Listening to the Voices in my Head

New and Improved?

Once again, I tried Topaz Labs. They have come out with "New and improved" versions of their AI software. I coughed up the money, and 'renewed' my yearly plan (not going to renew it again, for reasons that will follow.) But I was willing to give it another shot.

I loaded an Olympus ORF file into Topaz DeNoise. It did ok, but left the image kind of dull and flat. So, I closed that, and opened Topaz Sharpen AI, opened the same ORF file. It does have a rudimentary denoise function. But the finished results again were lacking.

To use the Topaz software, you need to open them in another program, adjust exposure, then use one Topaz plugin after another. And although you can get good results, the Sharpen AI takes a long time (6 minutes).   

On1 NoNoise 23: opened the same Olympus ORF file in NoNoise. Not only was I able to remove the noise, but I could also sharpen the image at the same time. And it was finished in about 30 seconds.  If I want to have even more editing, I could open file in On1PhotoRaw, get it all done in about a minute.

On1 for the win, again

If you want true AI noise reduction on your photos

I have used many different noise reduction programs, starting way back when NoiseNinja was all the rage. Noise reduction software has improved immensely. Here are the ones I have used.

Define, by NIK and Google, and finally DxO: The results are good , but I have found it would either smooth things too much, and leave behind artifacts. You can use the brush tool to 'paint' the areas you want noise removed. It is a bit slow to process the image.

On1 NoNoise; Wow. Yes, it removes noise but you also have the options of regaining some detail, or sharpness, or how strong the noise removal has to be. It's not just fast to show you, it is fast. Any changes made you instantly see. I have found that when I use NoNoise, I don't need any sharpening on the image.

Topaz DeNoise: If you started this program without me seeing the splash screen, I would have though it was On1 NoNoise because of the layout and tool arrangement. That's where the resemblance stopped. Topaz DeNoise is Slow. Slow to process any change in the pre-processing window, even if you want to just center the photo. Slow to update changes. Detail recovery is slow, and clumsy. Use of any of the sliders makes the program crawl.

I'm sticking with NoNoise.

Well, that's annoying

It seems that after all these years of buying TopazLabs/Topaz software for photoediting, paying a premium price for "Lifetime updates", the owners of the company have decided to go the subscription model. They sent out a smarmy email, with a link to a lackluster blog post from "Eric" as to why they were doing this. I don't care.  Every one of my purchases came with the "Lifetime updates" in the contract. 

This isn't a case like with Slysoft, who just changed their name, and invalidated everyone's current lifetime updates (IMO, it was like if Ford changed their name to Cord, and then told everyone who just bought their extended warranties they were no longer valid, because Ford didn't exist anymore). Topaz and Topaz Labs are still being owned and operated by the same people.  Also, the claim of a better product?  Seriously, for what I paid, I could use On1 PhotoRaw and Photoshop and get the same results without using Topaz. 

So, why do I use Topaz products? The LIFE TIME UPDATES is why.  That is what they contracted with me for, and that is what they're trying to renege on. 

Can anyone say "Class Action Lawsuit"?