Test Photo 4
Test Image 4 : Less Noise but with tricky fine texture. D80, ISO 800 (Click for Full Res)
This image is tricky. This sand dune has, in parts, a grainy texture, as you might expect. Of course, there are only small parts of the image in which the sand texture is similar in size to the digital noise, but with auto-profiling, this can be problematic… and that is exactly the point of using this image. Same camera, ISO 800, but since it was bright with a fast shutter speed, the noise is less problematic, though still certainly present. The sky is the most obvious region to get a baseline judgment on the noise.
Full automatic processing was predictably messy in the sand, but also surprisingly poor in the sky. I sampled a section of the sky that contained plenty of wispy little bits that would not survive heavy handed noise reduction, and in most cases, they survived just fine.
Full Auto Processing: Sky and Cloud Detail (Click for Full Res)
In the second set of photo slices (viewed at full resolution), you’ll notice a blade of grass sticking out of the sand. In the original photo, there is an obvious pattern in the sand: diagonal, down to the right, although the sand itself was too far away to have any true sandy texture. I hoped for the texture to go mostly smooth but for the pattern to remain.
Full Auto Processing: Fine Sand Pattern Test (Click for Full Res)
The most surprising thing about this test was how horribly noise Ninja performed on the mid-foreground sand… so horribly that it’s even visible at only 50% magnification. In fact, I’m adding a third set of photos just because it’s so unusual. I’ve reduced the following photos to 66.7% to show the larger scale patterns that emerge.
Full Auto : Mess in the Sand. NOT full Resoltuion; click for 67% Res
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