Noise Reduction in Adobe Camera Raw 6.x

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Hi,

I have currently some images which arguably could benefit from some noise reduction. I am wondering how people utilize the new and apparently pretty good noise reduction controls in ACR 6.x. As far as I can tell they work on the entire image and selective application (e.g. background only) is not possible. So, do you:

1) sharpen in ACR and then apply the NR?
2) no sharpening but only NR in ACR? How do you deal in this case with the loss of detail in the main subject if the noise is mainly located in the background?
3) no sharpening and NR in ACR but use 3rd-party tools in/after PS CS5?

For images not requiring any NR, my process flow is to set sharpening and NR in ACR to zero and then select the main object in PS CS5 and Smart Sharpen it after all other adjustments are done.

Thanks.

Best, JR

[Joerg Rockenberger]

No one? :(

[allanrube]

I would do light sharpening in ACR as capture sharpening but no NR. I would sharpen more and do nr in PS.

[Ray Rozema]

No NR in ACR but do in PS or plugins and do sharpening in PS as last step or also w plugin.

[Jim Neely]

The new and improved NR in CS 5 is in ACR 6.1, so NR needs to be done in ACR.

Here's a short write up on CS5 and the new NR specifically: http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/articles/416

jn

[Robert O'Toole]

Hi,

I have currently some images which arguably could benefit from some noise reduction. I am wondering how people utilize the new and apparently pretty good noise reduction controls in ACR 6.x. As far as I can tell they work on the entire image and selective application (e.g. background only) is not possible. So, do you:

1) sharpen in ACR and then apply the NR?
2) no sharpening but only NR in ACR? How do you deal in this case with the loss of detail in the main subject if the noise is mainly located in the background?
3) no sharpening and NR in ACR but use 3rd-party tools in/after PS CS5?

For images not requiring any NR, my process flow is to set sharpening and NR in ACR to zero and then select the main object in PS CS5 and Smart Sharpen it after all other adjustments are done.

Thanks.

Best, JR

Hi John,
In ACR 5.5 (CS4) Adobe changed the demosaicing algorithm to give you more detail and more resolution, but this has also in turn increased noise. Adobe engineers have said you should add some NR just to correct for this.

With an image is higher ISO range, say 2000 or so I run NR lightly in ACR, with the detail slider set high, then take care of the rest selectively with a layer mask in PS.

Also be aware that Lumi and color aren't not always needed depending on your camera system.


Robert

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Thank you all for the feedback. And thanks for the link. Definitely helpful!

Robert, what do you mean by the following? Also, I find the MKIV to have lots of noise even at ISO 400 if it is underexposed by even only half a stop...

Thanks, JR



Also be aware that Lumi and color aren't not always needed depending on your camera system.

[Robert O'Toole]

Hi JR,

Make sure you are aware of the different noise profiles for the various cameras and more importantly brands. Canon cameras tend to suffer from Chroma or color noise, Nikon suppresses chroma more but has Lumi type noise that shows up like grain.
With LR 3 and ACR5.5 and later its important to apply only the type of NR you need. If you apply too much Lumi NR on a Canon image it will hurt image detail and not remove much noise. This is the opposite with Nikon.
So with your MKIV concentrate on Chorma not Lumi noise.

Robert

[David Thomasson]

I start by setting sharpening amount to 0, then zoom in to 200-300% to check noise. I apply the minimum amount of NR to correct that, then sharpen using the edge-masking feature. Here again, I sharpen just enough to remove the natural softness of the raw image. (I'll sharpen again inside Photoshop and, if needed, also run Noiseware Pro).

[Roger Clark]

JR,

I generally do not apply NR in ACR. I have sharpening set to some low value (my image processing computer is not on now). The output from ACR is slightly less sharp than the in camera jpegs.

I generally do zero noise reduction except some selective applications (select areas on PS-CSx) and blur, usually on the background. I also usually do 3rd party sharpening (Richardson-Lucy image restoration) then a little unsharp mask in PS. See the sharpening thread in educational resources:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?18534-Important-Sharpening-Information!

There is also a noise reduction primer:
http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?23825-Noise-Reduction-Primer-and-Questions

Roger

[Joerg Rockenberger]

Robert, thanks for the explanation re the different camera systems.

David & Roger, thanks for the feedback and especially the link to the NR primer.

Best, JR