E10 - sharpening.....

[advid]

..have just brought an E-10 from EBay.... what is the best setting for the in camera sharpening and contrast settings - bearing in mind that anything I print out will be put into Photoshop for a 'look-over'.... ?

NOTE: my B300 (1.7x) seems to work fine with a step down ring as long as you're at full zoom - Overall I'm very pleased with E10 - an improvement from my OLY 2100 and OLY 3030 - BUT i've noticed - you really have to keep the camera steady - most of my worst shots so far on analysis have been down to 'camera-shake' NOT out of focus.... never seemed to get this with the other cameras - I thought I was pretty steady but the E10 shows up my faults....
--
OLY- E10 OLY-2100 OLY-3030 B300
http://www.pbase.com/gallery/advid/2100

 

[Beth]

Hi advid,

Mine is set at Sharp=soft; Contrast=normal. These setting are based on recommendations I got here.

I had the B300 on my C3000 before the E10 and had the same problem. All that extra weight made for an unstalbe camera or at least one I wasn't used to holding steady. I gave up on the B300 for that reason.

I think that when I first got the E10 I had the same problem. It was heavier and took getting used to. The more i used it the better I got at holding it steady. Now am able to get sharp shots even below 1/30th from time to time. So, my advice would be to USE that camera...over and over and over!

..have just brought an E-10 from EBay.... what is the best setting
for the in camera sharpening and contrast settings - bearing in
mind that anything I print out will be put into Photoshop for a
'look-over'.... ?

NOTE: my B300 (1.7x) seems to work fine with a step down ring as
long as you're at full zoom - Overall I'm very pleased with E10 -
an improvement from my OLY 2100 and OLY 3030 - BUT i've noticed -
you really have to keep the camera steady - most of my worst shots
so far on analysis have been down to 'camera-shake' NOT out of
focus.... never seemed to get this with the other cameras - I
thought I was pretty steady but the E10 shows up my faults....
--
OLY- E10 OLY-2100 OLY-3030 B300
http://www.pbase.com/gallery/advid/2100

--
Olympus E-10, TCON, MCON, WCON and Fl-40
Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/galleries/cokids

 

[John W.]

advid ,
Welcome to the world of the E-10.

As a long time E-10 user (December 2000) and having at one time or another tried all possible combinations I have settled just to leave all settings as 'normal'. I also shoot at full resolution with 1:2.7 compression. For me and my use this gives me the best results. Of course others will tell you something different so at the end of the day you must try all possibilities and settle for what seems best for you.

As for camera shake, I suspect that the camers is selecting a too slow shutter speed. In 'P' mode this can easily happen in lowish light. Therefore keep an eye on the shutter speed selected (shows in the viewfinder) and if it falls below the focal length of the lens (roughly the 35mm equivalent) then change the shutter speed or use a tripod. For example, lens at widest, 9mm end (35 mm equivalent) shutter speed should be say 1/40sec, at 36mm end (140 mm equivalent) shutter speed should be around 1/160sec, if you are handholding the camera. On a tripod, of course, you can go to any shutter speed.

There is so much to learn and try with the E-10, just take your time and try everything (film is cheap !!!) and don't forget to RTFM, more than once. )
Enjoy !!!
--
John W

 

[Geoff Turner]

advid ,
Welcome to the world of the E-10.
As a long time E-10 user (December 2000) and having at one time or
another tried all possible combinations I have settled just to
leave all settings as 'normal'. I also shoot at full resolution
with 1:2.7 compression. For me and my use this gives me the best
results. Of course others will tell you something different so at
the end of the day you must try all possibilities and settle for
what seems best for you.
As for camera shake, I suspect that the camers is selecting a too
slow shutter speed. In 'P' mode this can easily happen in lowish
light. Therefore keep an eye on the shutter speed selected (shows
in the viewfinder) and if it falls below the focal length of the
lens (roughly the 35mm equivalent) then change the shutter speed or
use a tripod. For example, lens at widest, 9mm end (35 mm
equivalent) shutter speed should be say 1/40sec, at 36mm end (140
mm equivalent) shutter speed should be around 1/160sec, if you are
handholding the camera. On a tripod, of course, you can go to any
shutter speed.
There is so much to learn and try with the E-10, just take your
time and try everything (film is cheap !!!) and don't forget to
RTFM, more than once. )
Enjoy !!!
--
John W

