PictureCode ships Noise Ninja 2.0 for Aperture
updated 03:30 pm EDT, Tue August 5, 2008
Noise Ninja 2 for Aperture
As promised with the release of the Aperture SDK, PictureCode has shipped a new version of Noise Ninja, now designed as an Aperture 2.1 plug-in. The software is used to smooth out noise in digital photos, generally created by using high ISO settings on a camera. The plug-in can also be used to remove grain from scanned filmstrips or slides.
PictureCode claims as much as a two-stop (two light level) improvement in image quality, without the detail smearing present in some other noise utilities. Noise Ninja 2.0 is free as a shareware download, but watermarks photos until users pay a minimum of $35.
Fresh-Faced Recruit
Joined: Jul 2007
Not there, yet.
I just paid $20 to upgrade my Noise Ninja license for Aperture. While, with some tweaking, it gives good results, the automatic function seems to be a misnomer. It applies the exact same adjustments to every photo—regardless of the noise it contains—yielding some fairly plastic-looking results in many instances. Unlike the CS3 plugin that scans every file, the Aperture version gives a value of 10 to all the fields except those for sharpening. When I'm in a hurry and don't want to tweak things, I think I'll keep round-tripping to Photoshop.Hopefully, it'll improve with age.