Opinions Appreciated

[reldnahkram]

I've started using SmugMug as a place to post pictures online. Obviously, there's not much there yet, but I'm working on it.

In the process, I've come across some very noisy pictures from a concert I went to in November. I've been futzing with different noise reduction methods. Behind the cut is the original followed by three different NR approaches. If you're so inclined, please let me know what you think about the three options and how they compare in terms of acceptability of remaining noise, acceptability of reduction in detail, overall appearance, etc. Click on each image to open up a much larger (2400x1800) version.



The original:



Approach 1:



Approach 2:



Approach 3:





The performers are Caleb Spaulding and Carolyn Tapper, who may also perform as Caleb Spaulding & the Great Society. I was new to their music, and quite enjoyed it.

For those of you wondering, this is ISO 1600 on my camera (Panasonic GF3). I believe that newer cameras show much less noise at this ISO. The lens is an Olympus OM 50 mm and the picture was taken at f/1.8. The picture has been cropped.

Thank you.

Comments

[sildra.livejournal.com]

The last one looks... like those soft shots in a soap opera. The first one actually looks noisier than the original. The second one might be an improvement--it's hard to tell--but it's definitely the best out of the three.

[tirerim.livejournal.com]

The first one basically just removes the low resolution chroma noise and preserves most of the detail, and I think it looks the best. The second one removes the high resolution intensity noise while leaving the lower resolution chroma noise, which removes a bunch of detail while still not looking great. The third one removes both kinds of noise, and while it manages to hang on to some kinds of detail better than the second one (probably due to aggressive sharpening), it still winds up looking pretty blurry. One question is what size you're displaying it at: at the resolution in this post, the high resolution intensity noise isn't really visible anyway, which makes the first one definitely the best; at 100%, I'm not sure I would say the same, but unless you're printing up a giant poster of it, no one is going to see it at 100%.

[uncleamos]

I think that approach 2 looks sharpest.