New Lens Test
Dec 31, 2022 17:51:20 #
I got the RF 100-500L to pair with my R7.
The EF 100-400L with adaptor and with 1.4x III was doing great but adding the two made for a bit long, heavy and at the mount end delicate looking combo. So having seen great photos taken with the RF 100-500L posted, I ordered one. It came yesterday, but it was raining and getting dark already when I had time to try it out. Plus, the only bird that presented itself was a crow, and backlit on top of that.
Today it is a little chilly, cloudy bright with showers and hordes of small birds, mostly finches, and doves after food for fuel to keep warm.
And just now the sun is breaking through so I will put a chair by the door and open it enough to stick the lens out and see what else I can get.
Same frame:
#1 cropped only
#2 light editing in PhotoShop + Topaz Denoise and Sharpen AI and of course Lightroom Classic.
Handheld at about 20 feet.
R7, RF 100-500L @ 500, 1/640 @ f/7.1, ISO-1250
The SOOC version is very acceptable just as it is.
The EF 100-400L with adaptor and with 1.4x III was doing great but adding the two made for a bit long, heavy and at the mount end delicate looking combo. So having seen great photos taken with the RF 100-500L posted, I ordered one. It came yesterday, but it was raining and getting dark already when I had time to try it out. Plus, the only bird that presented itself was a crow, and backlit on top of that.
Today it is a little chilly, cloudy bright with showers and hordes of small birds, mostly finches, and doves after food for fuel to keep warm.
And just now the sun is breaking through so I will put a chair by the door and open it enough to stick the lens out and see what else I can get.
Same frame:
#1 cropped only
#2 light editing in PhotoShop + Topaz Denoise and Sharpen AI and of course Lightroom Classic.
Handheld at about 20 feet.
R7, RF 100-500L @ 500, 1/640 @ f/7.1, ISO-1250
The SOOC version is very acceptable just as it is.
Dec 31, 2022 18:12:54 #
Dec 31, 2022 18:25:17 #
Great exercise, very nicely done. You do see greater detail in #2. I agree SOOC is fine as is.
Dec 31, 2022 18:29:20 #
Dec 31, 2022 18:37:58 #
Both are terrific photos, but I prefer the more natural look of Photo #1. I'm beginning to get very turned off by artificially sharpened photos such as I've done with ON1. Topaz looks like the same thing. It's like the push by many software manufactures to drop invented clouds in photos. Who needs them?
Dec 31, 2022 23:45:29 #
whatdat wrote:
I would go with no. 2 for sharpness.
Thank you
It is the same frame but with some tone shifting and contrast to make up for the very soft cloudy bright light.
Pixel peep the OOC version and the detail is there, just harder to see because of the lack of contrast.
Dec 31, 2022 23:46:00 #
joehel2 wrote:
Great exercise, very nicely done. You do see greater detail in #2. I agree SOOC is fine as is.
Thanks much
Dec 31, 2022 23:46:55 #
PAR4DCR wrote:
Looks like you got a keeper Robert.
Don
Don
Oh, it is definitely a keeper, thanks for looking and commenting.
Dec 31, 2022 23:56:33 #
stevefrankel wrote:
Both are terrific photos, but I prefer the more natural look of Photo #1. I'm beginning to get very turned off by artificially sharpened photos such as I've done with ON1. Topaz looks like the same thing. It's like the push by many software manufactures to drop invented clouds in photos. Who needs them?
Thank You
#1 is a great OOC image and in many ways I also like it better. It does look more like what the eye saw in the soft, low contrast light, but when I looked at the birds a while through the lens my brain started to correct/edit the colors and contrast.
There are books written about how much the brain can modify, fill in and edit images the eyes see.
Back in the old days (I was young and in college and we used film.) I had a couple of classes with a professor who was a real big deal in the advertising photo world - like Ford Motors was one of his clients. He told us that a lot of his work was designed to take advantage of the human brain/mind's ability to edit and see things as they should be and not as they really appeared. We would look at some of his work and then write down what we saw. Then get copies to hold and study up close only to find some of what we "saw" wasn't really there. Just enough for the brain's editing ability to work with.
Jan 1, 2023 05:21:32 #
robertjerl wrote:
I got the RF 100-500L to pair with my R7. br The... (show quote)
The second one is sharper. Nice capture with the combo.
Jan 1, 2023 06:35:07 #
Jan 1, 2023 10:38:57 #
Jan 1, 2023 13:04:00 #
Jan 1, 2023 14:07:13 #
I am not sure if you are looking for critique, but it appears that by your responses you are. The R7 and 100-500 is a great combo combining versatility and reach. Yes, the R7 has some limitations, but for the price and weight, I think it is a great camera.
If this were my image, I would not sharpen the entire image, nor would I raise the contrast of the whole image. While you and I might disagree about the sharpening of the bird, I find the sharpening of the sunflower seeds and container disagreeable. Looks fake to me.
With either DeNoise AI or Sharpen AI it is easy to select and mask the bird (or even part of the bird) and apply the sharpening to that only.
Sorry if you are not looking for critique; I may have misread your intention.
If this were my image, I would not sharpen the entire image, nor would I raise the contrast of the whole image. While you and I might disagree about the sharpening of the bird, I find the sharpening of the sunflower seeds and container disagreeable. Looks fake to me.
With either DeNoise AI or Sharpen AI it is easy to select and mask the bird (or even part of the bird) and apply the sharpening to that only.
Sorry if you are not looking for critique; I may have misread your intention.
Jan 1, 2023 17:30:52 #
junglejim1949 wrote:
The second one is sharper. Nice capture with the combo.
That one did a trip through Topaz Sharpen AI on the lowest motion blur setting since it was hand held. I also tweaked the tones and contrast to offset the soft low contrast light.
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