Haze Removal not working

[Ulysses]

I'm trying Affinity Photo's (v1.4.2) Haze Removal filter on an Olympus E-M1 raw file (.ORF). The filter seems to have no effect (zero) at all, even though I realize I need to Develop the raw file before I can access the Haze tool.

 

The raw file is recognized by Affinity Photo and opens just fine. But the Haze Removal tool doesn't shows no visible difference. (Note that Photoshop CC and its Dehaze effect works well and works directly on the raw file... no "development" required.)

 

Maybe there's something simple I'm missing, even though I watched the video about this tool a few times and tried to research it's use here in the forum.

 

Thanks for any advice you can give.

[MEB]

Hi Ulysses,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Depending on the photo the filter can be quite subtle if there's no haze to remove. I've tried it with a few ORF samples and it worked fine on my system however due to the type of the images I have here the result was somewhat muted. Can you please upload you RAW image using this link so I can check what's going on with your image?

All files will be deleted after being inspected.

Thanks,

[Ulysses]

Hi Ulysses,

Welcome to Affinity Forums :)

Depending on the photo the filter can be quite subtle if there's no haze to remove. I've tried it with a few ORF samples and it worked fine on my system however due to the type of the images I have here the result was somewhat muted. Can you please upload you RAW image using this link so I can check what's going on with your image?

All files will be deleted after being inspected.

Thanks,

 

Thanks for the welcome and for the reply! :-) 

 

I was successful with the Haze Removal filter when trying with other (non-Olympus) files that appeared to be better candidates for this tool. So perhaps as you alluded, the photo in question is simply not a good candidate. There was ZERO effect (as evidenced when I duplicated the layer and changed its blend mode to DIFFERENCE). 

 

I am attaching a JPEG version of the file so you can get a look. For context, the reason the photo is so lacking in contrast is because the lens fogged up as a result of some tremendous humidity. I'm hoping to recover this image to a more pleasing state. 

 

EDITED TO ADD: Can't seem to attach the file for some reason. :(

 

Ulysses_P8120060.zip

 

 

 

[MEB]

Hi Ulysses,

I believe we have a few restrictions in place for new users which limits certain functionality until a certain number of posts is reached (to avoid spam).

This should be lifted pretty quickly. Meanwhile you can use the link I gave you in my previous post and I will add the image to your reply.

 

Here's how to attach an image/file to the forum just in case that's not the problem.

[Ulysses]

Hi Ulysses,

I believe we have a few restrictions in place for new users which limits certain functionality until a certain number of posts is reached (to avoid spam).

This should be lifted pretty quickly. Meanwhile you can use the link I gave you in my previous post and will add the image to your reply.

 

Here's how to attach an image/file to the forum just in case that's not the problem.

 

Fantastic. Raw file sent. Thanks! 

[MEB]

Thanks for the file. I see what you mean now. I will pass this to the dev team to be checked.

 

NOTE: I've attached the to your previous post (#3). The issue was with the file format (certain formats are not accepted although JPG should have worked). In those cases zip the file first and it should upload without issues.

[Ulysses]

Thanks. I've attached it to your previous post. The issue was with the file format. Certain formats are not accepted. In those cases zip the file first and it should work without issues.

 

Interestingly, I wasn't able to upload the JPEG version either. I thought maybe it was a Flash issue, but the Basic Uploader wasn't sending the file either. At any rate, I'm glad you provided the Dropbox link. I look forward to your findings.

 

My guess is that this file is simply not a good candidate for the Haze Removal filter. If that is the case, what approach in AP would you recommend I experiment with? Adjustment of Brightness & Contrast, and the Black Point? 

 

Thanks. 

 

(P.S. — Some tools work almost exactly like those in Photoshop, while others are taking me a bit longer to adjust to. Certain concepts such as layer masks operate a bit differently than I'm accustomed to as an longtime pro photographer with experience in Photoshop.)