Jpeg sharpening

Hi,

a question about jpeg sharpening with the K5.If the setting is centered does this apply any sharpening? If you set a minus setting does this make the image softer?
I always use raw but would like to try the picture modes and highlight recovery settings.

Regards
rick

I use +1 sharpening in camera and do the rest as a last stage in Photoshop, applying different amount of Unsharp Mask depending upon the final size and purpose of the image.

All digital images can benefit from some sharpening, but too much looks dreadful.

You are correct that minus means softer, plus means sharper. 0 is the default setting. Whether that means no sharpening at all or not I don't know.

Thanks John,

I tried comparing a couple of shots but could not see much difference.O looked ok and plus looked slightly sharper but not as much as photoshop sharpening, I think camera sharpening only does edges.

I was suprised at the image quality compred to raw,could not see any difference.



rick

I'm not going to open a hornet's next regarding JPEG capture, but glad it's working well for you. It's what I use almost all the time.

Hi, I use the default 'Bright' for my KR with the default +1 contrast and +1 Sharpness plus Fine Sharpness on. There is a little dot by each of the defaults in case you can't remember what they were. My KX before it had 'Natural' as the default profile. No doubt due to Pentax assessing the sensors as slightly different.

When people are comparing shots I wonder is this on a 96 DPI Digital PC Monitor (72 DPI on Macs) or on a large print? Screens are very forgiving nowadays and the better graphics cards tinker with your output as well.

The amount of sharpening an image needs will depend on it's intended output, a large file for producing an A3 print will need more sharpening that an 800pixel wide image for display on the web.

Different images will also need different levels of sharpening depending on the subject, I have my K5 set at factory default and sharpen later as and if required.

I'm only guessing here, but because a JPEG is compressed image data, then there will be a sort of "bleed-through" of colours, and sharpening a JPEG is in reality just telling the camera to be a bit less "keen" with its compression.

Since a RAW file is "raw" there should (in theory anyway) be no "bleed-through" in the colours.

... Or, I could be a blithering idiot!!

There should be no effect like you describe Steven.

Have a look at the two PU articles I've done on sharpening. One covers simple use of Unsharp mask and the other a technique using Lab mode.

Sharpening is a huge subject, but in its simplest form perfectly effective. Providing it's not overdone.