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| This is the scene I chose to evaluate the improvement in lens sharpness after using Topaz Sharpen AI. This image was made at the lens sharpest aperture (as I tested it), f/5.6. Focus was on the center of the door. (click to enlarge) Fujifilm X-T4; 16-55mm f/2.8 lens @ 33mm; 1/320th sec. @ f/5.6; ISO 160 |
As novice photographers, in our search to improve our skills, many of us were taught best practices. More experienced photographers, photographic writers and teachers would pass to us those things that would help us get better and optimize our photographs. Typically, topics such as gesture, moment, compositional rules (guidelines?), hyperfocal distance, the exposure triangle, shutter speeds for either stopping motion or purposely blurring it, depth of field, steady handholding techniques, etc. were presented to us along with examples. We followed those experts in hopes that we could make better photographs.
When it came to use of your lenses, it was not unusual to be told to not shoot wide open as your lens was not at its sharpest at that aperture. They told us that at apertures typically two stops down from wide open was usually the sharpest aperture on a lens. (That rule doesn't apply nearly as much now as it did in the past as lens technology has greatly improved) Also, we shouldn't stop our lenses all the way down to, say f/22 or f/32, as the physics and the bending of light through such a small hole will soften the image, reduce the resolution of fine detail and affect the overall sharpness of our images. Well, times have changed. It may be time to throw those last two recommendations out.
With today's digital photographic technology, in the form of image processing programs, slight image softness found when using a lens at its widest aperture or at its smallest, can now be largely negated. I've written about this before, here and here, and have continued my experiments in improving sharpness using plug-ins. Specifically, I've been using Topaz Labs Sharpen AI for some time on many, many images and I've found that I can reliably shoot wide open when needed as well as stop down to minimum aperture when extreme depth of field is needed and then counteract the overall softness or edge softness using this software.
To demonstrate this, I found a subject that had detail in the center, edges and corners. I set my Fujfilm X-T4 with the 16-55mm f/2.8 lens mounted on a sturdy tripod, squared it up to my subject, set the ISO on 160 (native), recording in RAW, the 2-second time then made three sets of images at each aperture from f/2.8-f/22, first focusing in the center, then the edge, and finally the corner.
The resulting images would be as you would expect. At f/2.8 the lens was just a tad less sharp than at smaller apertures. The images made with f/5.6 and f/8 were the sharpest across the field and f/22 had lost many of the fine details that could be seen at wider apertures. Then I sent the images through Topaz Sharpen AI and that program basically equalized if not bettered the sharpness and appearance of fine detail in the images.
I've included some examples of 100% crops of images made at f/2.8 and f/22 before and after being sent through Sharpen AI. I don't know if you will see what I see as I'm sure Google compresses the image files when I send them and they are posted. But to me, the results are clear. However, I'm only showing you the results from a specific camera and lens combination. Your camera and lens combinations may differ so I encourage you to make your own tests, download a free trial of the software and see how it affects your specific image files.
First, let's look at comparisons of the 'control' image shot at f/5.6 and the first test image shot at f/2.8. In all of these comparisons I only used the 'recommended' settings in Sharpen AI. I could have increased or decreased the amount of sharpening on any of the images to enhance the effect if needed.
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| This is a 100% center crop of the above image. The photo on the left was made at f/5.6, the lens' sharpest aperture (as tested by me). The photo on the right was made at f/2.8 and edited in Lightroom. (click to enlarge) |
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| The image on the left is the same as above shot at f/5.6. The image on the right is the same as above only this time processed with Topaz Sharpen AI. It is very easy to see how much sharper it is, just about matching the lens' sharpest aperture. (click to enlarge) |
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| These two are of the same image file shot at f/2.8. The one on the left was edited and sharpened in Lightroom Classic while the one on the right was sharpened in Topaz Sharpen AI. A direct before/after comparison where you can easily compare the improvement in sharpness. (click to enlarge) |
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| This is a right edge crop of the image that was shot at f/2.8. The left image version was edited and sharpened in Lightroom Classic while the right hand version was sharpened in Topaz Sharpen AI. Again, you can see the difference in not only sharpness but also the detail. (click to enlarge) |
Let's now look at any differences Topaz Sharpen AI can make when using a lens' smallest aperture, f/22, which induces softening due to diffraction.
