[johnparas11]

I am new Pentax K-50 owner..just received it a few days ago..
I think I am used to the skin tone/portrait look of canon and nikon cameras/dslrs ..I usually have the image color to "vivid" .. on pentax there is bright, portrait and other settings..
my question is (of course I can just experiment until I get the similar look/color of the skin tones on my nikon and canon cams..) what would be a suggested settings on "P" mode" for the custom image "color" pre-set will come close to the "vivid" colors of canon and nikon?

the reason I am asking this, is I used the k-50 at a party (the red color of the cam was a hit! they loved it! :-) a beautiful camera indeed) :.. and I had the custom image to "bright" (i think that is the default setting) .>
this was outside 3pm to 5pm California afternoon sun ..a few days ago.. the people in the photos had the yellow undertone color and the women's make up..had that pasty look (in person the make up looked fine) .. unlike in my canon and nikon cams (on P and vivid) when i used them before on similar setting.. everyone had that pinkish healthy look.. hhmmm? what was I doing wrong?

p.s. I love my Pentax K-50..

---

Last edited by johnparas11; 09-29-2014 at 11:22 AM.

[Bcrary3]

Can you upload an image of your results?

[Adam]

Here's what I recommend: shoot a portrait in RAW, open it in the PDCU (Pentax software that came with the camera), and adjust the JPEG settings until the tones look they way you want them. Once you have a preset that works, you can just copy it into your camera (manually), since the desktop software lets you choose the same presets/fine adjustments (hue, saturation, etc) as the body.

[johnparas11]

take note of the woman's skin tone.. for the guy.. he has a similar skin tone (although you can still see the yellowish undertone as well but not as pronounced compared to the woman) .. same red shirt ..although on pentax the red shirt is more saturated.. sorry I am trying to find a picture of the same subject with my NIkon D90..but I can't seem to find one.. and I hope this does not become a D800 vs a K-50 issue..

PENTAX K-50

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/johnparas11/media/pentax%20k-50/IMGP0162_zps4e023e42.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0

Nikon D800

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/johnparas11/media/pentax%20k-50/DSC_1285_zps...tml?sort=3&o=1

---

Last edited by johnparas11; 09-29-2014 at 11:09 AM.

[SteveB]

Sounds like a mixture of the overdone Bright setting and white balance being a bit on the cool side. I tend to use RAW mostly, but have found these settings give nigh on perfect JPG skin tones (and in RAW if RAW converter uses camera settings) in my K-30, which hopefully will be the same as the K-50..............
Natural adjusted to +1 Saturation, +1 Contrast; AWB set to +2 Amber, Daylight set to +1 Amber. Then it's just a case of getting the exposure right.

[IchabodCrane]

Here's what I recommend: shoot a portrait in RAW, open it in the PDCU (Pentax software that came with the camera), and adjust the JPEG settings until the tones look they way you want them. Once you have a preset that works, you can just copy it into your camera (manually), since the desktop software lets you choose the same presets/fine adjustments (hue, saturation, etc) as the body.

I don't think PDCU comes with the K-50... only SilkyPix.

[Bcrary3]

I am not viewing the images on my good monitor (IPS display) but from what I can see, in the photo from K-50 the reds are way too vibrant, and the skin is washed out, what mode are you shooting, RAW or JPEG? Personally I only ever shoot RAW, and that might be the way for you to go if you aren't already. Right now, I agree with SteveB, start there and report back.

[IchabodCrane]

Sounds like a mixture of the overdone Bright setting and white balance being a bit on the cool side. I tend to use RAW mostly, but have found these settings give nigh on perfect JPG skin tones (and in RAW if RAW converter uses camera settings) in my K-30, which hopefully will be the same as the K-50..............
Natural adjusted to +1 Saturation, +1 Contrast; AWB set to +2 Amber, Daylight set to +1 Amber. Then it's just a case of getting the exposure right.

I second this suggestion with the addition that you may even want to try +3 or +4 Amber in the white balance. I suspect the Pentax JPEG engine is better tuned for Asian skin tones and moving the white balance can improve this for Caucasian skin tones.

[6BQ5]

Yeah, your colors are a little off. My monitor at work here isn't calibrated but it isn't totally off either. I think the majority of your problem comes from the white balance and tint being slightly off.

For as much as I love my K-30, I have to say that most Pentax cameras have a hard time with anything reddish. That includes pink, rose, violet, etc. The tones are usually blown out and way too saturated. Rather than cranking some settings up, I sometimes crank down vibrancy when I process my RAW files. Vibrancy seems to affect only the right-most end of the histogram leaving highlights and mid-tones alone.

[asp1880]

Try the portrait colour setting. Or Natural with hue +1 or +2 (dpreview's pentax setting for their taste in caucasian skin tones, see their K-3 review).


Regards,
--Anders.

[Na Horuk]

Yeah, if you don't shoot raw, I think you have two options:
a) use the Portrait mode on the camera. Either on the mode dial or one of the Scn options (I don't know where the K-50 has it, depends on camera). This will make the camera choose many settings that it thinks are good for portraiture.
b) Shoot in Av, but change jpeg mode (in Info menu, default is "bright", but there are many others) to "portrait" and make sure the white balance is flattering. Either use the appropriate WB or choose a custom one. You can even edit the jpeg modes individually

Or if you shoot raw, you can do a lot of this in post processing. Still, feel free to read up a little on portrait photography, because it is all about the lens/camera settings and lighting. There is only so much you can do digitally, if the light is poor or you are using the wrong lens

[elpolodiablo]

Honestly, if you are serious about taking portraits you would shoot RAW and PP.

The standard JPG output from Pentax bodies like Bright/Vivid etc have rather high contrast and black blacks(if that makes any sense), and the red channel sometimes gets a bit weird so JPG SOOC is not very good for people shots, I haven't really used the Portrait profile in camera though.

I suspect you will have to tweak it to suite your taste, Canon/Nikon/Fuji they all have different colour presets and tone manipulations in camera to get SOOC JPG a distinctive look, I am not sure the limited options offered in body will be sufficient for you to come up with an exact tone that matches other brands, but you can at least get closer to the look you would like instead of what Pentax think is the best.

My 2 cents

[Na Horuk]

One more reason people like to shoot raw and post process, is that you can fix up details without affecting the image quality and keeping the option to always revert back to original (raw data stays unaffected, only modifications are remembered). So you can remove things like dust spots, blemishes, zits.. things that people getting a portrait taken usually don't want to see on the photo

[johnparas11]

Try the portrait colour setting. Or Natural with hue +1 or +2 (dpreview's pentax setting for their taste in caucasian skin tones, see their K-3 review).


Regards,
--Anders.

so far.. I have tried the natural + hue+1 .. seems top have improved the look ..on natural 10am bright light.. and I have also tried +2 on hue for natural.. I will try the portrait tomorrow too..

thanks all for the suggestions.. and no.. I do not shoot RAW for family parties.. (the photos I gave as samples were from family parties.. point and shoot types) :-) I really think I am just spoiled with how th ejpegs of my canon and nikon cams look like.. everyone looks good :-) no adjustments :-)

I have also ordered a Vibvitar for pentax flash.. that tilts and swivels from adorama.. I hope that will improve some lighting too.. the pentax I gave, on board flash was used.... so maybe if i have pentax flash with diffused light (Gary Fong "bulb"/diffuser )... it may improve colors and over all look/color tones..

[ScooterMaxi Jim]

Fong gives off a terrible blue-purple cast, and harsh shadows - avoid!

Try a LumiQuest 80/20 system for good flash results...