--

I upgraded from a C3030Z to E20 a few weeks ago. I loved the C3030 and my first results with the E20 were very disapointing. Camera shake was a big problem. However after only as few weeks, results have improved, i have almost eradicated camera shake. A few days ago I decided to travel light and took out my C3030Z - I found it so difficult to use ! For me its the E20 every time now.
http://www.photosig.com/viewuser.php?id=23576

Geoff
Olympus C3030Z + E20

 

[sebMarc]

Hi advid,

Here are a few advices for a fast track lurning curve:

• Stay away from P mode. It selects a shutter speed too slow. When i have plenty of light, i use A mode. Indoors, i use S mode.
• Always check your shutter speed.. To minimize camera shake, make sure it is at least 1/125s.
• Hold your camera steady. I put my left hand under the camera for increased stability and i press the shutter button slowly.
• Check your aperture. There is a sharpness difference between 2.2 and 3.2 and above. The sweet spot of the lens seems to be 5.6 but i get some razor sharp shots at 3.2.

The following picture was taken with shutter speed 1/500 and aperture 3.2. It is out of the camera, no post-processing.

Hope this helps.



Seb.

..have just brought an E-10 from EBay.... what is the best setting
for the in camera sharpening and contrast settings - bearing in
mind that anything I print out will be put into Photoshop for a
'look-over'.... ?

NOTE: my B300 (1.7x) seems to work fine with a step down ring as
long as you're at full zoom - Overall I'm very pleased with E10 -
an improvement from my OLY 2100 and OLY 3030 - BUT i've noticed -
you really have to keep the camera steady - most of my worst shots
so far on analysis have been down to 'camera-shake' NOT out of
focus.... never seemed to get this with the other cameras - I
thought I was pretty steady but the E10 shows up my faults....
--
OLY- E10 OLY-2100 OLY-3030 B300
http://www.pbase.com/gallery/advid/2100

 

[Jacques Pontbriand]

I had the B300 on my C3000 before the E10 and had the same problem.
All that extra weight made for an unstalbe camera or at least one I
wasn't used to holding steady. I gave up on the B300 for that
reason.

I think that when I first got the E10 I had the same problem. It
was heavier and took getting used to. The more i used it the better
I got at holding it steady. Now am able to get sharp shots even
below 1/30th from time to time. So, my advice would be to USE that
camera...over and over and over!

..have just brought an E-10 from EBay.... what is the best setting
for the in camera sharpening and contrast settings - bearing in
mind that anything I print out will be put into Photoshop for a
'look-over'.... ?

NOTE: my B300 (1.7x) seems to work fine with a step down ring as
long as you're at full zoom - Overall I'm very pleased with E10 -
an improvement from my OLY 2100 and OLY 3030 - BUT i've noticed -
you really have to keep the camera steady - most of my worst shots
so far on analysis have been down to 'camera-shake' NOT out of
focus.... never seemed to get this with the other cameras - I
thought I was pretty steady but the E10 shows up my faults....
--
OLY- E10 OLY-2100 OLY-3030 B300
http://www.pbase.com/gallery/advid/2100

--
Olympus E-10, TCON, MCON, WCON and Fl-40
Gallery: http://www.pbase.com/galleries/cokids

--
I set my camera at "normal" for sharpness
and contrast I will vary according to the contrasting light I am shooting in.
Jacques

http://www.geocities.com/cam2000.geo/
My web site

 

[Ferenc]

...If Photoshop is going to be used as your "magnifying glass" for final quality inspection and refinement, then this may be among our best advices:

1. If your lighthing and exposure conditions are likely to vary and you will be making use of the E10's great dynamic range, then your sharpness setting is, by definition, LOW . Why? Because the E10's imaging engine runs a very simple, bread-and-butter sharpening routine that sharpens both Luminance and Chrominance components (instead of Luminance only), and, if you bring into the equation the typical noise that you find in shadowy areas of JPGs, for instance, the E10's sharpening code will just magnify that noise and introduce additional, undesired sharpening artifacts, too.

