Sharpness +9

[Pistnbroke]

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

[Airy]

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).

[MFloyd]

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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[Bjørn Rørslett]

Although an internet favourite pastime, reviewer bashing (whether deserved or not) shouldn't be a topic for NG.

[Akira]

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.

[MFloyd]

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.

[Pistnbroke]

Sorry mod  have changed the wording ..hope that suits.

[David H. Hartman]

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

[charlie]

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.

[RobOK]

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

Can you say more? Better how?

[Jakov Minić]

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)

[David H. Hartman]

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.

[charlie]

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.

[charlie]

Charlie, I couldn't agree with you more!
Sharpness is so overrated

Hear, hear!

Let's get a drink and make everything blurry!

[Akira]

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.