Best Noise Reduction Software???

<p>I had a chance to try out Adobe Photoshop CS5 and really liked the noise reduction capabilities. I don't know how long before I can afford to buy CS5, so my question is;<br>

Is there Noise reduction software that compares or even surpasses CS5? What do you use and prefer? Ideally I would prefer a stand-alone program, but I do have CS3 if need be. The noise reduction in CS3 (in my opinion) doesn't really come close to CS5. <br>

Thanks for your time!</p>

<p>Jana,<br>

Give Lightroom 3 a try... same(similar) noise reduction as CS5..<br>

One I used in the pas t was very happy with is noiseware by Imagenomic, also read/heard good things about noise ninja..<br>

Like Brett suggested a quick search... will help you decide which one is best for you.<br>

All 3 I mentioned have trial versions for download.<br>

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<p>I don't know how long before I can afford to buy CS5...<br /> Give Lightroom 3 a try... same(similar) noise reduction as CS5..</p>

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<p>LR3 ($299) is $100 more than the cost of the upgrade from PS CS3 from PS CS5 ($199), unless you both were talking about the entire Adobe Creative Suite, which would cost a lot more.</p>

<p>I use Nik Dfine ($100 stand-alone) with LR and Topaz DeNoise ($80 stand-alone) with PS. I don't have stand-alone versions, but they work the same as the stand-alone versions. I prefer the control points with Dfine. Either one is available as a free demo. Hope this helped.</p>

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<p>I use Neat Image which is a free download as long as you don't mind working in 8 bits (you have to buy it if you want to work in 16 bit files).<br>

<a href="http://www.neatimage.com/">http://www.neatimage.com/</a></p>

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Although this topic has been discussed before, the answer is different now. Topaz Denoise is way better than Noiseware, Neat Image, Noise Ninja, etc. Also Lightroom 3 (and CS5, if it uses the same algorithms) is now in the running.

PhotoDenoising is free, interesting, have not tried it. DB, last I checked Topaz Denoise is available only as a plugin, not stand-alone.

Here is a blog that compares three widely-respected choices: http://pixelpapa.com/noise-reduction-topaz-denoise-vs-nik-dfine-vs-lightroom-beta-3-2/

Luminous-landscape also has an essay on Topaz with a Lightroom 3 comparison at the end.