Sharpening in PL5 without optic module support

I’ve recently moved to PL5 from LR, am an enthusiastic amateur of a certain age and use a Leica CL APS-C with native 23, 35, and 60mm prime lenses.

The 23 and 60mm lenses have optic module support in PL5, though the 35mm doesn’t. I have requested it through the web site though it’s not a “new” lens and the rest of the range already have support so I’m moving forward accepting there’s probably a reason for that.

This leads me to my question, in your experience, is there a best practice for applying sharpening when the image is not made with a supported lens?

I have Topaz SharpeningAI which I can resort to though that is outside the DxO ecosystem and the two really don’t play nicely together. I can work with TIFF files in either though when it comes to linear DNGs (e.g. denoised RAW) and metadata all bets are off. To avoid a rumble between two competing AI implementations I’ve found it best to keep them at a distance.

I’m a bit of an overthinker, it may be that the native PL5 generic tools are fine, though I’d welcome some of your experiences.

Thanks :blush:

I use different tools to get images that look sharper

  1. Unsharp mask tool (if I have to)
  2. Fine contrast sliders, which necessitates DxO ViewPoint, corr. FilmPack!


Notes

  • Test both tools and see what you get.
    → Landscapes profit from Fine Contrast
    → Images of “cleaner” subjects tend to be USM territory
  • Turn of Micro-contrast, it’s way too rough for my taste
  • Explore the high/med/low sliders!
  • Find your values, the ones shown above are there for fun
  • The tools reside in different palettes, I’ve put them together for this screenshot.
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I’m sure that @platypus meant to say DxO Filmpack 6 Elite here.

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That’s great thank you, I have both :grinning:

@platypus and @rrblint - your starters for ten have led me to the following which I’ll post here for others with the same question

Sharpness control - tutodxo

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Yes, this site holds quite a bunch of interesting informations.

Please note that Lens Sharpness only works with optic module support, which means that your 35mm lens can’t profit from it - but Leica lenses are said to be exceptionally sharp anyway.

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Yes this is an excellent site for info on DxO products produced by forum member @Pieloe .

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Welcome @danielfrimley

For completeness, here is the article dedicated to distortion manual correction.
It is written for ViewPoint (by @gerarto), but it is actually a tool in PhotoLab, the Geometry palette.
Enjoy your reading.
Pascal

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Perfect - thank you @Pieloe, @rrblint, @platypus

The 35mm Summilux TL is a real superstar in the APS-C range though the other (supported with optic modules) two are also excellent. Still, we can all use a little help sometimes :laughing:

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