Incorporating Phocus into my X2D photo editing workflow

[ndwgolf]

How many of you guys incorporate Phocus into your picture processing workflow. I tried Phocus back in 2018 when I had a H6D 100c but it was painfully slow then even on my top of the line MacPro. Im waiting for a new X2D and hopefully Phocus would have improved since 2018.
I'm guessing ideally import the RAW .3FR files into Phocus, work on the exposure, any keystone adjustments make any colour tweaks then hand off into Photoshop for final adjustments.............Does that all sound about right? Any workflow tips would be much appreciated .

 

[MichelvanElmpt]

 

[MichelvanElmpt]

 

[MarkThompson]

How many of you guys incorporate Phocus into your picture processing workflow. I tried Phocus back in 2018 when I had a H6D 100c but it was painfully slow then even on my top of the line MacPro. Im waiting for a new X2D and hopefully Phocus would have improved since 2018.
I'm guessing ideally import the RAW .3FR files into Phocus, work on the exposure, any keystone adjustments make any colour tweaks then hand off into Photoshop for final adjustments.............Does that all sound about right? Any workflow tips would be much appreciated .

I’m an H6D-100c shooter and only use phocus. It’s slow on my 2012 iMac but it has the best screen, so still preview there. The 2019 MacBook Pro is what I take on jobs away from home. It’s fine to work with speed wise but runs incredibly hot. I just got an M3 MacBook last year and it’s marginally faster again. (Great for DaVinci resolve a game changer there)
The color space in phocus is great to work with. I also like the tools in phocus and so it’s a perfect one stop solution for everything, so much so, I have never seen a need for photoshop. And editing speeds have been fine since I got the 2019 MacBook

 

[Patrick]

I use Phocus for all my Hasselblad . I just got a Mac Mini M4 as I’m so tired of how s l o w my old 2017 5k iMac has become.

 

[davidmknoble]

Something Phil Tragen showed in the video above I agree with is that the Phocus app really recreates the colors well. Of course, that is the point of Hasselblad making the software. I am a believer in using the manufacturer’s software because they should talk with the camera better than anyone.

That said, the spot removal is horrific in Phocus, and I transitioned to Capture One from Lightroom about 3 years ago. So, my workflow is a little different.
I always start in Phocus, no matter what. I adjust as much as I can and use the layers with gradient masks to selection areas to work on as needed (my photography is landscape, mostly coastal, so it works well for that). When I am happy with the image, I export it to a 16 bit TIFF and open that up in ON1. I do not try to trick the system by removing the Hasselblad name and pull it into Capture One.

I adjust 2 things in ON1. First, I remove any spots. Especially dust threads (lines vs. spots). Now I hate dust and I work hard to clean the sensor, but it just happens, especially with the CV backs and less so the X2D. Second, I use the dynamic contrast filter in ON1 which just pulls the micro contrast out really really well and has plenty of adjustments as needed.

Then I save the image and export it for social media, or adjust more for printing.

The files are huge, and while I prefer to keep files that are not technically bad (camera shake or bad exposure), I do cull more judiciously with the X2D and delete images I don’t want.

I save all my image files on a synology with raid setup so 2 drives can fail, and that backs up at night to an offsite backup service.
All in all, I prefer less saturation over more because it prints better, but I can adjust in Phocus to fine tune those things fairly well. It took me a couple of months and several sessions shooting to start to get it, (and a few Phocus updates) but I’m happy now except spot removal!

David.

 

[MarkThompson]

I have to agree on the spot removal tool, plenty of room for improvement there!
I love phocus and keep 99% of my work flow there.

 

[bladdered]

I always use Phocus with my X2D, post process and export 16 bit Tiff files into Bridge and onto Photoshop, or Capture One 20. I use the Calibration Tool for colours and I don't find it slow with my 27" iMac and 30" NEC Multisync display, but I'm not a sports shooter and not in a hurry. I really like the Phocus tools and more often than not I'm tethering.

I'd really like the option of taking RAW files directly into Capture One, but that's not to be. The Lightroom tethering tool is very limited, but I do use it for eBay files.

 

[Roger Lee]

I've always used proprietary software to convert RAW to TIFF, while LR & PS do a good job; it has been my experience that almost always the OEMs have the original recipe for top-notch RAW conversions. Phocus's Color Science is simply the best.

I then save all the RAWs and Tiffs into a date-named folder with a small description, using TIFF, JPEG, and Web keeper sub-folders.

After the initial conversion, I do PS levels, rotation, and crop adjustments. From there I tweak the individual images I like (keepers) with Luminar Neo and Topaz Photo AI. Luminar does great at tweaking the images, while Topaz excels at sharpening blur and noise reduction.

Afterward, I clean up the images, spot healing, content aware, etc. and further convert the photo into keeper TIFF, JPEG, and Web. The Web photo is given a pixel length of 2048 pixels on the long side, as I assume it's Facebook's sweet spot for image quality. File size doesn't matter, but your mileage may vary.

I own Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom Classic, so no further charges exist for their usage. Someday, I’m sure with the lack of updates supported by Adobe, there will come a time when it is rendered useless; until then, I’ll continue using my bought and paid-for software.