GP Noise reduction tools

[SteveInNZ]

I'm looking at buying a general purpose noise reduction tool and was looking for comparisons with more of an emphasis on night/astro photography. I expected to find a lot more discussion than I have found.

Are there any recent discussions or is there a solution that seem to win hands down ?

I use PS-CS3 and Noel's Tools for astro stuff. I've been thinking about PixInsight but that wouldn't leave any budget for other low-light photography (underwater, caves, nightscape, etc) that are also sensitive to the noise reduction software. Milky way shots seem to be a harsh test.

Any strong views on stand-alone versus plug-in ?

Thanks,

Steve.

[michaelmorris]

I use Noise Ninja as a Photoshop plug-in and find it to be very good.

http://www.picturecode.com/

Here are some useful comparisons

http://www.prophotoshow.net/2009/02/26/noise-reduction-shootout-straight-dope-comparisonreview/

[Jessun]

Noiseware is another program that comes as standalone or as PS plugin.

[GlassWalker]

I went through a phase earlier when I just found all the ones I could and tried the demos out. Ended up buying NeatImage myself as I like the interface and speed. Comes both as standalone and plugin, where I only really use the latter.

I think Topaz DeNoise gave the best subjective results, but I didn't get on with its interface and it was really slow.

Don't imagine one button click will always give you the result you want. The default settings between them can vary a lot. If you play about with the settings they all look pretty similar anyway.

[Spikey]

Noiseware community edition is also freeware, so is worth downloading and trying out.