Make ISO 12,800 Look Like ISO 400: Lightroom Denoise Master Class

[Ken Miracle]

Wow, thank you for sharing this. I gotta try it. The hardest part disqualifying smaller in the frame shots which I still like, and there is no way to really fix’em.

I do fewer "smaller in the frame " shots than some when doing bird ID. If do like a flock of birds in flight shot with Z800 and the ISO is higher I find in LRC that using masking in the detail panel and then applying more or less texture in the basic panel and sharpening amount and detail in the detail panel frequently is all I need to do.

I have a user preset for the detail panel that uses sharpening levels from the camera which can be either side of the LRC 40 default, raidius default of 2.0 I almost never gets chnaged and Detail is set at 77 and mask at 87 and that is all I do or at least well in the ball park.

If I do still want to use DenoiseAI it works quite well at slider levels up to 100% ( a rare level) if really needed because at distance with smaller in the frame birds there is less feather detail to worry about.

 

[Winston Churchill (Sir)]

I find I do not use the Lightroom Denoise as much and have used the traditional noise reduction on a limited basis because the dng files created are so large. If I used it on every photo above ISO 1000 it would double my storage space requirements, assuming I also keep the nef files. Anyone have a solution?? I may just start deleting the dng files after I export a jpeg.

I tend to do the same - do the DeNoise and then export the .dng as a PSD. Then delete the enhanced version. I will use ACR as a filter and go back should I want to further changes. It may not be the best way - but that is what I am currently doing. Should it be required - the NEF file is still available to me to re-do.

 

[Ken Miracle]

I tend to do the same - do the DeNoise and then export the .dng as a PSD. Then delete the enhanced version. I will use ACR as a filter and go back should I want to further changes. It may not be the best way - but that is what I am currently doing. Should it be required - the NEF file is still available to me to re-do.

I have been in the habit so far of deleting the raw version and keeping just the DNG to avoid that doubling of space if I like the enhanced version better than the raw file why keep it has been my philosophy since I can do most tweaks I might want to do to the DNG file. I have not used photo shop in at least 5 years just LRC so have not used PSD.

I have been having an internal debate whether or not to keep the nef after I have exported and used the dng as a jpg where I want to use it and then delete the enhanced file and keep the raw NEF as you noted I could always redo the denoise if needed.

 

[Geoff_G]

The lightroom denoise is hands down better than the topaz denoise I USED to love.

Yeppers, I haven't watched the video yet but LR Denoise is the reason I did not renew my Topaz licenses.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I have been in the habit so far of deleting the raw version and keeping just the DNG to avoid that doubling of space if I like the enhanced version better than the raw file why keep it has been my philosophy since I can do most tweaks I might want to do to the DNG file. I have not used photo shop in at least 5 years just LRC so have not used PSD.

I have been having an internal debate whether or not to keep the nef after I have exported and used the dng as a jpg where I want to use it and then delete the enhanced file and keep the raw NEF as you noted I could always redo the denoise if needed.

The problem with this is that the DNG is not full RAW. It has the of benefits of raw for most intents, but the Adobe Enhance routines applied debayering to the RAW bits.

So if you ever need to run a process on an image that requires unprocessed Bayer (or X-Trans) RAW bits, you'll need the original RAW. For example, if you try to run Adobe Super Resolution on your generated DNG, you'll find that it won't.

It's like you're making a 2nd generation copy of a negative, then tossing the negative. I just can't do that. Storage is cheap.

Given that the generated DNG is typically so much larger than your original NEF (usually twice the size), if you do need to nuke one, I would keep the NEF over the DNG. You could always ask ACR / LR to generate an XMP (a very small file) of your processing settings. Or if your NEF is in your LR catalog, those settings are already saved, including your DeNoise level as well as the sharpness and masking settings. So you can easily regenerate that DNG again.

Chris

 

[bleirer]

99%
Because it lacks the inner circle to adjust the fathering.

Can you tell more about what this is? I assume fathering is a typo.

 

[MikeA]

Hi Steve,

I watched your video and can’t wait to try out Lightroom on my next images instead of DeNoise and Sharpen. Up to now, I really did not know how to use denoise in LR properly, now I do. Thank you so much!!!

 

[Steve]

Wow, thank you for sharing this. I gotta try it. The hardest part disqualifying smaller in the frame shots which I still like, and there is no way to really fix’em.

No harm in trying - I was showing ideal scenarios

 

[Anjin San]

I have three theories on space…first is that drive space is cheap. Second is that God has enough RAM and drive space, the rest of us are just making do. Third…see rule 1. I only trash bad shots…far less culling that way. Sure…you get 3 dozen almost identical shots of the bird or whatever…but pick the one you’re going to process and move on in the culling process vice agonizing over which frame is ’better’ when differences are minute. I cull with P, U, and X with auto advance turned on. Delete the X ones, filter on P and if that’s still too many GBH shots for today‘s blog select from the P‘s and hit 1 key then filter on 1’s. Process and give 2 stars when done. Then smart collection for published shots and I also do a 2024 Top 100 collection but those get added manually…and an overall Top 100 collection as well.

