k-h.a.w wrote:
Thanks Mitesh. The hi-res image looks amazingly clean to my eyes!
K-H.
---------------------------------------------
bobbytan wrote:
Wow ... that's a real torture test if I ever saw one! And it sure looks like ISO 64 in the High-Res mode significantly reduces and almost entirely eliminates noise. Sure is impressive! But damn you, Mitesh ... as this may prompt me to dump my Sony A7R II for the 3rd time! But read my lips .... I said may, which may well turn into a nay.
K-H and Bobby,
Yes, the hi-res mode does wonders for noise reduction. I should have mentioned that all in-camera NR was turned off. Here is another screenshot. This time, I resized the hi res image to the standard image dimensions and zoomed in to 3:1 for a close look at noise.
Note that I'm not advocating that we do this type of file manipulating and pixel-peeping as photographers in our everyday imaging. It's just nice to see that we do have tools at our disposal to counter some of the challenges a smaller sensor faces in certain situations.
Ok, so one last comparison. I took 8 hi res images, stacked them, and did a median blend in PS. Basically, I'm trying to emulate what the Sony SR app does. Since each hi res image is a blend of 8 exposures, I'm assuming that blending these 8 hi res images is like blending 64 exposures. Anyway, enough talk. Here are the results. Median blend of 8 hi res images on the left, and one hi res image on the right. Both pushed +5 stops.
bobbytan wrote:
But this lens (or the copy that I have) is focussing very accurately, as you can see from the 3 images I posted. If anything, it is front-focussing slightly, and I actually prefer that ... as I would rather have the background fade or drop off quickly.
Thanks Bobby, I have to take your word for it - as from your images I cannot make any conclusions with regards to front or back focusing. Considering my 4 FT lenses, whether old or new, are back focusing I am a bit surprised though. Of course, there is always the possibility of misunderstanding. I apologize if I do.
Any kind of stacking will reduce noise, even if it is just single shots. I do it all the time on moon shots to cancel out atmospheric distortion and reduce noise,
Full sized
Naturally the non plus ultra would be focus stacking High-Res shots, but it is not THAT much better, where the difference between a single shot and a single High-Res shot is enormous! Single High-Res
Dan, thanks for sharing those amazing shots! Terrific IQ.
K-H.
DanC.Licks wrote:
Any kind of stacking will reduce noise, even if it is just single shots. I do it all the time on moon shots to cancel out atmospheric distortion and reduce noise,
Full sized
Naturally the non plus ultra would be focus stacking High-Res shots, but it is not THAT much better, where the difference between a single shot and a single High-Res shot is enormous! Single High-Res
I've also stacked hi-res mode shots, and find very little benefit (and a LONG processing time) over the single shots. And I also stack routinely for noise reduction and some resolution improvement. Simulating multiple exposure is also fun. For difficult alignment problems, PhotoAcute frequently gives better results than Photoshop for me.
Bob Kane wrote:
I've also stacked hi-res mode shots, and find very little benefit (and a LONG processing time) over the single shots.
Having stacked 8 of the hi-res shots yesterday, I can agree with this. What is apparent in those 2:1 or 3:1 crops is not apparent when viewing the whole image, so the difference is minimal. It would still be a nice feature if Olympus could add functionality to replicate some of the Sony SR app functionality. Basically, it would be nice to be able to direct the camera to take a certain number of hi-res shots and combine them in-camera into one .ORF file to both reduce noise, and act as an ND filter.
Mitesh,
Nice idea, but I wonder how long something as processor demanding as that would take, and block the camera function in the meantime. I much prefer to capture the images and do the stacking on the PC where I have more control over what I am doing.
DanC.Licks wrote:
Mitesh,
Nice idea, but I wonder how long something as processor demanding as that would take, and block the camera function in the meantime. I much prefer to capture the images and do the stacking on the PC where I have more control over what I am doing.
You could still do it manually in post, if you chose to do so . Maybe Bobby can tell us how long it took his a7rII and SR App to process this image.
In good light with a 2-second delay between shots, a 256-frame image will take around 10 minutes. In low light it might take 20-30 minutes.
mitesh wrote:
You could still do it manually in post, if you chose to do so . Maybe Bobby can tell us how long it took his a7rII and SR App to process this image.
The question has come up whether stacking would be useful for BiF. Well...there are times when you would be lost without it!
This bird is only about 32 pixels across, even though I had 840mm of glass on my E-M1 II trained on it. Of nearly 100 shots, here are three of the BEST...
Took some work. I stacked them in AutoStakkert 2.6.8 (free) and did some fine tuning in RawTherapee (also free... both VERY good if you know your way around).
The air was really turbulent! The moon shots I did on the same evening all went straight into the circular filing system.
Shutterbug2006 wrote:
That's supposed to be the International Space Station, I believe.
Thanks. Could well be. Impressive effort, as I said.
I used to get email notifications from NASA whenever the International Space Station was visible in our area. An impressive sight to see it moving across the dark sky.
