Focus Magic Example - DPChallenge Forums

Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

10/11/2005 03:16:37 PM · #1

There was an earlier thread with a shot of a baby, too soft, I've lost it. Focus magic (software) was mentioned. Here's an example of what Focus magic can do with an ordinary shot.

The first one is a 640-pixel crop out of a 3,800 pixel image, absolutely NO post processing. The second one was run through Focus Magic at a little too extreme a setting just for illustrative purposes. Note the very slight haloing around the face/sky intersection; it's not noticeable at all in full-frame viewing, though it might be in a large print.

Robt.

Message edited by author 2005-10-11 15:22:24.

wewillexplore

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

10/11/2005 03:20:20 PM · #2

WOAAAAAAAAA

I had Focus Magic - I still may - but it NEVER worked like that. It was such a dud. I don't have a CLUE how you did that.

10/11/2005 03:22:07 PM · #3

I think they may have improved it a lot with v 3.0?

R.

hyperfocal

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

10/11/2005 03:25:13 PM · #4

Hey bear_music what lens are you using here?

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

10/11/2005 03:27:54 PM · #5

Canon 10-22mm on 20D, at 10mm. The reason it looks soft is no in-camera sharpening. Usually I run USM in PS but I haven't processed this image yet. I was just looking for something to show what FM can do. I'm considering using it instead of USM.

Robt.

puma

Canon EOS-10D

10/11/2005 03:28:32 PM · #6

Here is the baby photo

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

10/11/2005 03:35:40 PM · #7

And here's the baby after Focus Magic and nothing else. It would work better on a larger original file; the smaller the file, the more noticeable the haloing artifacts become.

Robt.

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

10/11/2005 04:02:35 PM · #8

Pretty impressive software.

----------Original---------------Focus Magic-----------Photoshop CS2-----

CS2 looks like it gives FM a run for it's money!

10/11/2005 04:11:20 PM · #9

Originally posted by BradP:

Pretty impressive software.

----------Original---------------Focus Magic-----------Photoshop CS2-----

CS2 looks like it gives FM a run for it's money!

Yeah, on this shot anyway. I really didn't look hard for a tougher example. I probably can get the same results (or close to it) with USM in PS 7.0. But FM also fixes motion blur, which is a whole other kettle of fish; this example is for OOF blur, and the image isn't really OOF, just not sharpened.

The main thing, for me, is that when I apply FM to the unsharpened image, I get a dandy dialogue screen that lets me "tune" the effect, and it's just a whole LOT simpler than fudging around with 2 layers of USM and suchlike. I don't have CS2 so I don't know what that's capable of as far as fixing OOF goes.

Robt.

Message edited by author 2005-10-11 16:12:17.

hyperfocal

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

10/11/2005 04:15:49 PM · #10

Originally posted by bear_music:

I wasn't looking at the sharpness, but there is quite a bit of distortion. I've heard you state that lens is distortion free. If it is I bet that guy couldn't buy a hat to fit that head;-)

Message edited by author 2005-10-11 16:22:32.

Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 L IS

10/11/2005 04:22:54 PM · #11

Originally posted by hyperfocal:

Originally posted by bear_music:
Canon 10-22mm on 20D, at 10mm. The reason it looks soft is no in-camera sharpening. Usually I run USM in PS but I haven't processed this image yet. I was just looking for something to show what FM can do. I'm considering using it instead of USM.

Robt.

I wasn't looking at the sharpness, but the geometric distortion. I've heard you state that lens is quite distortion free. If it is I bet that guy couldn't buy a hat to fit that head;-)

That's not "distortion" in the sense I'm talking about. ANY super WA lens will show that sort of shape-morphing at the extreme edges. The sense in which the Canon 10-22mm is distortion free is that it has no barrel distortion; straight lines remains traight at the edges, instead of bowing outward as they do on most extreme WA lenses. A fisheye is the most extreme example of barrel distortion, but of course it's intentional there.

You can see this shape-distortion with your own naked eyes; put a globe or something at the extreme of your peripheral vision and note how it looks, then rotate your head to look directly at it and you can see the shape grow more compact.

Robt.

kirbic

Canon EOS R5

10/11/2005 04:32:42 PM · #12

I also have Focus magic, and I agree, it can be a great tool, on SOME images. I would not use it in place of USM (or Smart Sharpen) with the exception that it seems to correct motion blur more effectively than Smart Sharpen. Both, I believe, use deconvolution, a complex mathemetical algorithm that tries to reverse the process by which the image was blurred. The algorithm needs to make certain assumptions, for instance it most likely assumes a "gaussian" blur profile for OOF images, and almost certainly uses a "constant angular velocity + constant direction" assumption for motion blur. Neither of these assumptions are likely to be completely accurate. Even in cases where the assumptions are very close to the truth, there will be artifacts and increased noise levels as a result of the techniques.
Bottom line, FM is a useful tool, especially for those images that...
1.) Have only *slight* camera shake or OOF issues
2.) Are intended for lower resolution output, e.g. the web or smaller prints

Brad

Olympus OM-D E-M1

Olympus 40-150mm f/2.8 PRO M.Zuiko

10/11/2005 04:33:44 PM · #13

Originally posted by bear_music:

But FM also fixes motion blur

as does CS2 , and adjustable in angles of motion.

All these bits & bytes ... where's some fixer or stop bath to go sniff.