 

[Hogan]

Excellent video! Just wondering if photo needs a little exposure boost, or small shadows/highlight adjustments in lightroom, would you recommend doing this before the denoise or after?

 

[Steve]

Excellent video! Just wondering if photo needs a little exposure boost, or small shadows/highlight adjustments in lightroom, would you recommend doing this before the denoise or after?

About the only thing I do beforehand is exposure - I want that about right. I like to do the rest afterward. The big one though is not adding anything that dramatically increases contrast - no clarity, texture, etc and I even wait until I'm done with Denoise to do my white and black points.

 

[Hogan]

About the only thing I do beforehand is exposure - I want that about right. I like to do the rest afterward. The big one though is not adding anything that dramatically increases contrast - no clarity, texture, etc and I even wait until I'm done with Denoise to do my white and black points.

Many thanks for the quick response Steve, very much appreciated.

 

[Milos]

During testing Steve's guide, I could not figure out why my pictures are so noisy. Well, I accidentally I switched my Z8 to DX. Hopefully no one else will make this stupid mistake.

 

[Steve]

During testing Steve's guide, I could not figure out why my pictures are so noisy. Well, I accidentally I switched my Z8 to DX. Hopefully no one else will make this stupid mistake.

You're not alone - I've done the same thing. I had an FX/DX toggle set to a button that was too easy to press accidentally (I can't remember which now, but it was probably like the Lens Function button or something)

 

[Milos]

You're not alone - I've done the same thing. I had an FX/DX toggle set to a button that was too easy to press accidentally (I can't remember which now, but it was probably like the Lens Function button or something)

The good news is that your denoise method worked great.

 

[Andeye]

Brilliant video steve, thanks for posting to YouTube!
Do you know if LR have tweaked or improved it since first launch? I have a feeling it's better now than when it first launched ? or is it just me. Hopefully it will continue to improve over time.

 

[Steve]

Brilliant video steve, thanks for posting to YouTube!
Do you know if LR have tweaked or improved it since first launch? I have a feeling it's better now than when it first launched ? or is it just me. Hopefully it will continue to improve over time.

Thanks and nope, I'm not sure if they have made any adjustments, although I think they make little tweaks all the time.

 

[Michael Dreese]

A Master Class On Lightroom Denoise!
This video is a master class on Lightroom Denoise! If you want to see my techniques for making ISO 12,800 look like ISO 400, you're gonna love this! It's the BEST way to fix a noisy photo!

In fact, I think the advanced techniques at the end of the video allow you to make your images look better than any third-party app - just using Lightroom!

In this video, we'll take a really deep dive, and I'll show you everything you need to know to get the most from Lightroom Denoise. We'll talk about the kinds of images that work best, how the Donoise tool works, and some advanced techniques beyond just the simple Denoise dialog.

In fact, in my experience, the advanced techniques featured towards the end of this video preserve detail better than any third-party software I've tried while giving you the best possible noise reduction.

It's the best 45 minutes you'll spend on post processing!

This tutorial answered all the questions I had on this feature and provided a logical workflow for image editing. Wonderful job, Steve!

 

[Geoff_G]

I think I now understand how do this properly!
Really good stuff, Steve.
Thanks!

 

[Ken Miracle]

Can you tell more about what this is? I assume fathering is a typo.

Feathering

 

[Palmor]

Great video! I finally got a chance to watch the entire thing. Very similar to how I use it, the biggest difference is I really didn't tend to use the masking for the NR which I should use more as you suggested . I think the only other thing is I tend to use subject detect (with add/subtract) or brush selection for that final sharpening step (after denoise) instead of masking. I feel like I can really pinpoint where I want it.

It's also nice to see some confirmation on my own workflow plus picking up some additional tips.

 

[PhotoLover]

About the only thing I do beforehand is exposure - I want that about right. I like to do the rest afterward. The big one though is not adding anything that dramatically increases contrast - no clarity, texture, etc and I even wait until I'm done with Denoise to do my white and black points.

That's interesting. My workflow now is an import preset that bumps contrast, clarity and vibrance 20; the goal was to have a first cut that looked sorta like what the in-camera jpg would -- nothing major, just a bit nicer than the base RAW image.

Based on what you saw, for photos I like and that need denoise, I guess I'll reset to get rid of the clarity and contrast changes, then do the denoise and add back whatever other changes I want.

Thanks again for all the information.

 

[bleirer]

Feathering

But what is it referring to that lightroom does but acr doesn't?

 

[Palmor]

Some sample images with this technique (I did utilize the masking which was a great tip in the video, not sure why I haven't fully used it before).

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[Steve]

Great video! I finally got a chance to watch the entire thing. Very similar to how I use it, the biggest difference is I really didn't tend to use the masking for the NR which I should use more as you suggested . I think the only other thing is I tend to use subject detect (with add/subtract) or brush selection for that final sharpening step (after denoise) instead of masking. I feel like I can really pinpoint where I want it.

It's also nice to see some confirmation on my own workflow plus picking up some additional tips.

Thanks!

Keep in mind that this was supposed to be part of a larger tutorial and that we hadn't covered masking at this point. So, I had to keep it simple.

I agree and often use masks to adjust sharpening with more precision. I was going to discuss that in the masking part of the video, but that never came to be.