weezintrumpete wrote:
Any reason to think that the Sony to Nikon adapters might stop working with this update? No reason to think they will, just curious.
With Nikon firmware updates, you can go back to a previous version if you find there is a problem.
weezintrumpete wrote:
Any reason to think that the Sony to Nikon adapters might stop working with this update? No reason to think they will, just curious.
My cheap Viltrox E-Z adapter works just fine with FW3.0 Tested using ZA 35mm f1.4 lens. AF (AFS, AFC, 3D) and aperture ring all work flawlessly.
FWIW, Nikon claim the grain function is random and not repeatable, apparently 10 by a factor of 12, so trillions of variations.
In NX Studio, depending on your tone curve and adjusting the size from small to large and then scaling 1 through 6, you can get it so there is non-existent grain in the highlights, similar to film.
My wish list for additional grain manipulation would be to add a blur scale so one could offset the edginess of the grain spots and a levels adjustment which would deposit grain more proportionally to shadows and mid-tones, fingers crossed, lol.
Left: JPEG out of Zf with Large 3 grain
Right: NEF file with grain turned off, exported to JPEG from NX Studio, then brought to LR to add grain
In situations with high dynamic range contrasts, in camera grain is the "smoother", less digital/abrupt method IMO. Neither look great here, but LR looks worse to me as it's splotchier.
I am also noticing that in camera grain significantly softens the image vs simply turning it off. I'd be interested in the methodology Nikon is overlaying the grain vs Lightroom.
Can confirm that the Viltrox E to Z adapter works fine with the latest update.
weezintrumpete wrote:
Any reason to think that the Sony to Nikon adapters might stop working with this update? No reason to think they will, just curious.
It seems like perhaps the Nikon version of grain is better at mimicking real film grain. Recalling from my many film days, fine detail is not retained in real film grain due to the grain breaking up the contrasting edges. The Lightroom grain looks more like an applied layer over the image and thus fine detail is not lost.
I also noticed in your left Nikon grain version, the grain melts away in the highlights, typical of real film grain.
RoamingScott wrote:
Left: JPEG out of Zf with Large 3 grain
Right: NEF file with grain turned off, exported to JPEG from NX Studio, then brought to LR to add grain
In situations with high dynamic range contrasts, in camera grain is the "smoother", less digital/abrupt method IMO. Neither look great here, but LR looks worse to me as it's splotchier.
I am also noticing that in camera grain significantly softens the image vs simply turning it off. I'd be interested in the methodology Nikon is overlaying the grain vs Lightroom.
JBPhotog wrote:
It seems like perhaps the Nikon version of grain is better at mimicking real film grain. Recalling from my many film days, fine detail is not retained in real film grain due to the grain breaking up the contrasting edges. The Lightroom grain looks more like an applied layer over the image and thus fine detail is not lost.
I also noticed in your left Nikon grain version, the grain melts away in the highlights, typical of real film grain.
Yes, that is my thought as well. I'm not sure I'm crazy about how much it softens the image, nor am I crazy about how heavy handed it is, but it's easy enough to just keep the RAW too.
After playing with NX Studio's version some more, it does not seem to randomize the grain pattern for what it's worth unless it's caching the pattern per image, and that pattern persists through enabling and disabling grain.
I have a feeling the camera's processing is somewhat different.
Also, you cannot add grain to the i menu on the camera, which is just weird.
Is Lightroom applying any default sharpening? I'm not seeing any sharpness degradation processing in NX Studio.
In NX Studio try adding some Mid-range sharpening under the Picture Control section.
RoamingScott wrote:
Yes, that is my thought as well. I'm not sure I'm crazy about how much it softens the image, nor am I crazy about how heavy handed it is, but it's easy enough to just keep the RAW too.
"UVA/UAC tethered webcam mode" might be useful? It allows you to connect the Zf to your computer without using Nikon's Webcam Utility. Extraordinary FaceTime or Microsoft Teams streaming?
No. The result is fantastically slow AF and IQ locked at 1080p, which looks similar to the iMac's microscopic webcam lens.
Another 'minadodis' addition to the camera's menus.
Simply checking and unchecking the Film Grain function in NX on the same image does not randomize it. If you want to randomize the grain, uncheck it then move to edit another image in the film strip, then if you go back to your previous image and apply Film Grain it is randomized.
RoamingScott wrote:
After playing with NX Studio's version some more, it does not seem to randomize the grain pattern for what it's worth unless it's caching the pattern per image, and that pattern persists through enabling and disabling grain.
I have a feeling the camera's processing is somewhat different.
Also, you cannot add grain to the i menu on the camera, which is just weird.
FYI, even though Film Grain isn't in the retouch menu, any photo that is run through retouch will automatically have whatever grain values are set. Nice!
