on camera sharpening of pictures

Not sure which forum this would be best in. With my new xti i have been taking a ton of pictures. I love getting back into slr photography, instead of point-n-shoot.

I have done a lot of reading. One thing that popped in my head is on camera sharpening. I have read with the sensor cleaning or anti aliasing thingy that is on the sensor can soften up pictures. I have seen that i can alter sharpening and saturation on camera.

what is more suggested. Do sharpening on computer (which i really havn't figured out yet on photoshop) or set camera. I know on xti that i can make custom settings to have sharpening from 0 to +10 or something like that. What does everybody tend to do with their camera. Leave it low, or bump it up a little (say +3 or +4) How much noise does this add. if there is noise, proboly won't been seen in 4x6 or even 8x10?? I don't see my self making many larger prints than that. But if i decide to, will i see noise at larger levers??

What is the concensus of saturation and sharpening levels?

Many of us shoot in RAW which means that there's no in-camera adjustment of any of the camera's parameters.

That way there's full control of the image on the PC.

If I was shooting jpeg I'd want the same option - so for me, no in-camera processing.

I shoot raw, with a 30d, and I do get different results when adjusting the sharpness/saturation in the camera. Try the different levels of sharpness/saturation in your camera and print them without editing and choose what you like best for the given situation. You can add more or less sharpness/saturation in the computer to your liking.

As for noise, I haven't noticed any issues when it comes to sharpening. I only notice minimal noise when exposure was off and/or higher ISO.

Relax and enjoy.

Sharpen in Photoshop. In camera settings are no substitute for good post processing.

liza wrote in post #2244773
Sharpen in Photoshop. In camera settings are no substitute for good post processing.

I completely disagree. When set up properly, the in-camera settings will yield awesome results. Now, if you want to create images that are beyond natural looking then post processing will come into play and it can be fun but it should not be a crutch for not getting the sharpness correct in the camera. To suggest over and over to rely on PS for sharpening is to ignore those of us who do get it tack sharp right from the camera. Steady hand, hand holdable shutter speeds, good glass and light and you can get tack sharp pictures from the camera.

Not if you shoot RAW.

DSLR's are not point and shoot cameras. Photoshop is not a crutch but rather a tool for those who care to invest the time and energy to do things correctly. Personally, I find the use of parameters for oversharpening and oversaturating images to be a crutch for those who refuse to avail themselves of the available technology to achieve professional results.

And I'm not going to turn this into a debate. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

liza wrote in post #2244965
Not if you shoot RAW.

DSLR's are not point and shoot cameras. Photoshop is not a crutch but rather a tool for those who care to invest the time and energy to do things correctly. Personally, I find the use of parameters for oversharpening and oversaturating images to be a crutch for those who refuse to avail themselves of the available technology to achieve professional results.

And I'm not going to turn this into a debate. We'll just have to agree to disagree.

Liza,

With all due respect, you turned this into a debate when you got defensive about PS. The OP asked if you can adjust sharpness/saturation in the camera and the answer is yes, including RAW, I know because I do, this is fact not debate. OP asked all of us "What does everybody tend to do with their camera. Leave it low, or bump it up a little." ... We will all have different answers and I gave mine but don't understand why you're jumping to argue with it. I don't agree or disagree with your method since I don't even know it but I just answered the OP's question. Seems we detoured this thread, shame on us

bphillips330 wrote in post #2244124
Not sure which forum this would be best in. With my new xti i have been taking a ton of pictures. I love getting back into slr photography, instead of point-n-shoot.

I have done a lot of reading. One thing that popped in my head is on camera sharpening. I have read with the sensor cleaning or anti aliasing thingy that is on the sensor can soften up pictures. I have seen that i can alter sharpening and saturation on camera.

what is more suggested. Do sharpening on computer (which i really havn't figured out yet on photoshop) or set camera. I know on xti that i can make custom settings to have sharpening from 0 to +10 or something like that. What does everybody tend to do with their camera. Leave it low, or bump it up a little (say +3 or +4) How much noise does this add. if there is noise, proboly won't been seen in 4x6 or even 8x10?? I don't see my self making many larger prints than that. But if i decide to, will i see noise at larger levers??

What is the concensus of saturation and sharpening levels?

