SFD Show and Tell

Hi Ed --

I initially purchased the Quattro SD refurbished with the 'kit' lens, which I found very sharp at most apertures along with some significant CA problems. Shooting in .DNG however allows the very capable correction profiles in Lightroom to handle this, so mostly a very positive experience. Based on the 30mm results, I converted my Nikon-mount 18-35mm to an SA mount, and am very pleased so far -- the lens really complements the per-pixel sharpness of the Foveon sensor. I also picked up the 18-250mm refurbished, and will be testing that as a walk-around lens for travel and street photography. Interesting times ahead ...

-- Darrell

DBE said:

Hi Ed --

I initially purchased the Quattro SD refurbished with the 'kit' lens, which I found very sharp at most apertures along with some significant CA problems. Shooting in .DNG however allows the very capable correction profiles in Lightroom to handle this, so mostly a very positive experience. Based on the 30mm results, I converted my Nikon-mount 18-35mm to an SA mount, and am very pleased so far -- the lens really complements the per-pixel sharpness of the Foveon sensor. I also picked up the 18-250mm refurbished, and will be testing that as a walk-around lens for travel and street photography. Interesting times ahead ...

-- Darrell

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Hello Darrell:

I am looking forward to hearing your opinion, and results from your new Sigma 18-250mm lens..

Thanks -

Ed

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another handheld 4of7

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/victor_gvirtsman/

rick decker said:

OK SFD Show and Tell is open. I am going to move a post or two over here.

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Thank you for the PDF Primer, I've been playing with SFD with the sdQ since November and was happy to see my suck-it and-see methods confirmed by authority !! Thanks.

I'm coming to the conclusion that SFD has limited applications, I don't shoot WA landscape and wonder what the consensus is among the WA fraternity? With standard/tele lenses the slightest breeze, movement of foliage etc., is , for me problematic. With WA the movement relative to the focal plane is less.

In the studio - with control over lighting, DR is easier to manage so SFD is hardly needed. SFD undoubtedly produces excellent images and if I were a working stiff knocking out packshots I'd be very glad of it but is the extra time/effort worth it?

Maybe comparable results can be had by other means; I posted these earlier this year but Zero comment:-
















............. just out of interest .........

I dislike "comparisons" but don't know how to otherwise evaluate usefulness




X3F




X3I

................. One has to pixel-peep but the differences are there. For me SFD gives a very clean and detailed image but as others have asked - is it worth the extra time and effort? -- Yes! - if it pays .;-)

Regards,



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Joris1632

Clean is the word. SFD is really about clean (no noise) in the shadows. Also extending the dynamic range on the highlights end. The problems that can occur is loss of sharpness and too flat a look. It really takes thinking outside the box, especially with respect to pushing and pulling sliders. Experimentation.







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rick decker said:

I don't see a lot of noise in either the 0 shot or the final SFD which has more contrast and maybe a little sharper. How extreme were the final settings in SPP?

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Settings in SPP was only sharpness -2, lum.noise left most. All other default.

But a lot of trimming in LR

Seems like you may have a spot on your sensor. I can see a charasteristic round, in the sky above the highest peak of the mountain (center) & below the dark cloud.

Beautiful image anyway. Amazing how the further clear cliff is crispy ! And the foliage, nearer too.

Actually I have at least one other. Both the C and the H are bad with respect to dust. Has to be something with chamber coating or shutter.

This photo is taken with my 10-20, which is a bit soft on the left side. I was shooting SFD to capture the dynamic range of the shot. This has been processed completely in SPP. I find the settings need to be pushed all over the place. Exposure is -0.6, contrast is 1.6, shadow is 1.2, fill is 0.3.

Rick held still enough to be in lower corner.







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Jim

Nice serie to compare. About the last 2 shots (Apples & wine) I find the pattern on the mug is better rendered in the XF3 image. As if stacking blured a bit of crispiness and contrast with the ≈white backdrop in that mug pattern. Again maybe the settings do…

For the metal cup serie, i'm suprised by the very shallow Depth of Field you get… at ƒ11 : we can't read the color-tags on the backdrop chart. On that matter, the dp2 performs better ! Did you Focus on the same point on all of these ?

One from today. Whichford Woods, Warwickshire. The Bluebells are just about to go over and I've been waiting for some sun. It was very calm, so I chanced SFD mode on a tripod. Three pics stitched. I used all 7 shots when processing each of the X3I files. My EV value on the camera was -0.7 taking all three SFD shots.

Some trees now have a canopy casting deep shadows amongst the strong sunlight. I think the camera did well.

dp0Q.







