Forgot Password
Pentax Camera Forums Home
 

Closed Thread
Show Printable Version Search this Thread
05-15-2022, 12:08 PM - 1 Like   #16
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Just1MoreDave's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Aurora, CO
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 6,336
I am treating my new K-3 III like a point and shoot also. One excellent reason to explore jpegs is to take advantage of the second card slot. It's the first camera I've had with that feature. I want to have the jpeg settings right in case I ever use the second slot for just jpegs. It's a pretty good P&S.

The camera has all kinds of stuff on it that you'll never use, just to make it perfect for all individual tastes. It's nice to be familiar with the options but absolutely not a requirement. I'm pretty sure I have never used Sv mode in 17 years of DSLR ownership.

05-15-2022, 12:47 PM - 1 Like   #17
Senior Member




Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: Norwich, Ct
Posts: 139
QuoteOriginally posted by madison_wi_gal Quote
Hi Pentaxians,

Have been going through the threads looking for "best practices/best settings" for in-camera jpg settings for my new K-3 III.

This thread touched on what I am trying to accomplish, the OP is ~similar to me in that their interest was taking pics for family/friends/themselves. And since my free time is limited for the foreseeable future, I really want to optimize my K-3 III experience by treating it like a very expensive point and shoot (for now).

In my first post about this camera, I bemoaned that (RAW-only, no post processing) test shots looked "meh" and I now know that I pretty much tested under the stupidest conditions possible.

I ordered a UHS-II card for slot 1 and I have a standard 64GB card for slot 2 - so I can shoot in RAW + jpg (one on each) and I suspect that I'll mostly use the jpgs for now. This post discusses that.

Now I just need to figure out the "best" settings (on average) for jpgs. I have a mix of high end lenses and kit lenses, I am told that I should disable lens correction for the good ones (If I am reading that right). If so, maybe I need to have a few custom User settings for "good" vs. "meh" lenses.

Anyway, I appreciate all the supportive comments, and continue to learn from forum members.
Have you looked at the Ricoh Worldwide not US website? If not, I suggest doing so. Find the explore page and there is a whole section devoted to custom image finishing touches...
05-15-2022, 12:59 PM - 2 Likes   #18
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
StiffLegged's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2018
Photos: Gallery
Posts: 4,560
I haven't shot jpg in years, all my stuff is raw. But that's my decision, and your choice to shoot jpg is yours. Knock yourself out, enjoy your new camera and the images you make!




(and if you tire of the camera I'll take it off your hands...)
05-15-2022, 04:21 PM - 1 Like   #19
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
madison_wi_gal's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Madison WI
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 925
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by StiffLegged Quote
(and if you tire of the camera I'll take it off your hands...)
Not a chance. It's part of the family now

---------- Post added 05-15-22 at 18:28 ----------

QuoteOriginally posted by kypfer Quote
OK … my take on the issue, also being a primarily JPG photographer.
Let's assume that Pentax actually do have some idea (after 20 years) of how to produce a DSLR which takes reasonably acceptable pictures straight out of the box!
Let's also assume, for argument's sake, that the supplied Pentax Digital Camera Utility software is actually quite good, if a little "different"!
Given these two provisos, take some "normal" pictures with the camera at the default settings, then use the Digital Camera Utility to "enhance" them to YOUR requirements.
You'll have probably noticed by now that the software and the camera both use the same terminology
Transfer any regular adjustments in DCU directly to the camera and try again … after a couple of iterations you'll be producing pictures exactly as YOU like them straight from the camera
Use all the time you've just saved to take more stunning masterpieces
Enjoy
OK, admittedly it takes me a while to think SOME things through but your comment gave me an epiphany. I *think* you mean this:

1 - take a pic using RAW (can also save as jpg if I choose, on the 2nd card).
2 - put that RAW image into DCU and start horsing around with it until it makes me happy
3 - see what DCU did
4 - plug those DCU parameters into the jpg settings on camera
5- K-3 III *should* honor those settings when it makes a jpg
6 - do 1-5 again for different shooting conditions

Am I getting close?

05-16-2022, 12:44 AM - 1 Like   #20
Pentaxian




Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Jersey C.I.
Posts: 3,574
QuoteOriginally posted by madison_wi_gal Quote
OK, admittedly it takes me a while to think SOME things through but your comment gave me an epiphany. I *think* you mean this:

1 - take a pic using RAW (can also save as jpg if I choose, on the 2nd card).
2 - put that RAW image into DCU and start horsing around with it until it makes me happy
3 - see what DCU did
4 - plug those DCU parameters into the jpg settings on camera
5- K-3 III *should* honor those settings when it makes a jpg
6 - do 1-5 again for different shooting conditions

Am I getting close?


