Turn off in-camera sharpening, sharpen in Final Cut Pro instead

If you are able to specify camera settings for the footage that you edit, I suggest that you make sure the camera isn't set to apply any sharpening to footage. Apply a small amount of sharpening in the edit.

It's a matter of holding your nerve when you first see the 'soft' footage from the camera originals.

Given that cameras with low amounts on built-in memory and very little time to apply sharpening (as part of capturing a frame they would have less than 1/150th of second to sharpen the image before encoding it as part of a movie file), it makes sense that editing software does a better job.

For comparisons of in-camera vs. software sharpening, visit Matt Davis' blog .

Alex, Matt had an excellent article. Thanks for pointing this out!
Steve

It really depends on what camera you are shooting on. If its a 5D and you're just using a Loop as a viewfinder finding focus can be extremely difficult without any in-camera sharpening.

Alex4D,
I'm curious how much sharpening you add back with the sharpening filter??
I just shot a video with Canon 7D of my brothers wedding in Spain and used the neutral picture style with the sharpness cranked all the way down: vimeo.com/51070607
I used the sharpness filter to add 2.5 (the stock amount) back in. Do you think I added enough? It was my first time applying the sharpness filter so I'm a total n00b with it and am curious what amount you've found appropiate?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions,
Matt