Are high resolution cameras still needed? Topaz Gigapixel AI review

Is new A.I. based software like Topaz Gigapixel AI making cameras with many megapixels obsolete? Can you save some money by buying a cheaper camera and just upscaling the photos on the computer? I tested Gigapixel AI with photos of the Canon R5 and Canon R6 II.

[paulinefollett]

I use Topaz Denoise as a plug in, in lightroom, and I love it. I am getting great results. As a bird photographer I find that I crop heavily at times, so the noise reduction software is a game changer.

[LoliLoveJuice]

these softwares are good. but as a supporter at launch, i'm locked to my version and have to pay full price again. never buying from them again if this is how they treat supporters

[erik]

Good luck on your channel. I predict good things will come of it. Your delivery and thoroughness and attention to detail made the video easy to understand and take seriously. Keep up the good work because? We inquiring minds want to know!

[philipgowdy]

Excellent review, I have found the same thing with my own experiments. Keep up the great work.

[attiksystem]

Thanks! I consider buying a second body in parallel to my R5, and your new video makes my decision even harder... 😅

[kennethlui]

I would use it with caution. I have it but don't use it much. Sometimes it introduces artifacts and noise.

[romanjohnston]

For me....yes. My D850 is perfect to get 60" x 90" prints with close to "walk into it" detail. It all depends on what you are doing with it.

[kuau]

when using your 600/4 are you using the FlexShooter Pro or FlexShooter Extreme ?

[dougsmit]

Canon also makes another option for 'enlarging'. Rather than cropping your R5/6 images consider the R7 with higher pixel density as a starting point. The R6mkII price added to the R7 price is roughly the price of the R5. Of course we are free to use Gigapixel on small parts of the R7 images, too.

[erik]

Thank you for the comparison. I have found that the Topaz products are phenomenal and can make up for a lot of problems that naturally occur in the course of our work.

Personally, I do like to make large prints, so the extra resolution of a big sensor is - though - as you point out - in many cases overkill I view it as a safety buffer - just as I use ProPhoto for the wider gamut coverage and 16 bit all the time to avoid banding - higher resolution can enable me to compensate for a mistake,

As unlikely as it is that I might ever make one!

I also plan to only buy one camera in the near future - the Sony A7R5 and likely that will be the last camera I buy for around 10 years. I don't shoot moving sports or wildlife - preferring landscapes and still objects that I then process as I see fit.

Let's face it - there are always going to be new bells and whistles for cameras. I have found that buying quality upfront invariably pays in terms of longevity and durability on the backend and, over time is cheaper than "economizing" only to find later that I am found wanting features I wish I had.

[metphmet]

I don’t like the result of this software. It looks artificial with the purpose of showing that it is sharper. Just make the experience of comparing a real high resolution sensor with a standard one and work with them. It is not sharper, it is better.

[MrTmiket]

Thanks for sharing another wonderful video like always 🐦👍🤗

[AllenReinecke]

I've been evaluating the trial versions of Topaz and came across a couple noteworthy and interesting issues with Gigapixel.

Firstly, Topaz does NOT support my Lumix S5 ii RAW files, but it does support my older Lumix FZ2500's RAW files. I have to use Adobe's free RAW to .dng converter to get a usable file. 😞

Secondly, when resizing in Gigapixel and wanting a .dng file output to retain the maximum image information for further post-processing, the resultant file, when viewed in Windows is a thumbnail, displayed at 256 x 171 pixels, but it's a 459MB thumbnail! However, if you open that same file in your editing software, it is the expected large megapixel file, which can be post-processed.
According to Topaz, this is an issue with Windows not being able to display .dng files. So, it only renders the thumbnail. This is not fixable by Topaz. Microsoft must address the .dng file format capability in Windows. 😞 I assume Apple users are Okay.

So, while it looked like Gigapixel didn't work, I do have a usable way to resize my denoised .dng files from DxO PureRAW 3 and then continue post-processing, which I do in Affinity Photo (which also does NOT support my S5 ii RAW files without conversion to .dng! 😞 Clearly, Panasonic is low on the camera totem pole.)

I have found the Topaz Gigapixel resizing results vary between images. Some are superb. Others not so much. However, it is potentially useful for those of us that don't need a high MP camera for a just handful of photos.

I appreciate your approach with your videos! Very inciteful. Thanks!

[silverclifflightshow]

This software is deceiving, it’s called gigapixel, but unable to generate giga, pixel images

[stubones]

I’m getting a R6 mkii next week (hopefully) and I have gigapixel. I won’t feel the need for a R5. I’ve had staggeringly good results from files with my old 5D3 and 1DX. I can easily create a sharp detailed 50mp file that looks amazing. I’ve even created a 190mp just for fun and it looks good up to a point but has a lot of weirdness at anything above 50%. At 100% the pixels it’s created just don’t match what should be there. That’s obviously just an extreme case no one would use but realistic usage scenarios give great results. “Fixing” old low res files has mixed results.

[gfxmaniac]

Canon R7 and AI Denoise gives crisp images with tons of detail.

[nevadaxtube]

I've heard that Topaz is no longer supporting or providing updates for their AI software Gigapixel, Sharpen or DeNoise. Apparently, all their efforts are going for Photo AI. Do you have any information about this Fabian?

[alankefauver]

Crop the frame then gigapixel, or gigapixel the whole frame, then crop?

[batuhancokmar]

Of course it can never be a "replacement" to raw hardware performance, but Topaz Photo AI (which include almost all Gigapixel functions) definately give a new life to old cameras. Its crazy you can use a D5100 to take a photo at ISO6400 and make big art gallery prints out of it. Also one critical advantage of higher resolution sensor is it provides more data for AI to work with. Back then, Canon 6D mkII had clearly better high ISO performance than my old D800. For me, this was the reason 6D mkII existed.. Today? I am not so sure. With ~50% more data for AI to discriminate what is a tree branch and what is fur, I think D800 does better all the way up until its (expanded) ISO limit despite being much older than 6d mkII.

Don't believe? This is also interesting video idea to try if you have Topaz Photo AI. Shoot a test subject at high ISO like 12800 and then run noise reduction. When viewed at same size, I guarantee with AI-based NR on R5 will give better results than newer R6II. I suspect at one stop higher ISO, R5 will still give better result if you fine tune settings on both results.

[CptDangernoodle]

How does it compare to Topaz Photo Ai?