That is exactly it
Save any changes you make in a User Mode on the camera, then you'll not have to re-enter them except for any changes, also, you can further experiment within the camera, using those settings as a fixed starting point, being able to revert to those settings simply by switching the camera off and on again
Virtually all (if not all) the in-camera adjustments are available in DCU so, if you start with a RAW, you can apply all and any changes you like and look at them side by side on your computer
The concept will even work well from a JPG.
As DCU can establish from the EXIF exactly what if any adjustments were applied at exposure time, it can then "neutralise" those adjustments and move on from there.
Not quite as totally comprehensive as working from RAW, but for most amateur purposes, working from a well exposed original, you're unlikely to notice the difference
Much information on the use of DCU can be found here PENTAX?????? | PENTAX official and on the subsequent associated pages. The originals are in Japanese, so the translations can be a bit stilted and the diagrams don't translate, but there's a lot of useful information that can be gleaned if you spend a few minutes browsing
Enjoy

Last edited by kypfer; 05-16-2022 at 12:53 AM.
05-16-2022, 05:19 AM - 1 Like   #21
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: SW Bavaria
Posts: 546
I like the jpegs from my K-1 quite and haven't fiddled in it's setings as much as with my K-70. Such my reommendation would be to start with custom image setting "Natural" or "Bright" take some pictures with it and then change the setting to your liking.

You find explanations here:
Give further expression with PENTAX "Custom Image" | RICOH IMAGING
More info | Give further expression with PENTAX "Custom Image" | RICOH IMAGING

My settings are: "Natural", Saturation +1, Contrast +1, Highlight -1, Sharpness +1 and Fine Sharpness

At setting I also recommend is to switch "Highlight recovery" on and also set ISO to auto ISO with base ISO of 100 and upper ISO as one likes. This prevents the highlights from blowing out most of the time. Highlight recovery will only work with ISO 200 or higher.
05-16-2022, 06:02 AM - 1 Like   #22
Pentaxian
reh321's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: South Bend, IN, USA
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 23,126
QuoteOriginally posted by Just1MoreDave Quote
I am treating my new K-3 III like a point and shoot also. One excellent reason to explore jpegs is to take advantage of the second card slot. It's the first camera I've had with that feature. I want to have the jpeg settings right in case I ever use the second slot for just jpegs. It's a pretty good P&S.

The camera has all kinds of stuff on it that you'll never use, just to make it perfect for all individual tastes. It's nice to be familiar with the options but absolutely not a requirement. I'm pretty sure I have never used Sv mode in 17 years of DSLR ownership.
There is nothing wrong with adjusting the JPEG images your camera produces. Do that, and then set in-camera settings to get the same effect.

I may be unusual here, but my cameras are set for “natural” {not bright} color.

I tend to adjust either “WB” or “curves” - I believe I am adjusting mostly contrast. I may also crop. With my K-30 and “Q”, I also apply sharpness, but with my KP, I followed advice here and dialed back the default setting {and then do nothing}. On certain pictures, I have to make the photo “plumb”, but I try to watch that as I photograph. It has been several years since I got my KP, so I can’t remember any other changes.

I shoot “RAW+“, but I use the raw file only if I have a serious problem with exposure.

05-16-2022, 06:11 AM - 1 Like   #23
Pentaxian
35mmfilmfan's Avatar

Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Norfolk, UK
Posts: 4,256
I sometimes wonder if insisting on RAW as 'the right way to do things' is a form of snobbery - mayhap some persons shooting RAW get a feeling of superiority over those who prefer JPG. For those with long memories, something of the same existed in the Sixties, where shooting Colour Neg film was looked down on by 'serious' photographers, who only shot transparencies. My preference is for RAW, as I have at least a half-decent chance of recovering any errors in PP, but I will use JPG when I feel the situation demands it; if I want a long series of exposures in rapid burst mode, for instance. In Photography, as in much of Life, adaptability is the key.
05-16-2022, 10:22 AM - 2 Likes   #24
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Just1MoreDave's Avatar

Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Aurora, CO
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 6,336
QuoteOriginally posted by 35mmfilmfan Quote
I sometimes wonder if insisting on RAW as 'the right way to do things' is a form of snobbery - mayhap some persons shooting RAW get a feeling of superiority over those who prefer JPG. For those with long memories, something of the same existed in the Sixties, where shooting Colour Neg film was looked down on by 'serious' photographers, who only shot transparencies. My preference is for RAW, as I have at least a half-decent chance of recovering any errors in PP, but I will use JPG when I feel the situation demands it; if I want a long series of exposures in rapid burst mode, for instance. In Photography, as in much of Life, adaptability is the key.
Internet advice tends towards snobbery anyway, as people race to point out how wrong someone is. Technology has changed enough so the right answer is not so clear. On my first DSLR, the *ist DS, jpeg was not very good. It had two options: natural or bright - not even monochrome. The resolution was poor. Auto white balance wasn't great. I could easily see convincing differences in my comparison testing. Of course, back then we were paying $90 for a 1Gb card, so jpeg still had uses.

