Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2021/06/12
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I know nothing about Leica Q2, but here is my take on the software. Topaz Sharpen AI is a stunner, and used in conjunction with something like DXO PureRAW will give your 6/12 MP digital files a new lease of life, which is unbelievable. Highly recommended, especially for old, low MP, high ISO, blurry files. It is at times, like magic! Topaz Gigapixel is the best I know of for uprezzing. Photoshop/Lightroom now give you the same facility that is probably a tad worse, but you are not going to make that out in the real world - I can see the difference only by pixel peeping, and cannot make out any difference in a print. I purchased Topaz Gigapixel at a time when an alternative was not there at the same level - but I would not purchase it today. https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2021/03/10/from-the-acr-team-super-resolution.html I would say, if you are going to be cropping a lot, look at DXO PureRAW as well, its noise reduction is, at times, uncanny. It does add a step to the workflow, surprisingly enough between the camera capture and the RAW converter, but you can batch process, so it is not a complete PITA. It basically does four things to improve a RAW file - demosaicing, noise reduction, lens correction and capture sharpening, fully automatically. If there is a downside, it is that we have no control at all, it is fully automated. Again for low MP files, or high ISO files, it is now an integral part of my workflow: https://www.dxo.com/ Cheers Jayanand On Sat, Jun 12, 2021 at 9:27 PM Howard L Ritter Jr via LUG < lug at leica-users.org> wrote: > Looking for LUGgers? opinions/experience with the Q2. And with Topaz Labs? > Gigapixel AI and Sharpen AI software. > > After decades of flogging a 35mm, then FF DSLR or mirrorless, on various > outings and expeditions, I have finally come to the realization that the > opportunity to use a lens longer than 50mm for a few percent of my shots, > most of them not particularly memorable, isn?t worth the bulk and weight of > a 24-70 or -85 zoom. I?ve gotten progressively unhappy with the lack of > decent compact primes for my Sony mirrorless FF a7Rii, and the resultant > need to tote the 24-70. My everyday-carry lens on an M body is 35mm and I?m > much more apt to wish I had something shorter mounted than longer. I?m not > above going out with the M240 or MM sporting the lovely 21-35 Vario-Elmarit > R on an M adapter and EVF. > > So I?m going to Iceland (again) next week with my son for a > circumnavigation of the island by the Ring Road, with side trips to the > volcano and the Snaefjellsness Peninsula. This prospect really stimulated > some analytical thinking, and I went ahead and ordered a Q2 from B&H. It > arrived yesterday and I?m familiarizing myself with it. It?s a real gem, > well advanced from my M240 in terms of being a thoroughly modern FF digital > camera, and it really feels right to/for me. It?s going to replace my Sony > a7Rii, Sony RX1-R, and a few lenses. > > My reasoning is that with a 28mm prime lens and a 47 MPx sensor, I can > crop and enlarge to the equivalent of 90mm and have a 4.5 Mpx image file. > I?ve found that Gigapixel and Sharpen can produce an image file 4x as large > as the original (2x the pixel dimensions) that looks at least as good as a > native image file made with a lens of 2x the FL. So the 4.5 Mpx crop can be > up-res?d and sharpened to look like an 18 Mpx file taken with a 90 mm lens. > And the 24 Mpx images from my late, lamented NEX-7 that I see as background > on my 25? iMac?s 250-dpi, 15-Mpx screen every day remind me of how > stunningly detailed 15 Mpx can look 2? across the desk even at 13 x 21?. > > Any helpful advice or reports from Q users? > > Images to follow. > > ?howard > > _______________________________________________ > Leica Users Group. > See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information