Clarity Control

Pistnbroke

Well my new D810 arrived ($2000) and done the battle with the CF cards not working ..I know I am a large/basic/sharp+9 kinda person but should I be a clarity +5 one as well??

spraynpray

Normal rules don't apply to you Pistnbroke, but watch out for 'haloing'.

Pistnbroke

Well of course no serious photographer uses JPEG ...They shoot RAW and convert them to JPEG with a computer not fitted inside the camera .......so I suppose its back to test dont guess....will let you know.

Ironheart

This is a pretty good site from Nikon, with pictures and sliders to see what clarity does to a photo:

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/picturecontrol/adjustment/articulation.htm

"The level of clarity can be set precisely in increments of 0.25 from -5 to +5. [A] (Auto) can be selected so that the camera automatically adjusts the clarity according to each shooting situation. The lower the number, the softer the image. The higher the value, the clearer the image becomes. While sharpening mainly controls the contours of a subject, clarity can control the subject’s clearness while maintaining the gradation of highlight and shadow areas. If you control contrast, the brightness of highlight and shadow areas may be affected, but with clarity, the brightness of the original subject will not be changed much. Clarity is useful when you want to make hazy-looking subjects look clear while maintaining the details, or when you want to make hard-looking subjects look softer and gentler."

From playing with it myself, it looks like you either want Auto or a middle value if you are not going to adjust it for each picture scenario.

Pistnbroke

Thanks Ironheart for that sensible and usefull answer ....I was thinking about 4 myself but as all my stuff goes through perfectly clear and is then vetted by the wife (PP guru) I must watch that my D7100/D800 and the new D810 all match .The clarity control in camera may just be duplicated in perfectly clear.....Test dont Guess as it said on the Sun Tester

spraynpray

Well I just spent some time looking at that and it looks to me like at elevated clarity settings the camera loses control of the whites easier which, given that you shot weddings, is not going to be helpful.

Pistnbroke

Dead on spraynpray ..I testd it on my white plaster garden ornament and at +5 the whites were blown out so I think its at 0 for now and leave it to perfectly clear to sort out the rest... could not see muc difference between the D800 and the D810 but its quiet ...blessed is the owner of a silent camera his years will be doubled

donaldejose

"blessed is the owner of a silent camera" Yes, I want a D810 for just that one reason alone. The only thing better would be a mirrorless body with a silent shutter. My D800 shutter is too noisy for polite company.

Msmoto

Clarity, huh? Well, I shoot in camera setting "Neutral" (Minimal processing for natural results. for photographs that will later be extensively processed or retouched.)

In post processing, LR 5.7, I have my presets at Clarity +19, Vibrance and Saturation at +5. Also the slider for shadows is about 80% to the right and for the highlights 80% to the left. And, this is where I start with my 14 Bit Lossless compressed RAW files on my D800E. Then I fiddle for what seems like forever to get an image I like.

My understanding of Clarity is that it is more of an edge contrast enhancement, not an overall contrast tool. But, what do I know? I just play with the stuff until I get what I want, sometimes....

Pistnbroke

Msnoto


You got it in one ...Then I fiddle for what seems like forever to get an image I like. Multiply that by 1500 from a wedding oh yes great joke ..no thanks

Msmoto

Oh, golly, I forgot to mention that I do not do any commercial work, only for free. But, I have found, once I have some presets for one image of a group shot in the same venue, I can copy the settings and start each new image at very close to the final.

Of course, on this forum we have those who are actively involved in commercial photography, and those, like myself, who are all talk.....LOL

spraynpray

Pistnbroke's idea of a lot of PP is more than zero because he shoots jpeg using tried and trusted settings and delivers them pretty much straight out of camera. Pretty ballsy stuff eh?

I am too OCD for that!

paulr

I think Ironhearts Link helps clear the problem. I have had no issues with my D810

haroldp

Move a dark cloud over the sun and settings change.
I also shoot raw at the neutral preset and set conversion settings in PP. I also will reset defaults for a group shot under similar conditions ad fine tune individually.

I do not hve the confidence to shoot jpg in camera and I am doing this for 50 years, as a pro and enthusiast.

... H

Pistnbroke

I dont think straight out of the camera is fair..Perfectly clear then lightroom and about 8 hrs to process a 1000 shot wedding ..every shot is indivdually checked and sorted ....

Snowleopard

I try to set as many settings in camera as possible and only shoot raw with the D810. That way there is less work in post, most of the time I spend less than 10 seconds on any photo in post. More than that takes me away from hitting my next shoot.

I like clarity within reasonable levels, unless I am going for a very specific look.