2. In terms of Contrast, resort to the same premise above: for an outstanding Dynamic Range AND abundant light, with strong contrasts too, set it to LOW . Remember that you will need a nice Contrast curve to be applied to each and everyone of these shots, since they may look a little-fat straight from the camera. After the Contrast curve is applied, you need to boost saturation typically by 10% to 20% (vía Channel Mixer, for minimal incremental noise), and the results may look like these:



Now, for indoor shots, Flash shots, of images with medium to low Light, keep your contrast setting to NORMAL. The reason is that, based on output from multiple RAW images, the E10's imaging engine sort of "pushes" the RAW data Luma and Chroma components of the dark areas of the pictures, which results in increased noise (with more visible detail, of course). If most of your image is low-light keyed on the Histogram range, this extra levels of noise will become quiet evident, and you may have to resort to Noise Reductions routines without having to do so.

A good example of a dark, LOW noise image of 4 secs of exposure (dark frame removed, but still Luminance and most of Chrominance components intact) , with contrast set to NORMAL, is the following:



Hope you enjoy pushing your E10 to its limits,

Ferenc

..have just brought an E-10 from EBay.... what is the best setting
for the in camera sharpening and contrast settings - bearing in
mind that anything I print out will be put into Photoshop for a
'look-over'.... ?

NOTE: my B300 (1.7x) seems to work fine with a step down ring as
long as you're at full zoom - Overall I'm very pleased with E10 -
an improvement from my OLY 2100 and OLY 3030 - BUT i've noticed -
you really have to keep the camera steady - most of my worst shots
so far on analysis have been down to 'camera-shake' NOT out of
focus.... never seemed to get this with the other cameras - I
thought I was pretty steady but the E10 shows up my faults....
--
OLY- E10 OLY-2100 OLY-3030 B300
http://www.pbase.com/gallery/advid/2100

 

[Greg Roberson]

After I responded to a sharpening question a while back with an answer like yours, I received an E-mail with the following:

I agree that in-camera tweaking should be avoided, but normal sharpness
doesn't tweak the image; soft does. Try shooting in RAW with the
sharpness set to normal and then to soft. Import using options one and
three. Note that with normal sharpness, the image sharpness doesn't
change between options, with the soft setting option 3 blurs. Option 3
applies all of the in camera settings which are stored with the image,
option one doesn't. A very early review of the E-10 said "soft" slightly
blurs the image. Indeed, that's what it does.

I don't shoot in the raw format so I never tried the test but it would be interesting to try.

Greg R.

 

[Glenn A]

..have just brought an E-10 from EBay.... what is the best setting
for the in camera sharpening and contrast settings - bearing in
mind that anything I print out will be put into Photoshop for a
'look-over'.... ?

NOTE: my B300 (1.7x) seems to work fine with a step down ring as
long as you're at full zoom - Overall I'm very pleased with E10 -
an improvement from my OLY 2100 and OLY 3030 - BUT i've noticed -
you really have to keep the camera steady - most of my worst shots
so far on analysis have been down to 'camera-shake' NOT out of
focus.... never seemed to get this with the other cameras - I
thought I was pretty steady but the E10 shows up my faults....
--
OLY- E10 OLY-2100 OLY-3030 B300
http://www.pbase.com/gallery/advid/2100

A lot of the advice given to this thread has suggested that the in camera sharpness be set at soft.

