If it was just lose of resolution across the frame I think it would be less problematic. But perspective correction in-raw rather than in-camera reduces resolution progressively as you approach the edge of the frame, creating a situation where anyone can see one area of the final product is very detailed and another area of the final product is soft/smeared.
In Capture One when using the in-raw perspective correction you can use the "sharpness falloff correction" slider to progressively compensate for this intra-frame fall-off in resolution, but of course you can't restore detail that wasn't captured - only make it look as good as possible.
For emulating small movements using a good camera/lens the difference can be minimal. But even for moderate movements the difference can be pretty dramatic.
In some situations, such as when the sky or a solid textureless ceiling is the part of the frame being de-facto stretched during in-raw perspective correction it couldn't matter less. In some situations, such as when the corner of the final-frame will be a highly detailed and important-to-the-client architectural feature the quality will quickly disappoint.
There are an amazing variation in your options and their resulting image quality:
- A 22mp 35mm dSLR with an AA filter and a good-but-not-stunning prime wide-angle tilted up 10 degrees and adjusted in post
- a 22mp 35mm dSLR with an AA filter and a good-but-not-stunning wide tilt-shift-lens shifted in-camera
- a 22mp digital back with no AA filter on a tech camera with stunning wide-angle lens shifted in-camera
- an 80mp digital back with no AA filter on a tech camera with a four-panel in-image-circle stitch on a slightly longer lens
- dozens of other workflow combinations
All these options also require vastly different amounts of time at the time of capture and during post processing. They also vary drastically in your ability to show a close-to-final image to an art director or client
during the shoot. Only you can decide what will best fulfill your and your clients needs/desires/standards.
I will say that the ability now to do the perspective correction at the raw level while tethering (or untethered) in Capture One Pro 6 has made that workflow a lot less tedious. That said, I'd still take a PC lens or tech camera any day of the week over doing it in post - it's such a cleaner workflow and the quality difference (to me) is big.
As Yair points out, placement of the focus plane is not something possible in software*.
*3D capture/rendering techniques and/or Depth of Field stacking can get you there, but given the amount of time needed in those workflows it's almost always better to just capture it with a system that allows placement of the focus plane
Doug Peterson
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