Can Topaz Photo AI save the photo?

Blurry photos are a annoying - especially when they are one-off situations of rare animals. I tried to re-sharpen one of my blurred photos with Topaz Photo AI 3. I compared the result with the original and with the photo edited with DXO PureRAW 4.

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[FabianFoppNaturephotography]

You can try or buy the programs for free here (affiliate links):

[hstein]

I've found the same results with the R5, Photo AI and heat haze. It's not perfect but works wonders. It saved a great picture of a male Northern Harrier I took during this past winter that had a surprising amount of heat haze. If I just need noise reduction, I've been using Lightroom AI a lot, especially since Topaz is still working on R5 Mark II RAW support. With Lightroom there's never a checkerboard pattern in the background after denoising, which can often happen with Topaz, especially with a blue sky. Usually Lightroom denoise takes about 15 seconds, but randomly, some photos can take a minute or two even if the estimate is 15 seconds.

[stuartcarlton]

I have been using Photo AI for a long time and rescued several photos using it. I like the various options such as the ability to include (or not) noise reduction and sharpening
in processing and in recent upgrades has now introduced the ability to create your own presets. Upgrades are being introduced very frequently so it is (usually!) being continuously improved.

[ThePNWRiderWA]

I have the latest version of photoAi and pure raw but version 3.

I don’t know what they did to photoAi but the last few updates are giving me g inconsistent or just plain bad results compared to pure raw 3.

However thee superfocus is giving some excellent results.

My workflow right now with images from a OM systems Om-1 images ( max ISO is set to 3200) is pure raw 3, then to photo ai to sharpen and upscale if needed.

The fact it’s so easy to bulk transfer to pureraw is nice from Lightroom.
Aside from speed it does a very good job of it
It should be noted that Lightroom’s noise reduction is catching up quickly and

[salgado_fotos]

There is a reality that we often overlook and that I think is very important. RAW development programs do not work the same for all manufacturers. In short, we have to look for the one that works best with our brand. The most compatible. For example, Camera RAW has never correctly interpreted Olympus raw files...

[lr]

For best results, I suggest & use DxO Photolab with highest noise reduction/detail mode, and then Topaz DeNoise, making a careful choice mode (Clear for the worst files). This will further improve both the NR and the sharpness. The best results come from using both, not either/or!

[stevepersighetti]

Great video, many thanks. I'm using Topaz Denoise Ai and Sharpen Ai as appropriate, LRC Enhance and/or PR4. I haven't found any consistency in the results so waste too much time trying to pick the best! Can I ask, do you batch process your RAW files with PR4 before importing to LR (or Capture One)? Or do you just export files to PR4 when needed?

[JoeMaranophotography]

I use Photo AI but often the workflow and more natural look of lightroom denoise swings it for me.

[larrys]

I believe the second bird is a Black-billed Nightingale Thrush.

[rs]

With Topaz, why not use two sharpen filters stacked set to different values with differential masks? it will work for both being focus filters or one focus and one motion blur, your choice?!

[KoenKooi]

I came to the same conclusion after testing PR4 and PAI3.2 recently: you can get great results with PAI, but every image takes a different tweaking of all sliders. With PR I almost never need to change a slider, which makes it suited for batch processing. Also, PR4 supports the R5II now, PAI didn’t when I checked last week.

[GreggLept]

Did you have the lenshood when you had the heat haze problem? Sometimes the temperature difference between the air inside the lenshood and outside can be the cause of the phenomenon.

[dhananjaydravid]

Fabian I generally use PR4 for noise removal at the start of my workflow and PAI for the final sharpening. Do you think this is overkill?

[Syllage]

L’oiseau inconnu est une belle grive à bec noir 😊, catharus gracilirostris.

[dhananjaydravid]

Fabian could we not mask the results in photoshop with different opacity brushes to get the desired opacity out of photo AI?

[marclabro]

nice video. how can we crop and develop raw in LRC and launch pureraw 4 from LRC with LRC edits as we do with a tif file with topaz AI (edit in) ? I have been surprised that pureraw 4 didn't sharpen a little bit my image (a duck with slight lens blur on eye) while topaz ai add sharpen does that perfectly, even with juste denoise and minor fine detail slider

[kookboek]

Looking at your examples, it seems Topaz leaves a little more noise in its sharpened images, resulting in a more natural look. The DxO results seemed a bit too artificial for my taste. Perhaps this can be tweaked though.

[theflyingdutchman]

hi Fabian

I'm going to say something that you may not want to hear, but isn't a less megapixel camera like the Upcoming R1 a better solution. with fewer pixels on a large censor you will have less trouble with noise.

[ericrobinson]

While I really like your video it would be more helpful for your viewers if you gave some more information about how you actually used Topaz. When you are talking about sharpening with Topaz Photo AI 3.2 you do really have to mention how it's been used as regards module used. If thats not enough how you invoke Topaz either as a stand alone app or the two methods inside LR, one producing a DNG and the other a Tiff, each method having the potential once more to produce different results especially when it comes to colour. From my experience Photo AI 3.2 takes some work to get the best out of it as it's not just a one click application so comparisons are tricky to do. And if all thats not enough RAW file type comes into play as the new versions, as far as I have been told, handles Canon, Nikon and Sony RAW files pretty well, so owners of other brands may well have to be careful about how they actually launch the app as a stand alone or a plugin as that can have an impact on how colour is handled. All in all its best doing some research to see how Topaz deals with the RAW files from your camera brand.

[borisbelchevbspb]

Black-billed Nightingale-Thrush
Catharus gracilirostris