Pros and cons of using D200 onboard sharpening

[ombrello]

I've read a number of posts over the past several weeks, specific to the softness of the D200 images. I

have a D200 with both an 18-200 and a 50mm 1.4. I have noticed that there is some softness on my

images (RAW or JPEG), especially visible when enlarging. Assuming that inceasing the sharpness in the

camera addresses this issue, would there be any advantage to changing the default setting to be sharper?

What would be the disadvantage of doing this?

[michaelging]

I have always been told that you sharpen in PS, not the camera.The last thing you do to the photo is sharpen it.

[ShunCheung]

Indeed, sharpening should be around the last step in image editing, and in-camera sharpening has no effect on RAW files, anyway. RAW really means raw.

[yellowwoodguiding]

Originally on my D100, and now my D200, I set the camera to no sharpening to the image. With the D100 it was always said that the in camera processing can add extra noise, which I found to be true to a certain degree.

 

I have found that sharpening in PS allows you be more dynamic and creative with the sharpening. Some macros and landscapes I never touch the Unsharp Mask. On wildlife I set it from 100 - 195 with a 1.0 radius.

 

Using the in camera sharpening I was never impressed and always had to do some post processing work. To me, most if not all the imagines need some work anyway, be it contrast, Saturation, level etc, adding the sharpening is just 5 seconds more work for the exact results I want.

 

So basically setting it for more sharpening may still give you soft images, it may add more noise (haven't tested this for the D200 yet), and you may want to readjust later so for Jpeg you can't go back. I shoot all jpeg, so without the sharpening I can edit, and then a year later re-edit the shot form the original. Pro's of in camera is a faster editing work flow.

[elliot1]

Sharpening in the camera is no different than sharpening in your computer. The main difference is that you cannot unsharpen an oversharpened image, so if you oversharpen an image in your camera, you cannot fix it.

 

I would sugest you try setting the camera to sharper and see if you like the results. If you do, you will have one less post processing step.

[dean.wette]

I'm interested in this too. If I want to take serious pictures, I'll use RAW and sharpen later with PS. But what if I want to snap a bunch of pictures casually just to put on my website. Is there a recommended setting to use. Right now I have it set to Normal (0).

[yeux tortu]

As stated, you cannot reverse the oversharpenning artifacts on Jpegs coming out of the camera. Do it on the computer. In my experience, the risk of oversharpening is increased with sharper glass and better technique.

[joseph_smith3]

I shoot in RAW with my d 200. No sharpening is set in the camera. I do my processing in Nikon Capture. For some images, I do not even add sharpening in Capture. For others I do it using tool pallette 2, advanced raw, sharpening, medium high. It that does not get it done to my satisfaction, I go to unsharp mask in pallette 1 and use it guarding against setting too high a number.

 

If your images are soft, how do they look in your viewer like Nikon View zoomed in to 1 : 1? Maybe they are slightly out of focus? Try an experiment where you let the camera determine the focus and then you do it manually. I try and focus all of my shots manually even with AF lenses.

 

If you shoot RAW I think there would be an advantage to setting something sharper in your camera--only if it saves you time during processing.

 

Joe Smith

[ombrello]

Thank you all for your guidance. I have always done the sharpening on my computer with my

old digital (Olympus E20N). I'd say the images are definitely sharper then with the old digital.

When I bought my D200, I also changed computers (moving from Windows to Apple). I have

been using Aperture to process my image workflow. I have Photoshop on the Macbook also,

but Aperture runs faster. I use Photoshop for advanced editing.

 

Based upon the input from this group, I will spend the time working with the post processing

phase.

[ilkka_nissila]

I find I get excellent results using auto sharpening and the NEF format. It's fairly mild but the result is natural looking. No additional sharpening needed, unless the image is executed poorly.

 

I do use sharpening tools when I work on my scans.

 

The in-camera settings do have effects on RAW files - they change how Capture processes the files by default. Which saves a lot of time IMO.

[stephen_fassman]

Has anyone read pg 16 of Jason Odells Capture NX book regarding how to properly set the

jpeg image values for the (D200) prior to shooting Raw + jpeg? He reccs setting sharpness at

+2. Are there users of Odells recc's out there that would care to comment? Thanks.

[bruce_rubenstein]

I shoot large number of JPGs (around 15K this past year) with a D200. Here's what I've found out about sharpening: with sharpening set to 0 in the camera the images are soft. They look good with sharpening set to +1. There are very sharpening artifacts at +1 even when pixel peeping. There are some advantages to RAW for sharpening and noise reduction. The algorithms for both have to be kept simple in the camera so that they run fast. The algorithms in RAW converters are more sophisticated and will give better results. The differences are just visible when zoomed in to 100%.

 

In the end though, which is "better" depends on what you will be doing with the image latter. You have to try different settings and determine what works best for you.

[tekkie]

Digital camersa are generally 'soft'. The anti aliasing is there to prevent artifacts. +1 on the

D200 in JPEG works Ok. I do all of mine in RAW/ NX.

[marco_trovalusci]

Speaking of onboard sharpening. I have tested my D200 taking the same shot and working through the sharpening menu from the default Auto to None and for the life of me I can't get the jpeg images to register anything other than AUTO when viewing exif data in either Bridge, Nikon View or Capture NX. Anyone know what's going on with this limited info I have provided?

cheers

marco