GR iv uses the accelerator NR processor again?

[AndyB_Dpreview]

I just read Petapixel's story on the GR iv release which contains the sentence (presumably copied from Ricoh's press release):

"The GR IV also features the Ricoh-original accelerator unit, which optimizes the signal-to-noise ratio to produce better images at high ISO settings" (DPReview's writeup doesn't mention this).

I was really hoping not to hear this. On the GR iii, It was the baked in NR that the "accelerator" adds to DNG files at non-base ISO that made them incompatible with better NR processing like Adobe's Lightroom and Photoshop AI NR.

There's previous discussion about this on these forums:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4771826

For me, since I do a lot of higher ISO shooting - and I've got used to these better NR processors (especially for APSC) - this certainly gives me pause, instead of making a pre-order.

 

[Tungsten Nordstein]

From what I remember in that thread, this was something that only really affected the Adobe ‘AI’ NR tool.

I’ve just found over the years that with each iteration of the GR I buy, I adjust my workflow to suit the RAW files I get from the camera. And with NR I adjust manually Luma and Chroma noise in LR.

I resented the files coming out of the GRD4 at the time as the camera was not as good at rendering high iso noise as the GRD1 was, in my opinion . But now I just really think we have to adapt - or stick to the old tools.

 

[DougOB]

From what I remember in that thread, this was something that only really affected the Adobe ‘AI’ NR tool.

Yes. I have LR but I also have Topaz DeNoiseAI which I use on my GR III files when noise is an issue (and Pentax KP & K-3iii for that matter). It works fine.

Doug

I’ve just found over the years that with each iteration of the GR I buy, I adjust my workflow to suit the RAW files I get from the camera. And with NR I adjust manually Luma and Chroma noise in LR.

I resented the files coming out of the GRD4 at the time as the camera was not as good at rendering high iso noise as the GRD1 was, in my opinion . But now I just really think we have to adapt - or stick to the old tools.

 

[Managarm]

From what I remember in that thread, this was something that only really affected the Adobe ‘AI’ NR tool.

Yes. I have LR but I also have Topaz DeNoiseAI which I use on my GR III files when noise is an issue (and Pentax KP & K-3iii for that matter). It works fine.

Doug

DxO PureRAW also works fine with denoising GR III files.

There really seems to be an Adobe specific problem. Still, of course it would be fine if this was also gone with the GR IV.

 

[StevoPhilo]

They really should just disable or give you the option to disable it. RAW files shouldn't have NR applied to them.

 

[Sjak]

I understand that it's annoying when your software of choice does not properly support your (desired) camera. I've faced a similar issue, when it took quite a while before C1 would properly support K3iiiM-files, but I learned to process the files nonetheless, despite this challenge.

Fortunately, just like in cameras, we also have choice in software.

Specifically for NR, there are good programs available that work as plugin in C1, and maybe also in your software. As an alternative, you can process the file in the NR-program as standalone, either before or after (partial) processing in your editor.

For the files where I want some extra NR, I use Topaz AI Photo.