JRT,

With all due respect, you are wrong.
If you read the OP more carefully you’ll see that OP asked something else as well and liza gave him a correct answer.

Hermeto wrote in post #2245254
JRT,

With all due respect, you are wrong.
If you read the OP more carefully you’ll see that OP asked something else as well and liza gave him a correct answer.

Hermeto,

How am I wrong? I can't adjust my sharpness/saturation in the camera? The OP is basically taking a poll. OP wants to know what we do. Liz can not speak for me and I don't speak for her. Keep to the subject and answer the OP's question. The OP will then decide after they feel enough varied responses have been posted what direction they will take. Instead of replying with "you're wrong" give YOUR opinion on the subject. Liz could have answered with "I use xyz setting in PS to get my images sharper than from my camera."

If we can't add anything positive to the post we shouldn't bother replying. If we bother to log in it is because we want to learn and share not to give unsolicited remarks.

Now please, back to the regular programming

Yes, you can adjust sharpness and saturation in-camera, or you can do it during post-processing. Now, if you are used to the kind of results that you'd get from a P&S, and just basically want to take a shot and print it from the camera, then by all means fiddle around with your parameters. The downside of in-camera processing, especially if you just shoot jpeg, is that once it's done in-camera, it can't be undone. This is why most users would rather do their adjustments on the computer, where the result can be undone if not desirable. To JRT, no, the OP isn't taking a poll as to which method we use. The OP is asking which method we find preferable.

JRT wrote in post #2244855
I completely disagree. When set up properly, the in-camera settings will yield awesome results. Now, if you want to create images that are beyond natural looking then post processing will come into play and it can be fun but it should not be a crutch for not getting the sharpness correct in the camera. To suggest over and over to rely on PS for sharpening is to ignore those of us who do get it tack sharp right from the camera. Steady hand, hand holdable shutter speeds, good glass and light and you can get tack sharp pictures from the camera.

Props to you. A photographer will make maximum use of the camera settings and rely less on software to get the image where it should be. But that's just a sore spot with me.

JRT wrote in post #2245175
The OP asked if you can adjust sharpness/saturation in the camera and the answer is yes, including RAW, I know because I do, this is fact not debate.

Just to clarify though, when you set the parameters when shooting RAW this only gets stored in the meta-data and is possibly applied to the thumbnail image. It does not actually make the RAW data any sharper or more saturated.

e-k

crn3371 wrote in post #2245616
Yes, you can adjust sharpness and saturation in-camera, or you can do it during post-processing. Now, if you are used to the kind of results that you'd get from a P&S, and just basically want to take a shot and print it from the camera, then by all means fiddle around with your parameters. The downside of in-camera processing, especially if you just shoot jpeg, is that once it's done in-camera, it can't be undone. This is why most users would rather do their adjustments on the computer, where the result can be undone if not desirable.

It's also good to shoot in RAW, because you can always return to the original, pristine file and make changes without image degradation.

I agree with using the camera to its fullest advantage, using aperture, shutter speed, iso, to get the best possible result. But in-camera processing via parameters is still software manipulation of the image. That being the case, I'd much rather be in control of that process, where I can change it if I don't like the results, rather then letting the camera do it for me. And yes, Liza, that is the big advantage to Raw.

I had my old 300D set for maximum sharpness and slightly higher contrast (which makes a big difference) for several years without any problems whatsoever.It didn't give any noticable noise and it didn't cause aliaising on diagonel lines.In fact i still felt the need to sharpen most images abit more in photoshop.

I've had time to experiment a little with the new 400D and have settled on +2 sharpness (out of a possible 4) and +1 contrast (also out of 4)
I must say though that these are definitely modest settings -i'm using these because i'm sharpening most images in photoshop at present.You could most definitely bump up the sharpness to at least +3 without any worries at all.Be carefull of increasing the contrast too far though.A little extra contrast makes a BIG difference -it even maks images look sharper.But too much conrast looks really bad


By the way -here are some simple reliable settings to use for sharpening in photoshop-
Click on 'filter' > 'sharpen' > 'unsharp mask' .
Set 'threashold' to zero
For large images (eg. from the camera) ,set radius to 0.6 or slightly more
For screen sized images (or smaller) ,set radius at 0.3
Now simply vary the 'amount' slider until the image looks good.Be carefull not to overdo it,subtelty is the key