Fujifilm X-T2 Processing challenge

[stenrasmussen]

Look at how the white walls shine through the branches,,, second enlarged image from right,,,

That is because of the super strong backlit scene beyond the twigs. The highlights are recovered.

[MFloyd]

Look at how the white walls shine through the branches,,, second enlarged image from right,,,

Enlargement (same area) of my last trial Lr; post-prod unchanged

[PeterN]

I just tried RAWpower that can be used as an extension to Mac Photos out of curiosity and was actually quite surprised by the raw processing capabilities. LR especially has problems with unsharp areas, especially the tree branches in the front. I did not see that in RAWpower.
RAW processing was done with standard settings. I only "added" an S-curve. No further postprocessing in LR or other software. I just wanted to show how RAWpower deals with the Fuji file

[stenrasmussen]

I just tried RAWpower that can be used as an extension to Mac Photos out of curiosity and was actually quite surprised by the raw processing capabilities. LR especially has problems with unsharp areas, especially the tree branches in the front. I did not see that in RAWpower.
RAW processing was done with standard settings. I only "added" an S-curve. No further postprocessing in LR or other software. I just wanted to show how RAWpower deals with the Fuji file

100% crop please 😊

[PeterN]

100% crop please 😊

This might be a better option: a link to the full size jpeg file. This allows you to look at all details yourself.

http://www.visualcue.photography/img/s9/v97/p2199775558.jpg

I tried to upload the TIFF file but the size of the file was too big. I can send a link via dropbox to your email, if you want.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Oh my oh my, how the glory falters when one scrutinies the full-sized jpg. Oversharpened, ugly haloes, muddy detail.

[PeterN]

Oh my oh my, how the glory falters when one scrutinies the full-sized jpg. Oversharpened, ugly haloes, muddy detail.

Much less so in the tiff. The tiff was impoorted in LR, then sent to zenfolio as jpeg via plugin.

LR did not do well with this file. I did not check photoninja (my favorite for fuji x-trans files)

[MFloyd]

PeterN I get confused now: Is this Rawpower or Lr, and why this complex iteration ?  You state that Lr has problems with "unsharp areas etc..." can you illustrate this ? Because I don't see this.

[Danulon]

I am very interested in the topic, but do the samples display the differences of the programs in question or do they rather display their users' developing skills?

I don't intend to be a "grinch". If anyone familiar with the programs above is willing to suggest a comparable setup, I'd rejoice to participate with LR.

Cheers,
Günther

[pluton]

I am very interested in the topic, but do the samples display the differences of the programs in question or do they rather display their users' developing skills?

Both. 
The file creation tools of today's processing apps are so numerous and user-adjustable that it may be difficult to create precise comparisons across multiple operators, all filtered through forum software.

[charlie]

I am very interested in the topic, but do the samples display the differences of the programs in question or do they rather display their users' developing skills?

I don't intend to be a "grinch". If anyone familiar with the programs above is willing to suggest a comparable setup, I'd rejoice to participate with LR.

Cheers,
Günther

I took this only as a "play around with the file in various raw converts" sort of thread. This is not a good way to compare RAW converters simply because everybody will go about their processing differently.

Perhaps a better comparison of RAW converters from multiple users would be to convert from RAW to JPG without making any adjustments, but then you miss what the programs are capable of doing when pushed and pulled.

The most meaningful comparison is for an individual to spend time with each program and see what works for them.

[PeterN]

PeterN I get confused now: Is this Rawpower or Lr, and why this complex iteration ?  You state that Lr has problems with "unsharp areas etc..." can you illustrate this ? Because I don't see this.

My apologies for the confusion. I did the following:
Process in Rawpower with standard settings; save as TIFF file
Import TIFF into LR without development settings.
Export as JPEG to Zenfolio via LR-plugin.

I should have been more thorough in explaining the process and tracking the differences. I may dive further into this because I am tempted by the X-T20 as small travel set. I will probably compare various raw converters with their standard standards (I am lazy).

In comparing raw converters in the past, I noticed that LR has problems with foliage/bushes/trees. Having said that each RAW converter hasits pros and cons in various circumstances.But as a lazy person I forfot to take detailed notes on this. In the end I decided to stick to LR and use photoninja in specific circumstances. When I read about RAWpower as PHotos plugin, the software nerd in me got curious.

Hopefully this clarifies a bit.

[Anthony]

I am a bit late to the party, but here is my effort.

Photo Ninja -1.4 Exposure, +12 Illumination, noise reduction smoothing +5 residual detail +4; Viveza control points to brighten foreground and background (one group of points for each); Photoshop CC 2017 curves adjustment for overall brightness and high pass sharpening radius 1.0.

[schwett]

also late to the party, but i find this a very interesting exercise.

every time i see reduced-size jpg from the fuji cameras, i get remorseful for having abandoned the system after years of banging my head against it. the colors and tones are always strong and i love the various qualities of several of the lenses.

but, oh the artifacts and detail. i tried this one with ACR and photoninja, and they're both really poor in my opinion. wierd postery smooth areas, that strange fractal mushy quality still exists, very little high frequency detail, etc. i just don't understand...