I haven't used NeatImage in quite a while, but I can say that given what you are shooting with, you should not need to use aggressive NR settings. Remember that you can make a photo look too smooth. Skin will look plastic, fine detail in objects will just disappear. Not a pleasant result. Your best bet is to only apply just as much of each, Luminance and Chrominance, as required. Each image is different. I'd suggest starting with both sliders at zero, increase luminance gently and watch your noise and detail. Be conservative. Now increase chrominance as required. Readjust lumminance if needed, tweak to final values leaving some slight noise.
With modern cameras, you'll probably be using more luminance NR than chrominance. Another technique is to apply the NR only to the shadows, leaving detail in the mid-tones and highlights untouched. |
