Originally posted by MD Optofonik There's a lot going on there for this to look so balanced. How do you get ISO 5000?
Appreciated, although it didn't require much work on my part. In the Custom Setting Menu of the K-3, C1.1 EV Steps is left on the 1/3 EV Steps default setting, whereas C1.2 Sensitivity Steps is set to be in accordance with the EV Steps (the default would be 1 EV Step). That way, depending on the light, the camera's Auto ISO will select something like ISO 5000.
My White Balance setting (in camera) is Multi Auto White Balance. Otherwise, the image was processed to taste starting from a custom preset (aiming for natural colours) that I have for the K-3 in DxO PhotoLab 2. Crucial parts of the image were accentuated using the SmartLighting tool, which works like a multi-spot metering you can apply in post. I added some local microcontrast and sharpening to the rings and rescued some highlight detail with the Correction Brush. In my preset, the denoising settings (of DxO's Prime Denoising) are deliberately dialled down to about 1/3 of the default values to prevent unnecessary loss of detail and textures. That's basically it.