Sony A1 Noise Management at higher ISO

[GracieAllen]

This came up a bit in another topic, and I indicated I use the Topaz Denoise AI and Sharpen AI to improve my higher-ISO images. I've taken an ordinary image, shot in deep shade and done basic Lightroom processing. Image was shot with the Alpha 1, 200-600. 1/400 @ f/8 at ISO 6400

Here's the original image. I'm going to pull a 100% crop from the area slightly above and left of the duck's head.

Here's the crop of the image - 1200x800 with NO luminance noise reduction applied. Not bad for ISO 6400.

Image with noise reduction in Lightroom... It's always a process to find the best noise reduction while keeping as much detail as possible.

Here's the image using Topaz Denoise AI at the Default Standard settings instead of the Lightroom noise reduction. It mostly does noise reduction but will do some sharpening.

Here's the image with Sharpen AI at the Out of Focus Normal default setting - it also does some noise reduction, so I usually try both to see which output I prefer.

In general, I think Topaz does a better job than Lightroom or Photoshop. Sharpen AI sometimes is a little flaky and occasionally makes the image worse than it was. But in general, they do a good job for me. Topaz periodically put stuff on sale and if you scrounge for discount coupons you can get the package with Denoise, Sharpen and Gigapixel for less than $70... I also think there's a trial so you can see what you think.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Thanks David that was very useful and thanks for talking the time.....I think i'll check and
see if i can get a trial package to enable me to try it out on some of my images also........

 

[Jeff A]

Another piece of software you might consider is DxO PureRAW 2. I own that software as well as Topaz de Noise. I think the DxO PureRAW 2 is a little faster and leaves more detail.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

Another piece of software you might consider is DxO PureRAW 2. I own that software as well as Topaz de Noise. I think the DxO PureRAW 2 is a little faster and leaves more detail.

Thanks Jeff, I am not familiar with any of these grain removal packages outside of photoshop and lightroom but will include a review of DxO pure raw 2
in my selection process ...Thanks.

 

[Jeff A]

Thanks Jeff, I am not familiar with any of these grain removal packages outside of photoshop and lightroom but will include a review of DxO pure raw 2
in my selection process ...Thanks.

Many reviews can be had with a Google Search and if you still are a Mark Galer Patron, Mark has reviewed it as well.

 

[MrFotoFool]

I bought the Topaz bundle of all three programs on a Black Friday sale last Christmas. (The three programs are Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, Denoise AI.) All three are good but I got more value from the first two; Sharpen AI is truly unbelievable. It really will make a moderately blurry picture sharp again. For noise reduction, I already had Nik Dfine as part of the Nik suite of plugins that I use in Photoshop Elements. I am not sure which one (Nik Dfine or Topaz Denoise) works better, but I think you can't go wrong with either one.

 

[Deleted Member 5003]

I bought the Topaz bundle of all three programs on a Black Friday sale last Christmas. (The three programs are Sharpen AI, Gigapixel AI, Denoise AI.) All three are good but I got more value from the first two; Sharpen AI is truly unbelievable. It really will make a moderately blurry picture sharp again. For noise reduction, I already had Nik Dfine as part of the Nik suite of plugins that I use in Photoshop Elements. I am not sure which one (Nik Dfine or Topaz Denoise) works better, but I think you can't go wrong with either one.

 

[AlphaWorld]

DxO’s PhotoLab has similar processing to the DXO PureRAW, but with more controls - you can choose slgorithms and other parameters.