Happy to see that PictureCode has updated their excellent Noise Ninja plug-in for Aperture 3 that runs in 64-bit mode.
I just downloaded and tested Noise Ninja 2.0.7, and the entire process went quickly and smoothly. Once you install it, just relaunch Aperture 3 and the new version will appear in your "Edit With" menu. Simple and works great. One down, a few more to go!
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I think in general this is great news - the more 64-bit updates, the better. But when it comes to noise reduction in general... is this really a problem anymore, at least with newish cameras?
Back when I was using a Nikon D70, I used to go the noise reduction route - that was an old sensor, so you'd start to see shadow noise around ISO 800. But at some point I decided I was being a bit too finicky about noise, and it didn't automatically lower the quality of a photo. I know this is just one guy's opinion; but when we insist on perfectly smooth shadows and gradients no matter the circumstance, I think our photos can end up looking antiseptic and unnatural. Plus it's not like film was noise-free either.
Of course now that I shoot with a D700, this is all academic anyway.
Does the NoiseNinja plugin require a round-trip, or doesit now work within Aperture 3's workflow?
Neat Image also has a 64 noise reduction plug-in for Aperture 3. As with all such plug-ins, you will "round-trip": the plug-in exports the photo as tiff, you adjust the noise reduction values then hit save and the image is imported back into Aperture 3 in tiff format. The import/export is done seamlessly, so the user doesn't notice it. Aperture 3 marks these edited photos with a small "o".