So far I’m enjoying my new compact digial SLR, the Olympus E620, but I’m having a lot of trouble deciding whether or not to shoot JPGs with built-in noise reduction (NR) and/or “Gradation” (SAT) settings. Shadow Adjustment Technology is something I usually do in-computer instead of in-camera, using iPhoto and/or Photoshop’s shadow / highlight adjustments.

E-620 noise reduction / gradation test

I figure I’m not the only person out there with this quandary, especially as the E620 risks being a little noisy, and using SAT can make that noise really jump out at you… But then again, you get photos that are so usable right out of the camera. So I’ve published a webpage  that makes it easy to compare how a couple of shots look different when taken with and without NR and SAT. You be the judge!

https://cantonbecker.com/olympus-e620-noise-and-gradation