the free trial and see what u think.
Sandy
Posted by Paul DeCesare on September 26, 2011 at 3:03 PM
I use Noise Ninja on older images and while it does a great job, every time Photoshop crashes on my PC and I look in the Windows Event Log for the reason, it's the Noise Ninja DLL that causes it. Since Topaz is popular try that one. You can also download Nik DFine for free, and it'll work as a full version for 15 days.
I did say I use NN for older images because you're right, Adobe finally got Camera RAW's noise reduction in CS5 working really REALLY well, it's all I use now for new images. The Sharpening module in ACR is also quite good for input sharpening. One thing I might mention, just to give food for thought: I know that $199 everytime there's an upgrade gets frustrating, but CS5 is probably the one upgrade that is worth the price, and when I see folks frustrated with the price model and then choose to stick with CS4 I feel bad because the new features in CS5 are such a huge leap upward. The Refined Edge feature is worth it alone, you can easily select wheat in a field, every strand (or hair or anything like that) for doing multiple exposures with a different sky, etc. The Content-Aware Fill feature is probably #2, and for nature photographers, the Ruler tool now has a one-click straightening feature. But Camera RAW is where huge improvements shine also, with noise reduction and sharpening that works extremely well (remember that you can always choose File-->Open As and select any old file and pick Camera RAW in the Type DropDown box to reopen it in Camera Raw, although PSDs will need to be saved as a TIF first). So just some thoughts because the upgrade will gain you several excellent improvements. You can see some in action in 9-minute video. But if it ain't got what you need, go Topaz!
One I use that hasn't been mentioned is Define 2.0 from Nik. I got it as part of the Nik suite and found it works pretty well. You get the added benefit of the Nik upoint tools for spot adjustments.
Discussion
6 repliesI'm using CS4 with Windows 7 on a 7i 4-Core PC. I'd appreciate some advice about the best noise reduction software. I know CS5 is good with noise but I'm unwilling to spend up big time on yet another version of PS.
Is Noise Ninja any good, or is there some much better that doesn't cost a rock star's ransom?
Fanks.
Bazz.
The Pro plug-in: supports 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit images and works in Photoshop actions and smart filters; $79.90. Available for Windoze or Mac.
--P
Try the free trial and see what u think.
Sandy
I did say I use NN for older images because you're right, Adobe finally got Camera RAW's noise reduction in CS5 working really REALLY well, it's all I use now for new images. The Sharpening module in ACR is also quite good for input sharpening. One thing I might mention, just to give food for thought: I know that $199 everytime there's an upgrade gets frustrating, but CS5 is probably the one upgrade that is worth the price, and when I see folks frustrated with the price model and then choose to stick with CS4 I feel bad because the new features in CS5 are such a huge leap upward. The Refined Edge feature is worth it alone, you can easily select wheat in a field, every strand (or hair or anything like that) for doing multiple exposures with a different sky, etc. The Content-Aware Fill feature is probably #2, and for nature photographers, the Ruler tool now has a one-click straightening feature. But Camera RAW is where huge improvements shine also, with noise reduction and sharpening that works extremely well (remember that you can always choose File-->Open As and select any old file and pick Camera RAW in the Type DropDown box to reopen it in Camera Raw, although PSDs will need to be saved as a TIF first). So just some thoughts because the upgrade will gain you several excellent improvements. You can see some in action in 9-minute video. But if it ain't got what you need, go Topaz!