Lightroom 12.3 came out today and the headline feature is an AI-derived Denoise. I’ll admit that I am ambivalent about it:

  • I’m not so concerned by noise that I’ve bought any of the 3rd party AI-based apps.
  • It’s slow
  • I don’t particularly want an extra (big) DNG in addition to the raw file. Maybe it’s only worthwhile for exceptional high ISO pictures?
  • I’d have preferred Lightroom to save a series of adjustment or offset values, not a fully-baked independent file.

I’d also strongly recommend reading this Denoised demystified article by Eric Chan:

I recommend applying Denoise early in the workflow, before healing and masking. AI-driven, image-based features such as Content-Aware Remove and Select Subject can be affected by noise, so it’s best to use those features on a clean starting point. If you do run Denoise on an image that already has Content-Aware Remove settings or AI masks, Denoise will automatically update those spots and masks. This is handy, but be aware that the content of those spots and masks may change unexpectedly, so it’s best to review the results carefully.

And watch this video by Julieanne Kost.