M11 Noise Reduction for DNGs

[Jewl]

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Hi all,

quick question, what do you think about the in camera noise reduction (DNGs only, don‘t shoot JPG) feature? Does it help or is it recommended to turn it off? I often shoot in very challenging light situations (dawn, night etc.) where noise definitely is a thing!

Have it on since I received the M11 but was thinking whether this is the best setup…

Thanks for your input. 

Cheers,
J

[kyono]

If you're always to use Lightroom and taking pictures like star photos (The Milky Way, etc.), fireworks, it’s advantageous to turn off noise reduction.

Noise reduction runs at the shutter speed within the iso range of the table and uses as much noise reduction time as the shutter speed taken.

This is because in the case of Milky Way photography, noise reduction can erase stars, and fireworks photos have disadvantages that cannot be taken during noise reduction.

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[jaapv]

This specific noise reduction is by a black frame, which does not erase stars that actually exist, but removes "stars" that were created by hot pixels. The camera takes a second long black exposure, detects which pixels were anomalous and blocks them out, leaving the rest untouched.  So for photographing the Milky way it is actually better not to turn it off to avoid fake stars.  Your argument would be correct for traditional noise reduction, which works by blurring and interpolation.

[M11 for me]

May I ask again. Besides eliminating hot pixels (Jaap) what else does it do? And does it work for DNG or JPG only? I just checked: On my M the function is "ON". For Adobe user: Do the noise reduction sliders do the same?

[jaapv]

It lifts the black point a bit too; that is all. The noise reduction sliders do something quite different. The noise reduction by LENR in the camera cannot be replicated in postprocessing. However, when postprocessing you have a choice of three different methods: Use DXO PureRaw which reduces noise with AI in raw conversion, Topaz deNoise AI which reduces noise during the editing phase using AI and the Lightroom-type one which is mainly a blurring program. The both AI programs which work by AI pixel shifting are vastly superior. Post processing noise reduction is always a tradeoff and balanced by sharpening. Another recent complication is that we have AI resolution increasing programs like Lightroom/ACR Enhance and Gigapixel which call for careful noise reduction and sharpening. 

[Photoworks]

I have Noise reduction OFF, 

I like the RAW texture for most ISO setting, In C1P I zero sharpening and noise. quite happy with the result.

[jaapv]

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As I said elsewhere the amount of noise is a personal esthetic call and varies widely 

[SrMi]

DNG Noise Reduction setting turns long exposure noise reduction (LENR) on and off. It doubles the total time needed for exposure, eliminates hot pixels, but may increase random noise by (1.4x measured for other cameras).

I recommend turning the DNG noise reduction off. I have done 10min exposures with M11 without seeing any issues with hot pixels. M11 works well for long exposures.

[SrMi]

4 hours ago, jaapv said:

It lifts the black point a bit too; that is all. The noise reduction sliders do something quite different. The noise reduction by LENR in the camera cannot be replicated in postprocessing. However, when postprocessing you have a choice of three different methods: Use DXO PureRaw which reduces noise with AI in raw conversion, Topaz deNoise AI which reduces noise during the editing phase using AI and the Lightroom-type one which is mainly a blurring program. The both AI programs which work by AI pixel shifting are vastly superior. Post processing noise reduction is always a tradeoff and balanced by sharpening. Another recent complication is that we have AI resolution increasing programs like Lightroom/ACR Enhance and Gigapixel which call for careful noise reduction and sharpening. 

Allegedly, you can replicate LENR in the post using dark frame subtraction. I have never done it.

[jaapv]

You need to do exactly what the camera does. Take an exposure of the same shutter time with the lens cap on, in post invert the black frame and merge the files. 

[Jewl]

Thanks all for the input. As I dont do any LEs I do think it doesn‘t matter for me that much 😉