sharpening- in camera or pp?

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benny the jet

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Hello folks

Probably a daft question but what are the pros and cons of in camera vs pp sharpening?

I'm reading conflicting reports

Cheers :)
 
Personally, I have always preferred to sharpen in post-processing as it gives me total control. I'm not sure if there are significant pros or cons either way :shrug:
 
1. the processing power of my computer and PS is far greater than my camera.
2. sharpening depends on final output, so only sharpen as the last step before either printing or putting on web.
Nuff said.
 
Shoot RAW, sharpen as last step in PP.
The only in camera sharpening is (AFAIK) when shooting Jpegs, which I don't do.
Hope this helps.
Gary.
 
Bristolian said:
Personally, I have always preferred to sharpen in post-processing as it gives me total control. I'm not sure if there are significant pros or cons either way :shrug:
Click to expand...

I shoot JPEGs in camera with the sharpening set to 0 to minimise noise, especially when shooting at high ISO.

After NR I double sharpen in PP, once straight away, and once as the final sharpening.

I find this way works fine for me.

.
 
As an extra note in PP, if you're using photoshop, try unsharp mask on the high resolution image and smart sharpen on any low resolution web copy you make. No one told me this for years and it makes a massive difference!
 
fluffmct said:
As an extra note in PP, if you're using photoshop, try unsharp mask on the high resolution image and smart sharpen on any low resolution web copy you make. No one told me this for years and it makes a massive difference!
Click to expand...

I use unsharp mask on the high resolution images (i.e. the one's you're going to print A4, A3 etc) and again on the 800x600 images for web, but change the unsharp mask settings so that you don't get that halo around the subject which indicates you've over sharpened the image.

Another useful tool that you can add is noise ninja which as in the title remove noise from your images.
 
Setting the sharpening values in your camera only affects JPEGS, as you probably know. Keep JPEG in-camera sharpening to a minimum. In-camera software sharpening is always superior to anything we can do to a JPEG in computer software because it is applied before compression.

So, if we sharpen later we add sharpening values to the compromised characteristics of JPEG compression. This can be visually damaging at 100% viewing so we may need to be careful how and where we sharpen JPEGS. It may show up in the print.
 
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Undercrank said:
Setting the sharpening values in your camera only affects JPEGS, as you probably know. Keep JPEG in-camera sharpening to a minimum. In-camera software sharpening is always superior to anything we can do to a JPEG in computer software because it is applied before compression.

So, if we sharpen later we add sharpening values to the compromised characteristics of JPEG compression. This can be visually damaging at 100% viewing so we may need to be careful how and where we sharpen JPEGS. It may show up in the print.
Click to expand...

Thanks Sam :)
 
Undercrank said:
Setting the sharpening values in your camera only affects JPEGS, as you probably know. Keep JPEG in-camera sharpening to a minimum. In-camera software sharpening is always superior to anything we can do to a JPEG in computer software because it is applied before compression.

So, if we sharpen later we add sharpening values to the compromised characteristics of JPEG compression. This can be visually damaging at 100% viewing so we may need to be careful how and where we sharpen JPEGS. It may show up in the print.
Click to expand...

A very good couple of points, which is exactly why I shoot RAW.
That way I have total control over the type, area, amount and strength of the sharpening.
As mentioned earlier, sharpening is the last (usually) process in my workflow, so the amount and type will vary depending on how the image is going to be used.(Print/web/ etc)

If the OP is unsure about whether to shoot raw or jpeg, just shoot both. That way you will have a JPEG, to which you can add sharpening and any other picture controls in camera, but you will also have a RAW file, which gives you the opportunity to have a go at PP and see which you prefer.
 
The simple answer surely depends on what you are doing with the photos ???

Holiday snaps, shoot jpeg and have sharpening in-camera - simples

Studio images - shoot jpeg when you have also determined the WB of your flash, jpeg suitable for output size

If it really matters and you are producing big/highly PP'd images - raw - you have total control and can sharpen appropriately as the final part of your PP

Dave
 
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Think of sharpening as being like any other camera function. You can either set it to auto, let the camera do it for you, and apply the same to every shot you take in jpeg, or learn how to use it (in jpeg or RAW) to give you a better result. As with most things photographic, there are a fair few different ways to sharpen, each with it's own following.

The main thing to bear in mind is that pretty near every photo you take in digital will benefit from sharpening. There have been loads of threads from people wondering why their images are soft. Failure to understand this fundamental point is quite likely the main reason.
 
benny the jet said:
Hello folks

Probably a daft question but what are the pros and cons of in camera vs pp sharpening?

I'm reading conflicting reports

Cheers :)
Click to expand...

Are you shooting in RAW? If so, no sharpening is applied anyway, so you have no choice but to sharpen PP.

If you shoot JPEGs.... why are you shooting in JPEG? :)
 
Pookeyhead said:
Are you shooting in RAW? If so, no sharpening is applied anyway, so you have no choice but to sharpen PP.

If you shoot JPEGs.... why are you shooting in JPEG? :)
Click to expand...

I'm shooting in both, but only just getting my head around photoshop :)
 
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