Results of the new Capture One Denoise Tool on ISO 6400 files from Phase One IQ4 150

There’s a plethora of recent advances in denoise tools across numerous image editing platforms (Topaz, DXO, Adobe, of course). *Disclaimer: I have not used any of these other tools, but my general perception from seeing some examples is that they are tremendous. Capture One has been a little late to the party, but I’m surprised I haven’t heard more of this from clients. And the intent of this short article is not to compare them, but simply to illustrate what Capture One users have gained, in particular with files from a Phase One digital back, though certainly not restricted to that camera system.

And today, we are very lightly staffed, as it is a company holiday, but I’m in the office taking care of some things, so unfortunately, no skin tones available. But I do have a mix of manufactured materials and organic materials to review. But first, we’ll cover the basics of the tool, which is very easy to use.

Interface for the Denoise Tool

By default, the Denoise tool sits within the batch of Noise Reduction tools located in the Define Tool Tab. One simply chooses the image and checks the box next to Apply Enhanced Denoise. For a Phase One 150mp file, my processing time was 3 minutes 30 seconds with my M1 MBP with 10 Cores and 32GB Ram. For smaller file cameras, it’s a shorter amount of time (15 seconds on a Canon 24mp R1 file, for example). Once you check the box, the process begins and shows an activity progress window that runs in the background (visibly, if you like). Once completed, you can adjust the Impact Slider for more smoothing/less detail or less smoothing/more detail. Batches can be completed by selecting a master image that has completed and then additional images, then applying the Denoise setting from the Adjustments Clipboard.

Orange Double Arrow brings up the Adjustment Clipboard for the selected tool

For noise and detail, what I have seen so far is impressive, and certainly a large leap forward over the legacy and still existing Noise Reduction tools from Capture One. Capture One states that the most obvious benefit will be seen on files from 3200 ISO and up, so those pre-existing tools still have a place in the editing scheme of things, including long exposures, which the Denoise tool isn’t optimized for presently. Below are some results.

All Noise Reduction Set To Off, ISO 6400 left, ISO 80 right.

ISO 6400 on Left, ISO 80 on right, Denoise applied to left, default value of 50

ISO 6400 on Left, ISO 80 on right, Denoise applied to left, preferred value of 20

First, I want to say the ISO 6400 native capture quality wasn’t terrible. Mainly, there is a noticeable loss of detail, in addition to the enhanced grain structure visible. The default value for the Denoise tool is 50, and I found that too strong, yes, the grain/noise structure was gone, but the amount of remaining detail was inadequate. I found a happy medium at the value of 20, where there was ample detail, and a minimal amount of grain/noise.

All Noise Reduction Set To Off, ISO 6400 left, ISO 80 right.

Too Soft! ISO 6400 on Left, ISO 80 on right, Luminance Slider set to 80

Just Right! ISO 6400 on Left, ISO 80 on right, Denoise applied to left, value of 30

Concluding Thoughts

I found that on a micro level, comparing a denoise’d image to a super clean base ISO image showed an advantage to the native base ISO image. I can set the denoise’d image settings to produce grain free, but detail suffers. I can make it close to the level of detail by pushing that slider to the left, but noise/grain creeps back in. However, I found that at a value of 20-30, I had a nice mix of very minimal grain, and adequate detail, which I found benefitted from a slight boost in applied sharpening from the C1 default levels. Nothing major, just a pinch. And the result really is very comparable to the native ISO. Outstanding.

It’s very clear that the new Denoise tool in Capture One races past any previous noise reduction tools in Capture One in a substantial way – there’s no comparison. While the point of using a 150mp digital back would seem to be negatively altered by amping up the ISO to 6400, I can’t account for every variation or intent that may come into play for them. And in that spirit, they clearly now have a much enhanced ability to shoot at higher ISO with more detail and greatly reduced grain and noise. But in this example, it certainly shows off the capability of this worthy new tool in the Capture One bag. And considering that many more Capture One users own cameras from Canon, Nikon, Fujifilm, etc, and more frequently would shoot at a wider variety of ISO values, based on the above results, those users should be excited to try this tool now as well.

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out! Your purchase strengthens our business, and we appreciate it!

steve@captureintegration.com – 404.543.8475

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