I own both products. NIK Dfine was really improved with the recent 2.0 release. I really like the 2.0 GUI. In the past, I had grown to dislike the NIK interface in Sharpener, Color EFX Pro. But, the new approach is really superior. In fact, next month they are going to release Color EFX Pro 3.0 with the same GUI and I an anxious to see that upgrade.
Since Dfine 2.0 is a recent release, I have not done enough testing to comment on which package is best. But, I really prefer the Dfine interface approach. I processed a few images in both packages to compare results and found it easier/faster to get better results in Dfine.
There are differences between the packages. Don't discount the GUI, especially the flexible image splitting and previewing functions in Dfine. You can move the split line over the image to see the before and after image area immediately in any area of the image. It allows fast visual tuning.
I'm also interested in opinions on these two packages because I have not done that much testing. I have been tuning up my noise reduction software because I just picked up a Canon G9 and expect to do more noise reduction than I have been.
I think both packages have demos. They are both worth looking at.
I have all of the NIK plug-ins, along with many others including Noise Ninja and Imagenomic's Noiseware. Noiseware has proven to be much better, in my opinion.
I was looking forward to Color Efex Pro's upgrade too, but since purchasing $1,200 of Craig's Actions, I don't use any plug-ins anymore.
Also, although noise reduction programs are nice to have, I rarely ever use them. I shoot between 800 and 1600 at all of my weddings, and let the default Lightroom noise reduction do it's work. I've noticed that once the COLOR NOISE is corrected, the luminance noise is MUCH more tolerable.
Download the demos and post back what you think.. I'd like to hear your opinion. I prefer Noiseware because it keeps the edges sharp while cleaning the noise..
I've never tried Dfine, but I did own Neat Image and used Noise Ninja for the trial period. I much prefer Noiseware over either of the two that I used previously. It has a 30 day trial period and worth a try .... www.imagenomic.com is the address, I think.
plugsnpixels wrote:
You can quickly view screenshots and examples of each of these noise reduction products (and lots of other related software) at Plugs 'N Pixels.
