Need advice for high ISO shooting / noise management

[Neutral]

I should ask, what version of DxO?  The newest version (which probably few people have at this point)

Latest dxo 7.5.5 which supports 1dx

Which isn't the latest, although it is the latest public version.  You may be re-doing those tests soon...  Or so I hear, although maybe I'm Not Definitively Accurate.   

Hope that they will release it soon  together with the support for 24-70 m2
For certain kind of images dxo pro gives results not attainable with LR or C1

[Neutral]

I prefer DxO Optics Pro for managing ISO noise during RAW conversions.

DXO Pro was the best  before LR4 came out - i used it most of the time for RAW files
Now i feel that LR4 is giving better results - at least to my taste so now i am using LR4 for most of the time.  ...

I did number of tests on this for myself and can post some results  later. ...

I'd be interested to see those, especially with the 1D X files.  Although I don't have LR4, I have CS6 - I assume the ACR is the same for both, but I'm not positive. ...

OK, here is comparison of  LR4 and DXO on  NR for 1Dx in few next posts:
Shots are in normal indoor room  lighting  with normal contrast.
100% crops  are done by WIn 7 snipping tool to be quick
first snapshot  is showing crop area.
Next are 100% crops  ISO51200  -No NR at LR, LR with NR,  DXO with NR

[Neutral]

here are the same for other crop area - still ISO51200

[Neutral]

now for ISO25600. In previous one and here please note how red channel is handled in DXO - all smeared and oversaturated

[ahsanford]

Helpful sample shots, thanks.  I prefer the speaker shot for what I do as I am rarely shooting continuous, even patches of color like with the swatches.

Still, as a novice I have PS but neither Lightroom nor DXO.  I am using Adobe Camera RAW to manage my noise right now.

[Neutral]

Now for ISO12800

[Neutral]

Now are for ISO6400

[Neutral]

All DXO NR samples above are done with default DXO NR setting - automatic

[RLPhoto]

Thanks for the Crops. I prefer the LR NR in those crops. It looks more natural.

[Neutral]

Thanks for the Crops. I prefer the LR NR in those crops. It looks more natural.

Yes, this is what I was describing earlier
"But in general LR4 leaves more details and with just a little bit of luminance grain image is more real - does not destroy low contrast surface textures so you feel it more realistic and more "tangible". DXO at default setting smears low contrast surface texture details and gives more "plastic" look.  "
LR was very poor before regarding NR but recent upgrades are drastically changed the landscape in NR area, now DXO is lagging behind LR though not long back there was nothing comparable to DXO.
We will see if DXO will answer this challenge - they claim themselves to be the number 1 in this area.

[K-amps]

Ahsanford:

If you have PS, and don't mind a bit of post processing, download a trail of Nik DFine NR2 and try it out. It does a great job of reducing grain while keeping details. it doe snot completely remove it as other software do and make things look plasticky...

If you want more radical elimination, then download a trial of Topaz denoise... and give that a shot.

I used ot use LR NR which was better than standard PS NR, but after owning Nik/Topaz, I rarely use LR.

Hope this helps!

[miejoe]

1) Best RAW processing parameters to managing noise in Camera RAW.  I get lost on the five noise reduction sliders (Luminance, L Detail, L Contrast, Color and Color Detail) -- so pointers on which to use and when would be terrific.

2) Are there other settings in camera that are recommended for shooting in these indoor/handheld/low-light situations?

3) Is Camera RAW is the best tool for noise reduction work?  Should I use another RAW handler?  Does saving noise work for Photoshop to manage a better path to take?  Advice appreciated!

Thanks for posting the comparison images Neutral.

I think we're doing a great job answering ahsanford's last two questions, but could anyone try to tackle Question 1 above? I'm asking because I've also been wondering this for awhile and I'm dying to hear what you guys can suggest.

All I can offer is a quote from the Lightroom 4 reference guide:

Reducing Image Noise:
1.  (Optional) Zoom in on the photo to at least 1:1 to better see image noise and the effects of the sliders.
2.  Drag the 1:1 image preview in the Detail panel of the Develop module to see the area of the photo that looks grainy or displays colored artifacts.
3.  In the Noise Reduction area of the Detail panel, adjust any of the sliders. The first three sliders affect luminance noise. The last two sliders affect color noise.

Luminance:  Reduces luminance noise.

Detail:  Controls the luminance noise threshold. Useful for very noisy photos. Higher values preserve more detail but may produce noisier results. Lower values produce cleaner results but may also remove some detail.

Contrast:  Controls luminance contrast. Useful for very noisy photos. Higher values preserve contrast but may produce noisy blotches or mottling. Lower values produce smoother results but may also have less contrast.

Color:  Reduces color noise.

Detail:  Controls the color noise threshold. Higher values protect thin, detailed color edges but may result in color speckling. Lower values remove color speckles but may result in color bleeding.

Taken from: http://help.adobe.com/en_US/lightroom/using/WS67a9e0c3a11b149632d4213d12864349b1a-8000.html

[Ryan708]

I was just playing around with a crappy file. 6400 ISO on my 60d, touched up in LR, didnt go too heavy, I dont like the smeared soft look of over-zealous NR. 1/15th handheld 50mm f/1.8 ISO 6400

...1/15th 50mm handheld on a crop? was my heart beating? anyways, just for fun

[RLPhoto]

ISO 3200 + 135L + 5D3 Color Image. Perfect from LR4.

[wickidwombat]

Thanks for the Crops. I prefer the LR NR in those crops. It looks more natural.

Yes, this is what I was describing earlier
"But in general LR4 leaves more details and with just a little bit of luminance grain image is more real - does not destroy low contrast surface textures so you feel it more realistic and more "tangible". DXO at default setting smears low contrast surface texture details and gives more "plastic" look.  "
LR was very poor before regarding NR but recent upgrades are drastically changed the landscape in NR area, now DXO is lagging behind LR though not long back there was nothing comparable to DXO.
We will see if DXO will answer this challenge - they claim themselves to be the number 1 in this area.

also that little bit of remaining grain will barely be noticable when printed (at normal sizes) billboards it would but then there are other issues there too