What Is This?

Shooters on My Squad wrote:

RustyRus wrote:

I realize it is not much to work with, but I currently gave every information I could without violating laws. I will try to isolate this issue with some specific test shots. I now also realize how RAW demosaicing could play a role here. Thanks.

Blur the face man...Done and done.

You realize I cannot win this one. When I edit the image I will have to upload a JPEG file, then everybody will want to see the RAW file again, because of “processing” issues, although the problem is already present in unprocessed RAW files with the history stack at the very bottom in Darktable where exposure, color balance, and other things look like crap, because absolutely no processing was applied, but the smeary, wormy pattern is still present. Then I will be in the same position again.

I want to make test shots with this lens on the X-Pro3 & X-T4 as my current assumption is that this is just how the OOF rendering of different planes looks like on this lens where planes cross on the Z-axis. I did buy this lens primarily for its size & focal length, and accepted that I already have other lenses with better optical parameters. I can accept this specific mediocre behavior of the lens, if my assumption is correct, because otherwise it is pretty fine. I am excited about some photos I took with this lens. In the end I just want to know in order to avoid problematic compositions (which aren’t that many to begin with), and have more keepers.

Choose Pass through in Black/White point module, turn off White balance module, debug mode in Input color profile, turn off Highlight recover module, debug mode in Demosaicing module.

That should be a better start for "unprocessed" raw. And that is also why everyone wants you to upload a raw sample.