Pixel Shift - a question

[Darkslide]

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

[Birna Rørslett]

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.

[Erik Lund]

Yes, it's a firmware update that utilize the image sensor stabilization functionality build into all Z8. IBIS yes.

[Darkslide]

So based on this, a possible future update for the Z9 is in the works?

 

[Erik Lund]

Well, there is a couple of years of development between the two cameras,,, so there could be different IBIS systems in them,,,

[Michael Erlewine]

So far I have NOT found pixel-shift in the Z8 that useful or interesting, contrary to what I imagined

[Roland Vink]

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."

[John Geerts]

With other words, it's just a gimmick 

[Birna Rørslett]

Useful for a completely stationary subject and otherwise impeccable technique, however.

[Roland Vink]

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?

[Michael Erlewine]

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.

[MILLIREHM]

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

[WGHalvorsen]

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.

[Bernard Delley]

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 .