Image quality in MKII

[RoyLlera]

Just bought and used my 1d MKII this past weekend and it appaers that I need to sharpen images in postproduction to give them a sharp look, images appear a little soft. any of you have this problem?

[tim]

That's not a problem, it's normal for high end digital cameras. If you shoot JPG you can probably turn a sharpness parameter somewhere up.

[clicky]

If shooting JPEG set SHARPNESS to +2 or +3. For extra colors tune up SATURATION a notch or two. For best results I recommend shoting RAW and manually tune both WB, saturation, contrast and sharpness.

[defordphoto]

All dSLR's need sharpening in post processing. The MKII files can take a BUNCH of USM and produce excellent, cut-your-eyeball sharp photos.

[RoyLlera]

"a BUNCH of USM " whats that? So what the consensus is that in postproduction I do sharpening,,,not in camera? Thanks

[tim]

USM is a filter in Photoshop, it stands for unsharp mask. Google it and have a read, it should be enlightening :)

[ssim]

What lens were you using?? To reiterate what has been said above, you need to sharpen your basic photoshop skills to manage your images with this camera. For the best results, shoot RAW.

[RoyLlera]

I thank you all for your comments..I am a long time 1D user and just got the MKII last week so I was a tad bit surprised to see that they were not as sharp out of camera shooting RAW as they are out of 1D but saw an image shot this past weekend and in post it was sharpened and looks awesome....so I will continue to test and learn the ins and outs..Thanks to all of u out there answering these posts!

[scottbergerphoto]

The 1D uses a CCD. The 1DMII uses a CMOS sensor. The M2 out of the camera produces images that are softer then the 1D but will produce much better color and look wonderful after USM.
Scott

[Andy_T]

Roy,

welcome to the forum :D

Play around with your new toy and get used to it, you'll love it!

Best regards,
Andy

[Huckaback Photo]

Hello Roylera
I use same camera and I promise you its not instant to get best results but when sorted
fantastic results can be had.
to start with view and download this from Canon some of the best info i've found.
its in PDF format & about 35 pages.
Try from page 24 where sharpness is dealt with.

Note..
select, tips and technique / camera handling /image quallity and choose full version
from link below.

http://www.photoworkshop.com/canon/index.html

Hope this gets you started,
Martin (Huckaback Photo)

My Gallery http://www.pbase.com/huckaback_photo

[Huckaback Photo]

Roy
one other point
if you dont wish to work in Raw (which really is good)
Try going into parameters and adjusting settings, as the default is 0 with no sharpening set by Canon. this of course is fine but if you dont post process in P S images are way to soft for me.

The settings I currently use. (try these first then pull back on the sharpness later to 4 or 3 if needed)

Sharpness...5
Contrast.....1
Tone curve..standard

Dont be worried about high iso with 1dmk2 use what it takes to get fast shutter speeds.
Carry out 2 tests with 2 dif lenses . say 50mm and longest lens you use...both on and off tripod
some with filter fitted some without some raw some jpeg...some in camera sharpened or with software unsharp mask. and compare results.
Also when viewed on screen at 100% images are enormous so will naturally look softer, step back say 4 - 5ft and you may find visually sharper.

Martin