For ISO 200 images, you only need a tiny amount. You could add some in X-transformer, but personally, I prefer Lightroom’s noise reduction. So for this I set a value of about 20 and then tweak it depending on the image.īecause there’s no luminance noise reduction being done at the conversion stage, you may need to add a little back in Lightroom. I would also suggest adding a little masking as otherwise you’re sharpening the background noise. Unlike Lightroom’s own demosaicing, you don’t get the same artefacts, and so, even at 100 it doesn’t look too awful, but it will look over-sharpened. You can get away with values up to about 40 for normal situations. However there are a few things that you might want to consider in the sharpening and noise reduction settings.įor sharpening, you can set the amount a little higher, depending on your image, and the lens that you used. For the most part, you can use the default settings with your choice of colour profile. Once you process your images in X-Transformer, and import them into Lightroom, there are a couple of things to be aware of. Just remember that you need to set your settings before adding files. Here is a screenshot of my settings window: However, on the older 16mp files, I think either works well. I think the more detailed option makes the images a little over-sharpened, and false looking when you sharpen in Lightroom. If you are using one of the newer 24mp X-Trans cameras, I also suggest setting the RAW-Process method to “Smoother”. This lets you sharpen in Lightroom using normal techniques, but also reduces the excessive colour noise that occurs if you turn everything off. Turn off Sharpening in X-Transformer, but use a medium amount of Colour Noise reduction. In my second piece, I suggested a low level of sharpening, but I think that compromised the look a bit too much. I now realise that that may not have been the best advice. In my first post on this I suggested turning off everything in X-Transformer, and doing all the processing in Lightroom. Anyway, on with the settings… No Sharpen, Low Noise reduction. That’s the approach that I’ve been taking as I try to figure this out.
I hate the “digital” look which comes about from over sharpening or excessive filtering, which is why I always strive for the most natural looking image. My personal preference is always for the most natural looking, and most film like files. In my previous post, I thought that I had found the best combination, which was to apply a low level of sharpening in both X-Transformer and Lightroom, but since then, after more experimenting, I’ve come up with a different way of using it.Īs with anything to do with sharpening, and the look of the files, this is purely subjective, and you may not like what I like. As I have previously mentioned, there are lots of different combinations of settings that you can use, all of which will give you differing results. I’ve written a few times now about using Iridient’s X-Transfomer to pre-process Fuji X-Trans files for use in Lightroom.