V1.02
Thom Hogan’s Complete Guide to the Nikon D300
Page 289
Here’s
High ISO NR
set
to
High
at ISO
HI 1.0
.
Yes, much of the visible
noise has disappeared in
the 200% view, but note
that the colors are shifting
darker (look at the gray
patches at the bottom of
the card in the larger
images and note how the
tonal ramp is getting
darker). The noise
reduction works, but you
get muddier, darker
colors, less edge detail,
and a visible contrast
build-up.
Overall, my assessment is that the in-camera noise reduction
should be a last resort: use it only if you really can’t afford to
have the grain-like noise effect in your images and can’t
afford to use post-processing noise reduction. I actually prefer
the noise reduction to be
Off
—the colors are brighter and
more accurate at the expense of “sharp” film grain-like noise
in the JPEG images. A good noise reduction program can do
