Pixel Shift Newbie

Saxtonine · 03-15-2020, 01:22 PM

I'm not much of a landscape photographer but I'm trying to expand my horizons if you'll forgive the pun. So I set out in the sunny woods today to try a few things. I set up my K-3II on a tripod, the only lens I had with me was the F 50 1.7 (not a classic landscape lens I know) and figure I'd try a few things. In reviewing my photos I came across this one:

Not an exceptional photo, probably not a "keeper" but I was wondering how sharp it was so I decided to zoom in a bit. I was quite surprised to find that the moss was rendered like this:

Whoops.

What have I done wrong? I was shooting in manual if I recall but it might have been aperture priority. HDR Auto was on, so was Pixel Shift.

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**Rondec** · 03-15-2020, 01:43 PM - **1 Like**

Basically with pixel shift, if you have any subject movement, you can odd artifacts. What I do, is shoot RAW and then post process with RawTherapee. Using that, you can eliminate the artifacts pretty effectively.

RawTherapee - Downloads

I will say if you are shooting a creek on a windy day, odds are you get little benefit from it. The thing is that with pixel shift you are combining four images that are each shifted one pixel from each other, but if everything in the images shifts some because of wind or flowing water, then you are better with a single image.

There is a thread with a lot of pixel shift examples and techniques, if you are interested.

Pixel Shifted Images - PentaxForums.com

Saxtonine · 03-15-2020, 03:57 PM

Originally posted by Rondec

Basically with pixel shift, if you have any subject movement, you can odd artifacts. What I do, is shoot RAW and then post process with RawTherapee. Using that, you can eliminate the artifacts pretty effectively.

RawTherapee - Downloads

I will say if you are shooting a creek on a windy day, odds are you get little benefit from it. The thing is that with pixel shift you are combining four images that are each shifted one pixel from each other, but if everything in the images shifts some because of wind or flowing water, then you are better with a single image.

There is a thread with a lot of pixel shift examples and techniques, if you are interested.

Pixel Shifted Images - PentaxForums.com

Thanks for this! I guess that makes sense although the artifacts seem so... artificial for something like wind. Some of your pictures in the thread you shared are excellent, thank you for sharing.

**Rondec** · 03-15-2020, 05:21 PM

Originally posted by Saxtonine

Thanks for this! I guess that makes sense although the artifacts seem so... artificial for something like wind. Some of your pictures in the thread you shared are excellent, thank you for sharing.

Well, motion correction takes care of those by masking in one of the images for the areas with motion. DCU (Pentax's own software) and RawTherapee both offer options for those, but RT has more ways to tweak it. RT will actually show you the motion mask which will highlight in green every place where there has been motion in your image.

I generally save the image as a TIFF image and the adjust it from there.

**Wheatridger** · 03-16-2020, 11:42 PM - **1 Like**

It would take a LOT of wind to blow around moss, within one foot of the ground (or water). Look how the grass, or sticks, in the enlargement are sharp on the left and doubled on the right. But perhaps. Try this exact photo again and see what happens. Did any other photos show this flaw?

texandrews · 03-17-2020, 04:17 PM

Originally posted by Wheatridger

It would take a LOT of wind to blow around moss, within one foot of the ground (or water). Look how the grass, or sticks, in the enlargement are sharp on the left and doubled on the right. But perhaps. Try this exact photo again and see what happens. Did any other photos show this flaw?

Agreed, this is a bit weird.

**Rondec** · 03-18-2020, 03:20 AM

Originally posted by Wheatridger

It would take a LOT of wind to blow around moss, within one foot of the ground (or water). Look how the grass, or sticks, in the enlargement are sharp on the left and doubled on the right. But perhaps. Try this exact photo again and see what happens. Did any other photos show this flaw?

Originally posted by texandrews

Agreed, this is a bit weird.

