Should I really always turn sharpness to zero? even minus?

[Niber]

It's common knowledge that you should turn off sharpening in-camera, as it's better to sharpen in post. but

1) Unfortunately cameras don't simply call it "Sharpening" "No sharpening" to "Max", but they always call it something confusing. So my Sony A7C has Shapness from -7 to 7. the number -7 makes it sound like not only is the sharpening filter set to 0, it's actually doing some kind of reverse filter to make it super blurry.

In other words, I'm confused if Sony's sharpness should be set to -7 or 0.

2) Due to compression, are we 100% sure that it's better to sharpen in post. Theoretically I can imagine a case where the compression decides that two pixels are so similar that they can be lossy compressed into the same color, but had there been in-camera sharpening applied then the compression might have decided that those two pixels were different.

 

[AstroVagabond]

It's common knowledge that you should turn off sharpening in-camera, as it's better to sharpen in post. but

1) Unfortunately cameras don't simply call it "Sharpening" "No sharpening" to "Max", but they always call it something confusing. So my Sony A7C has Shapness from -7 to 7. the number -7 makes it sound like not only is the sharpening filter set to 0, it's actually doing some kind of reverse filter to make it super blurry.

In other words, I'm confused if Sony's sharpness should be set to -7 or 0.

2) Due to compression, are we 100% sure that it's better to sharpen in post. Theoretically I can imagine a case where the compression decides that two pixels are so similar that they can be lossy compressed into the same color, but had there been in-camera sharpening applied then the compression might have decided that those two pixels were different.

Are you able to do some testing with your camera to compare results of different settings?

 

[kalisti]

It's common knowledge that you should turn off sharpening in-camera, as it's better to sharpen in post. but

results I've seen show little difference.

in camera is faster.

post takes time.

1) Unfortunately cameras don't simply call it "Sharpening" "No sharpening" to "Max", but they always call it something confusing. So my Sony A7C has Shapness from -7 to 7. the number -7 makes it sound like not only is the sharpening filter set to 0, it's actually doing some kind of reverse filter to make it super blurry.

In other words, I'm confused if Sony's sharpness should be set to -7 or 0.

I'd just ask in general or the sony forum.

My 2 cents, sharpening is down to taste, best to test it yourself and get it as sharp as you want in camera, unless you dont mind adding to your work/time in post.

2) Due to compression, are we 100% sure that it's better to sharpen in post. Theoretically I can imagine a case where the compression decides that two pixels are so similar that they can be lossy compressed into the same color, but had there been in-camera sharpening applied then the compression might have decided that those two pixels were different.

 

[Off The Mark]

Personally, I prefer sharpening in post.

I use resolve and the following seems to work well (this won't make sense unless you use Resolve).

Create a node at the end of the node tree. Change the color space to LAB. Turn off channel 2 and 3. That way, the node will only affect Luminance.

Then adjust midtone detail and sharpening in that node.

Disclaimer: I do tend to dislike images that are too sharp (not a big fan of Sigma art lenses, for example), so this works for me. Might not work for you.

 

[Paul Holman]

The ‘turn sharpening off’ advice started a long time ago when options were far more limited than now and sharpening was a blunt tool for stills and video. Now even a simple little camera like the RX100 has 7 options for how video detail can be adjusted. The defaults are very good now they’re video specific.

The need for in camera sharpening will depend on a range of factors; How the camera’s defaults are set, what format you’re shooting, what lens you’re using, what your subject is, how much time you have for post processing, what options you have in post production software and, of course, just how sharp you want your videos to look.

But there’s no simple universal answer, other than do your own tests and see what suits you best.

 

[FotografMagnus]

I have dialed down the sharpening and shoot at higher resolution and export the final result at lower resolution. The downscaling sharpens the video enough for most uses. Better have a slightly soft looking video than one with moiré effects in it from oversharpening.

/ Magnus

 

[lavenderlemon]

Did you ever find an answer to this? I was just at a camera store where the worker answered that going into - sharpening on a Sony camera only tones down sharpening, rather than blurring, but I want to be certain as I feel like I’ve read the opposite else where.
I’ve been shooting my Sony a6100 in -1 for quite a while and the results still look harsh and pixelated to me (Jpegs). I’m ready to give up the camera because of it.

 

[Off The Mark]

Did you ever find an answer to this? I was just at a camera store where the worker answered that going into - sharpening on a Sony camera only tones down sharpening, rather than blurring, but I want to be certain as I feel like I’ve read the opposite else where.
I’ve been shooting my Sony a6100 in -1 for quite a while and the results still look harsh and pixelated to me (Jpegs). I’m ready to give up the camera because of it.

Can you post a sample forum here?

I believe that the employee was correct, that setting the Sharpening in to negative numbers does NOT induce blur. It just lowers the amount of in-camera sharpening to the absolute minimum.

Also, what size jpgs are you shooting? I believe that you can get jpgs in small, medium, large, and XL sizes (they might cal it fine and extra fine, or something like that).

Anyway, if you can upload an uncropped, full size jpg that looks harsh and pixilated, maybe we can help?

Also, do note that this is a general forum on shooting VIDEO, and not the specific forum for shooting sony cameras, so you can also post your issue in the following forum:

https://www.dpreview.com/forums/1042