[C&C] Our Moon and a poll . . . -> Help me to understand <-

The shot was done a few minutes ago.
I ended up with two images very similar but not the same.

I do prefer one of the two - no reason given,
I asked a NoPhoto friend he told me the same, not knowing why.

( In both cases the preferred one is the less detailed )

And so a poll is due to understand better WHY

< I or II > Explain if you can - Critiques are gratefully received

Z30 - Sigma 150-600C - Tripod & Remote

PS:
I received Saturday my 180-600Z but still forced to use the 600C instead
- no padding inside, Nikon box was destroyed - running free lens - resulting shots are horrible

Contacted Italian Official Nikon Repair:
- they told me the 600Z is so new they cannot give any date.
If they need a spare part, it'll come from Japan
A N D
they do not have a lens to replace mine

returned to Amazon and re-ordered*

I prefer II because the contrast is better and I can see the craters around the terminator more clearly. I do not know what other criteria to employ.

David

Yes, I agree with @davidwien! Is that different from the preference you‘ve mentioned.

I also prefer the second one, it just pops out more for me, could also be because how you cropped the image😉

Thanks, all !!!

Now I can tell the only difference between the two images is the color.
...and sure the Crop is different.

I did prefer the "I", seeing it on my 65" and so other three nonphoto people looking at images sent via WhatsApp.

Naturally, the color I added makes the "II" appear more "detailed" but it's the same!

2023-09 Fall's Moon I by AlainCh2, on Flickr

Never imagined a little brown/yellow could make that difference.

2023-09 Fall's Moon II by AlainCh2, on Flickr

The Raw is here:
www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3wy5ogajrprfttexqh04d/2023-09-25-21.55.33.nef?rlkey=ie236hl09d4r5hry6r1x6ow0h&dl=0

Very interesting what you diod to achieve that.

I took your raw file and put it through Topaz Sharpen AI. You may think it overdone, but I assume that the reflected sunshine is accurate. (I left it full size.)

David

This is a single shot of a sequence of 40 done with the 150-600C

I opened in DXO PL6 to put some contrast, get down the highlights, and crop <no local editing>
then I passed the result in TP AI for denoise and sharpening < I >
while in TP AI as a last pass, I added some warm temperature < II >

I did the same process ( II ) with this Image of yesterday night with my Brand New 180-600Z

2023-09 Fall's Moon - with a brand new 180-600Z by AlainCh2, on Flickr

( only the top is very sharp - one shot out of 12 - too cold yesterday )

Raw file available here:

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/wzhj2fc7t1yqnixmvz96q/2023-09-26-22.44.13.nef?rlkey=iyivkwgve03z9nkpcjbg1drgc&dl=0