Image quality is lacking - RX10M4
1 month ago
The image lacks crispness, and is generally too soft. At least that's how I see it.
9233.ARW
Thinking auto-focus somehow missed, I checked on where the camera was focused.
AutoFocus Visualizer display
It's odd the camera could only come up with one point, but it's exactly where it should be.
Take the image too 1:1 or 100%, and there's smearing along the line where lower duck's back, and water meet. Look at the bokeh, it doesn't look right.
My guess is working at f4.0, with the lens run all the way out (220 / 600 mm), diffraction's getting in the way.
Why 1/2000? That's my default for catching moving birds, animals. I let ISO shift to accommodate the shutter speed. At 600 mm, f4.0 is as fast as the lens gets.
To clarify, the question is not "how can I tune up the image". The JPEG below is the result of some significant processing with PhotoLab6 (cropped, contrast, DeepPrimeXD NR, and minor retouching to remove some clumps of foam bubbles on the water).
Common merganser (female) - Perkiomen Trail, Schwenksville, PA
The question is why the raw image's definition just isn't as crisp as I expected. The image supplied here is on a sample. It's an issue that been annoying me for a while.
In these cases, the plumage... could be better,
Blue Heron - Evansburg State Park, Skippack, PA
Bald Eagle - Bass Harbor Head Light Station, Tremont, Me
The only mod to the camera is a Sony UV filter, present to protect the camera's lens.
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