I have been in photography for 35 years. I realize that digital is a different ball game than film. However - to suggest that every picture that comes out of the camera should be soft is not conducive to what photography is all about.

Unless you want to run every picture you take thru an additional software step to make it normal. I say normal, because every picture should be normally sharp because that is what your human eye is expecting when it looks at it.

When we use software to manipulate a picture it is akin to going into a darkroom to dodge and burn and alter film pictures. Sometimes it has to be done. But the object is for the picture to require as little work as possible in the "darkroom". For some photographers they simply love this post picture process and that is fine, for them.

What I want from my camera is a picture that is sharp and the color is as close to natural as possible so that I have to do as little post processing as possible. Yes, I do have several photo processing software packages and I know how to use them if I have to.

I take a lot of pictures. I want to spend as little post time as possible. There are times that I have to do some post processing. But normally sharpening is not one of them.

We spend "big bucks" for our digital cameras and I expect the pictures to come from the camera requiring as little work as possible. Sharp right out of the camera. And I get some nice pictures.

Sorry to rant on about this subject but so many are spending big bucks on cameras that produce soft pictures (D60 or D100). If I am going to spend that kind of money on a camera, I at least want the option that it produce sharp pictures right out of the box

Glenn A

 

[Ferenc]

Quiet frankly, and after working with raw images for a long time, I do not think that such "blurring" even exists, as some users have suggested.

It is simply about the depth and strenght of the Sharpening routines being applied during the RAW import process, in tandem with how the Bayer interpolation code manages detail from the RAW code, which also explains for some clear differences between JPG and RAW's rendering of detail (JPG output is less "cooked", while RAW interpolation is more accurate, thorough and with more natural-looking results).

If you look at, let's say an S2 or D100 image with little or no sharpening applied, it will look quiet "blurred" to our eyes, too. However, no "blurring" has been applied by the camera's imaging engine.

In the case of the E10, it is pretty much the same, especially if you examine detail such as the surface of a person's skin exposed to an incident source of light, such as the flash, etc. There are very well rendered, and more naturally with sharpening set to LOW. Not to mention about noise levels, too.

Best regards,

Ferenc

After I responded to a sharpening question a while back with an
answer like yours, I received an E-mail with the following:

I agree that in-camera tweaking should be avoided, but normal
sharpness
doesn't tweak the image; soft does. Try shooting in RAW with the
sharpness set to normal and then to soft. Import using options one and
three. Note that with normal sharpness, the image sharpness doesn't
change between options, with the soft setting option 3 blurs. Option 3
applies all of the in camera settings which are stored with the image,
option one doesn't. A very early review of the E-10 said "soft"
slightly
blurs the image. Indeed, that's what it does.

I don't shoot in the raw format so I never tried the test but it
would be interesting to try.

Greg R.

 

[Ferenc]

...because results are superior .

Kind regards,

Ferenc

..have just brought an E-10 from EBay.... what is the best setting
for the in camera sharpening and contrast settings - bearing in
mind that anything I print out will be put into Photoshop for a
'look-over'.... ?

NOTE: my B300 (1.7x) seems to work fine with a step down ring as
long as you're at full zoom - Overall I'm very pleased with E10 -
an improvement from my OLY 2100 and OLY 3030 - BUT i've noticed -
you really have to keep the camera steady - most of my worst shots
so far on analysis have been down to 'camera-shake' NOT out of
focus.... never seemed to get this with the other cameras - I
thought I was pretty steady but the E10 shows up my faults....
--
OLY- E10 OLY-2100 OLY-3030 B300
http://www.pbase.com/gallery/advid/2100

A lot of the advice given to this thread has suggested that the in
camera sharpness be set at soft.

I have been in photography for 35 years. I realize that digital is
a different ball game than film. However - to suggest that every
picture that comes out of the camera should be soft is not
conducive to what photography is all about.

