16-35 F/4L IS -- Canon registration, ACR profiles, etc.

[candyman]

The DxO profiles for this lens & most (or all?) Canon bodies is now available.

They don't show up in my DxO Optics Elite for 5D MKIII and 6D...

Hmm, they should, according to DxO: http://www.dxo.com/intl/news/dxo-optics-prodxo-viewpoint-new-lens-camera-combinations-2

I'm not at home right now, though, so I can't try it myself. You might want to check for updates to see if you're on the latest version (9.5.1, I think).

I started DxO again and now opens with the message - see - so everything ok!


EDIT: if you pick manually via the menu, I don't see the 16-35 f/4 IS module in the list (selected the 5D MKIII)
Do not have yet photos with the 5D MKIII + 16-35 f/4 IS. So I guess it works only on automatic camera+lens recognition

 

[dank]

The DxO profiles for this lens & most (or all?) Canon bodies is now available.

They don't show up in my DxO Optics Elite for 5D MKIII and 6D...

Hmm, they should, according to DxO: http://www.dxo.com/intl/news/dxo-optics-prodxo-viewpoint-new-lens-camera-combinations-2

I'm not at home right now, though, so I can't try it myself. You might want to check for updates to see if you're on the latest version (9.5.1, I think).

I started DxO again and now opens with the message - see - so everything ok!


EDIT: if you pick manually via the menu, I don't see the 16-35 f/4 IS module in the list (selected the 5D MKIII)
Do not have yet photos with the 5D MKIII + 16-35 f/4 IS. So I guess it works only on automatic camera+lens recognition

That was my issue as well. Tried to manually download and couldn't see it under the 5D mk II, but when i imported a photo shot with that combo it downloaded.

 

[mackguyver]

It shows up right near the top for me:

 

[mackguyver]

P.S. the profile from DxO seems to work exceptionally well. I applied it to my test shots and the 16-35 f/4 IS comes out quite a bit sharper than the corrected 24-70 f/2.8 II photos! That seems crazy but is what I'm seeing. I'll have to play with it some more this weekend and do some more side-by-side photos, assuming the weather cooperates.

 

[ahsanford]

P.S. the profile from DxO seems to work exceptionally well. I applied it to my test shots and the 16-35 f/4 IS comes out quite a bit sharper than the corrected 24-70 f/2.8 II photos! That seems crazy but is what I'm seeing. I'll have to play with it some more this weekend and do some more side-by-side photos, assuming the weather cooperates.

That's really odd -- your lens profile is affecting it's sharpness?

In ACR, profiles in there are for lens corrections: vignetting, distortion, chromatic adjustments, etc. but not for sharpness. You'd never want an apply-to-all-shots-from-this-lens sort of change to something that would vary for reasons other than the lens. In other words, I ratchet my sharpening up or down based on the light I had and the resulting ISO I had to use. Do why is the DXO profile bundling sharpness with the usual lens corrections?

Please forgive my ignorance. I've always been an ACR guy and did not know this about DXO's tools.

- A

 

[mackguyver]

P.S. the profile from DxO seems to work exceptionally well. I applied it to my test shots and the 16-35 f/4 IS comes out quite a bit sharper than the corrected 24-70 f/2.8 II photos! That seems crazy but is what I'm seeing. I'll have to play with it some more this weekend and do some more side-by-side photos, assuming the weather cooperates.

That's really odd -- your lens profile is affecting it's sharpness?

In ACR, profiles in there are for lens corrections: vignetting, distortion, chromatic adjustments, etc. but not for sharpness. You'd never want an apply-to-all-shots-from-this-lens sort of change to something that would vary for reasons other than the lens. In other words, I ratchet my sharpening up or down based on the light I had and the resulting ISO I had to use. Do why is the DXO profile bundling sharpness with the usual lens corrections?

Please forgive my ignorance. I've always been an ACR guy and did not know this about DXO's tools.

- A

Yes, DxO does sharpening as well, and it's probably the best and coolest correction they do as part of the profile because it's done per the lens's "softness" profile. That means that it sharpens very little in the center and more and more towards the edges. It's also done using some method that produces little-to-no artifacts, at least at the default setting. For me, it's great because the default settings work very well in 90% of the photos I take and that saves me from the time needed to sharpen like I do with ACR.

Here's more info if anyone is interested: https://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/tutorials/enhance-sharpness-your-camera-dxo-optics-pro

...and yes, DxO should pay me for being such a big fan/supporter...but they don't!

 

[ahsanford]

Yes, DxO does sharpening as well, and it's probably the best and coolest correction they do as part of the profile because it's done per the lens's "softness" profile. That means that it sharpens very little in the center and more and more towards the edges. It's also done using some method that produces little-to-no artifacts, at least at the default setting. For me, it's great because the default settings work very well in 90% of the photos I take and that saves me from the time needed to sharpen like I do with ACR.

Here's more info if anyone is interested: https://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/tutorials/enhance-sharpness-your-camera-dxo-optics-pro

...and yes, DxO should pay me for being such a big fan/supporter...but they don't!

Not being a pro, I don't like spending much time in post-processing. So I've always been a lazy 'global corrector' with the sharpness slider in ACR rather than masking before sharpening in PS. It's a terrible habit but a lot of the alternatives to my really quick ACR-->PS-->JPG workflow force me to migrate my universe into their databases. Believe it or not, I warehouse all my stuff in vanilla iPhoto as it pushes to all my devices so well (and I'm very happy with it).

