Customer Reviews

Dfine 2.0

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

The NIK Define software does an amazing job at reducing the noise and grain you can find in a photograph that was shot with a high ISO setting or was underexposed. Could you do the same yourself in Photoshop using a Gaussian blur? Probably, but I found that the ease and effectiveness of Define made the purchase of the software very worth my while.

One thing to be aware of is that the noise reduction is done at the expense of sharpness. I typically use the software to reduce the noise and then apply a layer mask to limit the noise reduction to where the noise is the worst and where sharpness is not critical. Using this method, I have been very pleased with the results. There is also the possibility of masking in the Define software itself, but I prefer to use Photoshop to create the masks.

One other thing to be aware of is that NIK currently does not support the 64 bit version of Photoshop. I am currently using Photoshop CS4 as part of the Creative Suite using the Windows XP Professional 64-bit operating system. During the installation of the Creative Suite, both a 32 bit and a 64 bit version of Photoshop were installed on my machine. I just need to make sure that I am using the 32 bit version of Photoshop if I want to use Define.

A bonus is that Define also works with Lightroom 2.3 or later versions as an external editor. It will not work with Lightroom 1.

This software is available on the NIK website as a 15 day trial so you can try it before you buy it. I highly recommend giving the trial a go, especially if you have photos with a lot of noise in them. I think that you will be pleased with the results.

I can't find anything wrong with this software. It does a magical job of eliminating noise without image destruction. It brought new life to some (many!) very noising photos I had taken with my Nikon D80 (above iso400) and Canon SD450.

My D80 had the in-camera noise reduction settings ON while Dfine 2.0 recommends turning it OFF. So I am curious if even better results will occur. Still to be tested.

I was so impressed with NIK editing software and the effective controls it offers that I bought two others(Viveza and Silver Efex).

Try the free 15 day, full-version trial.

I use this plugin primarily to remove noise from images shot at higher ISOs from my cameras. It is really effective, and cleans up the image considerably with little effect to underlying details. It has many 'modes' to use in various situations, like 'fine structures', 'strong noise' etc. Automatic works good for me most of the times. Only other mode I have found use is the 'skin' mode - which not only removes noise but softens the skin too. Overall, Very good piece of software if you do a lot of high ISO photography.

If you'd rather not use the flash in your photos, and often shoot in less than perfect light, this product is a must. It allows for excellent removal of grain without the usual softening of the image.

Great Photoshop plug-in that fights digital photo noise, both luminance or contrast noise, and color noise. This plug-in has a very good user interface. In addition, I was able to reduce noise on a photo that Photoshop CS4 could not achieve either with the noise filter or with the Detail noise sliders of the RAW Converter. Even the User Guide is very good and useful.

I would recommend the software to a friend.

NIK makes great products and this is no exception. I use it with Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS5. Define 2.0 takes away the noise automatically or manually and does so in an way that is non-destructive. I use several of there products because they save me a lot of time in post processing.