Unless you want to run every picture you take thru an additional
software step to make it normal. I say normal, because every
picture should be normally sharp because that is what your human
eye is expecting when it looks at it.

When we use software to manipulate a picture it is akin to going
into a darkroom to dodge and burn and alter film pictures.
Sometimes it has to be done. But the object is for the picture to
require as little work as possible in the "darkroom". For some
photographers they simply love this post picture process and that
is fine, for them.

What I want from my camera is a picture that is sharp and the color
is as close to natural as possible so that I have to do as little
post processing as possible. Yes, I do have several photo
processing software packages and I know how to use them if I have
to.

I take a lot of pictures. I want to spend as little post time as
possible. There are times that I have to do some post processing.
But normally sharpening is not one of them.

We spend "big bucks" for our digital cameras and I expect the
pictures to come from the camera requiring as little work as
possible. Sharp right out of the camera. And I get some nice
pictures.

Sorry to rant on about this subject but so many are spending big
bucks on cameras that produce soft pictures (D60 or D100). If I
am going to spend that kind of money on a camera, I at least want
the option that it produce sharp pictures right out of the box

Glenn A

 

[Terry Thorn]

A lot of the advice given to this thread has suggested that the in
camera sharpness be set at soft.

I have been in photography for 35 years. I realize that digital is
a different ball game than film. However - to suggest that every
picture that comes out of the camera should be soft is not
conducive to what photography is all about.

Unless you want to run every picture you take thru an additional
software step to make it normal. I say normal, because every
picture should be normally sharp because that is what your human
eye is expecting when it looks at it.

When we use software to manipulate a picture it is akin to going
into a darkroom to dodge and burn and alter film pictures.
Sometimes it has to be done. But the object is for the picture to
require as little work as possible in the "darkroom". For some
photographers they simply love this post picture process and that
is fine, for them.

What I want from my camera is a picture that is sharp and the color
is as close to natural as possible so that I have to do as little
post processing as possible. Yes, I do have several photo
processing software packages and I know how to use them if I have
to.

I take a lot of pictures. I want to spend as little post time as
possible. There are times that I have to do some post processing.
But normally sharpening is not one of them.

We spend "big bucks" for our digital cameras and I expect the
pictures to come from the camera requiring as little work as
possible. Sharp right out of the camera. And I get some nice
pictures.

Sorry to rant on about this subject but so many are spending big
bucks on cameras that produce soft pictures (D60 or D100). If I
am going to spend that kind of money on a camera, I at least want
the option that it produce sharp pictures right out of the box

Glenn A

That's what's so great about digital photography... you can take pictures in SO many different ways that you're BOUND to like one of 'em. The controls for sharpness and contrast are there for that reason. The images can be tailored to each person's tastes. Instead of asking others what the settings should be, why not experiment with them yourself and come to your OWN conclusions? Since it's digital and stored on reusable media, what have you got to lose except maybe some time. It's definitely a lot cheaper AND less time consuming to experiment with digital than with conventional photography.

 

[Brendan Revyn]

Hello Ferenc,

I have compared option 2 and 3 of the OLY plugin, (200% CROPS)

http://www.pbase.com/image/4076887/original

Camera settings:
Sharpening: LOW
Contrast: NORMAL

Option 2 has more detail but is very noisy. It all depends on taste, I personally find ORF Suite (after curve correction) gives an even cleaner image than OPTION 3...

If you want I will compare oly option 3 to ORF Suite 1.21

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Brendan

I too want to push the limits of the E10

 

[PDM]

I couldn't agree more with Terry about coming to your OWN conclusion. I have tested three different E-10's and found differences between the settings camera to camera, especially concerning the contrast setting. For instance one camera set to low had similar contrast as another set to medium. It also depends on your type of photography and lighting conditions.

