Seeking help with sharpness issue Z6

[Fons Baerken]

These cameras nowadays are loaded with software so it could be a bug?

[Luc]

Without samples, info on settings etc. it can be anything. Peter, van you provide more specific info?

[PeterN]

Without samples, info on settings etc. it can be anything. Peter, van you provide more specific info?

I will definitely do that but that has to be later today as I am out this morning. Sorry and thanks for your help!

[PeterN]

Thank you for the ideas! Much appreciated.

I did PM Erik and Luc with a retransfer link to some examples.

David and Keith: I reset NR to 0 and sharpening radius to 0.8 (I use those by default so I already made default presets for these. There is no real difference in sharpness.

Paco: focal length is reflected correctly.

Francis: DISP is set to Camera (I also had an accidental shift so I routinely check it before shooting

Fons: My guess is that I should then not be the only one.

My guess was that the issue resides with either Adobe’s  raw conversion (especially because using Topaz Sharpen AI improves the photos tremendously) or the VR/IBIS performance because the files look fine at higher shutter speeds with shorter lenses. Of course, I don’t believe it’s my poor shooting technique. haha. No, seriously, it could also bee  or my expectations but I would like to make sure it is not the camera or the Raw converter..

I am definitely going to try using various raw converters. E.g. I also noticed that the foliage does not look good in LR (I had that problem with Fuji but not with Nikon). Perhaps I should have done that already.

[Luc]

Peter, I recently switched to Capture One and am very happy with the results. Will look at your samples this evening!

[Erik Lund]

I got some NEF files  but really I don't know how they are supposed to look,,, seems sort of ok but yes I see strange sharpness, but dependent on where the point (depth) of focus is.Also the 85mm has purple fringing or moire in the left number on the boat,,, also the ropes has something to them,,,Is it a Z 85mm, AFS or AF-D seems getting the right profile is not easy,,,

Definitely turn off sharpening in camera raw and apply that later, last.
Here full image then 100% crop both with sharpening

[Erik Lund]

The Nikon Z6 has a quite strong AA filter according to Dpreview and others,,,So it has less problems with color issues than other 24 MP cameras.So if there is an issue it could well be it is enhanced in a bad way?
So far I have seen many really nice clear and sharp images from Z6 so I'm surprised,,,,
Have you tested focus is accurate?

[Erik Lund]

See how the numbers look;
B.     5.26
Pass.   28
They are rendered purple not black - I doubt the sign looks like this in real life.
https://www.nikonusa.com/en/learn-and-explore/a/products-and-innovation/moir%C3%A9-false-color.html

[Erik Lund]

See this review 

http://blog.michaelclarkphoto.com/?p=7887 

Confirms what I see re the file and sharpening and AA filter

[PeterN]

Thanks for taking the time to analyse the issue, Erik!!

So would you conclude that the main issue is with the AA-filter? Or should I bring the camera back for inspection (since you said the results surprise you)?

Regarding focus: I haven't found issues but I assumed that focus would work as expected in mirrorless cameras (as you see, I do not know much about cameras).

Regarding sharpening settings: I found it under the "Set Picture Control" menu item. I have reset to zero values. I will check other settings such as vignetting and diffraction and turn these off as well. NR is already set to 0.

BTW: very informative review! Better than many others

The moire issue surprises me in this case. BTW the image was shot with the Nikon Z 85mm lens.

[CS]

IMO, I think Adobe selects a value for each camera and that's it. It is possible, of course, that Adobe could change the base conversion parameters later, in a software update.
Whether or not they have any input from Nikon, I don't know. 

That supports what I see with Adobe and my own gear. My guess is that Adobe gets their info from reverse engineering, as I really doubt that Nkon gives up much.

I've always considered the default Adobe settings to be a rough starting point, nothing more.  The Adobe raw conversion is consistent, in a way---it makes every camera's raw files look equally flat and dull.
Sort of a universal starting point.

