my Noise Reduction Tip for M9/M8

[skinnfell]

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Sure enough, the Leica M9 has higher noise than the current breed of C and N cameras. However, I have discovered that it has quite uniform noise (due to CCD?) that lends itself well to some careful noise reduction.

 

Lightroom 3 and 4 does a pretty good job already, but I have found that by tweaking these settings additionally, even better results can be achieved.

Some observations first:

 

 

• Noise must not be completely removed, the resulting picture will look too "plasticky". What we should aim for is the look of a medium grained film.
  

 

• Color noise (weird color blotches) is worse on leica than japanese cameras, but this type of noise is also the easiest removed.
  
• Luminance noise ("grain") can be reduced but to a slight loss of detail. How far you are willing to go here depends on personal taste how large you are making the finished print.
  
• Somehow, pictures with a with a tiny bit of noise or grain print better than completely clean images. I have found this to be true both in inkjet prints and on offset (newspapers and magazines) printing. I am not exactly sure why, but it might have to do with ink swamping the paper.
  
• After noise reduction, fine details, like the eyelashes in these samples, become much more visible than before, without too much loss of tonality and micro contrast.
  
• As you can see the philosophy is simple: A little bit but not a lof of everything. I have "rounded off" the settings ever so slightly to make them easier to remember.
  

Allow me to share with you my specially tailored sharpness/noise reduction settings:

Feel free to try them on your own pictures and tweak it to your own taste. I use this for all pictures over 400 ISO.

 

I have tested these settings on my M8 files and find them to work excellent there as well, especially on shots at iso1250.

 

See below: One picture without, and one with these settings. Iso 1600/M9. 100% crop. The settings themself are also seen in the third attachment.

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[Dirk Mandeville]

You are comfortable with a much higher level of noise in your images than I am. Sensor noise is just that - extraneous noise. It has no place in an image, any more than dust spots, as far as I am concerned. And I wholeheartedly disagree with your contention that images with a small amount of noise print better than clean images. That seems to me a ridiculous notion. Probably better to say that you prefer the look of a little grain in your printed images. Personally, I don't.

 

The settings you use for Luminance noise on this ISO 1600 shot are less than I would use on a ISO 400 shot! But honestly, to get the best noise reduction with detail retention, I prefer to use third-party plugins like those from Nik or Topaz Labs. While Lightroom is much better than it used to be, it still can't match these other programs in this regard.

[IWC Doppel]

I am at the opposite end and although shoot and view/print predominently in B&W and really dislike anything that demoves sharpness and acutance of the image, making it look plasticand false as noted, I will try the settings as they look modest and effective

 

Noise/grain have a look that is part of photography IMO, not always a desirable part but you have to live with it to be 'honest' . I am also not a photoshop fan for similar reasons

[Dirk Mandeville]

Noise/grain have a look that is part of photography IMO, not always a desirable part but you have to live with it to be 'honest' . I am also not a photoshop fan for similar reasons

 

I agree that grain has a look that has been part of photography for a long time, and there are certain images that benefit from it. However, I disagree that digital sensor noise is similar to film grain; it is, indeed, very different in how it looks in an image. And I strongly disagree that you have to live with it. Noise is simply a byproduct of the current state of sensor technology, and we are rapidly advancing to a point where it will no longer be an issue. At reasonable ISO's, it is virtually non-noticeable even now. The MM proves that it can be minimized even at higher ISO's. In ten or fifteen years, I expect we won't even be having these conversations, except maybe at crazy high ISO levels. As it is, with today's software, it is pretty easy to minimize the effects of noise on an image while retaining detail. And if you like grain in an image, it is just as easy to add back a very "film-like" grain which looks much better than sensor noise.

[tobey bilek]

Nik Define 2, then mask back the areas you want to keep sharp.

 

Or use an edge mask that makes all sharp edges black in the mask.

 

Best of all, ISO 160

[archi4]

Capture One PRO-7

I find it now the best for higher iso M9 files