Paul

That's what's so great about digital photography... you can take
pictures in SO many different ways that you're BOUND to like one of
'em. The controls for sharpness and contrast are there for that
reason. The images can be tailored to each person's tastes. Instead
of asking others what the settings should be, why not experiment
with them yourself and come to your OWN conclusions? Since it's
digital and stored on reusable media, what have you got to lose
except maybe some time. It's definitely a lot cheaper AND less time
consuming to experiment with digital than with conventional
photography.

 

[Ferenc]

...Option 2 simpy shows a "partially done" work of Oly's interpolation and processing code. You see, it seems that Oly performs a preliminary stage of processing where the entire image comes out with a particular, checker-patterned image (chunky, blocky, seen at 100% magnification).

This blocky pattern, IMHO, relates to a combination of the actual Bayer's interpolation algorithm, as well as the basis for Oly's TruPic. You will not get this pattern with any other RAW import utility, such as Bibble, ORF Suite or QIMage.

Now, the problem with option two is that those chunky blocks appear in a way that create the illusion of extra "detail", especially where the E10's spatial resolution gets closer to extinction. Not to mention the extra apparent sharpness that comes with them.

Let me show you a previous example that I have posted in the past, in which Option 2 shows us things that the E10 is not capable of resolving, thus resulting in a noisy, artificially detailed and color-faulted image:



Look especially at the grass, at the Left crop (Option 2). It's just false, since it did not look like that when the image was captured. Now, look at Option 3 on the right... Detail is much more naturally rendered and overall output and resolution rendering is natural too.

Best regards,

Ferenc

Hello Ferenc,

I have compared option 2 and 3 of the OLY plugin, (200% CROPS)

Camera settings:
Sharpening: LOW
Contrast: NORMAL

Option 2 has more detail but is very noisy. It all depends on
taste, I personally find ORF Suite (after curve correction) gives
an even cleaner image than OPTION 3...

If you want I will compare oly option 3 to ORF Suite 1.21

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Brendan

I too want to push the limits of the E10

 

[Brendan Revyn]

I agree with you on the partially done work of oly, but wouldn't it be logical when the bayern pattern is interpolated the image should be soft, not sharp/hard. (ex. ORF SUITE, very soft, here you can also just view the bayern pattern)

I find the color rendition in option 2 just as good as option 3 when finding the correct curve. It is the hardness of the image that is unnatural and striking to me.

How does Oly ever get to option 2 in the first place?

Kind regards,

Brendan

This blocky pattern, IMHO, relates to a combination of the actual
Bayer's interpolation algorithm, as well as the basis for Oly's
TruPic. You will not get this pattern with any other RAW import
utility, such as Bibble, ORF Suite or QIMage.

Now, the problem with option two is that those chunky blocks appear
in a way that create the illusion of extra "detail", especially
where the E10's spatial resolution gets closer to extinction. Not
to mention the extra apparent sharpness that comes with them.

Let me show you a previous example that I have posted in the past,
in which Option 2 shows us things that the E10 is not capable of
resolving, thus resulting in a noisy, artificially detailed and
color-faulted image:



Look especially at the grass, at the Left crop (Option 2). It's
just false, since it did not look like that when the image was
captured. Now, look at Option 3 on the right... Detail is much more
naturally rendered and overall output and resolution rendering is
natural too.

Best regards,

Ferenc

Hello Ferenc,

I have compared option 2 and 3 of the OLY plugin, (200% CROPS)

Camera settings:
Sharpening: LOW
Contrast: NORMAL

Option 2 has more detail but is very noisy. It all depends on
taste, I personally find ORF Suite (after curve correction) gives
an even cleaner image than OPTION 3...

If you want I will compare oly option 3 to ORF Suite 1.21

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Brendan

I too want to push the limits of the E10

--

 

[Ferenc]

...I do not fully understand why Option 2 is there, in first place, considering the results we are getting out of it.

On the other hand, yes, colors could potentially match Option 3's output, but the necessary time and trial-and-error needed on a per-image basis makes its use fairly unpractical (and udesirable), especially if you shoot a lot in RAW (like me, for instance).

