Popular Post MDM Posted March 20 Popular Post Share Posted March 20 (edited) OK with all the talk of noise and denoisers in other threads but with a tendency to get sideline into other areas of discussion often irrelevant to the original post, I figured it might be time for a practical demo of what Adobe Denoise can actually do for high ISO images. It is actually remarkable in that it effectively removes noise while maintaining or enhancing sharpness on the main subject. You might call it a game changer in that images that would never have passed Alamy QC in the past, if they were to be examined by QC, could now easily float on through. So I have just uploaded a set of nutty images to Dropbox which anyone interested is welcome to download and examine. These are full sized JPEGs at the highest quality from a 45MP Nikon camera shot at three different ISOs: 64, 800 and 12,800. There are two versions of each image. The first version is at my default Lightroom import settings, basically default Adobe sharpening and very light colour noise reduction 25-50-50 which I always apply but no luminance noise reduction or any other processing. The second version has been run through Adobe Denoise at its default settings. The images have plenty of bland areas where the effects of the noise reduction are very evident. The really remarkable thing is how good the ISO 12,800 image is when Denoised. I would never have considered submitting anything from my 45MP Nikons above ISO 1600 or maybe 3200 max before but this would probably pass QC as it is and it definitely would if downsized a bit. Others have their favourite AI denoisers. I have only ever tried one of these and I was not at all satisified with the results. Given how good Adobe Denoise is and given that I subscribe to the Photography package anyway, I have no intention of investigating any of the other ones. However, if anyone would like to join in here with their own images and post links for downloading, please feel free to do so. There is no point in linking images from one's Alamy portfolio as these are too small to examine. Edited March 21 by MDM 3 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Thank you! wim 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 24 minutes ago, wiskerke said: Thank you! wim Don't mention it. If you have time to do something similar with a high MP Sony, it would be intersting to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normspics Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 That is nuts! How good the results are, can’t wait to get my new MacBook, this will resurrect older images I couldn’t denoise good enough. Thanks for sharing this, very helpful. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 1 minute ago, MDM said: Don't mention it. If you have time to do something similar with a high MP Sony, it would be intersting to see. My Sony has a 42 megapixel sensor and is a bit old by now. It may well be the same sensor as the D850. I have rented the 60 megapixel Sony bodies as well, but have not gone beyond 100 or 200 ISO. I was thinking the opposite: small sensor / low resolution could be interesting. Jeffs RX10 my RX100. Early Nikon dslrs. We probably all have files from the dawn of digital. (Hey if someone is looking for a good book title..) Maybe even my Canon files with horrible noise in lifted shadows - that may be a bridge too far though. And like read out banding, that seems impossible to fix. (I'm investigating Leica Monochrom at the moment.) wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normspics Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 I would find it useful for the Sony RX100 as this has been a key travel camera for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 44 minutes ago, Normspics said: That is nuts! How good the results are, can’t wait to get my new MacBook, this will resurrect older images I couldn’t denoise good enough. Thanks for sharing this, very helpful. No worries. You definitely a need a decent computer to run Denoise but any of the M Macs should be fine. Edo has been using it on a first generation MacBook Air with 8GB of memory as far as I recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 44 minutes ago, wiskerke said: My Sony has a 42 megapixel sensor and is a bit old by now. It may well be the same sensor as the D850. I have rented the 60 megapixel Sony bodies as well, but have not gone beyond 100 or 200 ISO. I was thinking the opposite: small sensor / low resolution could be interesting. Jeffs RX10 my RX100. Early Nikon dslrs. We probably all have files from the dawn of digital. (Hey if someone is looking for a good book title..) Maybe even my Canon files with horrible noise in lifted shadows - that may be a bridge too far though. And like read out banding, that seems impossible to fix. (I'm investigating Leica Monochrom at the moment.) wim Most of my early Nikon DSLR images were shot on a tripod at low ISO as were my dawn of digital Canon 20D images. The latter were pretty horrible for noise at anything even approaching high ISO. I no longer have my RX100VA but I don't think I ever pushed it to the limits either. I think the big boon is for me is going forward, being able to shoot in relatively dark conditions, handheld with IBIS at much higher ISOs than I would ever have dreamed of before. So have you invested in a monochrome Leica or just investigating? