Macphun Noiseless vs Topaz DeNoise AI. Are noise reduction plugins worth the money?

With the Covid-19 situation worsening, the Australian government has escalated the social isolation recommendations and, as I am in the high risk category, I am now stuck at home. So, no teaching or landscape or wildlife trips for the foreseeable future. In the meantime, I'm going to keep myself busy with some reviews, opinions, tutorials and anything else I can think of to occupy myself productively.
In this video I look at Noise Reduction software options in Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom and compare two plugins: Macphun Noiseless CK and Topaz Labs DeNoise AI to see which works best at reducing both luminance noise and colour noise and whether it's worth paying for extra tools.
An apology in advance. I have been using Macphun Creative Kit for years and I know the name has changed to Skylum Creative Kit but my addled, ageing brain has "Macphun" deeply ingrained and I got sick of correcting myself in the recording so have let it go...pedants have at it in the comments ;-)
Hope you enjoy.
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The AstroBackyard review of Topaz DeNoise for astrophotography can be found at: • Use Topaz Labs DeNoise...
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If you want to purchase any Topaz Labs products, use the link below for a 15% discount:
topazlabs.refr....
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Follow me at: www.iansmissen... / iansmissen
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Photography, video and editing by Ian Smissen
Incidental Photography by Joanne Smissen
Music
On My Way Home (sting) by The 126ers
Barton Springs by Bird Creek
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Gear I use:
Cameras
- Panasonic Lumix G9 Camera amzn.to/39bpNNs
- Panasonic Lumix GX8 Camera
- Apple iPhone Xs
- GoPro Hero 4 Silver
Lenses
- Panasonic Lumix 12-35mm f/2.8 Lens amzn.to/3bnvsl4
- Panasonic Lumix 35-100mm f/2.8 Lens amzn.to/3a9bXMG
- Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 Lens amzn.to/2QEIR09
- Panasonic Leica 8-18mm f/2.8-4 Lens amzn.to/3bleWly
- Panasonic Leica 12mm f/1.4 Lens amzn.to/2vIylO5
- Olympus M.Zuiko 60mm f/2.8 Macro Lens amzn.to/2xXgNhO
- Panasonic Lumix 25mm f/1.7 Lens amzn.to/3blBXEU
Filters
- Nisi V5 100mm Kit (now superseded) V6 Starter Kit: amzn.to/39cELmf
- K&F Concept ND2-ND32 Variable ND Filter amzn.to/2J9QWG0
Tripods
- Jobu Design Algonquin Tripod
- Jobu Design BWG-HD3 Gimbal Tripod Head
- Really Right Stuff BH-55 LR Tripod Ball Head amzn.to/39a0Dyr
- Sirui N3203X tripod + Sirui K-30X ballhead
- Davis & Sanford TR553-P228 Traverse Super Compact Tripod + Ballhead amzn.to/33E3nDe
Gimbal
- DJI Osmo Mobile 3 for Smartphone (Combo) amzn.to/2UzyXOe
Drone
- DJI Mavic Air (Combo) amzn.to/33LhN4v
- Apple iPhone 6s
Audio
- Audio-Technica AT2020USB+ Microphone amzn.to/3bgWnij
- Rode SMARTLAVPRode Microphone for Smartphones amzn.to/2UyIZ2p
- Rode VMGHORode VideoMic On-Camera Shotgun Microphone amzn.to/2Usiify
- Zoom H1N Handy Recorder - amzn.to/2UdqUI2
- Apple iPhone 5
Camera Bags
- Mindshift Gear Backlight 26L amzn.to/2xhbk59
- Tarion RS-01 Canvas Photography Bag amzn.to/2UzBdFc
- LowePro Sling amzn.to/2WBvUYA