getting rid of noise

[Gregg Bell]

noisy images... how to clean up?

[Paul G]

If you're using PS CS4 Greg look in the menu's under Filter > Noise > then it gives you 5 options.
I'm still learning this myself so can't offer any more help than that at this stage.

[I @ M]

I have become a fan of Neat Image, it costs but the results are worth it to me.
Obviously working on the original full size TIFF file is preferable to a reduced quality JPEG but here is your first shot with a rough and ready run through Neat Image.

[ricktas]

Yep neat image for me as well. Have also tried Nik Software's Dfine and that is quite a good noise reduction filter also. The PS generic one does the job, but no where nearly as well as the third party plugins

[Miaow]

Yeah neat image works well you can get camera profiles for it to match your camera which really help on fixing up the noise

[luvmadaysoff]

If you use Lightroom 2.4 the Noise reduction facility is a vast improvement on previous versions, and usually quite sufficient.

A few weeks back we shot a wedding on a very dark gloomy, and severely overcast day in the hills of Melbourne. We used a full frame 21 Megapixel Canon 5D mark II camera (I point this out as I am not familiar enough with the Nikon range of bodies which I believe you use), and shot most images at ISO 1600, some at ISO 3200. The results were O.K. but after running through the latest lightroom, and utilizing the Noise reduction facility, Luminance only, we achieved very satisfying results. -At 20" x 30" enlargement print size, on archival quality lab printed Matt finish, there is no perceivable noise in over 70% of the images.

When we are not using Lightroom, we use Adobe Photoshop CS4 (several older versions work very well also). In this capacity, we employ a noise reduction program called "Noise Ninja". You can buy a demo mode which produces watermarked images, but to be honest, if you can afford to buy the real thing ( I believe it is now *October 2009* approximately $110 AUS), then the results should be very pleasing. We used to use a Canon 30D, with a 3/4 size censor, and 8.2 Megapixels. At ISO 1600, the images are Very Grainy indeed. I can honestly say that Noise Ninja got us out of trouble on Many occasions, due to its incredible ability to reduce noise!

We purchased the Pro bundle which gives you a stand alone option (its own little program), and also the Adobe Photoshop plugin option (which we primarily use, in preference to the standalone option). if your not familiar with plugins, then don't worry, the instructions are easy to follow.

Like other programs you can download camera specific profiles for the noise reduction, but even in full automatic mode the results are quite amazing. A friend of mine introduced me to this program, after he had used it extensively to create softer smother skin finishes on his pro model shoots.

As for the other programs mentioned by previous posters, I cannot comment. I have been so darn happy with Noise Ninja results, that I haven't even bothered looking for other options, and I'm Very Fussy & Very Picky with my own shots.

I hope this helps in some way!

All the best.

P.S. if I can work out how you guys save, work on, then repost altered images, then I will do so in Noise Ninja for you.

[arthurking83]

And if you can spring for a copy of CaptureNX2, it's NR capabilities(in this case) will surprise you too.

I'd use values of Intensity 15-17 and Sharpness 8 and I reckon it'd produce a very usable image.

I also use Neat Image and it's definitely worth the money.

[michaelclements]

Wow, never heard of neat image, very impressive results.

[bigdazzler]

Neat Image is great .. I downloaded a trial version and had a play and was impressed. I ended up going with Niks D-Fine though becasue i bought the complete Nik suite with all of their software, which included D-Fine.