Aperture causing posterizing around highlights

Hello, so I have started coming across this issue more and more frequently. At first I thought it was just a bad photo or two, but now Ive realized that apples dropped the ball. It seems that almost any photo with a blown out area of highlights, next to a gradual drop off, gets posterized by apples raw processing. How ever when processed with any other software, the problem is non existent, and is almost impossible to duplicate with any standard form of color and exposure manipulation.

A picture is worth 1000 words, so heres an example. All are untouched by any exposure/contrast adjustments.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …thelostvertex/4​818826666/

Just an aside, you can see the same issue in this thread https://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthre​ad.php?t=903063 and the author confirmed he is using aperture. In addition mine was taken with a t1i, and his with a 300d(if flickr is to be believed). So 2 different models.

I'm not at my editing computer, but it looks to me like Aperture is by default applying a lot of highlight correction to the shot. I see similar results in Lightroom when I crack up recovery and/or pull back on the Highlight Tone slider -- those functions can hit kind of a brick wall, whereas if you pull back the Exposure slider and then play with the other adjustments you can a lot of times get better results.

The problem of course is whether Aperture has done this in a "fixed" way that you can't reverse. From what you say this may be the case, but since I don't have Aperture (or a Mac) I can't play with that.

Coming from another direction, though, is the question of whether you can recover enough of those fringe areas in DPP or LR to match what Aperture has recovered without the artifacts. Like I said, I'm not on my editing machine, but it would definitely good to find out.

Aperture does a better job of retaining the highlights here. (too much even)
If you want it blown, lower the "recovery" and "highlight" slider to 0.

(I don't use Aperture, but I do use Google
http://blogs.oreilly.c​om …1/highlight-recovery.html

ACR gives this if you overdo the recovery: Screenshot

René Damkot wrote in post #10588290
Aperture does a better job of retaining the highlights here. (too much even)
If you want it blown, lower the "recovery" and "highlight" slider to 0.

(I don't use Aperture, but I do use Google
http://blogs.oreilly.c​om …1/highlight-recovery.html

ACR gives this if you overdo the recovery: Screenshot

No recovery or highlight adjustments are being applied. I appreciate your try in ACR, but the issue is still some what different. The banding in aperture is worse WITHOUT and thing being applied to it, than in ACR when you are trying to make the issue appear. Also from playing with it in ACR, the recovery slider hardly does anything to bring the problem out, adjusting exposure seems to be the easiest way to bring out the problem(which you did). I also tried adjusting the highlights in ACR, but wasnt able to get anything close to Apertures result. I could produce some banding, but at the expense of all other image elements.

Every Raw converter behaves a bit different. Most noticable in the extremes (such as here )

Is there something like a "picture style" (Camera profile in LR) in Aperture?
You used "Portrait" in camera, which tends to be way more red then "Neutral" for instance.
Maybe you could alter a similar setting in Aperture?

Or just selectively desaturate the yellows...

What happens if you set exposure higher or lower?
Did you apply (the Aperture equivalent of) Clarity or Vibrance?

(Post a screenshot of your settings)

Picture styles are not applied in aperture, nor in ACR. I switched the picture style to standard to best match the others in the example photos when making the comparison from DPP. Both clarity(definition in aperture) and vibrance are not being applied in anyway, and when they are applied they have no effect on the issue.

TheLostVertex wrote in post #10590442
Picture styles are not applied in aperture, nor in ACR.

ACR has "Camera profiles" in the camera calibration tab that (try to) mimic Picture Styles.

TheLostVertex wrote in post #10590442
The lack of a check mark by the adjustment names means that are not being using to calculate the result. The raw fine tuning adjustments have little effect on the issue, the only one making any sort of actual difference is hue boost, which still doesn't help much.

So, in essence, Aperture is doing nothing to the image here?

Hmm. In that case, I hope another Aperture user comes along, since I cannot help

I've seen similar things, in photos here and there.. just figured it was a bad image as you indicated. I've never really tried to duplicate the issue, let along fix it.

I guess the fix is to properly expose your shot, eh?

René Damkot wrote in post #10600617
ACR has "Camera profiles" in the camera calibration tab that (try to) mimic Picture Styles.

You're right, but I did not apply any.

René Damkot wrote in post #10600617
So, in essence, Aperture is doing nothing to the image here?

Hmm. In that case, I hope another Aperture user comes along, since I cannot help

Aperture is doing nothing. If it was doing any less, it wouldnt even be open

Hey doc, it hurts when I do this...:p