Fujifilm X-E1 aliasing(?) problem

[Max von MeiselMaus]

I have just got a Fujifilm X-E1 and took it out for a spin last week. Overall, pretty impressed. However, at 100%, there is a strange, "gridded" texture to the shots. I have no idea if it is just an intrinsic product of the X-Trans sensor, of the RAW conversion or of something else entirely.

I shot in RAW, converted first with Adobe DNG (my camera isn't supported by my PS/ACR combo) and then converted with Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop. This is what came out.

100% crop.



Enlargement.



I have Googled around and everybody has nothing but good things to say about the image quality of this camera. If there is a problem, it is that the detail can be somewhat soft and "watercolour" like. This is not what is happening here.

So, any ideas? I will take some shots in jpeg and examine those too, as this might narrow down whether it is the sensor itself or the RAW conversion, but would appreciate any other thoughts you might have on this.

Cheers

[John 2]

Max, I'm afraid this is certainly down to the sensor and the fact that the DNG route doesn't have the software correction that straight forward conversion via an up to date ACR provides (up to date= support for the XE-1). I had the same problem with my X Pro-1 until Adobe finally got round to supporting it in CS6. I found two ways around the problem. Imagenomic Noiseware was pretty good at cleaning up the image - better than other noise reduction software. Alternatively, download a free copy of SilkyPix here:

http://www.fujifilm.com/support/digi...ix_studio/rfc/

Not my favourite programme but it works well as a Raw converter.

[revi]

A quick search shows that the X-E1 has a different pixel layout than most sensors (i.e. not your standard 2×2 bayer matrix). If that information isn't available to the raw converter, the demosaicing can't be done correctly. (I guess that the raw conversion used above assumes a 2×2 bayer matrix, hence the regular grid you see). Seeing some colour images might be interesting... (as there are several ways a 2×2 matrix can be layed out)

Note that it's not a noise problem at all!

So indeed, best bet is to use the Fuji demosaicing program (until your favourite catches up), then use TIFF or PNG (16-bit would be my preference) to transfer the demosaiced image to your preferred editor for the remaining edits

[John 2]

Remco, all of the Fuji X cameras have a very different pixel layout to other cameras. It is the so called XTran sensor layout that is unique to them and that is indeed the problem. You are of course right. This is not a noise problem but from experience, I can tell you that Imagenomic Noiseware cleans up the image. I used it for some time (because I happened to have a copy) before ADOBE ACR finally caught up.

[Max von MeiselMaus]

Thank you both very much. That all makes sense.

The latest DNG Convertor does support the X-E1, so it should be handling its particular quirks and foilbles OK, but seems it isn't.

Remco, that is a colour image and there appears to be some chroma in with the gridding. But, I agree, it doesn't look like a simple noise problem there. I will take a more colourful shot and see what happens with that.

Well, damn.

OK. I use an ancient copy of PS (CS2) and, making no money from this photography lark, I am not about to upgrade. That means ACR is out. So, I sill give Silkypix a go. I don't like having to use a special bit of software for one camera, but that's life, I suppose.

I did run it through Noise Ninja and that did help. However, I don't want to do that if I can avoid it.

Thanks, John and Remco. Very useful.

[Max von MeiselMaus]

Loaded up Silkypix. First off, sorted it. Nasty gridded texture gone. So, it was an artifact of an unsuitable conversion process. But, second, ye gods! What a horrible piece of software! Nothing is where you would expect it to be, is named what you would expect it to be named or works how you think it would work. Wow. Way to make life more difficult than it needs to be. If I can find another way of doing this than using Silkypix, I will but, for the moment, it has solved it.



Cheers, all

[John 2]

................ But, second, ye gods! What a horrible piece of software! ............. Cheers, all

I did say "not my favourite programme" and you will find one or two more on here that agree with you. ADOBE were very late to the party when it came to the X Tran sensor. OneonOne, and latterly, Photo Ninja have been rated as at least as good as PS ACR if not better. Not FOC solutions but less expensive than PS. Be warned though, although I found Photo Ninja excellent when I trialled it, it does eat up resource. I have 16GB of memory on board and I think it needs more. On the other hand, you do get Noise Ninja thrown in as well for the price.