Noise Ninja

[TJV]

Holy cow!

I've been scanning negs and slides for over four years and could never get my C41 colour work to come out anywhere near as good as my E6 scans. I use a Canon FS4000US and a Nikon 8000ED.

Today, after scanning a body of work I shot on Fuji Pro 400H, I was wondering how I was going to get good results short of sending them to get re scanned on a drum scanner. The grain looked horrible and the colour noise was through the roof. I'd heard about Noise Ninja before from my digital days and decided to download it and give it a try on my scans.

All I did was follow the bare bones basic instructions (eg, push one button and move one slider,) and I couldn't believe my eyes. The grain looked normal and the noise introduced from the scanner was totally wiped out. More amazing was that all the actual detail remained! I honestly think it's the most amazing plug in and don't know how I haven't got onto it earlier - I'm sure I'll be wanting to redo my trannie scans again soon. Time permitting...

If you haven't already, give Noise Ninja a go. I also hear Neat Image is good too?

 

[Tuolumne]

I love it and use it in batch mode all the time. One button push - auto-profile, auto-fix. Output the files to a separate folder and boom - you're good to go. I never thought of using it on my scans. I just use it on high ISO digital files, where it works wonders. I'll give it a go on scans at your suggestion.

/T

 

[gavinlg]

I don't want to sound like the noise reduction grinch or something but just remember, there are ALWAYS side effects of using this stuff. Grain is a lot more pleasant than weird smooth skin on people and artifacts on hair texture etc.

 

[tedwin]

I don't want to sound like the noise reduction grinch or something but just remember, there are ALWAYS side effects of using this stuff. Grain is a lot more pleasant than weird smooth skin on people and artifacts on hair texture etc.

I take it you haven't used Noise Ninja? The dialogue is excellent. You can turn off the 'smoothing effect' completely or dial in just the right amount, you can do this in conjunction with USM, edge contrast and overall effect sliders. Its an excellent plug in for both DSC files and scans. I use the program exclusively for complete sharpening control, its particularly good for scanned B&W negs. Try a fine grained neg with the contrast slider pulled back, smoothing switched off and a narrow radius high amount sharpen. Excellent stuff!

 

[Nh3]

This is absolutely preposterous. You're using noise ninja to remove film grain?

 

[navilluspm]

Why is that preposterous? I use neat image to remove film grain from underexposed pictures. My Minolta Scan Elite F-2900 is noisy, so it helps in that regard too.

 

[kuzano]

Yes,,, and so, why all the fuss over digital noise,,,

Yes,,, and so, why all the fuss over digital noise,,,

I've come to the conclusion that far too much emphasis is placed on noise at higher ISO's in the reviews I read about digital cameras. Far too much of the decision to buy/not-buy a camera is determined by two easily remedied factors... noise and "fringing".

Noise and Chroma Color are two of the easiest image problems to deal with in even simple post processing. Furthermore... what's with the 1600/3200 low noise requirements most people throw out as a decisive factor in camera choice. I can count on both hands (8 fingers and two thumbs) the number of times I have used film over 400 ASA in the last two decades. However I realize I may be slighting some people in that requirement.

Still the plugins for noise and fringing are readily available and quite simple to use, not to mention effective. I would certainly consider a camera with "apparent noise" at 400, or "unacceptable noise" at 1600, if it gave me superior results in other areas of more concern.

 

[sevo]

This is absolutely preposterous. You're using noise ninja to remove film grain?

Once upon a time I had to use large format internegatives and a pin register mask or two to reduce film grain...

 

[TJV]

No, I'm using it to remove scanner noise and the worst of grain aisling.

This is absolutely preposterous. You're using noise ninja to remove film grain?

 

[tedwin]

This is absolutely preposterous. You're using noise ninja to remove film grain?

I think 'twit' is the polite term (mr preposterous)

No, never said I was. I use it to sharpen images and (very rarely) to remove NOISE, not grain.

 

[gavinlg]

I take it you haven't used Noise Ninja? The dialogue is excellent. You can turn off the 'smoothing effect' completely or dial in just the right amount, you can do this in conjunction with USM, edge contrast and overall effect sliders. Its an excellent plug in for both DSC files and scans. I use the program exclusively for complete sharpening control, its particularly good for scanned B&W negs. Try a fine grained neg with the contrast slider pulled back, smoothing switched off and a narrow radius high amount sharpen. Excellent stuff!

No no, I have used it, I used to use it pretty extensively. But a lot of the time I can tell when it's been used.