How to process this DNG image?

[Alfred Molon]

The drone I bought (FIMI X8 SE) produces some quite hard to
process DNG files.

Here is an example of a DNG file:
https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112534_0004.DNG

Here is the out of camera JPEG:
https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112534_0004.JPG

Basically the problem is that there is some kind of magenta/red
colour cast, but apparently only in the darker parts of the
image.
Then, there is some vignetting which needs to be taken care of.
Finally, you have to set contrast, saturation, white balance,
brightness to make the image look somehow good.

Very difficult to process these DNG files.

In another case, here is what I got after a lot of tweaking:

Out of camera JPEG:
https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112524_0003.JPG

Processed RAW image:
https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112524_0003_RAW4.jpg

I've tried to generate a camera profile with a ColorChecker
target (to use it with CameraRAW). In case you are interested
here is the profile:
https://www.molon.de/images/X8SE_tag.dcp

How would you process this image and what results are you able
to get?
--
Alfred Molon

Olympus 4/3 and micro 4/3 cameras forum at
https://groups.io/g/myolympus
https://myolympus.org/ photo sharing site

[Alan Browne]

On 2019-11-23 16:10, Alfred Molon wrote:
> The drone I bought (FIMI X8 SE) produces some quite hard to
> process DNG files.
>
> Here is an example of a DNG file:
> https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112534_0004.DNG
>
> Here is the out of camera JPEG:
> https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112534_0004.JPG
>
> Basically the problem is that there is some kind of magenta/red
> colour cast, but apparently only in the darker parts of the
> image.

It's a little heat sensitive in the red channel I assume.

> Then, there is some vignetting which needs to be taken care of.
> Finally, you have to set contrast, saturation, white balance,
> brightness to make the image look somehow good.
>
> Very difficult to process these DNG files.

In Photoshop raw import you can likely take care of 95% of that before
editing.

Don't expect too much from that camera. You really should have gone
DJI. Sad.

--
"Even with the brain dead, the pig's heart keeps on beating...
sort of like ... pick a Kardashian."
-Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown

[Savageduck]

On Nov 23, 2019, Alfred Molon wrote
(in article<MPG.3843bec7c...@news.supernews.com>):

> The drone I bought (FIMI X8 SE) produces some quite hard to
> process DNG files.
>
> Here is an example of a DNG file:
> https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112534_0004.DNG
>
> Here is the out of camera JPEG:
> https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112534_0004.JPG
>
> Basically the problem is that there is some kind of magenta/red
> colour cast, but apparently only in the darker parts of the
> image.
> Then, there is some vignetting which needs to be taken care of.
> Finally, you have to set contrast, saturation, white balance,
> brightness to make the image look somehow good.
>
> Very difficult to process these DNG files.
>
> In another case, here is what I got after a lot of tweaking:
>
> Out of camera JPEG:
> https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112524_0003.JPG
>
> Processed RAW image:
> https://www.molon.de/images/IMG_20191123_112524_0003_RAW4.jpg
>
> I've tried to generate a camera profile with a ColorChecker
> target (to use it with CameraRAW). In case you are interested
> here is the profile:
> https://www.molon.de/images/X8SE_tag.dcp
>
> How would you process this image and what results are you able
> to get?

OK!

I tried to keep things simple using ACR & Photoshop.
I did not touch the basic profile, and this was what I was presented with
when I opened you DNG in ACR.
<https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-
t8Z5RKv/0/185c5203/5K/screenshot_297-5K.jpg>

I then applied a gradient adjustment to the bottom section.
<https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-
GvtVG5t/0/9d3ba7b2/5K/screenshot_298-5K.jpg>

Here is that before/after comparison.
<https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-
4bmmhR7/0/80db709f/5K/screenshot_299-5K.jpg>

Then I opened the ACR processed file in Photoshop and applied a medium
contrast Curve adjustment layer.
<https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-
XtHr6V3/0/d08fa459/X5/screenshot_301-X5.jpg>

That got me to this final JPG with colorspace changed from Adobe RGB to sRGB.
<https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-GtGcnZt/0/fa3e1a7f/4K/IMG0004-
4K.jpg>

--
Regards,
Savageduck

[Savageduck]

On Nov 23, 2019, Savageduck wrote
(in article<0001HW.2389E99205...@news.giganews.com>):

Then I tried the same with the addition of removal of a color cast using NIK
Color Efex in Photoshop.
<https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-
bVr89Dh/0/aa631b4d/4K/screenshot_302-4K.jpg>

That got this result:
<https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-CdPXpfm/0/e7e7f8d6/4K/IMG0004A-
4K.jpg>

It seems that you have a camera which can produce some awkward RAW files.

