Not sure if this should be here or in Tips and Tricks or where ever.
I use PixInsight for all my photography processing. Even things like borders and so on. For daytime images I like the versatility and control.
So I just tried something new today. I was testing out a cheap IR/UV cut filter on my modified Sony Nex-5. I have a custom WB done with a 18% gray card but on the Nex-5 you can only make large incremental steps in the adjustment so it is never perfect. I have used with great success the normal Background Neutralization/ColorCalibration steps with my raw daytime images but I decided to try White Balance settings in DSLR_Raw preferences. To my great pleasure the Automatic white balance setting worked great.
So while I was in the DSLR_RAW preferences I looked at the Noise threshold parameter. The mouse hover quick document states that the Noise threshold uses wavelets based reduction. That was enough for me to decide to try. Again this is daytime images so I don't go crazy about perfect noise reduction as with astro images. Well with my camera I can't get perfect noise reduction, let's be honest. So here is what I tried.
The attached image is a progression of noise threshold settings, 0, 125, 187, 250. The images are linear, they have not been stretched. I did add a little linear color saturation. Included is my settings for Auto STF. Also the lens was not focused on the sign but the sign was in the depth of field. The image was shot with a 135MM lens/F16/ISO200/1/80sec. The sign was 165 ft away from the camera and the palm frown behind the sign are 235 ft away.
Overall I like the results. 250 is a bit much but 187 seems like a good compromise for this setup.
