Nightscape Expectations of privacy in the dark

[-ST-]

I was down on the beach around 4:00 a.m. It was overcast and very dark. When I took the photo, it was so dark, I could barely make out a couple sitting on a log. They were just a dark silhouette against the reflection of the sky. They probably couldn't see me at all.

The 50 mm f/1.2 on the A1 II sees better in the dark than I do.

Here are a series of images from the same raw file, cropped and processed in different ways using Capture One 16.6.3.6 (latest) and the latest versions of DXO Photolab 8, Topaz Photo AI, ON1.

Original, shot raw then opened in Capture One with no further processing. Note that by default, Capture One some processing based on the camera body and lens. It has profiles for the A1 II and 50 mm f/1.2 GM.

• ILCE-1M2
• FE 50mm F1.2 GM
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

Cropped for composition

• ILCE-1M2
• Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM (SEL50F12GM)
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

Selected the people and shadows lifted

• ILCE-1M2
• Sony FE 50mm F1.2 GM (SEL50F12GM)
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

Working from the raw file again, processed with DXO Photolab 8, DXO Smart Lighting, DXO Clearview Plus, DeepPrime XD/XD Plus (denoise) and Tone Curve. DXO also has profiles for the A1 II and 50 mm f/1.2 GM.

• ILCE-1M2
• FE 50mm F1.2 GM
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

From raw, processed with Topaz Photo AI cropped, denoised, and 2x upscaled

• ILCE-1M2
• FE 50mm F1.2 GM
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

From raw, ON1 with denoise, sharpening, and lifted shadows on the people. ON1 is new to me, so I haven't had a chance to explore it as fully.

• FE 50mm F1.2 GM
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2000000476837
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

From raw, processed with Topaz Photo AI cropped, denoised, and 2x upscaled, and SuperFocus

• ILCE-1M2
• FE 50mm F1.2 GM
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

Here's a ridiculously tight crop of the shot above to show what happens to the face, when using Topaz Super Focus and Upscaling. This one isn't too bad. I've seen it do some very strange things to faces.

• ILCE-1M2
• FE 50mm F1.2 GM
• 50.0 mm
• ƒ/1.2
• 1/20 sec
• ISO 3200

Capture One 16.6
I've been using Capture One since I started with photography three years ago. Up until a few months ago, it's all I had used. I doubt I could ever use all its capabilities, but I really like their approach to things, especially with masking and layers. It has tools for denoising and sharpening, but I was curious about other tools.

Topaz Photo AI 4.02
About six months ago, I got Topaz Photo AI (during some big sale). I used it as a plugin to Capture One, and after some initial experiments, I used it for only denoise, sharpen, and occasional upscaling. I can see why some people might like it for all their edits, but I prefer Capture One. I originally got version 3.x. Version 4.x was release a few months ago, and I found that some of the AI features when upscaling or using super-focus, gave me really odd results.

DXO Photolab 8
A few months ago, I won a free copy of DXO Photolab 8. I like the denoise and sharpening better than Topaz. Since most of my photography is at higher iso values, I use these a lot. The DXO PhotoLab 8 approach to editing is quite different from Capture One. When I have time, I'd like to explore this further, but since I shoot and edit photos (100-1000s) every day, I find it easier to start and finish with Capture One, and use DXO as a plugin, specifically for denoise and sharpening.

ON1
I got ON1 on sale for about the price of standalone focus stacking software. This was to go with my A1 II which is supposed to do focus stacking. I haven't gotten it to do it automatically yet. I seem to be missing a step in the process. When I adjust the focus manually, it works fine, but I can do that with my A1 anyway. It is the newest editing software I've gotten, and the AI tools look interesting. I'll try to dig in when I have more time.

My Capture One subscription is coming up for renewal soon. I'll be renewing that, without hesitation. DXO is a full license so I'll be keeping that. I'm not sure about Topaz (because of the strange results). And ON1, well I've got 11 months to decide if I want to go in that direction.

Since getting DXO for denoising and sharpening, my lust for new glass (e.g., 300 mm f/2.8 or the 400-800) has subsided. I've been very happy with what I'm getting with the 70-200 f/2.8 and 200-600 (occasionally with the 2x teleconverter).

 

[Uncle Kevriano]

The last one is horrible!

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I think thew last one broke the AI editing tool lol, but overall its interesting to see how much you could do with the image given the conditions.

 

[Richard A]

In DxO PhotoLab, try using DeepPRIME 3 rather than DeepPrime XD/XD Plus and deselect Chromatic Aberration. I learned this from a YouTube video I saw recently. DeepPRIME 3 doesn't quite remove as much noise as DeepPrime XD/XD Plus but it preserves much more detail and better removes Chromatic Aberrations. DeepPrime XD/XD Plus can smudge detail pretty badly sometimes.

When I was in a camera club many years ago, a few members were using Capture One. I tried it at the time but didn't really like it. I haven't looked at it since.

I have never used ON1.

Topaz AI is a strange beast. It does some things well but if your main use is upscaling, Gigapixel AI does a much better job in my opinion.