ISO(400,200...) & Noise removal!

Hello,

I have just discovered some interesting info on noise removal for digital cameras and higher ISO(400, 200, 100) thanks to Ron Par:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/~parr/iso2/

This has been one of my wish list items for my next digital camera- Usable 200-400+ without all that noise. Hello action and more low light options.

Well here is what I have found thus far. There are several PS actions and software that aid in this process.

Jes from Canon SLR has a free PS 6(unfortunately not for 5.5) action that many seem to like:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=1256924

Fred Miranda has some here:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/CanonG1_G2_pro90/index.html

and Neat image has free demo software:

http://absoft.hotbox.ru/

Does anyone have experiences with these products. Fred Miranda's look realy good in their demos. If you don't have experience with higher ISO's and noise reduction give some a try.

I don't know about you, but I sure would like to use ISO 400, 200 with printable, clean results.

Let us know your findings,

Derek

Here are some preliminary results from various techniques:



Original shoot with G1 at ISO 400 indoors, no flash.
Larger View:
http://www.pbase.com/image/1123066



Same shot with photoshop adjustements described below( 5 min)
Larger View:
http://www.pbase.com/image/1160369



Fred Mirandas PS Action
Larger View:
http://www.pbase.com/image/1160891



Neat Image(demo) after creating profile
Larger View:
http://www.pbase.com/image/1160936

I had Fred Miranada run a photo thru his action to test it before I buy it as
a comparison with NeatImage and others out I've tried.

The more you research this subject the most interesting it becomes.
It can become very scientific. The best noise reduction I have
seen came from a Princeton student using Gaussian Bilateral
Filtering (Could take hours).

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1006&message=2023794

So far I like Fred Miranda's action the best, although NeatImage
have a lot more features and customizeable options.

I am still researching this area. But I got some of the best
advice far for free. Go into photoshop add a new layer use the
noise filter on it despeckle unsharpen mask (experiement with
settings). Remember Fred Miranda actions are just a set of
commands in photoshop.

If anyone else is any good with PS or has other noise
reduction/smoothing tips let us know.

Derek

Derek,

Thank you very much for the tip on Neat Image. I downloaded the trial version and I am very impressed. I have a three year old Minolta film scanner that produces rather noisy scans, especially from slides. I tried Neat Image on one of these scans, basically using the default settings and the results are wonderful. These are samples from one of my Arizona shots:

The first is out of the scanner with just levels adjusted. The second has been run through Neat Image and sharpened just a bit. See for yourself.
http://www.pbase.com/image1165717

http://www.pbase.com/image1165871

I can't wait to try it one some high ISO G2 shots.
Cheers--Happy SnappingDon McVee http://www.pbase.com/mcveed/galleries

I'm going to try this again

Don said:

Derek,
Thank you very much for the tip on Neat Image. I downloaded the
trial version and I am very impressed. I have a three year old
Minolta film scanner that produces rather noisy scans, especially
from slides. I tried Neat Image on one of these scans, basically
using the default settings and the results are wonderful. These are
samples from one of my Arizona shots:
The first is out of the scanner with just levels adjusted. The
second has been run through Neat Image and sharpened just a bit.
See for yourself.
http://www.pbase.com/image1165717

http://www.pbase.com/image1165871

I can't wait to try it one some high ISO G2 shots.
Cheers
--
Happy Snapping
Don McVee
http://www.pbase.com/mcveed/galleries

Click to expand...

--Happy SnappingDon McVee http://www.pbase.com/mcveed/galleries

Sorry for cluttering up this thread but I'm trying to figure out how to embed these images.
http://www.pbase.com/image1165717
original

http://www.pbase.com/image1165871
noise reduced--Happy SnappingDon McVee http://www.pbase.com/mcveed/galleries

Derek,

Thank you for the tip on Neat Image. I downloaded the trial version and applied it to an image from my three year old Minolta Scanner. It produces pretty noisy scans, especially from slides. The result were very impressive. The first of these images is out of the scanner with levels adjusted only. The second has been through Neat Image using the default settings. I can't wait to see what it will do after setting up the profile more carefully and with high ISO G2 shots. BTW I don't have Photoshop.

http://www.pbase.com/image/1165717

http://www.pbase.com/image/1165871

http://www.pbase.com/image/1165717

http://www.pbase.com/image/1165871

Ignore the next three posts. I was trying to figure out how to embed images.
--Happy SnappingDon McVee http://www.pbase.com/mcveed/galleries

Humm thanks for posting... I'll have to test out some of these stuff... sounds good!

Derek Sedillo said:

Hello,

I have just discovered some interesting info on noise removal for
digital cameras and higher ISO(400, 200, 100) thanks to Ron Par:

http://www.cs.duke.edu/~parr/iso2/

This has been one of my wish list items for my next digital camera-
Usable 200-400+ without all that noise. Hello action and more low
light options.

Well here is what I have found thus far. There are several PS
actions and software that aid in this process.

Jes from Canon SLR has a free PS 6(unfortunately not for 5.5)
action that many seem to like:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=1256924

Fred Miranda has some here:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/CanonG1_G2_pro90/index.html

and Neat image has free demo software:

http://absoft.hotbox.ru/

Does anyone have experiences with these products. Fred Miranda's
look realy good in their demos. If you don't have experience with
higher ISO's and noise reduction give some a try.

I don't know about you, but I sure would like to use ISO 400, 200
with printable, clean results.

Let us know your findings,

Derek

Click to expand...

Hello Don,

Glad to hear you got some decent results in noise reduction from Neat Image. This seems to be a popular program. I am continueing to compare different noise reduction techniques. Let us know how it work with your high ISO G2 pics.

Another tip I have just heard about noise reduction and higher ISO's is to shoot with low in-camera sharpening. This is suposed to minimize noise and allow for better post shot adjustments. The D30 is a good example of this principle. The original shots a said to need sharpening. But once sharpened, the images are smooth and clean.

Derek

Neat Image didn't work for me, it cleans up noise all right, but obliterates detail and in some areas I get a fog. This on a .psd file on default settings. I've had good luck with Fred's linearization actions and will try his noise remover.

Regards, Ken

Oops I take that back. It works fine, just need to be careful of the area selected to analyse. I'll shut up now and go read the instructions.

Regards, Ken

Ken Chow said:

Neat Image didn't work for me, it cleans up noise all right, but
obliterates detail and in some areas I get a fog. This on a .psd
file on default settings. I've had good luck with Fred's
linearization actions and will try his noise remover.

Regards, Ken

Click to expand...