Post Processing Preference

[THXGEEK]

(Gawd, I love alliteration! But I digress...)

I am trying to decide which methodology I prefer. Please let me know your thoughts...

This recent pic was shot RAW, cropped & denoised with DxO 9 (DeepPrime XD/XD2s), denoised again with Topaz AI (background only), and then massaged with Radiant Photo 2 (default Core settings).

• ILCE-1M2
• FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/1600 sec
• ISO 12800

This next one was cropped & denoised with DxO 9 (DeepPrime XD/XD2s) and then passed to NIK8 (HDR module) default module:

• ILCE-1M2
• 600.0 mm
• ƒ/6.3
• 1/1600 sec
• ISO 12800

Which is 'better'? I like the warmth of the 2nd. And the seed to the right of the squirrel is much clearer. But does that make it 'better'??

Lemme what you think!

Cheers!

 

[lodbrok]

Shot nr 2 looks more naturel and much more pleasant to the eyes.

 

[iamdlewis]

2 has a warmer tint to it

 

[AlphaWorld]

I like the first one. It looks just a little crisper.

That said, I have never run an image through more than one de-noise processor, and I usually don't even use one I have DxO and Photoshop, so I could, but I never have.