I have not done a lot of experimentation along these lines, preferring to "let well enough alone" using minor adjustments, in view of my macular degeneration. I'm sure that an experienced person could get more out of my images than I do. 

[Ann]

Rule 1: Never use software (or a camera) with the Manufacturer's Default Settings!

These are my regular starting-point settings (which I then adjust depending on subject matter).

In ACR and Lr:

In the Lens Corrections Panel:
Make sure that Remove CA is checked.
Lens and Vignetting Corrections: Adjust them manually as necessary.

In Sharpening Panel.

Radius: at 1.0 or less.

Amount:
Normally somewhere between 25 and 40% depending on subject; and I use Adjustment Brush Sharpening locally too. (These are Input Settings which are used during while editing and can be saved into the metadata permanently or not — as you may choose. I usually retain them.)

Masking:
With the Option button depressed, move slider until black mask covers areas which should be protected from Sharpening. (25 - 35% is often about right.)

Detail:
This is not widely known but Details is a "hot-&-cold mixer-tap" kind of control:
Slider positions to the extreme left of the centre-point use only USM sharpening;
Slider positions to the extreme right of the centre-point use only Deconvolution sharpening.
Settings in between are using a blend of the two methods.
(My normal setting is around 85% so my sharpening is mostly Deconvolution with only 15% USM.)

Set Luminance Noise Reduction at Zero (or as close to zero as you can) because excessive luminance noise reduction reduces sharp detail to mush.
Color Noise: I set at around 10 or 15 as a useful starting point and that is usually sufficient unless you are using very high ISO.

These settings work well for me with my photography so try and see if they work better than the Adobe Default settings for you. (I neutralise all of Nikon's in-camera Picture Controls.)

[Luc]

I processed the images Peter sent me in Capture One, just import and minor exposure tweaking (on a few) plus default sharpness. To me on most of the images the sharpness looks ok.


No color fringing

[CS]

Rule 1: Never use software (or a camera) with the Manufacturer's Default Settings!

These are my regular starting-point settings (which I then adjust depending on subject matter).

In ACR and Lr:

In the Lens Corrections Panel:
Make sure that Remove CA is checked.
Lens and Vignetting Corrections: Adjust them manually as necessary.

In Sharpening Panel.

Radius: at 1.0 or less.

Amount:
Normally somewhere between 25 and 40% depending on subject; and I use Adjustment Brush Sharpening locally too. (These are Input Settings which are used during while editing and can be saved into the metadata permanently or not — as you may choose. I usually retain them.)

Masking:
With the Option button depressed, move slider until black mask covers areas which should be protected from Sharpening. (25 - 35% is often about right.)

Detail:
This is not widely known but Details is a "hot-&-cold mixer-tap" kind of control:
Slider positions to the extreme left of the centre-point use only USM sharpening;
Slider positions to the extreme right of the centre-point use only Deconvolution sharpening.
Settings in between are using a blend of the two methods.
(My normal setting is around 85% so my sharpening is mostly Deconvolution with only 15% USM.)

Set Luminance Noise Reduction at Zero (or as close to zero as you can) because excessive luminance noise reduction reduces sharp detail to mush.
Color Noise: I set at around 10 or 15 as a useful starting point and that is usually sufficient unless you are using very high ISO.

These settings work well for me with my photography so try and see if they work better than the Adobe Default settings for you. (I neutralise all of Nikon's in-camera Picture Controls.)

Thanks, Ann! I will save that bit of wisdom for inclusion in my processing. Oddly enough, I already use some of your recommendations, but was not up tospeed with all of them. 

[Jack Dahlgren]

I processed the images Peter sent me in Capture One, just import and minor exposure tweaking (on a few) plus default sharpness. To me on most of the images the sharpness looks ok.

I agree, looks fine to me.
Peter, have you tried Nikon’s Capture nx-d?
It works pretty well for me and is free.