Male ruby-throated hummingbird

[Tom Barry]

The male never approaches the feeder when I'm seated nearby - not until the summer blooms have begun to wane, and then his caution is overcome by desire for sugar water.

Male4-web by tombarry975, on Flickr

[NorthernFocus]

A beautiful little bird. I love hummers. I don't think I've ever seen a ruby throat in real life. They're on my bucket lest of things to shoot in the future. Given time...

[Nicks Pics]

Quite nice shot, but do you think a touch over sharpened?

[Tom Barry]

Quite nice shot, but do you think a touch over sharpened?

Thanks for the comment. Not too sharp on my monitor, but it may be on yours, which may be better than my aging Samsung SynchMaster P2070. I haven't yet heard mention of over-sharpening on this image from anyone on other photo-sharing sites.

[Kodiak]

Quite nice shot, but do you think a touch over sharpened?

+1 … on my 27" monitor!

[Tom Barry]

+1 … on my 27" monitor!

Thanks for the information. Could the degree of perceived sharpening also depend to some degree on the amount of downsizing a particular photo-sharing site uses? I've gotten nine comments from three other sites that think its not too sharp.

[Kodiak]

Thanks for the information. Could the degree of perceived sharpening also depend to some degree on the amount of downsizing a particular photo-sharing site uses? I've gotten nine comments from three other sites that think its not too sharp.

A lot of factors may directly affect negatively the rendition of a picture. If,
right from the start, you work on older or improperly calibrated equipment,
these will influence you to compensate the inadequacies thus resulting in a
not so authentic viewing experience on more recent and maintained machines.

Add to this the noted effects of some photo-sharing sites and your efforts may
be going down the drain. Of course, you're doing the right thing for the usage
you have chosen but just don't be surprised when some will note it may be
under or overdone. I understand that everyone does not have the same priorities
and/or budget.

[Tom Barry]

What you say makes perfect sense, Kodiak. Thanks for taking the time to help clarify what is happening.

[Tom Barry]

Folks, I reworked the original (duped) jpeg file and introduced no sharpening in post-processing - I think the only significant change I made. I think it is a little less edgy on this site at least. Please tell me what you see:

Less sharp by tombarry975, on Flickr

[Shadowman]

Folks, I reworked the original (duped) jpeg file and introduced no sharpening in post-processing - I think the only significant change I made. I think it is a little less edgy on this site at least. Please tell me what you see:

Less sharp by tombarry975, on Flickr

I see a decrease in overall contrast with this version.

[Kodiak]

Please tell me what you see

At first sight, a slightly improved rendition when it comes to contrast and,
thus, a finer palette of colours. Most beneficial to the belly and other lower
lit areas.

To give a better comment, I would need to see a larger picture.
Do you shoot RAW?

[Tom Barry]

Not with the FZ1000 in Intelligent Zoom mode (it only works that way in jpeg, in this case reduced in MP from 20.1 to 10.0, to increase zoom reach from 400mm (equiv.) to up to 1120mm. Most of the time I shoot in RAW, but when I need reach I'll go to IZ. The decrease in image quality is to me unnoticeable when putting images on the web, or sending to friends and family, which is what I do these days 95% of the time, even though I'm working with a "1-inch"" sensor.

[Nicks Pics]

I think the 2nd version does have less dark darks, probably an improvement, Perhaps some of the sharpness was due to natural appearance of the feathers. I shoot with a bridge camera too, I have a long zoom, so I rarely use digital zoom, if that was taken with it, that's impressive, different cameras are different.

[Tom Barry]

Panasonic is coy about how it describes "Intelligent Zoom," but claims it is different from and better than digital zoom. Both are included in the FZ1000, and in the owner's manual users are cautioned that digital zoom causes more and more degradation of image quality the more the zoom is increased. With "Intelligent Zoom," the user is told, degradation is held to a minimum and zoom extension depends on how much resolution is given up. In my case, I always set jpegs to medium size (10MP) and get an extension of up to 1120mm. The photo in this string was taken at 919mm. I agree that some of the appearance of over-sharpening may be due to the nature of hummingbird feathers. I recently saw a closeup of a hummingbird taken with the legendary Leitz 280mm f4.8 Telyt that appears much like the one I posted.