Today I could be OK with jpeg if I could remember to check the white balance.
05-16-2022, 12:51 PM   #25
Loyal Site Supporter
Loyal Site Supporter
madison_wi_gal's Avatar

Join Date: Sep 2016
Location: Madison WI
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 925
Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by Just1MoreDave Quote
Internet advice tends towards snobbery anyway, as people race to point out how wrong someone is. Technology has changed enough so the right answer is not so clear. On my first DSLR, the *ist DS, jpeg was not very good. It had two options: natural or bright - not even monochrome. The resolution was poor. Auto white balance wasn't great. I could easily see convincing differences in my comparison testing. Of course, back then we were paying $90 for a 1Gb card, so jpeg still had uses.

Today I could be OK with jpeg if I could remember to check the white balance.
My best pics were (are) from my K-r in some sort of scene mode.
05-16-2022, 04:13 PM - 1 Like   #26
Veteran Member




Join Date: Dec 2016
Location: Southeastern Michigan
Posts: 4,508
QuoteOriginally posted by madison_wi_gal Quote
My best pics were (are) from my K-r in some sort of scene mode.
Scene modes could be handy for a quick shortcut at times. But then, if getting to know exactly what adjustments that scene mode made, and what those adjustments did to produce a superior outcome, it is likely this knowledge enables one to make the same adjustments quicker, and often even to a better degree than the time required to select a scene mode. Especially with a more advanced camera having a top-level set of controls.
05-16-2022, 05:41 PM - 2 Likes   #27
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
Lowell Goudge's Avatar

Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Toronto
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 17,868
Without launching the jpeg vs raw debate for the millionth time if you are happy with JPEG’s, and are shooting RAW plus JPEG , and have the space to keep both sets of images, you can continue shooting like you are and defer any RAW processing until you feel the need.

You will likely feel the need when you screw up on exposure and have to recover an image or two.

What is the real difference between RAW and JPEG?

JPEG is 8 bit color depth, where as RAW is any where from 10 up to 14 bits depending on the camera and sensor.
JPEG is non linear in exposure, over the approximately 10.5 to 11 stops of exposure latitude. I have measured and plotted the exposure latitude and it is non linear. In terms of the range of greyscale from 0-255.( 8 bits of data ) the top and bottom stop is only a range in greyscale value of 3,(0-3 and 252-255 greyscale) the next stop in from the extreme is a range in greyscale of 7 (3-10 and 245-252 greyscale ) the next stop in from each end is a range of 15 greyscale (10-25 and 230-245 greyscale) in between these ranges are stops uniformly distributed in ranges of about 40-45 greyscale for about 5 stops Centered around median exposure of 122 greyscale.

I have not played with raw to the extent to know how much more data is saved in the ends of the exposure where you really need more data to save an image, BUT it really implies you mis exposure by 2-3 stops or more to need raw to make exposure corrections. For contrast changes it is not too bad, as long as you do not have a large fields of very uniform color. A blue sky is the worse, where you might experience “banding” because you expand too much the uniformity of the color, and highlight what would be minor changes in the recorded color into distinct bands of sameness.

In terms of artifacts from jpeg, etc, there is really no problem as long as you save in maximum quality. Lower qualities do cause additional resolution loss due to image compression,

so it is really up to you. If you make exposure correct all the time, the need to make radical adjustments is so reduced that JPEG is very much like selecting your film correctly in the old days.

Last edited by Lowell Goudge; 05-17-2022 at 02:19 PM.
05-17-2022, 03:48 PM - 3 Likes   #28
Site Supporter
Site Supporter
BruceBanner's Avatar

Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 5,404
Here's some links I think you'll find useful that surround this very topic;

https://www.eddysummers.com.au/blog/becs-garden-with-the-pentax-f70-2104-56

https://www.eddysummers.com.au/blog/my-hc-warm-soft-satobi-profile

https://www.eddysummers.com.au/blog/pentax-profiles

I also run a small PSOOC Pentax group where the emphasis is on members sharing settings for SOOC/PSOOC on FB called 'PENTAX PSOOC'.