--
Regards,
Savageduck

[Alfred Molon]

In article <fdSdnaQ4yqYSMETA...@giganews.com>,
bitb...@blackhole.com says...

> Don't expect too much from that camera. You really should have gone
> DJI. Sad.

I might still get a Mavic 2, but first want to see if drone
photography makes sense for me or not. The Mavic 2 costs about
four times this drone.

[Alfred Molon]

In article
<0001HW.2389ED4C05...@news.giganews.com>,
savageduck1@{REMOVESPAM}me.com says...

> That got this result:
> <https://photos.smugmug.com/Alfred-Demo/i-CdPXpfm/0/e7e7f8d6/4K/IMG0004A-
> 4K.jpg>
>
> It seems that you have a camera which can produce some awkward RAW files.

Ok, so you also didn't find a magic formula.

The strange thing is that the out-of-camera JPEG looks quite
reasonable, so somehow FIMI know how to process these RAW files.

[Alfred Molon]

In article <MPG.3843d837c...@news.supernews.com>,
alfred...@yahoo.com says...

>
> In article <fdSdnaQ4yqYSMETA...@giganews.com>,
> bitb...@blackhole.com says...
> > Don't expect too much from that camera. You really should have gone
> > DJI. Sad.
>
> I might still get a Mavic 2, but first want to see if drone
> photography makes sense for me or not. The Mavic 2 costs about
> four times this drone.

For instance, if due to all restrictions I end up being able to
use the drone only a few days per year, then drone photography
wouldn't make sense for me.

[Ken Hart]

What do you think is wrong with it?

On my monitor (calibration = "Factory reset"!), your out of camera jpg
looks reasonable, and the processed RAW looks a bit more contrast-
"snappier". The RAW also looks like it might have a bit too much
cyan/green. If you were attempting to correct for red/magenta, maybe you
went just a tiny bit too far.

It might be difficult to correct for red/magenta cast with all those red
roofs and fall foliage. Would it be unreasonable to suggest you wait for
some serious snow cover and try again?


--
Ken Hart
kwh...@frontier.com

[Whisky-dave]

On Saturday, 23 November 2019 22:59:34 UTC, Alfred Molon wrote:
> In article <fdSdnaQ4yqYSMETA...@giganews.com>,
> bitb...@blackhole.com says...
> > Don't expect too much from that camera. You really should have gone
> > DJI. Sad.
>
> I might still get a Mavic 2, but first want to see if drone
> photography makes sense for me or not. The Mavic 2 costs about
> four times this drone.

Do you have to buy the drone and the camera as some sort of kit ?

I thought yuo could buy drones where you can attach the camera of yuor choice to it subject to size and weight.

I supose it does depend on exactly what sort of pictures you expect to take and the usage of those pictures.

[Alfred Molon]

In article <537af436-b602-4c12-a606-145790b6be61
@googlegroups.com>, whisk...@gmail.com says...

>
> Do you have to buy the drone and the camera as some sort of kit ?
>
> I thought yuo could buy drones where you can attach the camera of yuor choice to it subject to size and weight.

Such drones/camera combos are available, but they cost in the
thousands of Euros. A bit too much if you don't know if drone
photography makes sense for you.

[Alan Browne]

On 2019-11-26 06:00, Whisky-dave wrote:
> On Saturday, 23 November 2019 22:59:34 UTC, Alfred Molon wrote:
>> In article <fdSdnaQ4yqYSMETA...@giganews.com>,
>> bitb...@blackhole.com says...
>>> Don't expect too much from that camera. You really should have gone
>>> DJI. Sad.
>>
>> I might still get a Mavic 2, but first want to see if drone
>> photography makes sense for me or not. The Mavic 2 costs about
>> four times this drone.
>
> Do you have to buy the drone and the camera as some sort of kit ?
>
> I thought yuo could buy drones where you can attach the camera of yuor choice to it subject to size and weight.

Initially that was the majority case. For example GoPro cameras on DJI
drones was quite common. But the systems integration was awkward. When
DJI began putting on their own cameras then the integration was much
better (control of the camera). (GoPro also introduced their own drone
at about that time ans it was a magnificent flop. DJI introduced a much
better and compact drone at the time and then several of the GoPro Karma
drones had spectacular and dangerous in flight battery disconnects... so
much for ... Karma...[1]).

On some of DJI's higher end drones, the camera systems are pretty high
end where a basic drone + camera + lens + batteries + high speed memory
would be deep into the $10K range. (Inspire). Never mind the
engineering drones with high end infrared cameras for inspection and
other work.

[1] It did have 1 cool aspect as the camera was on a stabilized mount
which in turn could be used as a hand held stabilized camera.