I got lots of questions / full size sample requests about the first black and white portrait so I decided to make it available not as RAW this time but resized to match 14mp. All noise reduction is completely turned off (possible using Raw Developer) which gives extra detail and realistic, film like qualities. - I also saved info in the darker portion of the image.
No additional sharpening, level, curves etc. I did clone out part of a wall though and added vignetting. :) - This sample should be perfect for anyone having a printer and that would like to know what a SD14 4.6mp image will look like a bit bigger. There is stair stepping in this image and with qimage or other software it would probably look a bit better.
Click for the final 4600 x 3057 (14mp) image.
EDIT: I posted a comparison over at dpreview’s Sigma forum.
RAW + Raw Developer setting: download.
Hi Carl!
I must say it looks really nice, just like B&W old fashion film. Noise is really great and brings so much charakter to the picture. Outstanding. Keep up the good work “wise one” ;P
:) Yeah, the film quality is one of the keys here I think. :) Doing the same thing with a one stop underexposed ISO1600 image with the SD14 gives you very cool results. Very similar to that of tmax3200 film. Will come back to this later. :)
Amazing result here. Thanks for sharing. I tried enlarging your normal size version using Qimage and/or PS CS3 and could not come close to the amazing detail you achieved here. Would you kindly share the details of your enlarging and sharpening process? Raw Developer isn’t handling the enlarging, is it? Thanks, Amin
Hi Amin,
:) It’s actually direct output from Raw Developer. I have no idea what it does if anything extra.
But, the use of Raw Developer is essential to achieve the same amount of detail without too many artifacts.
I just tried it with your kindly provided RAW file, and RD is really doing something special here. Output from RD at the native size contains all the necessary detail, as subsequent upres in PS CS3 or Qimage gives the same results as RD alone. However, as you point out, using something other than RD for the raw conversion just doesn’t compare. Thanks again!
Normally I don’t comment much, but I just had to when I saw this capture. I think it is a very well done piece of work, truly inspiring! I find the atmosphere and feel compelling, as well as the brilliance in the technical rendition. Can I ask what kind of lighting setup you’ve used?
Og igjen, NYDELIG arbeide. Bookmarked!
-p
Carl,
This is a great photo, and that’s what matters the most, but it’s not address the question of MP.
To me, it looks a photo that is upsized. What I mean is that when you look at the “actual image size” or 100% pixel view on the monitor, the image apears to be pixelated (when it shouldn’t with today’s screen pixel sizes… it appears to have larger pixels than the screen pixels, and when you zoom in you see each pixel is made of four or more pixels….
it’s just like taking any 4mp image, resize in photoshop to a higher resolution first, then run a blur filter and voila, 14mp. I’d say this is a 4.7 mega pixel camera that gives you more accurately colored pixels than the bayer type sensors one tenth of it’s size…. (and that does not apply the corners which always show an often greenish hue… as if it was spray painted on the edges of the lens for a kokin effect!(would you buy it if that was the case?)
I hope they come up with some solution for the angel of incidence, which seems to me to be the reason for this effect, that is also simpler and more effective than the leica microlens solution (one would wonder why they don’t gradully enlarge the size of the pixels towards the edges, to compensate for less light which gets through due to accute angles of incidence…
but i’m no pro photographer and certainly no camera designer… i’m sure Sigma is quite aware of this greenish vignetting, and their people have chosen dp1 sample shots quite carefully, to mask this effect (not done so successfully as you can see the green hallo in images 10, 15, 20, 21 and other shots on sigma dp1 official samples site, and of course in most posts on the web when the background permits such anomolies to be visible in the corners…)
Hi Dys… :)
First off all I can tell you that the green vignetting is not a big problem - it’s seen on some images depending on F-number (higher=less) and angle of light hitting the sensor. (not sure how this works) but what I can tell you is that it’s not a big problem - and it’s very easy to fix and I’m sure that Sigma will take care of it soon. But still it’s an issue and you need to know how to deal with it in case you see it and don’t want it.
Second. The Sigma sensor is as you might know a three layer sensor. Meaning that it’s not just a 4.6MP sensor compared to other 4.6MP cameras. It’s different compared to anything else. It looks different when upsized. You have a different “sharpness”. When I have my pictures printed at fairs (which I do sometimes) people are mighty impressed by the look. Some think it’s some medium format film used etc. It looks different. That doesn’t mean I have the same amount of detail as Medium format - but it’s film like and pixel-perfect as medium format. No guessing.
// Carl