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10-01-2009, 05:13 AM   #1
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Do you customize settings in camera?

From getting your camera straight out of the box what do you change as far as the customizing the camera menus go? Do you change things like 'Image sharpening', 'Saturation', these sorts of things. Do leave them at factory settings or adjust? If you adjust them do you adjust them at each session or usually leave them be?

10-01-2009, 05:51 AM   #2
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Good question. I'm keeping mine at auto until I know what I'm doing. I'm sure some people have to use custom, depending on the glass they use on their equipment.
10-01-2009, 07:38 AM   #3
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I shoot everything raw & deal with adjustments in post processing.
10-01-2009, 07:46 AM   #4
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I take pictures first to get a feel for the camera, then read the owners manual.

10-01-2009, 07:49 AM   #5
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I've had the camera for two years. Read the owners manual twice and the Magic Lantern guide for my K 10 D. I've always left mine as it came out of the box...I guess that's called the default settings. I was just curious what others did.
10-01-2009, 08:16 AM   #6
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Most on this forum will recommend that you shoot your photos in RAW. If you do, those presets (saturation, sharpening, etc. will only be applied to the shot you see on the lcd after you shoot. Your camera makes a small jpg file even when you shoot RAW. The purpose of that jpg file is to offer you a quick look at the shot you just took. Those settings will not affect the RAW image at all. Consequently, bumping up the brightness, saturation, sharpening might give you a false impression of what you actually captured.
10-01-2009, 01:34 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by Ahab Quote
I take pictures first to get a feel for the camera, then read the owners manual.
QuoteOriginally posted by clmonk Quote
Most on this forum will recommend that you shoot your photos in RAW. If you do, those presets (saturation, sharpening, etc. will only be applied to the shot you see on the lcd after you shoot. Your camera makes a small jpg file even when you shoot RAW. The purpose of that jpg file is to offer you a quick look at the shot you just took. Those settings will not affect the RAW image at all. Consequently, bumping up the brightness, saturation, sharpening might give you a false impression of what you actually captured.
Good advice given in those two.

Once you find your freedom with the camera and have better understanding of the adjustments and how they will affect the final image and you can recall camera functions and their results, then you can enjoy changing things around to your likings. It rather depends on the type of photographer you are. Your personal preferences of course.
Maybe read the manual one more time as you are following along in the camera's user mode and menus.

10-03-2009, 10:59 AM   #8
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Sharpening and Contrast. First thing I noticed right out of the box compared to my previous camera that I just upgraded from. I shoot Jpeg's most of the time. I will change settings as needed though. Sometimes I will shoot the same shot a few different times with different camera settings and then compare them on the computer and build from there.
10-03-2009, 11:21 AM   #9
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defaults --- ah -- no

  1. Decouple AF from the shutter button.
  2. Set focus point to the center.
  3. Turn off the beep.
  4. Set image to RAW only (I use PEF - just my way).
  5. Set color space to AdobeRGB.
  6. Set picture review to display histogram.
  7. Set custom menu to allow for manual setting of f/stop.
  8. Set time to live (how long the meter is active when after you start up the camera) to 1 minute. (I usually turn the camera off rather than let the timer shut it down)
  9. Turn the camera to AV.
  10. Tune the e-dials to front=ISO, rear=f/stop.
  11. Set ISO to the lowest non-auto setting.
  12. Format the SD card in the camera - never from your computer.
  13. Make sure that all the functions available using the fn button are correct for the situation. (I have ended up shooting in bright sunlight with ISO 3200 (*istDS) and shooting outside with color balance set to tungsten (K10D)

This setup allows me to have the greatest flexibility over the situation. When I deem it necessary, I change things to fit the situation. I prefer to have the camera do as little as possible other that set the exposure (shutter speed for the most part - in AV I control the DOF). As for metering preference (matrix, center, spot etc) that depends on the situation.

I know where all the "buttons" and "switches" are, so for the most part I do not have to take the camera away from my eye - although some mistakes have been made. I also sat down and read the manual --- before ever taking a picture, just to get a feel for where all the settings are.

The Elitist - formerly known as PDL

Last edited by PDL; 10-03-2009 at 03:34 PM. Reason: added in f/stop custom setting
10-03-2009, 02:22 PM   #10
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I'm with PDL and adjust the custom settings to allow old/manual class straight on.
10-04-2009, 01:51 PM   #11
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With the sharpening or contrast or saturation, etc..I leave at the default setting as I can all adjust them at post processing.
With the other setting however..like metering (spot, center weighted), EV..I tweak to the settings I usually use.
10-10-2009, 04:51 AM   #12
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For shooting RAW I have my own parameters set up in "user"

For Jpeg on Sharpness at +2 - all else 0

Depending on the situation I will also decouple AF from shutter button - but I do find that it confuses a beginner though.

Dylan
10-10-2009, 09:41 AM   #13
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Shooting RAW, I set Contrast and Saturation to the minimum on my K10D. I find that it gives a much closer rendition on the LCD of the RAW capture (when the blinkies are turned on). It does make for awful JPGs however.
10-10-2009, 10:35 AM   #14
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I have my settings almost exactly like PDL. I also turn my contrast all the way down. I shoot RAW for all my images. I read a nice article online about turning the contrast down. The rational is based on the idea that one might want to Expose to the Right (ETTR). The histogram displayed after image capture is based on the jpeg not RAW file. Increasing the contrast will make the histogram appear further to the right (and left) then it "really" is on the RAW image. Hence, you may be not pushing it far enough to the right.

This made sense to me. As I am shooting RAW it certainly won't hurt.

my $.02
10-10-2009, 11:56 AM   #15
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If you're starting out, there's nothing wrong with shooting Jpegs, by the way: I still do, mostly, cause of limited computer facilities. People will commonly bump up the sharpness a notch or two: the Pentax default settings tend to be a little bit less sharpened and contrasty than most on the assumption people will do some post.
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