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normspics Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 26 minutes ago, MDM said: No worries. You definitely a need a decent computer to run Denoise but any of the M Macs should be fine. Edo has been using it on a first generation MacBook Air with 8GB of memory as far as I recall. That’s good to know, I’m about to order the MacBook Pro 14 M3 and go for 24GB unified memory and a 1TB storage, then at sometime get an external monitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 (edited) 4 hours ago, Normspics said: That’s good to know, I’m about to order the MacBook Pro 14 M3 and go for 24GB unified memory and a 1TB storage, then at sometime get an external monitor. Sounds good. You will find it unbelievably powerful in comparison to a 2012 model. These Macs are amazing little machines. The XDR screens are made for for HDR stills and video editing. If I was buying now though, I would try to stretch to 32GB for future proofing, which would mean going up to M3 Pro model, but it is quite a lot more expensive. That said you should get a lot of years before 24GB is not enough unless you start editing 8K video or the like. Edited March 20 by MDM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 53 minutes ago, MDM said: So have you invested in a monochrome Leica or just investigating? Just investigating. The banding came up in the process, but was not part of the initial problem/question. Students get a lifetime guarantee. Most anyway. 😁 wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M.Chapman Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 Excellent. Adobe Denoise has certainly done a much better job than my old copy of Topaz Denoise 2.4.2. I took the ISO 12800 default jpg image and applied Topaz to it. I played around with the settings but couldn’t get anything as consistent as Adobe’s Denoise. When an image is this noisy my Topaz 2.4.2 seems to flip between 2 extremes. In some areas of the image the noise is completely gone, but the detail is also lost leaving a smooth waxy type appearance. In other areas Topaz interprets the noise as real detail and replaces it with false looking “structure/texture”. Adobe Denoise shows a similar effect, but it’s much more subtle and well controlled. As you know I’m a fan of Topaz, but that’s largely because I find it useful for reducing film grain in digitised images of 35mm transparencies. For control of high ISO noise I use Adobe Denoise, even though it’s a bit slow on my 2017 iMac. If you posted the RAW of the 12800 image, then maybe others could post results they get with their preferred denoise packages? It wold be interesting to see what DXO Prime makes of it, for example, as well as the latest Topaz. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Normspics Posted March 20 Share Posted March 20 6 hours ago, MDM said: No worries. You definitely a need a decent computer to run Denoise but any of the M Macs should be fine. Edo has been using it on a first generation MacBook Air with 8GB of memory as far as I recall. What version of Photoshop are you using for this test is it beta? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 (edited) 6 hours ago, M.Chapman said: Excellent. Adobe Denoise has certainly done a much better job than my old copy of Topaz Denoise 2.4.2. I took the ISO 12800 default jpg image and applied Topaz to it. I played around with the settings but couldn’t get anything as consistent as Adobe’s Denoise. When an image is this noisy my Topaz 2.4.2 seems to flip between 2 extremes. In some areas of the image the noise is completely gone, but the detail is also lost leaving a smooth waxy type appearance. In other areas Topaz interprets the noise as real detail and replaces it with false looking “structure/texture”. Adobe Denoise shows a similar effect, but it’s much more subtle and well controlled. As you know I’m a fan of Topaz, but that’s largely because I find it useful for reducing film grain in digitised images of 35mm transparencies. For control of high ISO noise I use Adobe Denoise, even though it’s a bit slow on my 2017 iMac. If you posted the RAW of the 12800 image, then maybe others could post results they get with their preferred denoise packages? It wold be interesting to see what DXO Prime makes of it, for example, as well as the latest Topaz. Mark Will sort some raws in due course. Edited March 21 by MDM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 20 Author Share Posted March 20 27 minutes ago, Normspics said: What version of Photoshop are you using for this test is it beta? I used the latest version of Lightroom (13.2) which is the same as ACR (16.2). I don't know if it has changed since the full version was released last April I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 I've made some changes to the original upload - the raisins will become apparent on viewing. I've reshot and added ISO6400 and ISO25600 samples to the previous sets of ISO64, ISO800 and ISO12800. There is no difference in the conclusions: Denoise is amazing. The ISO25600 sample looks horrible befoew Denoising but becomes pretty acceptable especially if downsized. Because Denoise includes the Enhance function which seems to apply a very tasteful sharpening to the main subject while leaving the background alone, the loss of detail even at very high ISO is much less than one might expect. Anyway the new link is below and the previous one no longer works so I've removed it from the OP. https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/37r2ojp0a4mqot1hbzich/h?rlkey=v42p7es5xicu2f374lv7piuyj&dl=0 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAROL SAUNDERS Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 I have used and still use when need De Noise 6 and find it very acceptable😁 Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAROL SAUNDERS Posted March 26 Share Posted March 26 Just now, CAROL SAUNDERS said: I have used and still use when need De Noise 6 and find it very acceptable😁 Carol Should have said Topaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 (edited) On 