But I would love a smarter RAW processing tool, especially to avoid global sharpening. Keep mind that I'm only RAW processing perhaps 3-5% of my shots.

So if I could just use a better tool as my RAW processing middleman and either save high quality JPGs or pipe to PS for heavy lifting on panos and such, I might be interested. Does DXO Optics Pro do that, and if so, is there a demo I could try to see how it stacks up against my ACR files?

- A

 

[mackguyver]

Yes, DxO does sharpening as well, and it's probably the best and coolest correction they do as part of the profile because it's done per the lens's "softness" profile. That means that it sharpens very little in the center and more and more towards the edges. It's also done using some method that produces little-to-no artifacts, at least at the default setting. For me, it's great because the default settings work very well in 90% of the photos I take and that saves me from the time needed to sharpen like I do with ACR.

Here's more info if anyone is interested: https://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/tutorials/enhance-sharpness-your-camera-dxo-optics-pro

...and yes, DxO should pay me for being such a big fan/supporter...but they don't!

Not being a pro, I don't like spending much time in post-processing. So I've always been a lazy 'global corrector' with the sharpness slider in ACR rather than masking before sharpening in PS. It's a terrible habit but a lot of the alternatives to my really quick ACR-->PS-->JPG workflow force me to migrate my universe into their databases. Believe it or not, I warehouse all my stuff in vanilla iPhoto as it pushes to all my devices so well (and I'm very happy with it).

But I would love a smarter RAW processing tool, especially to avoid global sharpening. Keep mind that I'm only RAW processing perhaps 3-5% of my shots.

So if I could just use a better tool as my RAW processing middleman and either save high quality JPGs or pipe to PS for heavy lifting on panos and such, I might be interested. Does DXO Optics Pro do that, and if so, is there a demo I could try to see how it stacks up against my ACR files?

- A

DxO might be a good choice for you as it's really designed for two types of people - users like yourself who prefer to have the tool do most of the work, and users like me who are insanely slightly obsessive about processing 100% of their photos from RAW. The basic processing works extremely well and the general sliders are easy to use to tweak your photos a bit, but there's lots more if you get into it.

On the other hand, the interface isn't the most intuitive and you have to export everything to file (or other apps) and that can be a little hard to get used to compared to other apps. I'd recommend downloading the free trial to see if it's for you. These two tutorials should get you started:

https://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/tutorials/first-steps-dxo-optics-pro-9

https://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/tutorials/first-steps-advanced-users-dxo-optics-pro-9

It's typically a love/hate thing with DxO, but try to be patient at first, it really is a great program once you get the hang of it.

 

[ahsanford]

DxO might be a good choice for you as it's really designed for two types of people - users like yourself who prefer to have the tool do most of the work, and users like me who are insanely slightly obsessive about processing 100% of their photos from RAW. The basic processing works extremely well and the general sliders are easy to use to tweak your photos a bit, but there's lots more if you get into it.

On the other hand, the interface isn't the most intuitive and you have to export everything to file (or other apps) and that can be a little hard to get used to compared to other apps. I'd recommend downloading the free trial to see if it's for you. These two tutorials should get you started:

https://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/tutorials/first-steps-dxo-optics-pro-9

https://www.dxo.com/intl/photography/tutorials/first-steps-advanced-users-dxo-optics-pro-9

It's typically a love/hate thing with DxO, but try to be patient at first, it really is a great program once you get the hang of it.

I'm fiddling with it now. Is microcontrast just DXO's term for the clarity slider from ACR? Seems very similar. It's a 'more detail at the cost of an HDR look' sort of tradeoff to me.

- A

 

[mackguyver]

I'm fiddling with it now. Is microcontrast just DXO's term for the clarity slider from ACR? Seems very similar. It's a 'more detail at the cost of an HDR look' sort of tradeoff to me.

- A

Yes, that's a good way to put it. I generally go light with that one, maybe +5 to +10 if needed. Also, if you expose to the right (or have shots with blown out highlights) the "Highlight Recovery - Strong" in the Exposure dropdown is pretty amazing.

 

[ahsanford]

I'm fiddling with it now. Is microcontrast just DXO's term for the clarity slider from ACR? Seems very similar. It's a 'more detail at the cost of an HDR look' sort of tradeoff to me.

- A

Yes, that's a good way to put it. I generally go light with that one, maybe +5 to +10 if needed. Also, if you expose to the right (or have shots with blown out highlights) the "Highlight Recovery - Strong" in the Exposure dropdown is pretty amazing.

The functionality is impressive but the controls/layout are a mouse fest. Not overly fond of that. And it really crawls on my old MacBook Pro for most tasks. Only the noise reduction previews take this long on ACR.

I've collared a few keeper RAW files from older shoots that capture the standard things I need to wrestle with in ACR. We'll see how this does, thanks.

- A

 

[mackguyver]

It's definitely an adjustment from ACR, which is a far more elegant interface for sure. On an older computer, I could see it having a hard time. I rebuilt my homemade PC last year and it's essentially top of the (standard consumer) line in terms of processing and DxO is still a bit slow with some things. It's good to be able to try the free preview so you're only out your time, not money, at least.