I think it is pretty clear that this is an example of the motion correction in the camera cleaning some thing up, just not everything. I don't see artifacts in the water, or most of the moss, but it really doesn't take much movement to create motion blur in pixel shift. I've had plenty of still days where I looked at the motion mask in RT and half of it is green. Anyway, that's my two cents.

I was never satisfied with motion correction in camera or DCU and hence my movement to Raw Therapee, but all of those do work to one extent or another.

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03-15-2020, 01:43 PM - 1 Like	#2
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,666	Basically with pixel shift, if you have any subject movement, you can odd artifacts. What I do, is shoot RAW and then post process with RawTherapee. Using that, you can eliminate the artifacts pretty effectively. RawTherapee - Downloads I will say if you are shooting a creek on a windy day, odds are you get little benefit from it. The thing is that with pixel shift you are combining four images that are each shifted one pixel from each other, but if everything in the images shifts some because of wind or flowing water, then you are better with a single image. There is a thread with a lot of pixel shift examples and techniques, if you are interested. Pixel Shifted Images - PentaxForums.com

03-15-2020, 03:57 PM	#3
Saxtonine Forum Member Join Date: Dec 2016 Location: Pennsylvania Photos: Gallery Posts: 54 Original Poster	Originally posted by Rondec Basically with pixel shift, if you have any subject movement, you can odd artifacts. What I do, is shoot RAW and then post process with RawTherapee. Using that, you can eliminate the artifacts pretty effectively. RawTherapee - Downloads I will say if you are shooting a creek on a windy day, odds are you get little benefit from it. The thing is that with pixel shift you are combining four images that are each shifted one pixel from each other, but if everything in the images shifts some because of wind or flowing water, then you are better with a single image. There is a thread with a lot of pixel shift examples and techniques, if you are interested. Pixel Shifted Images - PentaxForums.com Thanks for this! I guess that makes sense although the artifacts seem so... artificial for something like wind. Some of your pictures in the thread you shared are excellent, thank you for sharing.

03-15-2020, 05:21 PM	#4
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,666	Originally posted by Saxtonine Thanks for this! I guess that makes sense although the artifacts seem so... artificial for something like wind. Some of your pictures in the thread you shared are excellent, thank you for sharing. Well, motion correction takes care of those by masking in one of the images for the areas with motion. DCU (Pentax's own software) and RawTherapee both offer options for those, but RT has more ways to tweak it. RT will actually show you the motion mask which will highlight in green every place where there has been motion in your image. I generally save the image as a TIFF image and the adjust it from there.

03-16-2020, 11:42 PM - 1 Like	#5
Wheatridger Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Colorado Front Range Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 644	It would take a LOT of wind to blow around moss, within one foot of the ground (or water). Look how the grass, or sticks, in the enlargement are sharp on the left and doubled on the right. But perhaps. Try this exact photo again and see what happens. Did any other photos show this flaw?

03-17-2020, 04:17 PM	#6
texandrews Moderator Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Baltimore Photos: Albums Posts: 3,400	Originally posted by Wheatridger It would take a LOT of wind to blow around moss, within one foot of the ground (or water). Look how the grass, or sticks, in the enlargement are sharp on the left and doubled on the right. But perhaps. Try this exact photo again and see what happens. Did any other photos show this flaw? Agreed, this is a bit weird.

03-18-2020, 03:20 AM	#7
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,666	Originally posted by Wheatridger It would take a LOT of wind to blow around moss, within one foot of the ground (or water). Look how the grass, or sticks, in the enlargement are sharp on the left and doubled on the right. But perhaps. Try this exact photo again and see what happens. Did any other photos show this flaw? Originally posted by texandrews Agreed, this is a bit weird. I think it is pretty clear that this is an example of the motion correction in the camera cleaning some thing up, just not everything. I don't see artifacts in the water, or most of the moss, but it really doesn't take much movement to create motion blur in pixel shift. I've had plenty of still days where I looked at the motion mask in RT and half of it is green. Anyway, that's my two cents. I was never satisfied with motion correction in camera or DCU and hence my movement to Raw Therapee, but all of those do work to one extent or another.