Camera set up

[the black fox]

Just wondering ,in most canon dslr cameras in the opening menus you have a menu for setting up your camera colours and picture styles ,this will be carried over into your p.p as a on screen j.peg when you import your files ,BUT does it actually impact on your RAW images as well or is it just the j.peg that's swaying how you finish the shot off .

[antoeknee]

Re: Camera set up

IIRC the picture settings only impact the preview on the camera when shooting RAW. Seem to recall these settings can be applied to RAW file when using DDP.

[the black fox]

Re: Camera set up

thats what i thought ant ,but my pics from the 1D4 seem more saturated when processing hence my question .could just be the effect of having two processors in the camera ,but like everything else its pure speculation

[collywobbles]

Re: Camera set up

I think two processors are more for speed than anything else.

[AndyMulhearn]

Re: Camera set up

That's how I understand it. One processor drives the AF, the other the image processing. It's probably more complex than that but I think that's the gist.

Different cameras will have different rendering processes for JPEG and I would imagine the different sensors will almost certainly have a different look, even in raw.

[antoeknee]

Re: Camera set up

thats what i thought ant ,but my pics from the 1D4 seem more saturated when processing hence my question .could just be the effect of having two processors in the camera ,but like everything else its pure speculation

Presume your importing into LR? Might be a case of the camera profile being a bit different. You could edit this to be more to your liking.

[El Sid]

Re: Camera set up

As far as I can tell ACR doesn't appear to be influenced by the picture style settings as it applies it's own defaults (unless otherwise customised). Certainly when opened in ACR raw files don't look like they do in DPP. Where there may be differences is in how the raw data is demosaiced. I have found that with my IR converted 1000D that ACR doesn't produce anything like as good a result as I get from DPP. Possibly taking away the visible light option has exaggerated minor differences between the two converters but it does make me wonder if different converters do produce slightly different results because they don't read and/or process the data the same way.

[the black fox]

Re: Camera set up

Did a bit of reading on it today ,one suggestion was to lower contrast and colour in picture styles. To get raw and j.peg looking similar ,which proves I suppose that I was right there's something different with the 1D4 body and the way it handles raw files and j.pegs ,below is a cut and paste of part of the article .....

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However, be aware that the thumbnail that appears on the screen after you snap a picture is processed via the default Picture Style settings and will have received a healthy dose of colour, contrast and sharpening during the resize process. This can be a little misleading for users new to the camera as it is quite likely that the corresponding raw image, when viewed on a big screen may appear a little flat in comparison. The Mk4 is similar to the 7D in this regard. The Picture Style processing enhancements are only applied to the in-camera jpg image if you are shooting in RAW and those settings do not have any impact on raw images processed with software other than that supplied by Canon.

Some users including myself go into the Picture Style menu and reduce contrast and saturation a little in order to have the image in the LCD display match the raw image more closely.

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I have now incorporated those suggestions into my picture style menu ,see if it makes a difference .let you know

[El Sid]

Re: Camera set up

I usually leave my picture style set on neutral or faithful which are more natural and akin to the basic raw file though I can't remember whether I have lowered the contrast and saturation further. This did cause a problem a few weeks back when I used the 40D and D30 together at a cricket match and the two image streams came out different. Partly that's probably because the D30's sensor and processing is ancient and not terribly sophisticated by comparison but also it doesn't have picture style and the adjustable parameters don't really adjust that much so the resultant images tend to be more the Standard picture style than anything else....

TBH I'm considering reverting to the standard picture style so that the rear screen gives me an idea of what I want the finished image to look like rather than what the raw looks like.

[Richard W]

Re: Camera set up

I did read somewhere that if you shoot Raw and use the histogram to check your exposure in the field, you should set the picture style to neutral as the histogram gives a better representation of the Raw file. No idea if this is true, but the writer seemed to know what they were talking about.

[Richard W]

Re: Camera set up

I've found this, on "The-Digital-Picture.com" website, which is one of the review sites I like a lot.

"I use the Neutral Picture Style in-camera with RAW capture because it applies a lower contrast tone curve to images, providing a better picture of the camera's available dynamic range on the histogram shown on the LCD. Neutral Picture Style results appear somewhat dull and while there is a time to use the Neutral Picture Style in production, I usually change my RAW images to the Standard Picture Style immediately after importing them and then adjust sharpness to a lower-than-default level. "

[the black fox]

Re: Camera set up

I think the article I quoted is referring mainly to the 1D4 ,I have to be honest it's taken me a long time to gel with this camera ,and a lot more thought has to be applied in use .its not helping that I,m using a non canon lens either . Getting there slowly but surely though

[colin C]

Re: Camera set up

I have to be honest it's taken me a long time to gel with this camera

I can appreciate the effort and thought needed Jeff. It was easier for me as I have had a succession of 1 series bodies, so the differences between them have been evolutionary and only a small amount to learn each time. You have to learn the whole thing in one go, which is a bit like trading in your MG for a Ferrari. A bit scary, but well worth it when you master it.

[the black fox]

Re: Camera set up

I have to Colin ,a mk2. Two mk3's this mk4 has taken time to gel though and although I'm now turning out acceptable results I don't feel I have tamed the beast completely .its getting there though

[Neilly]

Re: Camera set up

If its any consolation - it took me probably about 6 months to get the 1D4 pictures to the quality that I wanted. I nearly gave up on it, but suddenly I got everything right and never looked back. At least when you upgrade to a 1DX you have a very good starting point for your settings.

Cheers,
Neil