NikonGear'23

Gear Talk => What the Nerds Do => Topic started by: Pistnbroke on September 01, 2016, 09:45:39

Title: Sharpness +9
Post by: Pistnbroke on September 01, 2016, 09:45:39
I always shoot JPEG.....you want to process 1500 wedding photos in RAW ? 
When I got my D800 I took the Rockwell advice  sharp  +6....it was insufficient.
All my cameras are at +9 and always will be . No problems ringing or artifacts .
If you are not at +9 you are not there yet.
PS   lay off the clarity control it will wreck your pictures particularly the + side .  Maybe - if you want to soften for portraits. Leave at 0.
IMHO
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Airy on September 01, 2016, 11:54:17
Even though I only shoot RAW, I set sharpness at +9 for easier focussing in LV. Reason enough.
In Lightroom, I set the sharpening between +25 (default) and +40, depending on the lens (some just do not need it; Zeiss 135/2 is one example), the ISO (oversharpening an ISO12800 pic may not look good), and the style of the shot (portraits are not about counting those white hairs).
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: MFloyd on September 01, 2016, 12:22:45
I always shoot RAW.  I nearly always have the LV screen of my camera set at Landscape, while my Lr's standard default setting is +30.

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Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Bjørn Rørslett on September 01, 2016, 12:48:08
Although an internet favourite pastime, reviewer bashing (whether deserved or not) shouldn't be a topic for NG.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Akira on September 01, 2016, 12:55:37
Even though I only shoot RAW, I set sharpness at +9 for easier focussing in LV. Reason enough.

I always shoot RAW+JPEG fine and use JPEG for the quick review and the in-focus confirmation.  I tried +9 sharpness setting, but the halo artifact made the confirmation rather difficult.  I've reset the sharpening to zero.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: MFloyd on September 01, 2016, 13:22:19
I always shoot JPEG.....you want to process 1500 wedding photos in RAW ? 

Why not ?

@Akira: when you review your NEF pictures on the screen of your camera, you see in fact the embedded JPEG of the NEF file, the latter which has been processed according to your last set Picture Control.  So, no need to shoot a separate JPEG; unless I misunderstood your point, or you want to review a JPEG on your computer screen.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Pistnbroke on September 01, 2016, 14:54:42
Sorry mod  have changed the wording ..hope that suits.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: David H. Hartman on September 01, 2016, 20:27:10
It's easy to kill the fine detail of a D800 image with in camera focusing.

I leave mine with the Standard Picture Control and turn off sharping in post. Then I do it from scratch. I shoot NEF(s) only. If I need JPG(s) fast there is Instant JPG from NEF and Irfanview. If I need many JPG(s) with some correction I'll run a batch to create them. I would never shoot anything JPG only. I used to shoot NEF + JPG fine. I didn't use the JPG(s) much so I only create them as I need them.

I find useful ideas and a lot of information at Ken Rockwell's site but it must be sifted with care. He blusters, he contradicts himself; I don't see him as a careful reviewer. He states as fact what is preference or supposition too often. 

Cheers,

Dave
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: charlie on September 01, 2016, 20:32:59
PS   lay off the clarity control it will wreck your pictures particularly the + side . 

This is how I feel about sharpening as well. I can't remember sharpening ever "making" a picture, but I've seen it "break" many. Sure it has its place but it is so often over done, and how much more digital do we need our pictures looking anyway?

By the way, Capture One's clarity tool is much better than Lightroom's.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: RobOK on September 01, 2016, 21:01:56

By the way, Capture One's clarity tool is much better than Lightroom's.

Can you say more? Better how?
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Jakov Minić on September 01, 2016, 21:16:56
Charlie, I couldn't agree with you more!
Sharpness is so overrated :)

Currently I am enjoying a book and admiring the beauty of paintings made by "The Reluctant Revolutionary" Edouard Manet.
(nothing is sharp)
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: David H. Hartman on September 01, 2016, 21:57:18
Sharpening is lossy. It destroys resolution. A light touch will increase acutance and the eye will see a sharper image. Too much and it looks garrish and destroys much image forming data. Fine detail needs light, small radius sharpening. Course detail needs stronger sharpening. Blurred areas need no sharpening as all you'll get is artifacts and harsher noise.

If one's camera has a low pass filter sharpening will usually be need. That's not sharpening on sharpening but sharpening on an otherwise unsharpened image. An image from a camera without a LPF may not benefit from sharpening. I don't own such a camera so I can't say for sure.

That's my half. Penny on the subject,

Dave

I feel sharpening should be last and tailored to the photos final use.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: charlie on September 01, 2016, 22:11:17
Can you say more? Better how?

Capture One has 4 different setting for the clarity type: natural, punch, neutral, & classic. Depending on which setting you use more clarity can be applied before that terrible HDR-ish effect/halos appear. Add to that the clarity tool includes a "structure" slider as well, which appears to be some form of fine detail sharpening. 

