Panasonic Lumix GH6 High-Resolution Images

During a break in the never-ending chain of atmospheric river events, I managed to get out for a couple of hours and do some tests with my new Lumix GH6 camera.  

One of the interesting features of this camera is its hand-held high resolution mode, which creates a 100-megapixel file by combining a series of hand-held photos.  An image with so many pixels allows for considerable cropping without losing too much detail; the following image is slightly less than half of the original capture when cropped to a panoramic format that better suits the subject, and should print nicely at 48 x 18 inches.

Entrance Island

Fujifilm X-Trans Artifacts

There seems to be a lot of misinformation on the web regarding the cause (and cure) for the fractal artifacts that affect some images captured with Fujifilm's X-Trans sensor cameras.  The problem stems from the inability of some image processing software, notably products from Adobe such as Lightroom and Photoshop, to correctly interpolate the RAW data due to Fujifilm's use of a non-Bayer colour filter array over the image sensor.

This is an image captured with a Fujifilm X-T3 camera and processed in Lightroom:

Fujifilm X-T3, XF 10-24mm f4 @ 24mm, 1/210 sec @ f5.6, ISO 160

At first glance, the image looks quite nice; sharp, and with lots of rich colour the Fujifilm cameras are noted for.  However, on closer inspection, the fine details in the image, such as the pebbles on the beach, look strange and distorted:

100% crop of above image

At the limited upload size, it may be difficult to discern the artifacts, so here is a 200% crop of the same image:

Now the fractal artifacts are clearly visible, with the smooth round pebbles taking on a "wormy"appearance, with jagged edges and strange elongated proportions.  A popular "cure" for this issue is the set the Details slider to zero in the Lightroom sharpening panel:

As you can see, changing the details slider does little to correct the artifacts - virtually all it does is blur them a bit to make them a little less noticeable, but this also negatively affects all the other fine details in the image, make the image soft.

So, what is the best solution to this problem for Fujifilm X-Trans photographers?  I can't answer what is the "best", but the most obvious solution is to avoid using Adobe software for processing your RAW files, because the artifacts are clearly a manifestation of Adobe's demosaicing algorithm.  A popular alternative software is Capture One; below is the same image, processed in Capture One 21.

As you can see, the wormy Adobe artifacts are gone, although as in the examples above, we are still left with interpolation artifacts from enlarging the original image beyond actual size.

Finally, here is the original image, as processed in Capture One 21:

Friday Hummingbirds

Here are a few photos of our backyard hummingbirds from Firday, April 29.  We have several pairs of both the Anna's and the Rufous hummingbirds coming in to the feeders, and it's becoming a challenge to keep the feeders full; it's been a relatively cold spring, and very few native flowers have blossomed yet, so food is a bit scarce for these little guys.

Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), Gabriola, BC

Female Rufous Hummingbird (Selasphorus rufus), Gabriola, BC

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Female Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna), Gabriola, BC

Kye Bay

Some panoramic views of Kye Bay, located just outside of Comox, BC.  The first is a composite of seven vertical images, stitched together using Adobe LightRoom software.

Click on the images for a larger view.

Low Tide at Kye Bay

This image consists of five stitched vertical images:

Kye Bay Boat Launch

This image is a single exposure, cropped to a 16:9 aspect ratio.

Kye Bay

All images were captured with a Panasonic Lumix G9 camera and Leica DG Vario-Elmar 12-60mm f2.8-4 lens.

Hummingbirds - Spring 2022

Spring has arrived in the Gulf Islands, and the colourful Rufous hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus) have arrived to join our over-wintering Annas's hummingbirds (Calypte anna).

I have been trying out the new Olympus M.Zuiko 150-400mm f4.5 + 1.25 TC lens mounted on an E-M1x body alongside the excellent Sony A1 with the FE 200-600mm f5.6-6.3 zoom.  It would be a more fair comparison if I had the new OM-1 camera for the comparison, but they are still impossible to find in Canada.

Here are a few photos from the past couple of weeks:

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 500mm @ f5.6

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 500mm @ f5.6

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 500mm @ f5.6

Rufous Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 400mm @ f4.5

Anna's Hummingbird, Olympus E-M1X and 150-400mm f4.5, 400mm @ f4.5

Rufous Hummingbird, Sony A1 and 200-600mm f5.6-6.3, 600mm @ f7.1

So far, I would give the Olympus lens a slight edge in speed, sharpness and close focusing ability, while the Sony A1's bird eye AF is superior to that of the Olympus E-M1X.  I'm hoping the OM-1 will match the A1 in that department.