Seeking help with sharpness issue Z6

[Erik Lund]

I'm not Z6 expert and yes most likely it's just a strong AA filter you see.I don't know how the lenses behave stopping down etc re moving the focus plane, to me the landscape image looks like the focus plane is way to much in the front of the image,,,CaptureOne is very good with Moire and purple fringing! better than Adobe.
I set ACR to remove chromatic abrasions, that's why i'm so surprised by the result,,,

[PeterN]

Ann: thank you for sharing your wisdom! It is very helpful. In the meantime I found the submenu of the in-camera sharpening settings and changed these. I also have sharpening and NR presets defined in LR

Luc: thank you so much for taking the time to process these examples. C1 definitely does a better job with CA. it also seems to do better with foliage. It’s been a while since I used C1 (both LR and C1 have their pros and cons and LR was more convenient for me) but Iwill definitely look again.

Jack: yes, I did use Capture NX-D and it is too complicated for me. If zi have to process 1000 images, it takes me forever. So LR is some kind of trade-off. It does not shine in any area but it works well enough in all areas to accommodate my needs. However, the Z6 seems to create some challenges for LR. So I will also look again into the PhotoMechanic/capture (or ninja) combo.

Erik: thanks for the clarification. It is good to know the LP/AA filter has other characteristics requiring other settings. I now know the direction to look for solutions. I was also surprised by the false colors in such an ordinary scene. Regarding the focal plane. I loosely used the hyper focal ‘technique’. the hyperfocal distance is around 2m for a 20mm set at f8 so I focused a bit further but everything should have been sharp.p (assuming that the shot was taken appropriately. So that’s when I started to question the IBIS (shutter speed is lower than 1/400, which apparently is the speed where it is better to switch off IBIS according to the article)

Thanks again everyone. There is some work to do for me!

[Erik Lund]

.... I loosely used the hyper focal ‘technique’. the hyperfocal distance is around 2m for a 20mm set at f8 so I focused a bit further but everything should have been sharp...

I can only say that I don't trust hyperfocal technique for 18-45 MP cameras - I have too often seen how much off the depth of focus can be. The demand for having sharpness is where 'it should be' is way too difficult to predict by a guess.
I use live view if in MF, and zoom in on details to check where sharpness is. And use a Zacuto finder if very critical work is needed.
When I tested Z7 with my 19mm PCE I could see the 'red in focus' highlights where shining everywhere even though I focused way too far rear or front, not in any way indicating what I would call true or peak sharpness,,,

[Erik Lund]

BTW here in this link Roger from Lens Rentals go into details that also touch this subject, stopping down and thinking you will get sufficient depth of sharpness - but you don't or not in a uniform or predictable way. Know your lenses how each of them perform is key to mastering them field curvature etc. 
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2019/10/things-you-dont-know-about-stopping-down-your-lens/

[Birna Rørslett]

I can only reiterate what Erik already commented. "Hyperfocal focusing" is not suitable for high-resolving digital cameras. Place focus in the plane where maximum sharpness is required instead.

[PeterN]

That is good to know. Thanks!

[CS]

BTW here in this link Roger from Lens Rentals go into details that also touch this subject, stopping down and thinking you will get sufficient depth of sharpness - but you don't or not in a uniform or predictable way. Know your lenses how each of them perform is key to mastering them field curvature etc. 
https://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2019/10/things-you-dont-know-about-stopping-down-your-lens/

hanks, Erik, I'm looking forward to his follow up posts.

[antonoat]

I have shot now more than 5000 photos with the Z6 and I am puzzled about its sharpness. It is a lens-independent thing. Even when I use lenses like the Zeiss 135mm, the result looks softer than D750 (in LR converted) raw files, even at higher shutter speeds. Although I am able to solve it to a large extent with a program like Topaz Sharpen AI (or use the sharpening tools in PS), I prefer to keep NEF files instead of TIFF files. Perhaps LR/Adobe Camera Raw has some problems with these files? (I also noticed a high automatic radius setting of 2 in LR ) Another explanation I could think of was that there might be an issue with the VR/IBIS system. However, I do not know how to verify that. PS: the serial number is outside  the "problem" range issued by Nikon.

Could someone please put me in the right direction to find the problem and subsequently a solution?

Thank you!

It would be helpful to know exactly how you are processing your images. Images files I've used from the Z6 following my usual post processing techniques look perfectly sharp and show excellent detail despite this camera being touted by some as a low res option!

[PeterN]

It would be helpful to know exactly how you are processing your images. Images files I've used from the Z6 following my usual post processing techniques look perfectly sharp and show excellent detail despite this camera being touted by some as a low res option!

Thank you for your message. I will try not to feel offended by your word "touted"

[Fons Baerken]

A topic on getdpi.com may be of interest here.

https://www.getdpi.com/forum/nikon/67358-nikon-z6-z7-ibis-vr-mechanical-shutter-blurry-images.html

[PeterN]

A topic on getdpi.com may be of interest here.

https://www.getdpi.com/forum/nikon/67358-nikon-z6-z7-ibis-vr-mechanical-shutter-blurry-images.html

Thanks Fons for pointing to this thread. An intriguing topic! I am tempted to do some tests out of curiosity!