What kind of sharpening do you use ? at DVinfo.net

Bart Wierzbicki · February 5th, 2010, 02:36 AM

Hey,
When I shoot on my 7D, I have my settings as flat as possible so I could do everything in post, but a lot of times I found the footage seems really soft.
So now I was thinking of doing some sort of sharpening onto it.
Do you also do it ? Now I tried the sharpen effect and unsharp mask, but I think the boundary between too little and too much is really small.

Ray Bell · February 5th, 2010, 09:59 AM

Genuine Fractals....

onOne Genuine Fractals 5 review @ Designpreference.com

Matthew Longbottom · February 5th, 2010, 10:49 AM

Does that work for video? Or is it only photo sharpening in Lightroom / Photoshop?

Bart Wierzbicki · February 5th, 2010, 11:40 AM

Genuine Fractals ?
Isn't that for enlarging pictures ?

Daniel Browning · February 6th, 2010, 03:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bart Wierzbicki

Do you also do it?

Personally, I prefer to avoid sharpening altogether, because it exacerbates aliasing artifacts. But if I was to sharpen, it would definitely be during in-camera processing, where the sharpening can be applied to the 14-bit raw image, instead of in post where all I have is the 8-bit compressed image to work with. Doing that will exacerbate the compression artifacts (on top of the aliasing).

Erik Andersen · February 6th, 2010, 08:45 PM

Totally agree with Daniel, sharpen in camera. I'd just add that the extra rendering time required with a sharpen filter isn't fun.

Liam Hall · February 7th, 2010, 04:47 AM

Daniel has a point, but in general sharpening should only be applied on OUTPUT. Furthermore, different displays and different display resolutions require a varying amounts of sharpening. You can apply sharpening in Compressor and similar programs, though personally, I try to avoid it altogether by using sharp lenses with all artificial sharpening turned off.

Mike Calla · February 7th, 2010, 08:22 PM

I've generally never been a fan of sharpening BUT recently, there's been a good shot or two that i was going to purge from my bins because of tad-too-soft focus...yes, my talent moved...1mm...the horror!!

So what i do is mask an area, and sharpen a small patch, i.e: an eye... and it REALLY helps those tad-too-soft focus. Its more selective, you only have to do it a for short period of time to keep people in the moment, say at the beginning of the cut/edit.

As for sharpening in-camera, its doesn't really look so good on a large monitor. I find that reducing the sharpness half way, actually increases "the magic' that the camera produces. And setting the in-camera sharpness all the way down, begs for post sharpening, which doesn't make any sense!

Ian G. Thompson · February 10th, 2010, 01:36 PM

That's why I stay mostly at +1 for in camera sharpnening. "0" is too much.

Edit: What I meant was no sharpening on this camera can be too much. I have to start at +1 or 2.

Cody Dulock · February 10th, 2010, 03:21 PM

The lack of resolution these DSLR's produce they make up for with artificial sharpening which introduces a lot of aliasing... if this makes no sense or you don't believe it, ask Barry Green. I shoot with the sharpness all the way down on my 5D and sharpen in post if needed.

February 5th, 2010, 02:36 AM	#1
Bart Wierzbicki Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Zonhoven Posts: 153	What kind of sharpening do you use ? Hey, When I shoot on my 7D, I have my settings as flat as possible so I could do everything in post, but a lot of times I found the footage seems really soft. So now I was thinking of doing some sort of sharpening onto it. Do you also do it ? Now I tried the sharpen effect and unsharp mask, but I think the boundary between too little and too much is really small.

February 6th, 2010, 08:45 PM	#6
Erik Andersen Major Player Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Vancouver Canada Posts: 218	Totally agree with Daniel, sharpen in camera. I'd just add that the extra rendering time required with a sharpen filter isn't fun. __________________ Canon 5D Mark II \|\| L-Series Lenses \|\| Steadicam Pilot \|\| Final Cut Studio www.lovestorymedia.com

February 7th, 2010, 04:47 AM	#7
Liam Hall Major Player Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: London, England Posts: 969	Daniel has a point, but in general sharpening should only be applied on OUTPUT. Furthermore, different displays and different display resolutions require a varying amounts of sharpening. You can apply sharpening in Compressor and similar programs, though personally, I try to avoid it altogether by using sharp lenses with all artificial sharpening turned off. __________________ Writer-Director-DOP www.liamhall.net

February 7th, 2010, 08:22 PM	#8
Mike Calla Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Shanghai Posts: 344	I've generally never been a fan of sharpening BUT recently, there's been a good shot or two that i was going to purge from my bins because of tad-too-soft focus...yes, my talent moved...1mm...the horror!! So what i do is mask an area, and sharpen a small patch, i.e: an eye... and it REALLY helps those tad-too-soft focus. Its more selective, you only have to do it a for short period of time to keep people in the moment, say at the beginning of the cut/edit. As for sharpening in-camera, its doesn't really look so good on a large monitor. I find that reducing the sharpness half way, actually increases "the magic' that the camera produces. And setting the in-camera sharpness all the way down, begs for post sharpening, which doesn't make any sense! __________________ boxoutsidemedia.com

February 5th, 2010, 09:59 AM	#2
Ray Bell Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Posts: 1,414	Genuine Fractals.... onOne Genuine Fractals 5 review @ Designpreference.com

February 5th, 2010, 10:49 AM	#3
Matthew Longbottom New Boot Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: London Posts: 15	Does that work for video? Or is it only photo sharpening in Lightroom / Photoshop?

February 5th, 2010, 11:40 AM	#4
Bart Wierzbicki Regular Crew Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Zonhoven Posts: 153	Genuine Fractals ? Isn't that for enlarging pictures ?

February 10th, 2010, 01:36 PM	#9
Ian G. Thompson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Rockledge, Florida Posts: 351	That's why I stay mostly at +1 for in camera sharpnening. "0" is too much. Edit: What I meant was no sharpening on this camera can be too much. I have to start at +1 or 2.

February 10th, 2010, 03:21 PM	#10
Cody Dulock Major Player Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: arlington, texas Posts: 420	The lack of resolution these DSLR's produce they make up for with artificial sharpening which introduces a lot of aliasing... if this makes no sense or you don't believe it, ask Barry Green. I shoot with the sharpness all the way down on my 5D and sharpen in post if needed.