Sony ClearImage Zoom: I’m a Sony fanboy so Please forgive me Lol! I have several Sony cameras and absolutely Love this feature! It effectively doubles the lens reach without a loss in...

markwilliam1

I’m a Sony fanboy so Please forgive me Lol! I have several Sony cameras and absolutely Love this feature! It effectively doubles the lens reach without a loss in image quality! You have to shoot jpeg but the results are Amazing! Imagemaster always promoted this feature...how come the other Big Boys don’t offer this feature? Go Sony and watch the others catch-up!

Ollieboy

I have a few Sony cameras. Clear Image Zoom by name may be proprietary. It's a form of interpolation used by other software, so not so unique. It does it well and maybe better than some others. However there is some minor image degradation. There is no free lunch. I use it a occasionally only when I'm using a tripod.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

markwilliam1 wrote:

I’m a Sony fanboy so Please forgive me Lol! I have several Sony cameras and absolutely Love this feature! It effectively doubles the lens reach without a loss in image quality! You have to shoot jpeg but the results are Amazing! Imagemaster always promoted this feature...how come the other Big Boys don’t offer this feature? Go Sony and watch the others catch-up!

Yes, I started using it back in 2013 on a little Sony A3000 with an adapted Canon 300mm f2.8 and was blown away ! I considered it a game changer for ME . I also used it quite a bit with the A77 II and the Sigma 100-300 f4....... Today, I occasionally use it with the Tamron 300mm f2.8 W/1.4X APO extender or the 500 f8 Reflex lens on the Sony A99.

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imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

Gasman57 wrote:

I have a few Sony cameras. Clear Image Zoom by name may be proprietary. It's a form of interpolation used by other software, so not so unique. It does it well and maybe better than some others. However there is some minor image degradation. There is no free lunch. I use it a occasionally only when I'm using a tripod.

At the time of it's launch, it was quite unique as an IN CAMERA solution ! ......yes, there is no free lunch, but the point is - it is simple, fast, and FREE and, better than using an optical extender.
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markwilliam1

Gasman57 wrote:

I have a few Sony cameras. Clear Image Zoom by name may be proprietary. It's a form of interpolation used by other software, so not so unique. It does it well and maybe better than some others. However there is some minor image degradation. There is no free lunch. I use it a occasionally only when I'm using a tripod.

I don’t agree! I Don’t see Any Image degradation at all! Are you a pixel peeper? I know of no other camera Manufacturer offers something like this. Provide examples of their software and comparing to Sony.

markwilliam1

imagemeister wrote:

At the time of it's launch, it was quite unique as an IN CAMERA solution ! ......yes, there is no free lunch, but the point is - it is simple, fast, and FREE and, better than using an optical extender.
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Agreed! Since I’m not a Professional...just me and it serves a Novice Perfectly!

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

markwilliam1 wrote:

I don’t agree! I Don’t see Any Image degradation at all! Are you a pixel peeper? I know of no other camera Manufacturer offers something like this. Provide examples of their software and comparing to Sony.

In my testing, with the Canon 300mm f2.8, I found that the results using a 2X extender vs 2X CIZ were visually slightly different. Depending on your personal interpretation, this difference may or may not be correctly labeled as "degradation" ......IMO, I could not find a personal preference between my test samples except that I thought the CIZ added a more artistic component to the image which, for some people ( and even ME) might be preferable - depending on subject matter interpretation.

Bottom line - ALL post processing software is adding an artistic component to an image ! Digital photography is all interpolation - including raw off the sensor ! -and is dependent on human perceptions !
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MDI Mainer

And unlike a tele extender, CIZ does not reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor. On my Sony bodies I have CIZ programed to one of the custom buttons.

And Topaz offers a program that does a credible job of converting JPEG files to Raw files, if necessary or advisable for post processing.

User ID

MDI Mainer wrote:

And unlike a tele extender, CIZ does not reduce the amount of light reaching the sensor. On my Sony bodies I have CIZ programed to one of the custom buttons.

And Topaz offers a program that does a credible job of converting JPEG files to Raw files, if necessary or advisable for post processing.

You put that in there on purpose, didn’t you ..... like you coulda posted just the first paragraph, but nooooo ....

Well, lets hear now it for the roar of the grease paint and the smell of the crowd ;-)

MDI Mainer

User ID wrote:

You put that in there on purpose, didn’t you ..... like you coulda posted just the first paragraph, but nooooo ....

Well, lets hear now it for the roar of the grease paint and the smell of the crowd ;-)

One reason I'm fond of UHH is that you never know when an allusion to either a Broadway musical or a noteworthy Australian musician, environmental activist and politician (not sure which) will pop up.

JacksonHD Loc: NorCal

imagemeister wrote:

.....yes, there is no free lunch, but the point is - it is simple, fast, and FREE and, better than using an optical extender.
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For an amateur such as myself, it is great when you "run out of lens." Maybe there is a little degradation, but it's not noticible to me (with 75 year-old eyes), and I get a shot I otherwise would not have. 👍

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

markwilliam1 wrote:

I’m a Sony fanboy so Please forgive me Lol! I have several Sony cameras and absolutely Love this feature! It effectively doubles the lens reach without a loss in image quality! You have to shoot jpeg but the results are Amazing! Imagemaster always promoted this feature...how come the other Big Boys don’t offer this feature? Go Sony and watch the others catch-up!

I have a Sony RX10M4 and have borrowed an A6400, and my results have been mixed. It is AI based. If the subject matter is in its database, it will result in minimal image degradation. If it isn't the degradation can be pretty bad, especially in the out of focus foreground areas. I routinely get better, more consistent results with shooting raw, and careful post processing. CIZ is limiting for me because it produces jpegs, and when detail is lost because of CIZ it cannot be recovered. After testing it a few times, I decided that for my use, I get better results without it. I have not tried it on a full frame Sony. Maybe that is a different experience. Due to visual latency and other physiological factors, CIZ works much better when shooting video.

I suspect CIZ would work pretty well for macro/closeup, and it is unquestionably better than most old-school digital zoom. But it is no match for using longer lenses.

Peterfiore Loc: Where DR goes south

I, too, have the RX10M4 and find I get much better image quality shooting raw and careful processing.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

markwilliam1 wrote:

I’m a Sony fanboy so Please forgive me Lol! I have several Sony cameras and absolutely Love this feature! It effectively doubles the lens reach without a loss in image quality! You have to shoot jpeg but the results are Amazing! Imagemaster always promoted this feature...how come the other Big Boys don’t offer this feature? Go Sony and watch the others catch-up!

Here is some info from B&H on clearimagezoom.
Sony’s Clear Image Zoom function delivers notably better definition than digital zoom or post-capture cropping. Even when pixel-peeping at 100%, the differences—if any—are seldom perceptible. What is noticeable is a slight increase in perspective compression when zoomed in to 2x, which is exactly what you’d expect when increasing the focal length of a lens or cropping.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

billnikon wrote:

Here is some info from B&H on clearimagezoom.
Sony’s Clear Image Zoom function delivers notably better definition than digital zoom or post-capture cropping. Even when pixel-peeping at 100%, the differences—if any—are seldom perceptible. What is noticeable is a slight increase in perspective compression when zoomed in to 2x, which is exactly what you’d expect when increasing the focal length of a lens or cropping.

But, for me, I shoot RAW, continuous focus, and 20 frames per second, I would have to turn all of these off to use Clear Image Zoom so I don't use it.
On my a9 menu, it is on page 6/11 on camera 2.