Macphun Noiseless – First Look

Posted on 09/04/2015 by Richard Hales

Noise has been a bette-noir of the digital photographer since the first digital images were created and it persists to this day even with the massive strides the camera companies have made with technology to minimise it. All that said the problem is still out there and evident in every camera from the high-end DSLR through to your smartphone camera.

An iPhone image treated using the preset panel

There are already apps out there that make a good stab at the reducing the dreaded colour speckles. As Macphun have shown before, notably with Tonality, when they decide to introduce a new tool they really try to make it the best one out there. I must admit that when I heard that Macphun were releasing a noise reduction that I was a little sceptical; as long term Lightroom user I have become accustomed to utilising the noise reduction panel there and it would take a lot to divert from my workflow. That said after using the beta version for a few weeks now I must admit that I could well be a convert.

What Macphun have cleverly done is to create an app that works for the complete novice who is only interested in cleaning up their iPhone snaps right through to the more demanding user. To achieve this they have a set of presets that are the first panel that the user sees and offer a good mix of choices from a light removal right through to the extremely heavy duty (all of which have a slider to adjust the opacity of the action). The more demanding user can skip over to the Adjust panel where they have more control over their options. The Adjust panel also features a Raw Processing option.

A more problematic image dealt with using the full range of tools in the Adjust panel

What has one me over, from the case of use of Lightroom, is the ability to fine tune the image even further in Noiseless, a lot of my photographs are taken in dimly lit churches (and the lighting tends to be a mix of umpteen different colour temperatures) which always a level of cleaning up and the options available really help to achieve that extra level of quality. For other users the simplicity of use will be an asset, hit option, see how it looks, don’t like it and you can change to another by hitting another button.

Overall this is an excellent tool for any level of photographer, even for people who do not consider themselves photographers. The standalone app will be available through the Apple App store for $17.99 (approx. £12) and the Pro version will be available from Macphun for $49.99 (approx. £33). If you fancy giving the app a test drive you can get your hands on a beta version from Macphun. The app is expected to be released on 16th April and I strongly recommend you give it a try.