Dimage Master: making it all clear
S
oftware can be amazingly dull Dimage Master software has been Once selected, our raw .MRW shot
stuff. So can photography.
Dimage Master, the raw and provided to buyers of the Dynax
could have a better white balance
applied. Dimage Master offers an
JPEG file processing application for
Konica Minolta images, is billed as an 5D. It is a powerful, technically
extra set of special WB conversions
covering indoor lighting –
attractive bonus for Dynax 5D buyers
and a worthwhile buy for others. competent image processor but
White Fluorescent
Cool White Fluorescent
Before Dynax 7D owners complain
about 5D buyers being given a bonus needs to be explored and learned.
Daylight Fluorescent
3-band White Fluorescent
they didn’t get, remember that 3-band Warm White Fluorescent
substantial rebates applied to the 7D. 3-band Cool White Fluorescent
The relative value of the offers made 3-band Daylight Fluorescent
on each camera at a similar stage in This covers nearly all the
its marketing history looks very fair. striplights and energy saver bulbs
But – do you really need you now find in shopes, offices and
or want Dimage Master? the home. The conversions are more
It’s not a lightweight package. It accurate than a JPEG auto WB as
is pretty memory hungry, disk space they account for the non-continuous
hungry and makes big demands of any spectrum of fluorescent tubes.
processor, running slowly on older Testing them, I settled for
machines. It is a complex application 3-Band White as the best match. To
with many modular functions of more ensure the best colour AdobeRGB
interest to the scientific user than was chosen for output space.
the amateur. You do not often need Further adjustments to
to know DeltaEV (the difference in the image included:
exposure value between two samples) Sharpening – High Sharpness
or map the colour distribution of a The in-camera JPEG of this shot taken in Edinburgh’s Tron Kirk excavations exhibit in Spatial Frequency Filtering
selected area on a gamut diagram. is pleasant enough, but lacks contrast in the mud-coloured earth and stonework. Unsharp Mask – 50 per cent at 1
There are some users who do By processing the raw .MRW file in Dimage Master, the best of three hand-held ex- pixel radius, Shadow Protection 32
and Dimage Master can become posures was selected and ‘clinical’ colour and contrast added to the main subject Tone Processing
part of a technical toolkit. It seems of the shot. Dynax 5D, 18-70mm lens at 18mm, 1/5th at ƒ8, AS, ISO 800, auto WB. – Increase Contrast
to have been written by colour and Exposure Compensation – +0.3
imaging scientists and the range of You can see the effects of these
controls may baffle the beginner. at 100 percent and the full image.
But, take heart! Dimage Master Finally, highest quality (Low
is actually fairly easy to grasp if Compression) JPEG was selected
you visit the konicaminolta.co.uk for output and a 200 per cent file
website, where most of its functions size – 6016 x 4000 pixels – added,
are clearly explained in brief. interpolating the file up as if making
This article shows how a a very large print. You can select any
very boring and flat picture – an size for final output freely (within
anti-shake assisted record of an minimum and maximum limits).
archaeological exhibit – was made The overall processing was com-
just that little bit better using pared against a ‘neutral’ conversion
Master’s diagnosis and control. using a split window check function,
First of all, since the shot was at and a Snapshot taken of the settings
1/8th of a second hand held, three at this stage. You can take a Snapshot
frames were shot using Anti Shake. at any time, and these appear in a
It is very hard to tell which is the
sharpest at a glance. In the Master Checking focus or sharpness on three
browser window, a Magnifier icon frames – the 2nd, 4th and 6th in this
can be activated and clicked on a row are the .MRW files. The magnifier
point in any image (raw or JPEG). tool shows these sections, below.
The pop-up window from this shows
a section at 100 or 200 per cent.
From this, it was easy to see that
shot 3 was the sharpest exposure.
An alternative is the Comparison
window, which has two halves,
initially blank. You drag two
different images into these halves,
and they can be compared (with
histograms). If you then click the
1:1 icon at the top for each shot,
they will zoom in the same area.
This is an equally useful focus
check between just two samples.
photoworld 24
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