It seems like there's just a handful of us rigorously trying out the new Silkypix RAW developer, but I thought it might be helpful to have one thread for just us Foveon users that are putting it through its paces.
I figure we can share our discoveries as to what works and doesn't, so that by the end of the beta trial period, we can provide some meaningful feedback, and make a knowledgeable decision as to how useful this product really is.
I encourage anyone to post their tricks & tips, rants and UI commentaries. Comparisons at 100% might also be helpful.
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SETTINGS
In a nutshell, here's what I've found:
The colour control is probably the best I have seen anywhere, and its possible to easily 'match' a scene's hues from memory.
The default settings are pretty good, but in certain scenarios, they can lead to a tiny bit of 'Bayer Mush'. If you increase the sharpening and/or noise removal more than the default, you do so at your own risk, and must tread carefully. My default setting is for Outline Emphasis Sharpness of 2 (way below the default, because we don't use an AA filter), Detail Emphasis on default, False Outline on Zero; I only use Normal Sharp.
For Noise Removal, my default is False Colour Control 46, Neat Noise 0, Noise Reduction around 2 or 5 (undecided). Noise Level Min defaults to 6, and Noise Cancel Min is default (78). I will raise Noise Level Min according to the documents noise level as required, but typically from between 10 to 20.
Exposure is usually about - 1/2 (I often expose to the right), camera white balance, average contrast, Film Colour 'A' (Agfachrome?), Saturation 1.06.
Highlight Control is shifted way over from Luminance to Chroma emphasis (12), and Saturation vs Hue is at 66 (hue bias). Luminance Restoration is 66 (above average), and Dynamic Range Expansion is +1.5 EV.
All Tone settings are default, but this is one area I immediately jump to for tweaking problematic images. I will typically raise Black Level to 1 or 2, lower Contrast Center (but watch for darks posterization!) and sometimes raise Gamma and/or Contrast a detent or two.
The Fine Colour Control is the greatest emergency colour reclamation tool, and I love it. That's only touched when needed, but is a huge help when you do need it.
Create a 'Custom Taste' reflecting this (adjusted to your preferences) and make that your new default, and you'll find you can fly through huge groups of photos with fantastic quality, only pausing to adjusting things that truly need special attention, which is how it should be.
I have found the quality at least meets SPP3.52, and often exceeds it, anywhere from ever-so-slightly to 'OMG that was too incredible to be automatic!'
Perhaps I'm forgetting things to check though:
I've been looking at high & low contrast objects looking for nice crisp micro-contrast edges at the pixel level, and recreating colours without losing detail any object detail, range of colour differences extracted, looking for halos, blurring and mush, noise & posterization.
Am I missing some obvious things?
FEATURE REQUESTS
I wish there was a way to apply Lens Aberration values according to rules (eg., at 'Wide Zoom focal lengths and Wide Open', backing off as apertures and focal lengths move towards 'normal'.)
Totally rename and reorganize the UI menus & controls! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I figure we can share our discoveries as to what works and doesn't, so that by the end of the beta trial period, we can provide some meaningful feedback, and make a knowledgeable decision as to how useful this product really is.
I encourage anyone to post their tricks & tips, rants and UI commentaries. Comparisons at 100% might also be helpful.
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
SETTINGS
In a nutshell, here's what I've found:
The colour control is probably the best I have seen anywhere, and its possible to easily 'match' a scene's hues from memory.
The default settings are pretty good, but in certain scenarios, they can lead to a tiny bit of 'Bayer Mush'. If you increase the sharpening and/or noise removal more than the default, you do so at your own risk, and must tread carefully. My default setting is for Outline Emphasis Sharpness of 2 (way below the default, because we don't use an AA filter), Detail Emphasis on default, False Outline on Zero; I only use Normal Sharp.
For Noise Removal, my default is False Colour Control 46, Neat Noise 0, Noise Reduction around 2 or 5 (undecided). Noise Level Min defaults to 6, and Noise Cancel Min is default (78). I will raise Noise Level Min according to the documents noise level as required, but typically from between 10 to 20.
Exposure is usually about - 1/2 (I often expose to the right), camera white balance, average contrast, Film Colour 'A' (Agfachrome?), Saturation 1.06.
Highlight Control is shifted way over from Luminance to Chroma emphasis (12), and Saturation vs Hue is at 66 (hue bias). Luminance Restoration is 66 (above average), and Dynamic Range Expansion is +1.5 EV.
All Tone settings are default, but this is one area I immediately jump to for tweaking problematic images. I will typically raise Black Level to 1 or 2, lower Contrast Center (but watch for darks posterization!) and sometimes raise Gamma and/or Contrast a detent or two.
The Fine Colour Control is the greatest emergency colour reclamation tool, and I love it. That's only touched when needed, but is a huge help when you do need it.
Create a 'Custom Taste' reflecting this (adjusted to your preferences) and make that your new default, and you'll find you can fly through huge groups of photos with fantastic quality, only pausing to adjusting things that truly need special attention, which is how it should be.
I have found the quality at least meets SPP3.52, and often exceeds it, anywhere from ever-so-slightly to 'OMG that was too incredible to be automatic!'
Perhaps I'm forgetting things to check though:
I've been looking at high & low contrast objects looking for nice crisp micro-contrast edges at the pixel level, and recreating colours without losing detail any object detail, range of colour differences extracted, looking for halos, blurring and mush, noise & posterization.
Am I missing some obvious things?
FEATURE REQUESTS
I wish there was a way to apply Lens Aberration values according to rules (eg., at 'Wide Zoom focal lengths and Wide Open', backing off as apertures and focal lengths move towards 'normal'.)
Totally rename and reorganize the UI menus & controls! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
I've seen editors, where any region on color circle can be shifted.
But it's only a question of time.