26/03/2024 at 11:55, CAROL SAUNDERS said: I have used and still use when need De Noise 6 and find it very acceptable😁 Carol On 26/03/2024 at 11:56, CAROL SAUNDERS said: Should have said Topaz I don't know if the Topaz denoiser can work on raw files. I used an early version about four years ago and it couldn't work on raws at that time. Being able to denoise the raw file is of major importance in my opinion. That is a massive advantage of Adobe Denoise - it fits neatly in my workflow. I can do everything in Lightroom or ACR and finish in Photoshop if required. And it's fast. If you are an Adobe Photography Package subscriber, I'd recommend taking the Adobe Denoise for a test drive on a few high ISO images. The results are astonishing. Edited March 27 by MDM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAROL SAUNDERS Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, MDM said: I don't know if the Topaz denoiser can work on raw files. I used an early version about four years ago and it couldn't work on raws at that time. Being able to denoise the raw file is of major importance in my opinion. That is a massive advantage of Adobe Denoise - it fits neatly in my workflow. I can do everything in Lightroom or ACR and finish in Photoshop if required. And it's fast. If you are an Adobe Photography Package subscriber, I'd recommend taking the Adobe Denoise for a test drive on a few high ISO images. The results are astonishing. Many thanks, yes the Topaz Denoise 6 works on my raw files but would be interested to have a go at the Adobe Denoise though I don't use Lightroom, is there something else specific I need to download, sorry to be a pain😁 Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted March 27 Author Share Posted March 27 (edited) 48 minutes ago, CAROL SAUNDERS said: Many thanks, yes the Topaz Denoise 6 works on my raw files but would be interested to have a go at the Adobe Denoise though I don't use Lightroom, is there something else specific I need to download, sorry to be a pain😁 Carol If you have the Adobe package which I presume you do, you can use Denoise from Adobe Camera Raw. It's exactly the same as using it in Lightroom. Edited March 27 by MDM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAROL SAUNDERS Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 Hiya, yes you presume correctly and many thanks again, I will give it whirl 😁 Carol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted April 15 Share Posted April 15 (edited) On 20/03/2024 at 09:00, MDM said: The second version has been run through Adobe Denoise at its default settings. Default "Amount" is 25? Do you not see pixelated edges in magnified box? Is magnified box way over 100%? What about Amount 70 to prevent edge artifacts? Also, IIRC, someone in this or another Denoise thread stated it to be their first step followed by all other processing...? Could that defeat Denoise? Could that potentially introduce noise via Levels, lifting shadows, etc.? Help, please, somebody... Edited April 16 by Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDM Posted April 16 Author Share Posted April 16 (edited) Despite the fact that I started this thread and I advocate anyone with the Adobe Photography Package using Denoise, I am not an expert at all. I only know what I know by experiment and I suggest you do the same - try it and see what you get. It is totally non-destructive and therefore completely harmless. Relax, experiment and enjoy. It is magic. Default is 50 on my computers. I only ever use it at default as that does the job perfectly on my images (45MP NIkon NEFs). I don't see pixelated edges - probably depends on the quality of the original image. The mag box seems to be a bit over 100% but not much. Denoise uses Raw Details to sharpen what it perceives to be the subject and that can't be turned off. I suspect that increasing the Denoise amount might soften the subject but that can be left as an exercise for the reader. From my observations, it doesn't matter if you do some normal editing in LR/ACR. However, you shouldn't use any other AI features before Denoise (sky replacement etc). So it is fine in my experience to do your basic processing before or after using Denoise but it is easiest to use Denoise first and then work on the DNG. It resets any noise reduction you may have applied anyway so that doesn't matter. FInally can I reiterate Betty's request to change your avatar. That thing is really disturbing. 🤣 Edited April 16 by MDM 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg Posted April 17 Share Posted April 17 (edited) MDM & all thanks for response, several points: a. today my brain HIFU procedure was success, 95% of right hand tremor gone, can now hold camera steady down to 1/30 sec, possibly even 1/20 sec, so highest ISO going forward ~4000 CORRECTION 3200, AI Denoise still will be very useful, ISO 2000 & up... b. any new avatar must reflect (a) success... c. my 7-yr-old laptop with problematic GPU message DOES process AI Denoise !! when first looking, estimate of ~26 minutes per image appeared, but upon finally trying, 2 different images took 11 minutes & 6 minutes, the latter being OP image below... d. I will still replace 7-yr-old laptop this year Photoshop 2024 AI Denoise, Amount = 70 (from Sony RX10 IV DNG) done after manual process of 2nd image below; only possible problem is sitting woman's facial hair became "rows" of hair..? https://www.photosphotos.net/MX231124029-Enhanced-NR.JPG comments? should it pass QC? compare to my earlier manual effort, less hair detail & elsewhere: https://photosphotos.net/MX231124029b.jpg Edited April 17 by Jeffrey Isaac Greenberg 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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