Noise Reduction

[holmes]

I was trying Nikon Capture NX and I noticed the photos (NEF) from my Nikon D200 at ISO 1600 had much better noise reduction then they do in Aperture.  The same photos in Aperture looked like crap because they had way too much noise.  No I'm not pixel peeping and the difference is striking.  I'd like to make the noise reduction look like it does in NX using Aperture.  Can someone explain how to do this??  And what the controls are in the "noise reduction" panel under adjustments do?

I very much like the work flow in Aperture and find it's adjustments much simpler to use then NX.  So I'd like to stick with it if possible.  But the high ISO noise is not nice.

[CatOne]

I can't say, as I don't own a Nikon and have never used Nikon Capture.

I find Aperture's noise reduction "okay," but that's mainly because my 1D mark II has pretty good performance, even at ISO 1600, for images that are properly exposed.

I will say, though, that for images where I really want to do some noise work, that I just open files in Photoshop and use Noise Ninja.  Noise Ninja is very, very good, and with Aperture's integration with Photoshop this is workable for me.  I tend to not do NR on may images -- just ones I'm going to publish or print.

Are you frequently shooting indoor sports?

[holmes]

Thanks for the reply.  I use to have Noise Ninja but my computer died and I had the confirmation code on that computer.  Maybe they have it on file.  It just kills me to have to buy it twice.  Also it just takes too long to open files in Photoshop.

I guess it would be nice if Aperture had a Noise Ninja plug-in.  Or anyone made a truely good program for photographers.

Until then, anyone else have any clue how to make the Aperture noise reduction perform well?  Or is it just not that good.

I don't shoot at ISO1600 that much, but sometimes I do.  Sports at sunset or many indoor settings.

[holmes]

The guys at picture code were super cool. Had my old activation code/serial number back to me within a couple hours of e-mailing them.  Noise Ninja does work sweet.

It is a pain in the behind having to open the file up in Photoshop, but my biggest grip is that I then have to save it as a TIFF which pretty much nulls any advantage of having a RAW/NEF file.  Is there anyway to keep it as a NEF after using an Photoshop as an external editor?