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Best, Steve

I posted these before so I hope it is ok to put them into this thread. I think the SFD is outstanding for interior shots. This is Brailes Church in Warwickshire. Strong sunlight from the windows and deep shadows are the typically difficult conditions that my dp0Q has been pretty hopeless at previously. With SFD, that has changed and now it is possible to get great photos. These were some of the first SFD photos I made and I used to high a EV which meant highlight clipping in some of the windows. I now know better!





And in B&W





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Best, Steve

User5627280353 said:

Nice serie to compare. About the last 2 shots (Apples & wine)

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Actually it's not apples and wine it's red and green ;-)

Greg0 N0yl said:

I find the pattern on the mug is better rendered in the XF3 image. As if stacking blured a bit of crispiness and contrast with the ≈white backdrop in that mug pattern. Again maybe the settings do…

Click to expand...

I think the point of SFD is to get a clean noise free image, I don't see blurring and crispness & contrast can be added.......

Greg0 N0yl said:

For the metal cup serie, i'm suprised by the very shallow Depth of Field you get… at ƒ11 : we can't read the color-tags on the backdrop chart

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The colour chart is actually a concept quality print of a screenshot, it is in no way sharp, colour's OK though .......

Greg0 N0yl said:

.On that matter, the dp2 performs better ! Did you Focus on the same point on all of these ?

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I was comparing the sdQ and DP2M for fun as the Merrill also has a 30mm lens. f11 was needed for a reasonable DOF in such a close-up but brings with it diffraction, maybe the Merrill suffers less - I dunno, but there are many boffins on this forum who could tell you

Please don't try to read too much into these samples, I'm not a test card shooter but I like to find the limits for a camera in doing my thing. Maybe the biggest surprise for me was the S-Hi jpeg,

Good Luck,

Joris1632 said:

I was comparing the sdQ and DP2M for fun as the Merrill also has a 30mm lens. f11 was needed for a reasonable DOF in such a close-up but brings with it diffraction, maybe the Merrill suffers less . . .

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Quite right, George - the bigger the pixels, the later that diffraction "sets in" with increasing f-number. The Merrill, with 5um versus the Quattro 4.3um, can probably do f/11 OK. My SD10 at 9.12um does quite well at f/16 - great for close-up work.

Thanks Joris for the precisions. True enough there is no Green wine ! Beat me I didn't get the complementary color aim underlying your photos by myself. On the other hand you have to choose : if you complain a previous posting of those pics was not commented, why come and say : don't read too much in them, as if they didn't diserve comparision comments.

On the contrary, your work is fine enough to glose about, IMOO.

Thanks Xpat, for the explaination of the DOF variation (between SdQ and Dp2) based on pixel size. I'll try to remember & check that in futur work.

User5627280353 said:

Thanks Joris for the precisions. True enough there is no Green wine !

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vinho verde?

Greg0 N0yl said:

Beat me I didn't get the complementary color aim underlying your photos by myself. On the other hand you have to choose : if you complain a previous posting of those pics was not commented, why come and say : don't read too much in them, as if they didn't diserve comparision comments.

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SFD show and tell. There are many threads running with all aspects of Sigma Foveon technology being discussed in depth and detail, I was trying to concentrate on the SFD aspects and happened to have comparisons made before SFD was available to SDQ users in a very recent firmware update

Greg0 N0yl said:

On the contrary, your work is fine enough to glose about, IMOO.

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Thanks, you are very kind,

Regards,

George

Greg0 N0yl said:

Thanks Xpat, for the explaination of the DOF variation (between SdQ and Dp2) based on pixel size. I'll try to remember & check that in futur work.

Click to expand...

I shot the image this afternoon as an example of the tremendous improvement in the shadow areas. Not artistic as it is a 25-year old bucket of rust but still runs well. I am amazed by the lack of noise. I am aware that there are some severe motion issues. There was a moderate breeze. SPP only.



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http://www.rickdecker.photography
http://www.silveroaksranch.com
http://www.pbase.com/rickdecker

rick decker said:

I shot the image this afternoon as an example of the tremendous improvement in the shadow areas. Not artistic as it is a 25-year old bucket of rust but still runs well. I am amazed by the lack of noise. I am aware that there are some severe motion issues. There was a moderate breeze. SPP only.



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Yes, very good example, do you also feel that the latest version of SPP is much better re. default NR? I mean also with X3F?

One thing, sharpening is needed - can't quite read HOYE's telephone number !! ;-)

George

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Joris1632

I extracted on shot and it looks very good as far as noise goes and is sharper (JPEG OOC). However on another recent shot I did the noise was still strong. So a mixed bag.

rick decker said:

OK SFD Show and Tell is open. I am going to move a post or two over here.

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http://www.rickdecker.photography
http://www.silveroaksranch.com
http://www.pbase.com/rickdecker

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Practicaly had held



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