De-Fishing Software

adrianday

adrianday

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One of the criticisms raised regarding de-fishing software is the fact that the edges of the frame loose resolution - hardly surprising when you consider what you're doing to the image. I think I've hit upon a simple processing step which looks to improve the image quality.

I bought a Samyang 7.5mm f/3.5 fisheye for m4/3 a while ago. I looked at de-fishing software and settled on DxO ViewPoint 2. It does what it says on the tin. But on closer inspection, the loss is resolution at the edges can be quite noticeable. Needless to say, I lost interest in producing panoramic photos. Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago and I found my interest rekindled. I'd read a review of Hugin - a free panoramic software stitcher that provides quite comprehensive de-fishing capabilities.

I gave it a try. And immediately noticed a dramatic improvement in the resultant images compared to those produced by ViewPoint. The only disadvantages with Hugin are, for me, complete showstoppers... The UI is badly constructed and integration into my current workflow is a time-consuming nightmare.

Time to fiddle.

The immediate thing that struck me was that the Hugin images were of a higher resolution compared to those created by ViewPoint. Hmm.

I doubled the size of the input image in PS prior to running it through ViewPoint. et voila. Better looking image edges. Odder still, less distortion towards the image edges (with the same settings). This particular feature is something I don't quite understand.

Just thought I'd share my experiences to date. Would be interested in find out what other people do.
 
Hugin looks a bit quirky, but it works well and I've been recommending it for several years. It's neatly integrated into my work flow it's set as my standard stitcher. I just select the images and go "Create Panorama". Maybe you can set it up.
 
ianp5a said:
Hugin looks a bit quirky, but it works well and I've been recommending it for several years. It's neatly integrated into my work flow it's set as my standard stitcher. I just select the images and go "Create Panorama". Maybe you can set it up.
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For me, DxO ViewPoint has the edge - it's way simpler and significantly faster. Hugin is clearly more capable. If I hadn't paid for ViewPoint I may have persevered with Hugin.

Haven't really done much photo-stiching. I've used PhotoShop CC in the past. Is Hugin a better option? If so, why?
 
Dxo seems to work on Mac and Windows only. So it won't run on my PC.
 
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I tried Fisheye-Hemi on images made with my Olympus 9mm and it made virtually no difference to the images, I ended up using a Sigma profile in Lightroom which although did a very good job in de-fishing it does smear the edge resolution quite badly.

I must spend more time with Hugin, I don't find it very intuitive to use, buts probably just me.
 
If I want a non fishy image, I use a rectilinear lens rather than a fisheye! As pointed out in the original post, defishing an image will always be trying to stretch the file at the edges so has to interpolate the missing pixels. The rectilinear UWA I use is the Sigma 12-24 on an FF body, equivalent (IIRC) to a 6mm on a 4/3 body. The fisheye I use is also a Sigma, their 8mm which gives a circular image on the FF body.
 
Nod said:
If I want a non fishy image, I use a rectilinear lens rather than a fisheye! ...
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Ah... It's nice to have the choice - I only have one ultra wide lens :)
I'm not a fan of the rectilinear stretched corner look; landscapes taken using them often don't look right. A lot of subjects work well with fisheye lenses and don't look odd and they seem to be the ones I take most of.
If I regularly shot architecture / interiors I might buy a rectilinear lens as de-fishing every shot in the set is a real PITA.
Only a tiny percentage of my fisheye shots get de-fished; and having the choice in PP is great!
 
Paul-H said:
I must spend more time with Hugin, I don't find it very intuitive to use, buts probably just me.
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Yes, though you can de-fish with Hugin via Digikam. Which has its own sleeker interface to Hugins algorithms.
 
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