Today I’m returning to an image that I’ve probably shown before. It may not be the same identical file but it’s possible you’ve already seen this. I’m doing this because I’ve been back through my image library and reprocessed quite a few of the RAW files.
The reason for this is because I noticed some of my image quality problems of the past are fixed by changing RAW converter (no, I’m not talking about Fuji). In fact, some of the lens and camera performance problems were so bad I ended up selling the camera/lens. Now I’ve discovered the problem was mostly my RAW converter. If you want to see five examples here’s my video.
But back to the image above.
I shot this with an Olympus EM5 (micro 43) using the Olympus 9-18mm lens at 10mm. The camera was tripod mounted and I used an ND grad on the sky (2 stops I think). In the past when I processed this file it was a struggle. There were noisy shadows which lacked detail and a blown-out sky. The image also had a lot of distortion, especially in the corners of the frame.
The difference is that I used DxO PhotoLab to process the RAW file.
Now I’m not recommending switching to DxO, but it is interesting how good the RAW processing now seems to be. What I am recommending though is to always shoot in RAW format and hang onto your files. At least that way you can take advantage of future developments in software.
An unfortunate side effect of all this though is that it’s made me think of buying another Micro 43 camera.
I hope you like the image and have a great weekend.
The Lightweight Photographer 
That’s a really interesting observation. I may be imagining it but I think it’s the same with lens profiles. I’m sure I now get better results out of my old Canon 20mm than I used to.
I agree. The processing you now have available is much better than say 10 years ago when using old RAW files. I have some from an old Canon 300D 6MP camera and they look superb now, even blown up to A3.
Nice image. The right raw processor can make a huge difference. I’d go as far as to suggest that it can make more difference than a camera upgrade, as well as being somewhat cheaper. After much testing, I’ve settled on SilkyPix Pro 9 for Panasonic RW2 raws. DxO was a close second, with “intelligent” corrections and excellent noise reduction.
Thank you. And I agree about the importance of the RAW converter. People often forget about software but spend large sums on new equipment.
Lovely image, Robin, great composition and colors. It would be nice to see you shooting with really lightweight cameras again. I’m still using my beloved RX10. I’ll take it into a two-week trip to Peru within two months. Greetings from Brazil, have a good weekend.
Thanks Rodrigo. I have to admit to missing my RX10 (it’s a wonderful camera) and have recharged the batteries. I’ve also charged up the batteries for my old EM5 with the intention of using both cameras in the near future.
Hi Robin, it would be interesting to know if you think the RAW converter in Affinity Photo is up to the job, besides DxO Photolab? I’m just in the process of learning Affinity Photo and find it a rather remarkable app for the job. the different ways you can sharpen an image I never saw in Lightroom and I never really got to grips with Photoshop. I don’t rate ON1 or Luminar. The only other app I feel could be up to the job is Capture One Pro but that’s too expensive to keep up with. I’ve paid for 10 and the upgrade to 11 but now I’ve retired I don’t want to shell out that sort of money. Your video shows some very interesting blurring that I never really noticed in any of my photos but I’m sure going to be looking for this in future.
The RAW converter in Affinity is excellent but I haven’t compared the Lens Corrections. I will add this to the list of future comparisons alongside Capture One.
That is a great shot. Interesting, when your on the https://thelightweightphotographer.com/author/thelightweightphotographer/
page, if you hover your cursor over the large image it gets covered in fine diagonal stripes, very subtle though. i’m on a Mac using Safari so it may just be a peculiarity of my machine/browser. I have a screenshot if you wanted to see it Robin.
It does the same on my Mac and unfortunately, it’s not something I have any control over on the blog (unlike my website). It’s supposed to be an indication that you can click on the heading image to open the blog post. For some reasons using Safari, it doesn’t render quite as intended and the pixels appear to make a very diagonal pattern. It’s probably something to do with the retina screen.
One other area which may have a bearing on the choice of a RAW processor is how easy / difficult it is to make a profile for a new non-native lens, example say a Laowa 7.5mm.
Yes, that is a limitation with PhotoLab but it can still render the RAW file and you can still apply the corrections manually, saving them as a preset. Generating new lens profiles in Lightroom using the separate profile creator is a painful experience and that’s if you can find a lens target to use.
Robin
I don’t know how you can find any time to take photos, with the editing you do must take forever and I suppose you occasionally have a kip. This photo was incredible.
Regards
Ian Jenkins
On Fri, 1 Mar 2019, 17:30 The Lightweight Photographer, wrote:
> thelightweightphotographer posted: ” Heswall. Olympus EM5, 9-18mm Olympus > lens, ISO200, f/8.0, 1/25″. Today I’m returning to an image that I’ve > probably shown before. It may not be the same identical file but it’s > possible you’ve already seen this. I’m doing this because I’ve been back t” >
Thank you, I’m pleased you like the photo. Actually, the editing doesn’t take as much time as you might think. Correcting problems with the Lenscraft website seems to take the most effort.
Nice image.
Thank you