help with sharpening tools..

[savager]

just returned from botanic gardens yesterday.. had quite a few shots ( taken by my friend) which came out pretty blurry due to unstable hands.. i tried using CS2's unsharpen mask/smart sharpen.. but they don't seem to have much effect on the picture (can even say negligible).. tried fiddling with the settings.. but still can't get a good sharpen on the picture.. is there any good software which can auto-detect the amount of blur and help me to put the right amount of sharpen to it? thanks for helping..


OT : when i save my file in CS2 as JPEG, what's the difference between the format options? i.e. baseline standard/optimized, or progressive? which one is the best?

 

[ExplorerZ]

just returned from botanic gardens yesterday.. had quite a few shots ( taken by my friend) which came out pretty blurry due to unstable hands.. i tried using CS2's unsharpen mask/smart sharpen.. but they don't seem to have much effect on the picture (can even say negligible).. tried fiddling with the settings.. but still can't get a good sharpen on the picture.. is there any good software which can auto-detect the amount of blur and help me to put the right amount of sharpen to it? thanks for helping..

none... you expect miracle? turning a blurred photo to sharp photo?
if yes, then why do people even buy a tripod/monopod/VR lens/use high ISO... etc :thumbsd:

 

[savager]

none... you expect miracle? turning a blurred photo to sharp photo?
if yes, then why do people even buy a tripod/monopod/VR lens/use high ISO... etc :thumbsd:

i am not expecting perfect results from the sharpening software, guess u're mistaken.

let me give an analogy - using neat image to remove noise from the picture..

i just need one that can at least improve one bit of sharpness in the picture, that's all i ask of.

 

[ExplorerZ]

i am not expecting perfect results from the sharpening software, guess u're mistaken.

let me give an analogy - using neat image to remove noise from the picture..

i just need one that can at least improve one bit of sharpness in the picture, that's all i ask of.

you can't do much to a blurred pic... unless it is just blurred by small amt... 1px or so...

 

[genegoh]

The tools in photoshop and other software compensate for the sharpness limitations due to sensor and at best, lens resolution. It will not help if there is blur due to handshake.
Try to stick to the 1/focal length rule and practice more.

 

[Kit]

You are not getting the idea behind sharpening. Sharpening tools are not used to save badly taken pictures. You use them to enhance details, not for fixing shake induced blurness.

 

[czyreil]

heard about this focus magic for blurred photo before but i dunno how effective

http://www.focusmagic.com/examplemotionblur.htm

 

[oryzain]

The best you can do to a limtted extencent is apply unsharpen mask. What it actually does is enhance the contrast between pixels and gives a feeling of sharpening.

Another thing I have done earlier is to add some noise. Sometimes it helps to give an illusion of sharpening, but be aware that you might get really lousy results with this.

 

[zoossh]

just returned from botanic gardens yesterday.. had quite a few shots ( taken by my friend) which came out pretty blurry due to unstable hands.. i tried using CS2's unsharpen mask/smart sharpen.. but they don't seem to have much effect on the picture (can even say negligible).. tried fiddling with the settings.. but still can't get a good sharpen on the picture.. is there any good software which can auto-detect the amount of blur and help me to put the right amount of sharpen to it? thanks for helping..


OT : when i save my file in CS2 as JPEG, what's the difference between the format options? i.e. baseline standard/optimized, or progressive? which one is the best?

the answer is no, at least at the moment, especially when the degree of handshake is more than neglieable. you can bring soft image some sharpness with noise, but you can't make much difference to a blurred image, especially one with handshake and never with subject motion blur.

the honest advice anyone would help you is for you to learn how to improve/replace your handheld stability and how to avoid prolonged shutter durations that is beyond your ability.

i have a thread on that. and i'm sure you can google better answers too.

as for jpeg options, someone told me before they dun differ much. so i left as per default.

of cos if any one had good advice for better plugin than usm, i'll be keen to try it out. but to the ts, i dun think they can solve your problem of handshake. they are probably best for those with softness due to slight out of focus or those with optical aberrations.

 

[ah.zeep]

Or apply soft-focus to give it a totally different mood

 

[DeSwitch]

SBG is not far so it will be easier to retake the shots rather than spending so much time rescuing a blurred image.

 

[savager]

the answer is no, at least at the moment, especially when the degree of handshake is more than neglieable. you can bring soft image some sharpness with noise, but you can't make much difference to a blurred image, especially one with handshake and never with subject motion blur.

the honest advice anyone would help you is for you to learn how to improve/replace your handheld stability and how to avoid prolonged shutter durations that is beyond your ability.

erm.. so u mean if its the case of subject motion blur, the pic still can be improved?

anyway.. i don't have the problem of handshake.. if u did read my 1st post carefully.. my friend took the shots (of me and other friends).. already gave him high iso/faster shutter.. but still turned out blur..

 

[savager]

Or apply soft-focus to give it a totally different mood

what does soft-focus mean? how do i do it in CS2?

 

[zoossh]

erm.. so u mean if its the case of subject motion blur, the pic still can be improved?

nope. i mean subject motion blur are usually high speed and abrupt, such as the turning of the head. in these cases, the magnitude of blurring is huge and cannot be bring back to sharpness by software, which is almost never successful and if really huge, never successful.

remember your/your friend's handshake moves around the centrepoint and will attempt to return to the same position, which is in a way like vibrations. however subjects usually do not move in such a manner, and are usually unidirectional, and the magnitude of movement relative to the photo is large.

 

[imouyang]

erm.. so u mean if its the case of subject motion blur, the pic still can be improved?

anyway.. i don't have the problem of handshake.. if u did read my 1st post carefully.. my friend took the shots (of me and other friends).. already gave him high iso/faster shutter.. but still turned out blur..

Focus wrongly?

 

[artfakeme]

y not u post up the picture for us to take a look.

 

[StreetShooter]

The clue is that it was taken at botanic gardens. Very likely the focus was on some foliage in the background. Is the background in very sharp focus? If it is, then it was focused wrongly. Sharpening tools will not help, or, if used, will oversharpen the background.

 

[savager]

The clue is that it was taken at botanic gardens. Very likely the focus was on some foliage in the background. Is the background in very sharp focus? If it is, then it was focused wrongly. Sharpening tools will not help, or, if used, will oversharpen the background.

erm no.. its not a focus problem.. subject motion blur i guess.. so it cannot be helped.. nvm.. thanks for the help anyway..

 

[zoossh]

erm no.. its not a focus problem.. subject motion blur i guess.. so it cannot be helped.. nvm.. thanks for the help anyway..

unless u have super fast shutter speed used to capture sports. timing is also important.