In fact, the same Oly PlugIn lack of decent batch-processing capabilities makes the whole process already difficult.

That's why Options 1 and 2 are simply not "options" for me.

Best regards,

Ferenc

I find the color rendition in option 2 just as good as option 3
when finding the correct curve. It is the hardness of the image
that is unnatural and striking to me.

How does Oly ever get to option 2 in the first place?

Kind regards,

Brendan

This blocky pattern, IMHO, relates to a combination of the actual
Bayer's interpolation algorithm, as well as the basis for Oly's
TruPic. You will not get this pattern with any other RAW import
utility, such as Bibble, ORF Suite or QIMage.

Now, the problem with option two is that those chunky blocks appear
in a way that create the illusion of extra "detail", especially
where the E10's spatial resolution gets closer to extinction. Not
to mention the extra apparent sharpness that comes with them.

Let me show you a previous example that I have posted in the past,
in which Option 2 shows us things that the E10 is not capable of
resolving, thus resulting in a noisy, artificially detailed and
color-faulted image:



Look especially at the grass, at the Left crop (Option 2). It's
just false, since it did not look like that when the image was
captured. Now, look at Option 3 on the right... Detail is much more
naturally rendered and overall output and resolution rendering is
natural too.

Best regards,

Ferenc

Hello Ferenc,

I have compared option 2 and 3 of the OLY plugin, (200% CROPS)

Camera settings:
Sharpening: LOW
Contrast: NORMAL

Option 2 has more detail but is very noisy. It all depends on
taste, I personally find ORF Suite (after curve correction) gives
an even cleaner image than OPTION 3...

If you want I will compare oly option 3 to ORF Suite 1.21

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Brendan

I too want to push the limits of the E10

--

 

[Bill Siegrist]

Greetings Ferenc,

What can you tell me about:

Contrast_DVelia_Chrome_USharp@200%

What is it? What does it do? Where did it come from?

Thanks for the education!

Kind regards,

Bill
--
Bill Siegrist
http://public.fotki.com/SiegristPhoto/

 

[John Figueras]

I keep contrast and sharpening in the camera set to "normal" and depend upon Photoshop to make adjustments in these parameters at the print stage. I want control over these parameters--which I can observe in Photoshop--to avoid sharpening artifacts (from over-sharpening) and blown highlights (from out-of-control contrast adjustment). I might add, there is nothing basically immoral about making these adjustments. The objective is to make a beautiful picture and the requirement that the picture must emanate from the camera in full glory with minimum manipulation as suggested by one forum participant is an artificial one. Ansel Adams did a LOT of postprocess manipulation to produce his wonderful prints. No one quibbles with his artistry.
--
John

 

[Ferenc]

...He! I even had to back to the post and carefully look throughout the pic., in order to realize that you were talking about the title shown on the image's caption bar...

Ok, that's the name I gave to a duplicate of the left-hand side image, and it reflects the results of the four steps of the workflow that I processed the image through. Here are the details:

1. "Contrast_": refers to a Contrast adjustment that I performed via Curves command, loading a 10 or 12-point custom-designed curve for E10's low-contrast images.

2. "DVelvia_": stands for Digital Velvia, which is an action developed and sold by Fred Miranda, which increases saturation via channel mixer with minimal increase in overall image noise.

3. "Chrome_": relates to UltraISO's Chrominance (not Luminance) noise-reduction routines, called from a brand-new action that I have been working for months, which comprises my entire workflow set...

4. "USharp": relates to UltraISO's sharpening routines, called from the above mentioned brand-new action.

5. "@200%": Added by Photoshop to indicate that the current view has been magnified 200% from the original size.

Best regards,

Ferenc

Greetings Ferenc,

What can you tell me about:

Contrast_DVelia_Chrome_USharp@200%

What is it? What does it do? Where did it come from?

Thanks for the education!

Kind regards,

Bill
--
Bill Siegrist
http://public.fotki.com/SiegristPhoto/