It does this by applying its edits and putting them into what’s called a Linear DNG, which basically commits DxO’s pixel-level adjustments into the file while keeping the RAW profile capability. Enter DxO PureRAWĭxO Pure RAW is different – it works with DNG files – allowing me to continue to make RAW edits after the image is returned to Lightroom.

It’s the same reason I don’t use Photoshop for many of my edits – I like to have the flexibility to continue RAW edits after the fact instead of having to ensure they are all complete before doing something like noise reduction. The problem with this approach is that the images are transferred as TIFF’s with any RAW edits committed and no longer adjustable once they get back to Lightroom. Many of these are full-fledged image management solutions and competitors to Lightroom but also offer plugins that allow you to shuffle images from Lightroom, apply edits, and send them back. These include DeNoise AI from Topaz Labs, On1 NoNoise AI from On1, Capture One, Skylum Luminar, and DxO Photo Lab. Turns out this is a common problem and there are plenty of tools that provide much better noise reduction than Lightroom while maintaining the details. When turned up high enough to remove the noise, it also removes much of the detail and starts to border on a watercolor painting. Lightroom has it but it is terrible at any level above the default. So what do I need? I need noise reduction. Lightroom obliterates the detail with its noise reduction. The image on the left is detailed, but noisy. The framing is good and the bird is large enough, but the noise is very visible. Even that was underexposed, requiring a +1 stop exposure bump in post, giving me the equivalent of an ISO 6400 image and all the noise that comes with it. Taken at 550mm, I needed ISO 3200 to expose for a minimum 1/640 shutter speed at f/8 on my D500. The image above is a good example of a typical bird photo. Images at ISO 5,000 and 10,000 are common, which destroys detail and color even on my D750.įull image above and 100% crop below. Doing this requires increasing the ISO to gather enough light to expose the image but adds additional noise to the image. In my post about improving my bird photos, I talked about increasing shutter speed and stopping down my lens to improve sharpness.

Pure raw dxo