What noise reduction software will best work with images from my Kodak EasyShare Z981?

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Which noise reduction software has the best results?

I have been at this for only a short time and I would like to consider myself a "photographer" yet, I must be honest, I am far from it! I'm just an idiot with a Kodak :-) I have found out that my knack is for nature photography yet, as an avid concert goer, I love taking live shots... I have also found out the hard way that I probably need a good dSLR for great concert shots.

As it stands now, I can not afford a dSLR so I must work with what I have (Kodak EasyShare Z981, which I believe is a damn fine lil' camera). I found that when you increase the ISO you end up with a whole lot of noise! I am looking for a noise reduction software/ product. I know of a few, but I need to know what will work best for me. LightRoom? Noise Ninja? and is there anything that can be tagged along with Google Picasa?

Possible duplicates Which noise reduction software has the best results? and Can I get noise reduction in Aperture that even gets close to the quality of Lightroom's? — Håkon K. Olafsen, Feb 25 '12 at 23:03
Great question Erin. What noise reduction software exists had already been answered by the question linked above by hakon. If you have a different twist on that please elaborate or this question will likely be closed as a duplicate of that question. — dpollitt, Feb 26 '12 at 04:38

score 5 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 25 '12 at 23:58

Converting your photo to black and white and it will instantly have a much higher tolerance to noise.

Black and white photography takes away the colours and force the viewer to concentrate on the shapes, movements and leaves more room for imagination for viewers. Colours can actually be a distraction in certain photographs, and converting them to black and white will make for a better, more striking photo.

ISO cannot be dramatically reduced with software, or it does so in a way that heavily blurs the details. If you shoot with a small sensor prone to noise problem, software only gives you two choices:

noisy photo with details
a blurry photo with low noise

However, it is also worth pointing out that beginners tend to zoom in 100% on a computer screen and look at the pixels, and criticize about things like image quality and high ISO performance.

They often overlook the fact that a photo should not be viewed pixel-by-pixel, it should be viewed as a whole, printed out or on screen, and in these cases noise will rarely ruin a good photograph with good composition and they should focus more on composition.

To conclude, try to improve your photo by composing the shot better, and experiment with black and white photography. If you worry about noise too much on a pixel-level, you will overlook something far more important.

What noise reduction software will best work with images from my Kodak EasyShare Z981?

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