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Fuji Papery skin tones

woosterwooster Member
edited December 2015 in other systems
Now this might well be another in my series of "not understanding very well" so excuse me if this is a bit of a daft question. I have a Fuji XT-1 which I like a lot but I notice that on some pictures skin looks very false. It is waxy but also "papery" ( does that make sense?) with odd artificial blotches on areas of highlight. This occurs in RAW files at all ISOs irrespective of the type of sharpening and noise reduction I've applied in post. Is this operator error and something very basic I have not mastered/understood? I use LR 5 but gave Iridient a go and although not as obvious the effect was still noticeable.

It doesn't happen on all photographs at all but I can't decided why it does on some. I know cameras have limits but I wonder if you have advice on how to minimise or avoid this effect.

Thanks for helping
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Comments

  • TrevTrev Moderator

    Wooster,

    Sample posted here would be a help, and can you upload a RAW file and give a download link, or if you prefer to be private and not open to everyone, send me a private message via forum, or email me a link to: fstop_87_2@internode.on.net

    We need to see this effect.

    In meantime, was exposure needing to be brought back, maybe too much?

    Cheers,
    Trev
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  • woosterwooster Member
    Thanks Trev that's kind of you. Please give me a couple of days until things settle after Christmas and I get back on my desktop and I will send you an image :)
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  • Neil vNNeil vN Administrator
    I'd love to see as well. Also tell us the camera profile you are using in Lightroom - that's essential.
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  • woosterwooster Member
    edited January 2016
    Hi guys,

    I'm sorry to take so long to respond. I was pretty tied up over Christmas and now away for a bit. I will forward a copy of my picture on my return. I had a quick look online meantime and I can show you an example from a review of the newly announced  X Pro 2. It's here:  


    If you look at image 8 ( the picture of the guy reading a book ) you will notice papery appearance of his face on the forehead and around the upper lip. This is pretty much the effect I'm getting on some images. I guess this is possibly a processing error but I'm getting similar results from time to time with RAW files too. I have tried Astia soft, Pro Neg Std and Provia with the same result.

    Just had another look and there's some evidence of it on the skin tones of the woman in image 21 too, around her forehead.

     Anyway, I'd be grateful if you could maybe take a look at the link and give me some advice on how to overcome it. I will send one of my images after the weekend.


    Thank you so much

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  • NikonguyNikonguy Member
    That is odd.

    At first glance it looks like clumsy editing (eg. spot removal gone awry), but the poster says it is a SOOC JPG.

    I do notice in the exif it has 4:2:2 chroma subsampling, which is evidence of a lower quality JPG. It should be 4:4:4 if they are trying to show things off the best they can. You would need to experiment to determine if this is the issue, a contributing factor, or not impacting it. (Speaking of trying to show off the camera the best they can, I just noticed that they shot it needlessly at ISO 1000, at 90mm at 1/1600 s. How about ISO 200 for 1/320 s for the same exposure?)

    Another possibility: It says "Out of camera JPEG with Fujifilm's "PRO Neg. Hi" film simulation. Shot on a preproduction Fujifilm X-Pro2." I'm wondering if this "film simulation" processing is causing JPG artifacts in the skin tones?

    As far as the RAW processing of your own shots, as Neil says, the choice of camera profile is important. If you post an example RAW file of yours (say on Dropbox or somewhere), I would take a look. I'm also curious if you are seeing it at all ISO or only on the higher ISOs?
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  • Neil vNNeil vN Administrator
    Trev ... the waxy skin tones (which I am not quite seeing here), is a well-known issue with Fuji apparently. 

    Check these two reviews of the new Fuji X-Pro 2

    Both of them mention that this camera doesn't have the waxy skin tones. 


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  • Neil vNNeil vN Administrator
    How to fix it though, I have no idea at the moment. 
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  • NikonguyNikonguy Member
    I'm not sure this upload will work well, but I think this is what the OP is referring to. I've heavily cropped the image. Notice upper lip and forehead smudgy areas. Also note the artifacts all over the background. Whatever engine created this JPG (in camera, apparently) really didn't do a great job.
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  • woosterwooster Member
    edited January 2016
    Hi folks. Yes I know the waxy skin thing can be an issue particularly if you crank up the ISO but I can control that on my camera by not going nuts with sensitivity settings. 

    What I'm finding on occasion is more of a "papery" look on skin. The picture above is a very bad example of it and I have to say mine aren't as bad as that, but there does seem to be a definite papery thing going on in some of my files including RAW files processed in any way I do it. Mine tend to be more in line with the other image I mentioned ( no 21 ) where I can definitely see a weird effect on her forehead. Not as strong as on the chap with the hat above.

    Also in the above image it isn't just a couple of blobs that's the problem. You can see the effect on his cheeks and all over his skin if you look closely. That is the pretty much exactly the issue I originally posted about.

    I have shot RAW and tried using LR5, Capture One and Iridient to convert them with various settings ( and film modes in LR5 ) and they all show the same issue on some of my files.

    This problem seems to be less of an issue for me if the exposure is in good light but when there's quite contrasty highlight areas seems to become worse.
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