Many of us get really excited about new cameras and upgrading our equipment. New, always seems better in the tech world. Unfortunately, it generally comes with quite a hefty price. Upgrading your equipment regularly can be extremely costly and in many situations, it's not really worth it.
Over the last few years, the improvements in image quality between generations hasn't been huge. For the most part, we're seeing differences of around half a stop of low light and high ISO performance and maybe a 20% resolution increase. Yes, this is better, but it's pretty incremental in the larger scheme of things. A camera that's two generations old will only be about a stop worse at the extremes, and when shooting in relatively good conditions, the differences are negligible.
Recently, I have been testing out some software form a company called Topaz Labs. Many of their ads on Facebook and Instagram caught my attention because the claims are pretty strong. I decided to put their software to the test and I must say, I'm impressed.
In the video linked above, I test out some of the software currently available form the company. I demonstrate how they can improve your images in a way that could mean, that you don't need to upgrade your cameras.
Check out the full video linked above.
That second example is really quite impressive.
I thought that too lol. Thanks for the comment man :).
The artifacts it left when I tried to fix an out of focus shot weren't too pleasing to me so I stopped using it. It's real easy to overdue it and the software itself is too slow to keep trying out different adjustments.
Their stabilise and focus features, I really don’t like. I recommend avoiding them in the video too lol. Pretty poor features I think.
You have to be careful how and where you use Stabilize. I've actually used it to fix soft corners and edges in photos taken with sub-par lenses. It 'reconstructs' and restores sharpness in the smeary corners. I used to apply it to a separate layer and then use a layer mask to paint in where I wanted the sharpening to take effect, but now you can actually paint a mask within the filter.
I’m glad to know that it has worked for you so I will revisit it. So far, it’s been pretty messy for me so I’ve avoided it but thank you for your thoughts on it, appreciate it.
Whenever I feel the itch to upgrade I always remind myself how much there is to learn and what new things can be done with my existing kit. The most compelling argument for upgrading is less about image quality and more about the ease at which you can capture great photos - improvements in autofocus, tracking, continuous shooting and video.
Absolutely :).
That is such and apt description lol. Also I wasn’t aware of the updates, that sucks.