[davidmanze]

 

The other aspect is ... when does it matter anyway? I'd state that it isn't overly important in many scenes because the world is a rather contrasty place to start with. The discussion started with birds. If you have a black or white bird, that's about as challenging as it gets. Having micro-contrast or not means the difference between a "plastic bird" or the real thing. Of course, if we are talking about the "real thing" further aspects will come up like e.g. moiree. 

  That was a point that I nearly spoke about, what seems on a 100% crop like mediocre contrast, in the end is of little consequence when looking at the whole picture. An enemy for me is this super bright contrasty sunshine here, even when you haven't blown out the highlights getting the whole dynamic range in the final image is not always an easy task!

  The dynamic range of a black and white bird in bright sun is phenomenal, demanding RAW PP (adjustment brush) to curb the whites and boost the dark areas.