Sidenote; This is a major thing on other camera brands, Fuji have some very large groups (40k+) where the emphasis is on sharing only images captured in camera or with at least minimal post processing (PSOOC), basically no RAW editing if there's editing it's on the Jpg.

I have found Pentaxians to being harder to sell this idea to, there are a lot of 'must be RAW' folk out there (and I get that, I too shoot RAW when I need to), but like many things in life humans like to 'pick a side', the whole planet is shifting to white and black rather than live in the grey.
05-18-2022, 05:17 AM - 1 Like   #29
Site Supporter
Site Supporter




Join Date: Dec 2012
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 2,787
QuoteOriginally posted by BruceBanner Quote
Sidenote; This is a major thing on other camera brands, Fuji have some very large groups (40k+) where the emphasis is on sharing only images captured in camera or with at least minimal post processing (PSOOC), basically no RAW editing if there's editing it's on the Jpg.

I have found Pentaxians to being harder to sell this idea to, there are a lot of 'must be RAW' folk out there (and I get that, I too shoot RAW when I need to), but like many things in life humans like to 'pick a side', the whole planet is shifting to white and black rather than live in the grey.
When it took many years for the K-3 Mark III to come out I started looking at other options, including Fuji. Every spec sheet and every review highlighted their film emulations, and my reaction was "why?" They're selling people on the idea that the camera has built-in versions of the presets you can get in any decent RAW development software. Why not just hit the dropdown to pick a film emulation that best fits your intent when going through everything in post?

Obviously a lot of people don't work in post, it's all jpegs so that's a selling point for them. It's just way outside my preferences and experience. I think I've used a jpeg preset style on my Pentax cameras 3-4 times in 10 years. Those jpeg menus are like vestigial organs, sitting unused and never accessed for years at a time until I annoyingly stumble upon them by accident.
05-18-2022, 05:43 AM - 1 Like   #30
Pentaxian
reh321's Avatar

Join Date: Nov 2014
Location: South Bend, IN, USA
Photos: Gallery | Albums
Posts: 23,126
QuoteOriginally posted by ThorSanchez Quote
When it took many years for the K-3 Mark III to come out I started looking at other options, including Fuji. Every spec sheet and every review highlighted their film emulations, and my reaction was "why?" They're selling people on the idea that the camera has built-in versions of the presets you can get in any decent RAW development software. Why not just hit the dropdown to pick a film emulation that best fits your intent when going through everything in post?

Obviously a lot of people don't work in post, it's all jpegs so that's a selling point for them. It's just way outside my preferences and experience. I think I've used a jpeg preset style on my Pentax cameras 3-4 times in 10 years. Those jpeg menus are like vestigial organs, sitting unused and never accessed for years at a time until I annoyingly stumble upon them by accident.
I have spent plenty of time sitting at my computer as it is; I see no reason to spend any more time doing what my camera could do automatically. It is completely outside my preference and experience. I do join you is asking “why?” of the Fuji settings though; I put all that behind me when I put film behing me.
Closed Thread

Bookmarks
  • Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook
  • Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter
  • Submit Thread to Digg Digg
Tags - Make this thread easier to find by adding keywords to it!
camera, card, dcu, iii, jpg, jpgs, k-3, lenses, pentax, pentax help, photography, pictures, post, settings, slot, software, troubleshooting, utility
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Now that the new APS-C flagship is coming, anyone have thoughts for K-1 I replacement mikesbike Pentax DSLR Discussion 39 11-30-2019 11:08 PM
"Flagship" Pentax APS-C body - available NOW... BigMackCam Pentax DSLR Discussion 35 09-18-2019 11:20 AM
entry level canon has a better af system than the pentax flagship now... rrstuff Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Other Camera Brands 51 02-15-2017 08:23 PM
K-S2 JPG's versus K5ll JPG'S and K50 JPG's LoneWolf Pentax DSLR Discussion 22 03-28-2015 12:58 PM
Photos view fine on camera, but when uploaded have color casts. T9000 Pentax DSLR Discussion 7 06-27-2010 10:15 PM



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 03:48 PM. | See also: NikonForums.com, CanonForums.com part of our network of photo forums!
  • Red (Default)
  • Green
  • Gray
  • Dark
  • Dark Yellow
  • Dark Blue
  • Old Red
  • Old Green
  • Old Gray
  • Dial-Up Style
Hello! It's great to see you back on the forum! Have you considered joining the community?
register
Creating a FREE ACCOUNT takes under a minute, removes ads, and lets you post! [Dismiss]
Top