Topaz Denoise improves noise by two stops?

[RobShootPhotos]

Ok, I'm impressed by Topaz Denoise and I feel this will save me from upgrading a camera body. I prefer shooting 3200 ISO at the highest with my E-M10 Mark II. Could it be that 12800 filtered through Topaz is as good as Olympus 3200 ISO at Standard Noise Filter or if not better?

ISO 3200 Standard Noise Filter

07 NFNormal3200.JPG (9.18 MiB) Viewed 1963 times

ISO 3200 Standard Noise Filter

ISO 12800 No Filter - Topaz Denoise Clear

03 NFOFF12800-denoise-clear.JPG (11.31 MiB) Viewed 1963 times

ISO 12800 No Noise Filter - Topaz Denoise Clear

ISO 12800 Standard Noise Filter

09 NFNormal12800.JPG (10.41 MiB) Viewed 1963 times

ISO 12800 Standard Noise Filter
(You should be able to right click each photo and save image as to view the photo in high res on your computer)

Topaz will convert the Olympus ORF files in to DNG but they will take about 5 times the space. I've found for my work flow to turn off the camera's noise filter, do post processing with the ORF files in Lightroom without noise reduction and filter the post processed JPEG through Topaz. As much as I tried, I can't get the noise reduction to work as well in Lightroom but its a one click to auto adjust in Topaz and about a minute later I get my image clean and sharp.

The only problem I have is on people faces, if there is stubble or freckles, Topaz will smooth it out too much. However there is a slider that can bring back that detail without a problem.

I'm still considering the E-M1 Mark II or E-M5 Mark III for improved noise filter, phase detection, better C-AF faster burst, bigger buffer and pro capture mode. With my E-M10 Mark II, I usually set the camera to JPEG only when shooting burst, so I'm looking forward to a bigger buffer but also better C-AF.
For me if this program works as a good as I've seen, I will be buying it so I can confidently shoot at 6400 for bird photography using the Olympus 75-300mm and I will continue to work with the limitations of the E-M10 Mark II a little longer.

[Rob Trek]

I need to play with the Topaz a bit more. It seems to save some time because it uses AI to separate things. The actual denoise is not bad either. However, I was able to get similar results just using LR.

You are correct to turn off noise filter in camera if you are going to work with the raw images.

[RobShootPhotos]

I got to say, it really brings more life into old photos. If you were one, like me, had a DSLR back 10 to 20 years ago, get past 400 ISO and there were a lot more noise then you have today. 800 was usable but 1600, which was the max, was for emergencies.

Honestly, I was really impressed with how my E-M10 Mark II handled at 6400 & 12800. In certain situations the noise would show worse but in others, you really have to pixel peep to see it. I went ahead and bought the Topaz app. I really like it.

12 year old photo from my E-500 @ 800 ISO

P8132245e.jpg (931.64 KiB) Viewed 1952 times

After Applying Denoise Clear

P8132245e-denoise-clear.jpg (2.9 MiB) Viewed 1952 times

Follow me on Instagram @RobShootPhotos