Using NeatImage

Someone on one of the pro photo groups suggested I check out NeatImage after he
found the background in this ISO 1600 pic to be a bit noisy ( I didn't have a
prob with it):
http://www.pbase.com/bret/image/35429440

So anyways, I had tried it a few years ago but wasn't too impressed so I
figured I'd give it another day in court. To make a long story short, I now
have the full ver. 4.4 Pro+ edition and it works as advertised.

To test it out, I took some photos of the sky at ISO's ranging from 100 to
3200.
Here is a little test strip I made showing how each shot looks from the 20D and
with the NeatImage processing.

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/neatcomp.jpg

As you can see there is little advantage to using NeatImage at the lower ISO's
since the 20D is so clean. However, the software really kicks in the higher
you go so it's like buying two extra stops on all your shots for $79.

This one gets the ANNI 4-star rating. (It might've garnered a perfect 5-star
rating, but I had to pay for it).

-Annika ---- hates buyin software

Annika1980 wrote:

Someone on one of the pro photo groups suggested I check out NeatImage after he
found the background in this ISO 1600 pic to be a bit noisy ( I didn't have a
prob with it):
http://www.pbase.com/bret/image/35429440

So anyways, I had tried it a few years ago but wasn't too impressed so I
figured I'd give it another day in court. To make a long story short, I now
have the full ver. 4.4 Pro+ edition and it works as advertised.

To test it out, I took some photos of the sky at ISO's ranging from 100 to
3200.
Here is a little test strip I made showing how each shot looks from the 20D and
with the NeatImage processing.

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/neatcomp.jpg

As you can see there is little advantage to using NeatImage at the lower ISO's
since the 20D is so clean. However, the software really kicks in the higher
you go so it's like buying two extra stops on all your shots for $79.

This one gets the ANNI 4-star rating. (It might've garnered a perfect 5-star
rating, but I had to pay for it).

-Annika ---- hates buyin software

I bought NE some time ago, and I use it frequently. One of the lesser
known capabilities it has is image sharpening at the same time as noise
reduction is happening. Probably not as sophisticated as some other
programs, but it seems at least as good as USM in PS.

Reminds me, I must check for updates ...

Colin.

If you think this software is good with the 20D, you should see the magic it
works with my Sony 828 files. It makes ISO 400 more than usable, and 800
actually useable. Nice stuff.

Of course, according to rumors by the Sony faithful, their 828 replacement,
due in February, will be 25 million pixels, have lower noise than the 1DII,
faster focusing than a Nikon F5, and sell for under $100. Then I won't need
Neat Image.

"Annika1980" wrote in message
...
Someone on one of the pro photo groups suggested I check out NeatImage
after he
found the background in this ISO 1600 pic to be a bit noisy ( I didn't
have a
prob with it):
http://www.pbase.com/bret/image/35429440

So anyways, I had tried it a few years ago but wasn't too impressed so I
figured I'd give it another day in court. To make a long story short, I
now
have the full ver. 4.4 Pro+ edition and it works as advertised.

To test it out, I took some photos of the sky at ISO's ranging from 100 to
3200.
Here is a little test strip I made showing how each shot looks from the
20D and
with the NeatImage processing.

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/neatcomp.jpg

As you can see there is little advantage to using NeatImage at the lower
ISO's
since the 20D is so clean. However, the software really kicks in the
higher
you go so it's like buying two extra stops on all your shots for $79.

This one gets the ANNI 4-star rating. (It might've garnered a perfect
5-star
rating, but I had to pay for it).

-Annika ---- hates buyin software

If you think this software is good with the 20D, you should see the magic it
works with my Sony 828 files. It makes ISO 400 more than usable, and 800
actually useable. Nice stuff.

Of course, according to rumors by the Sony faithful, their 828 replacement,
due in February, will be 25 million pixels, have lower noise than the 1DII,
faster focusing than a Nikon F5, and sell for under $100. Then I won't need
Neat Image.

"Annika1980" wrote in message
...
Someone on one of the pro photo groups suggested I check out NeatImage
after he
found the background in this ISO 1600 pic to be a bit noisy ( I didn't
have a
prob with it):
http://www.pbase.com/bret/image/35429440

So anyways, I had tried it a few years ago but wasn't too impressed so I
figured I'd give it another day in court. To make a long story short, I
now
have the full ver. 4.4 Pro+ edition and it works as advertised.

To test it out, I took some photos of the sky at ISO's ranging from 100 to
3200.
Here is a little test strip I made showing how each shot looks from the
20D and
with the NeatImage processing.

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/neatcomp.jpg

As you can see there is little advantage to using NeatImage at the lower
ISO's
since the 20D is so clean. However, the software really kicks in the
higher
you go so it's like buying two extra stops on all your shots for $79.

This one gets the ANNI 4-star rating. (It might've garnered a perfect
5-star
rating, but I had to pay for it).

-Annika ---- hates buyin software

On 11 Jan 2005 00:30:52 GMT, (Annika1980) wrote:

Here is a little test strip I made showing how each shot looks from the 20D and
with the NeatImage processing.

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/neatcomp.jpg

Thanks for spending the time on that, but wouldn't it be worth seeing
what it does on normal pictures, ones with dogs and golfers in for
example? (okay, something that doesn't move - a dead dog perhaps)

I don't think I ever took a picture of just plain blue sky. I can
create a noiseless one of those just by doing a R:77, G:100, B:150
background fill in photoshop.

In other words, we can see the noise on the sky gets improvements, but
does it **** up the rest of the image?

--
Owamanga!

On 11 Jan 2005 00:30:52 GMT, (Annika1980) wrote:

Here is a little test strip I made showing how each shot looks from the 20D and
with the NeatImage processing.

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/neatcomp.jpg

Thanks for spending the time on that, but wouldn't it be worth seeing
what it does on normal pictures, ones with dogs and golfers in for
example? (okay, something that doesn't move - a dead dog perhaps)

I don't think I ever took a picture of just plain blue sky. I can
create a noiseless one of those just by doing a R:77, G:100, B:150
background fill in photoshop.

In other words, we can see the noise on the sky gets improvements, but
does it **** up the rest of the image?

--
Owamanga!

Annika1980 wrote:

http://members.aol.com/annika1980/neatcomp.jpg

NI can do better!

With a little experimentation, you can kill all the remaining color
noise (the worst noise, IMO) without over processing the brightness
channel or affecting image details. somewhere in the manual, NI
reccomends YCrCbJpeg (preferred) or YCrCbSymmetric (worth trying.) For
unknown reasons, the program defaults to RGB when installed.

Tools Options Job Defaults Default Colorspace

Seperating color and luminance noise gives much better control over the
program and minimizes potential image detail loss.

-Greg

Agreed. Any NR program should be able to do a close-to-perfect job on
flat areas of color - it's the damage it may do to real detail that is
important.

Your efforts are appreciated, A1980, but they don't really tell us
much...