If clarity is your thing I like the way it works in Capture One better than Lightroom, it has more options and it seems as though more can be applied before it gets ugly. It can certainly be over done there too though.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: charlie on September 01, 2016, 22:14:02
Charlie, I couldn't agree with you more!
Sharpness is so overrated :)

Hear, hear!

Let's get a drink and make everything blurry!
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Akira on September 01, 2016, 23:49:00
Why not ?

@Akira: when you review your NEF pictures on the screen of your camera, you see in fact the embedded JPEG of the NEF file, the latter which has been processed according to your last set Picture Control.  So, no need to shoot a separate JPEG; unless I misunderstood your point, or you want to review a JPEG on your computer screen.

Christian, I found the reviewed pictures on the camera are affected by the sharpening setting, RAW (embedded JPEG) or the separate JPEG.  The halo really confuses me to judge the focus, and +9 setting can even mitigate slight focus errors, which is not good for the reviewing purpose.

I've taken it into a habit to shoot RAW+JPEG simply because the review of RAW has been slow and clumsy over the years.  Now that RAW can be reviewed much faster and stress-free, I think I can switch to RAW only.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: MFloyd on September 02, 2016, 00:59:31
Akira, thank you for your reply.  I'm using the standard Landscape setting i.e. sharpening at 4.0 and clarity at +1.0. The purpose being solely to check the sharpness of the picture, as I also rely on the automatic WB.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Akira on September 02, 2016, 03:13:02
Christian, just tried the default LS.  The image looks sharp as it is, which looks, still to me, too good to check the focus.

I use Pucture Control "FL".  I set the sharpening to zero (which is lower than the default).  Other parameters are left as default.  The image looks very dull on LCD, but very good to check the focus of the reviewed image at 100%.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Pistnbroke on September 02, 2016, 09:12:49
I was referring to clarity and sharpness control in Camera  not in PP ....I know many photographers who were RAW fanatics who tell me don't bother any more just shoot JPEG.  I only put this on to say to the silent readers of the forum ...try JPEG  try sharpening you don't have to go with the herd.
So I have 40,000 large/JPEG/Basic wedding pics all with Halo and artefacts /over sharpened and hundreds of happy brides ...Strange that.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: charlie on September 02, 2016, 09:42:05
I didn't even know there was in camera clarity settings.
My newest camera must be old.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Erik Lund on September 02, 2016, 09:59:04
I recall the film days; Choose film grain, set aperture and shutter, get the prints, hand over to client. Once in a while order a large print,,,

Same thing more or less to shooting finished, sharpened etc. JPG out of the DSLR,,, If the client is happy you get paid ;) Glad it works for you!

On the same topic; Some of us enjoy Post Processing and see it just as challenging as shooting with the camera and when I shot film many years ago I scanned and did PP on some of those files as well ;)
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Akira on September 02, 2016, 10:07:38
I was referring to clarity and sharpness control in Camera  not in PP ....I know many photographers who were RAW fanatics who tell me don't bother any more just shoot JPEG.  I only put this on to say to the silent readers of the forum ...try JPEG  try sharpening you don't have to go with the herd.
So I have 40,000 large/JPEG/Basic wedding pics all with Halo and artefacts /over sharpened and hundreds of happy brides ...Strange that.

I know.  I'm also aware that pro photgs specializing in certain fields are trained to offer SOOC JPEGs for the immediate professional use.


I didn't even know there was in camera clarity settings.
My newest camera must be old.

The oldest Nikon body that offered "clarity" (along with "flat" Picture Control) setting was D810.  In Capture NX-D, however, you can tweak "clarity" and select "flat" Picture Control for the RAW files of Nikon bodies older than D810.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Erik Lund on September 02, 2016, 10:20:30
For occasional video shooting these in camera sharpness and clarity settings also come in very handy on the D810 ;)

I explored them to some extent shooting video with the 6mm Fisheye, the optimal settings varied a lot between scenes,,, the same was the case for still images when doing PP,,,

I guess that in camera sharpening value would be very different between the chosen lenses in general,,,
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Pistnbroke on September 12, 2016, 08:51:14
While I am always willing to learn after 30 years photographing weddings there is not much I don't know on that subject but I am new to bird photography.
I noticed on shots from a recent trip that some feathers seemed blurred together and I put this down to using +9  (in camera) where normally invisible ringing blodged the feathers together ...a reduction to +6 for feathered birds seems appropriate .
On a bride we are not trying to see the weave in the dress fabric from 100 yards on an area about  8 inches square are we !!
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: MFloyd on September 12, 2016, 09:45:52
Pistnbroke, you are the man shooting only JPEG, with clarity at 0, and sharpening at 9.  So be it. Amen. I also appreciated the plural "we", in your last sentence.
Title: Re: Sharpness +9
Post by: Pistnbroke on September 12, 2016, 19:55:12
Like I said always willing to learn ..may try RAW and JPEG on my next bird trip ..as for the weddings +9 large Basic