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| The image on the left is the same one as at the top of this post, shot at the lens' sharpest aperture, 5.6. The image on the right was shot at f/22 and edited only in Lightroom Classic. You can see the effects of diffraction as the image on the right is visibly softer than the one on the left. (click to enlarge) |
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| Again, the image on the left was shot at f/5.6. The image on the right is the same as the one above and right, but now processed in Topaz Sharpen AI. F/22 now rivals the lens sharpest aperture and counteracts the effects of diffraction. More detail is also visible. (click to enlarge) |
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| Here is a direct before/after comparison. The version on the left was edited and sharpened in Lightroom Classic while the version of the same image on the right was sharpened with Topaz Sharpen AI. Sharpen AI can pretty much negate the effects of diffraction. (click to enlarge) |
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| Same images as above. This is a 100% right edge crop. The left image was shot at the cameras' sharpest aperture, f/5.6 and the image on the right was shot at f/22. Both were edited and sharpened in Lightroom Classic. You can easily see the effects of diffraction in the image on the right. (click to enlarge) |
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| Same pair of images as directly above but now the image on the right was processed in Topaz Sharpen AI. Notice how the loss of resolution was regained by using the Topaz plug-in. The right hand file now rivals the sharpest aperture of the lens on the left. (click to enlarge) |
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| Here is a direct comparison of the image shot at f/22. The version on the left was edited and sharpened in Lightroom Classic, while the version on the right was processed in Topaz Sharpen AI. These new plug-ins open doors for us that previously, we were hesitant to walk through. We no longer need worry about using our smallest apertures for fear of losing image sharpness. Technology is the great equalizer in today's digital photography world. (click to enlarge) |
Since its inception a couple of years ago, I've now tried this plug-in with numerous images and I've found a lot of good things and a few not so good things. First of all, when it works, it works wonders on images that are soft due to just missing focus, suffer softness due to a little camera shake, are stopped down all the way or shot wide open. Second, however, it won't help all images. Which? To find out which, you just have to send an image to Sharpen AI and look at the previews to see how the program affects a specific image. Most of the time I just use the suggested "automatic" settings but, at other times, I manually adjust the settings to optimize a specific image. When the software first came available, I saw a lot of artifacts introduced but since Topaz has updated their AI engine a couple of times, the software has gotten a lot better and I very seldom see any artifacts.
If you are thinking about trying Sharpen AI, I have a couple of suggestions. I normally use it as a plug-in to Lightroom Classic. If you send your image to Sharpen AI, Lightroom will create a TIFF file and send that over to Sharpen AI. However, there may be advantages to working directly on a RAW file and you can easily do that by opening Sharpen AI as an independent program and opening your RAW file directly. If you like to work in Photoshop, you can send your file to Sharpen AI from a layer (or Smart Object), then when returning it to Photoshop, you can then reduce opacity if the effect seems a bit too strong, mask out some areas if you choose, etc. Sharpen AI has a mask tool which allows you to 'paint in' the sharpening selectively or selectively 'erase' sharpening (in designated areas) that has been applied to an entire image. But if you prefer to use Photoshop's masking features, you can mask out out of focus backgrounds, etc. instead of applying sharpening to them.
I find Sharpen AI a wonderful tool to add to my photographic toolbox. With that program, Topaz DeNoise AI and Gigapixel AI, I find little if any differences at all in my smaller sensor image files as compared to my 45mp Nikon Z7 files. As I've said many times, technology will, is, and has become the great equalizer in digital photography.
I now feel free to use any aperture on any of my lenses knowing that any slight degradation of image quality can pretty much be neutralized in one of these auxiliary software tools. Just think. These plug-ins are really good now. Think about how they will improve in the future!
DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with Topaz Labs or any other company. I have no advertisements, click through sites, get no commissions nor free software or gear to test. I pay for my software, hardware and gear and pay the same prices as do you. I just try to pass on my knowledge to help you become a better photographer.
Thanks for looking. Enjoy!
Dennis A. Mook
All content on this blog is © 2013-2021 Dennis A. Mook. All Rights Reserved. Feel free to point to this blog from your website with full attribution. Permission may be granted for commercial use. Please contact Mr. Mook to discuss permission to reproduce the blog posts and/or images.
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