NikonGear'23
Gear Talk => Camera Talk => Topic started by: Darkslide on March 22, 2024, 07:47:36
-
Hello from France
Just a simple question regarding the recent software update for the Z8 (Pixel Shift)
Does the sensor have to be adapted to this before it's installed in the body or is it a software 'fix' which can be applied to any (recent) camera? (ie; was the Z8 'pixel shift ready' when the camera was launched, and then the update simply made it available ?)
Views please?
Ian
-
The engineers had to think of the feature before making the camera. However, as long as the camera has internal stabilisation ('IBIS') achieved by moving the sensor itself around, it probably is mostly a question of coming up with a practical solution in firmware.
-
Yes, it's a firmware update that utilize the image sensor stabilization functionality build into all Z8. IBIS yes.
-
So based on this, a possible future update for the Z9 is in the works?
8)
-
Well, there is a couple of years of development between the two cameras,,, so there could be different IBIS systems in them,,,
-
So far I have NOT found pixel-shift in the Z8 that useful or interesting, contrary to what I imagined
-
According to Brad Hill, nature photographer (http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html):
"I want to know if it can produce 181.8 MP images that are of higher quality than I can produce via upsizing (AKA up-sampling) 45.4 MP Z 8 images ... Bottom line: I won't be using pixel shift on my Z 8 or, if it ever shows up on it, on my Z 9. With very careful post-processing (and following a very specific routine) I was able to produce higher quality images (here meaning sharper but with equal contrast and dynamic range...and less noise) via upsampling standard Z 8 images than I could with pixel shift."
-
With other words, it's just a gimmick ;)
-
Useful for a completely stationary subject and otherwise impeccable technique, however.
-
How well does the 4-shot mode work? It doesn't give higher resolution but it gives full colour at each photosite and lower noise. With only 4 shots there will be less subject movement between frames compared to the other options which require more frames, so it might give a cleaner result?
-
How well does the 4-shot mode work? It doesn't give higher resolution but it gives full colour at each photosite and lower noise. With only 4 shots there will be less subject movement between frames compared to the other options which require more frames, so it might give a cleaner result?
Lloyd Chambers who has delved deeply into all this finds that the 4-shot sequence is very worthwhile. Of course, I have tried it with the Z8, yet for the most part I tend to want what I call a "short stack," a small series of stacked images, but going through the pixel-shift process to create a stack is more than I want to do.
On the other hand, I find that the 100 mpxl sensor in the Hasselblad X2d is very worthwhile as single shots or when stacked.
-
According to Brad Hill, nature photographer (http://www.naturalart.ca/voice/blog.html):
"I want to know if it can produce 181.8 MP images that are of higher quality than I can produce via upsizing (AKA up-sampling) 45.4 MP Z 8 images ... Bottom line: I won't be using pixel shift on my Z 8 or, if it ever shows up on it, on my Z 9. With very careful post-processing (and following a very specific routine) I was able to produce higher quality images (here meaning sharper but with equal contrast and dynamic range...and less noise) via upsampling standard Z 8 images than I could with pixel shift."
Evidently he is not interested in publishing his special recipe
-
Evidently he is not interested in publishing his special recipe
I wonder if he realizes that high-resolution pixel shift images benefit from much more aggressive sharpening than standard images.
-
I plan to use pixel shift for high resolution repro work. It is not needed when doing repro on old prints. Already 4 step pixel shift eliminates color moire due to the demosaic procedure, which is most of colored moire. The 180 Mpixels from the 16 step pixel shift could be useful, if I ever feel like digitizing highly detailed and finely printed old maps, which I have somewhere. The Sigma 40mm f/1.4 lens comes to mind for this use and reproduction ratio: near diffraction limited by f/8 across the image field and low distortion. Some other lenses can also do a very good job, Zeiss Otus 55mm f/1.4 or Micro Nikkors like the AF-S 60mm f/2.8 .
-
And in Photoshop, as LLoyd Chambers points out, using the 'ENHANCE' command in 'CAMERA RAW' set to a low value like "6" is very much worth doing on images you feel have promise. It takes a little time to run the 'ENHANCE' command but the result is greater clarity without compromise that I can see.
I find Chamber's postings very much worth learning from.
https://diglloyd.com/
-
And another pointer and suggestion from LLoyd Chambers that I find worthwhile is the 'UNSHARP MASK' of Photoshop set to the enclosed values, just enough to further enhance a photo. In fact, Chambers has been accumulating valuable information for many years and his postings, IMO, amount to one of the best books on photography instruction I know of.
This photo with the XCD 120mm lens on the Hasselblad X2D camera.