Sharpening, more is better most of the time?

[BuddyO]

Most of my pics are family events, vacation shots, landscape, and sports (cycling).


I've modified thepicture style I use on my 50D to boost the sharpness from the default value of 3 to a 5 (in-camera setting maxs out at 7) and take most of my pics at at sRAW1 + JPEG. I also like the results I get from maxing out the sharpness to 10 in DPP during post-processing. Why isn't this the default? When I'm reviewing my pics, the first thing I look at is sharpness (I guess to ensure focus was good enough to make them keepers). I know I shouldn't confuse sharpness with focus, butexcept for portraits, why not max out sharpness all of the time? Do you find yourself boosting sharpness more often than not?

[Sean Setters]

An overly sharp picture can be unflattering to a lot of subjects... :-)

[Daniel Browning]

I also like the results I get from maxing out the sharpness to 10 in DPP during post-processing. Why isn't this the default?

It's just a matter of taste. Most people like the look of highly sharpened images. I'm one of those that doesn't. To me, highly sharpened images can sometimes look a little unnatural or "digital", whereas I prefer a more natural or "film-like" image, even though it's softer. Canon must feel that the default they chose is the best compromise for most types of images and photographer preferences.

[Fast Glass]

I personally like my sharpening to be at about 2 or 3, sometimes less if the picture is very sharp. I do not like when the image starts to get halos around the fine details.


John.

[Colin]

Usually I like sharpening between 1 and 3 in the raw tab, and don't touch it in the RGB tab in DPP.


On occasion, if I'm trying to counter for more aggresive noise filtering, I might crank it up to 6 or 7.


I usually sharpen so that the sharpest part of the picture (i.e. most in focus with obvious detail) is as sharp as possible, but doesn't enhance the fact that the image is made of square pixels. I want the image to look clear, but I also want it to look continuous.

[BuddyO]

Thanks to all for the replies. Oversharpening does seem to make the main object pop a bit, especially with a lens as sharp as the 24-105L. I can see how this looks a bit unnatural. I may back off a bit when it comes to individual and group shots.