The GetDPI Photography Forum

Great to see you here. Join our insightful photographic forum today and start tapping into a huge wealth of photographic knowledge. Completing our simple registration process will allow you to gain access to exclusive content, add your own topics and posts, share your work and connect with other members through your own private inbox! And don’t forget to say hi!

Sigma DPxmerrill best practice thread

Charles2

Active member
I really like so far how Sigma listens and responds to user issues by addressing them in software updates
However, it seems that Sigma does not document all changes.

I reported a suggestion earlier about a recipe to get detail without brittle sharpening: reduce Sharpen to -1 while setting Chroma NR to 1 (of 1..5) and Luminance NR to 2. However, processing a few shots with SPP 5.5.1, I findSharpening at -1 is soft. Sharpening 0 now seems a good starting point. If this is correct, SPP "best practices" must be tagged by the SPP version number!
 

Jim DE

New member
That would make sense though as I am sure like all companies the keyword is continuous improvement. I am pretty sure that they are paying attention to what people are praising and what they would like to see improved. The wise software team would strive to reduce common complaints and dial their software in more for the mean.

I am reading that some say the sharpening was reduced and changes in the noise reduction area are being noticed when using 5.5.1. It may be a few days before I get a chance at seeing for myself.

I am hoping it is a improvement just like 5.5 was over 5.4.... I truly feel 5.5 resolved some of the common complaints about issues with the color mode settings and auto white balance..... at least it did for me and my images. Before I could only tolerate standard and neutral modes: now I can use them all and achieve satisfying results. Really like the "landscape" color mode now on most of my scenics (made me vomit before :( ) As for AWB it is nailing my shots now where before it was unacceptable most of the time.
 
Last edited:

Adam L

Member
Hi all. I'm a new member but have been lurking for at least six months. Photography is a hobby for me and most of my knowledge is self taught, from reading books, and from asking questions on sites like this.

I have a DP2M and a DP3M and am receiving my RX1 in the mail tomorrow. (Ute, you are to blame. Scho has a hand in this too).

My question is around the SPP software. My practice has been simply to adjust the exposure slide until the blinkies go away. I choose a white balance and one of the rendering styles - usually standard.

It seems that this is ripe for batch processing. I can't seem to figure out how to create more than a single Tiff at a time. How can I send a batch of photos through SPP without having to work each image separately? I swear, I'm not a beginner.
 

pflower

Member
Do your adjustments in the Review window and click on the Save Setting button at the top left. Name your setting something useful.

Then from the main window, with the grid, select the photos you want to export as tiffs with this setting and click on "save images as" button. A dialog box pops up. The second pane is marked Adjustment mode. Click on the "custom" button and from the Color drop down menu choose your saved setting. The images should then have that setting applied to them.

Hi all. I'm a new member but have been lurking for at least six months. Photography is a hobby for me and most of my knowledge is self taught, from reading books, and from asking questions on sites like this.

I have a DP2M and a DP3M and am receiving my RX1 in the mail tomorrow. (Ute, you are to blame. Scho has a hand in this too).

My question is around the SPP software. My practice has been simply to adjust the exposure slide until the blinkies go away. I choose a white balance and one of the rendering styles - usually standard.

It seems that this is ripe for batch processing. I can't seem to figure out how to create more than a single Tiff at a time. How can I send a batch of photos through SPP without having to work each image separately? I swear, I'm not a beginner.
 

Sapphie

Member
Hi all

I was just wondering what colour space you are all using and if it really matters? To be honest life is complicated enough really but I was just curious. In camera you can select sRGB or AdobeRGB and then in SPP there is the working colour space preference that some seem to set to ProPhoto RGB.

Lee
 

Charles2

Active member
Choices of color space

Ah, the great swamp of color management. Careful when you put a toe in, it is easy to sink completely.

The camera setting does not affect the raw files. For display on the LCD and other reasons, it is best left at sRGB.

I use AdobeRGB as the SPP working space. Opinions differ; the reason for not going with the larger ProPhotoRGB color space is discussed in this good introduction to color management:
http://ftp2.bmtmicro.com/dlc/Color_Management.pdf

The output color space depends on the use of the image. The Web today lives on sRGB. I output a TIF file in AdobeRGB because the next step is a wide-gamut monitor and work to prepare the shot for a print. The Picture Window Pro program and many others have a menu option for contracting an AdobeRGB image to sRGB.
 

Malina DZ

Member
Thanks everyone for your valuable input to this topic.
I'm curious if there is any way to make SPP apply 0 NR to the imported RAW files by default instead of repeating the same task every time I add new images?
 

PaulO

New member
I just discovered this thread. Great! While I've been close on much of the workflow, it's given me some fresh insights to experiment with. On the Diglloyd website there is a lot of information on the Merrill's. It's in the Guide to Mirrorless Camers section (requires subscription). The tests he's done would seem to indicate that ISO 200 gives a bit more DR at the cost of a slight loss of micro contrast compared to ISO 100.

I'm now using the DP2M for black & white and I'm interested in getting other's opinions for workflow. I've tried doing the B&W conversion in SPP which works very well. But, I miss the ability to alter the luminosity of separate color channels in ACR (or in LR). So, currently in SPP I work to get a good color image, then change to B&W in ACR and adjust the luminosity of each color channel then make other adjustments in ACR/PS. What are you doing?
 

Kyndel

Member
I just discovered this thread. Great! While I've been close on much of the workflow, it's given me some fresh insights to experiment with. On the Diglloyd website there is a lot of information on the Merrill's. It's in the Guide to Mirrorless Camers section (requires subscription). The tests he's done would seem to indicate that ISO 200 gives a bit more DR at the cost of a slight loss of micro contrast compared to ISO 100.

I'm now using the DP2M for black & white and I'm interested in getting other's opinions for workflow. I've tried doing the B&W conversion in SPP which works very well. But, I miss the ability to alter the luminosity of separate color channels in ACR (or in LR). So, currently in SPP I work to get a good color image, then change to B&W in ACR and adjust the luminosity of each color channel then make other adjustments in ACR/PS. What are you doing?[/QUOTE

About iso 200: And a tiny bit of noise, if you care about so litle.

---

I think Nik software Silver Efex Pro can do something for you.

Nik Collection - Silver Efex Pro 2
 
Top