Many professional photographers inevitably have photos taken with outdated cameras or with low-resolution sensors. But what if you want to print these images at a large size or bring them up to the current standard of camera technology? Good, new light maybe just the answer for you.
In a recent video, photographer, filmmaker and YouTuber Peter Mckinnon discusses how he managed to fix one of his low resolution images using Luminar Neo. Although the image in question was taken on a modern camera, unfortunately this camera is set to capture small JPEG files without any raw files.
These situations can be heartbreaking, especially when you have a great photo like the one Mckinnon took in the ice cave. What’s worse is that these images cannot be captured because the ice cave taken by Mckinnon no longer exists. Before, there weren’t many options for recovering images like these; however, now we are fortunate to have software like Luminar Neo.
high-class
The original image that Mckinnon took had a resolution of only about 1.4 megapixels, not even enough resolution to appear at full size on an HD display. With the new Premium extension from Luminar, Mckinnon was able to increase the resolution to more than 50 megapixels. This is obviously a huge jump in size, and such a file can be comfortably printed in large format even by the library’s standards.
It is remarkable how natural the end result looks. The image is not too sharp and the details look realistic. The contrast between the soft water and the hard details in the ice shows up extremely well without any unwanted artifacts.
This method of image enhancement can also be used on your old and low resolution photos. If you have valuable images from the past that need to be upgraded to current standards, the Premium software extension from Luminar Neo could be invaluable to you.
Be quiet
Increasing resolution is obviously not the only thing that has improved over the past decade in camera technology. In fact, there’s a very good chance that most images taken in the last 10 years probably have enough resolution to handle anything thrown at them today. What has improved over the last few years is how the camera manages noise in the dark areas of the image or when shooting at higher ISOs.
Digital noise in images is not the same as grain in film. Film grain with a specific look can be copied and managed depending on the ISO you choose. Digital noise is random, can greatly affect color, and is difficult to manage. This is why it’s so helpful to have software that can effectively manage noise in your photos.
One of the extensions from Luminar is called Noiseless and as the name suggests, it aims to remove all unwanted noise in your photos. Removing that digital noise is probably one of the best ways to improve image quality from almost any camera.
ultra sharp
Lens technology over the past few years has improved so much that we now have optical lenses that are described as too sharp. Some of these lenses have an almost clinical look to them, and depending on the type of work you’re doing, this can be very helpful.
For example, if you shoot landscapes and architecture, having a super sharp image is almost always a requirement. Architectural images, when printed large, tend to look unflattering if they are a bit soft or lack detail. Of course, this does not include any decisions made for artistic reasons.
However, the new Supersharp extension in Luminar can really help bring out details in photos. Older camera systems may not be able to capture the detail as many lenses today. Luckily, Supersharp can fix most of those problems.
In general, sharpening software tends to work best on images that are already in focus, although you can use it to improve images where you may be slightly out of focus. In my experience, this software is most effective for slightly soft focus images. This is why for images captured on older and low-resolution camera systems, Supersharp is incredibly powerful.
Improve image quality on your smartphone
Smartphones are amazing these days because they can always be with you and with the use of certain AI features they can produce amazing results and images can be shared quickly with your friends. many different platforms. The problem is that images from smartphones are still not quite as good as those taken on a “proper” camera.
However, if you edit your smartphone images in Luminar with its latest extension, you can bridge the gap quite dramatically. Most smartphones only shoot 12-megapixel files, you can also increase that resolution to 50-megapixel or even 100-megapixel. There are a lot of potential resolutions if you use the Luminar Premium software sample.
Smartphone images can be quite noisy even in good lighting conditions. Smaller sensors tend not to be as efficient as many modern cameras. This seems especially bad given the in-camera noise reduction adopted by most smartphones.
However, you can avoid a lot of in-camera processing by capturing raw images, and if you use the software from Luminar you can produce significantly better results. This is not only in terms of resolution but also in terms of overall detail and clarity.
It’s worth mentioning that it’s probably not a good idea to do this for every picture you take with your smartphone. However, for weird images that make a little more sense than a snapshot, the Luminar Neo will probably be extremely beneficial.
Look closely at the two images above? there is a big difference in overall image quality. Both were taken on an iPhone 11 Pro; however, the image on the right looks like it was taken with the appropriate camera. The difference is huge and this kind of quality is available when you use software like Luminar Neo.
Final thoughts
Post-production software like Luminar has made impressive leaps and bounds over the past few years. The ability to enhance images and recover low resolution files makes this software extremely useful. Even if you only shoot with a smartphone, you still have a real and genuine ability to create meaningful images based on image quality.
On a personal note, I’m thoroughly impressed with how much improvement in the image quality of smartphone cameras has been. Honestly, it looks like going from a smartphone to a pro camera and it’s simply unbelievable.
If you want to learn more about the extensions in Luminar Neo, be sure to check it out video and Luminar’s website to find more about. If you don’t have Luminar Neo yet, get it THIS. For a limited time only, you can use the code FSTOPERS10 for discounts on Pro and Explore subscriptions, as well as a lifetime option. This will work for all subscription models, except monthly.
