Originally posted by JamesD Lowell... are you making the contrast adjustment in camera on post processing? And would it matter? Just curious.
I make the contrast adjustment in the camera, after I look at the image, the histogram, and overall lighting conditions. It is really quite simple, if you are playing in and out of shadows, for example, bright sunny day in a foreign city, playing tourist, you may find too much loss of details due to the harsh shadows and high contrast situation. Just look at the exposure and details you want and adjust the contrast accordingly.
Same holds true on days with high overcast. you get very difused lighting, no shadows and usually no contrast. Shots look flat, so just dial in a little more contrast and continue shooting.
Generally, the way I shoot is to assess the lighting, and take a few test shots to be sure of the settings, and then continue shooting with these settings until the lighting changes, or there is a need to do something special and different. Every so often, I look at a few shots in camera, to make sure conditions have not changed without notice. If minor adjustments are necessary they are made then and there. The same concept holds true for white balance. The K10D makes this a snap
Note
- that while it is easy, even with JPEG to add contrast in post processing, I am generally lazy, and don't want to spend a lot of time doing so.
- while it is easy to add contrast with JPEG, it is much harder to get good shadow detail after the fact. what is lost is lost forever.
As a result I try to get it right the first time.