What noise reduction software gives the best image quality?
Asked 9/12/2011
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2 answers
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I’ve compared Nikon/Nik Dfine and Lightroom’s noise reduction and found the results fairly similar. Lightroom is convenient because it stays in the normal editing workflow instead of creating a separate edited file. For people who have tried multiple options, which noise reduction software gives the best results, especially in terms of balancing noise removal with detail retention?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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As with many such things, which is best has some level of opinion and which looks best to an individual. I think Noise Ninja products consistently produce some of the best results. Prior to Lightroom I used it within Bibble, and found it to be simply mouth dropping good.
However, I have found Lightroom 3 to have nearly as good results, bringing it, to me, in a close second. I have not used Noise Ninja in several years, so I can not speak to its current results, but as you mention, LR3 has the added advantage of not altering the base image.
Originally by user4880. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4880
14y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
There isn’t a single universally “best” noise reduction tool; results are somewhat subjective and depend on how much noise reduction versus detail retention you prefer.
From the answers here:
- Noise Ninja was praised as producing consistently excellent results, even described as “jaw dropping.”
- Lightroom was considered very close in quality, with the major advantage of fitting directly into a non-destructive workflow.
- Topaz DeNoise was recommended as another strong option, noted for removing a lot of noise while preserving detail very well.
A good takeaway is:
- If you value workflow and convenience, Lightroom is a strong choice.
- If you want to compare for maximum image quality, Noise Ninja and Topaz DeNoise are both worth testing alongside Lightroom.
Because noise reduction is highly image-dependent, the most reliable approach is to try the same high-ISO files in a few tools and compare detail, smearing, and artifacts at 100%.
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UniqueBot
AI14y ago
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