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05-31-2010, 06:38 AM   #1
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What internal camera settings do you use ?

What in camera settings do you use ?
I have my Pentax K10D set at the following:

-saturation one degree under maximum

-sharpness set at maximum

- contrast set at one degree under maximum

-JPEG @ 10 and @ 3 stars

I don't think I've got my K10D tweaked to it's best performance,

What do you configure your settings at in your K10D, K20D or K7 ?

What other settings do you use ?

05-31-2010, 07:11 AM   #2
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Generally I set WB to daylight unless the conditions dictate otherwise, i.e. known tungston lighting, flourescent lighting, or shadows. I correct my WB for these conditions by taking a shot then accessing the WB menu while the image is still in the buffer, this allows dynamic adjustment while viewing the image and changes. the changes do not impact this first shotr, but do impact all others.

I modify contrast and saturation as a function of lighting conditions. contrast is increased in clowdy days, as the uniform lighting tends to reduce contrast, and reduced in sunlight where harsh shadows are present.

Saturation is generally the opposite. daytime sunlight generally results in low saturation so I boost it, and cloudy days generally increase saturation so I reduce it.

I leave sharpness neutral, as I can tweek this (yes even with JPEGs) in PSP X3.

All these things I do on any of my cameras, *istD, K10D and K7.

On the K7 I also depending on harshness of the scene for really contrasting situations, use the shadow detail preserve, and the highlight preserve, and this can add an additional stop of apparent dynamic range in the middle tones of the image, i.e. from 25 to 225 greyscale in the histogram. Normally at high contrast there are 4 stops in this range, at minimum contrast there are 5 and with both hioghlight and shadow preserve on the K7 selected, there are 7.
05-31-2010, 09:58 AM   #3
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If there was such thing as "best" settings for all people in all situations, those would be the defaults and there would be no way to change them. Opinions on best settings will differ from one person to the next even for one given photo, and will also vary from one photo to the next. Rather than obsess about getting it "perfect" in camera - there is no such thing - just find something that works pretty well most of the time in your opinion, and expect to perhaps need to custom process some pictures individually.

But if you are curious what settings others use, do browse this and the beginner's forum for the dozens of existing threads on the topic.
06-01-2010, 02:22 AM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
What in camera settings do you use ?
I have my Pentax K10D set at the following:

What other settings do you use ?
RAW+

I can change it later in the way I like it. if my taste changes years after, I change it with the PS or any other photo processing software accordingly.

06-05-2010, 01:38 PM   #5
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Since you ask...

Here's what I just posted in another thread here:

In-camera, I use Custom Image (hit the Fn button) and select from different profiles; I'll switch between Natural, Vibrant, and BW/Monochrome. Each profile has its own settings for Saturation, Hue, Contrast, and Sharpness. I leave Natural at default (0) settings. For Vibrant and BW/Mono, I push Contrast and Sharpness to just below maximum. I set White Balance to AWB (Auto), and try to expose properly. And I shoot RAW only.

All those Image settings carry into PentaxPhotoLab (PPL, the RAW developer software included with my K20D) as the defaults, but I'm not stuck with them. So I tweak the EV and Color Temperature and Saturation and Histogram as needed. If I shot (or want to convert to) BW/Mono, I'll try different Filter Effect settings. If I don't like the strong Contrast or Sharpness, I can reduce them.

The point is, in PPL I can fine-tune the camera settings as needed. If shooting JPG-only, I can make various edits, but I'm stuck starting with the picture that the camera's tiny brain decided to render, based on those settings. PPL or another full RAW developer effectively lets me go back in time and apply the settings I *should* have used, eh?
06-05-2010, 05:09 PM   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by lesmore49 Quote
What in camera settings do you use ?
I have my Pentax K10D set at the following:

-saturation one degree under maximum

-sharpness set at maximum

- contrast set at one degree under maximum

-JPEG @ 10 and @ 3 stars

I don't think I've got my K10D tweaked to it's best performance,

What do you configure your settings at in your K10D, K20D or K7 ?

What other settings do you use ?
Shoot RAW, then you can adjust all/any settings to fit the particular image.
06-08-2010, 04:19 AM   #7
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reds just glow

I usually shoot birds which are variations of darks and lights, but this summer I am trying to shoot some beautiful red roses and purple peonys that just will not cooperate...The reds just glow and there is no distinct sharpness of the flower...I have almost become afraid to fool around with the settings as the other colors of the spectrum seem okay, but I have all but given up on the reds...

My saturation is 3 below normal to try to correct the problem
Sharpness is max
and contrast is max.

I only shoot manual as I like to focus on different parts of the flowers
and water drops after a rain.

Thank you

M

06-08-2010, 09:10 AM   #8
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You might want to search this forum and the beginner's forum (and perhaps PP as well, and general photography) for previous discussion in the subject of photographing colorful flowers. The subejct comes up fairly often, and it's common to all digital cameras. The basic problem is two-fold - one, AWB tends to misinterpret red flowers as being red light and tries to remove some of the color, and two, there is so much more red than green or blue in the color of the flower that the red channel clips long before the picture looks overexposed otherwise. You generally need to underexpose compared to what you think you want in order to avoid blowing out the detail, and then hope to fiddle with things in PP to strike a good compromise.
06-08-2010, 10:33 PM   #9
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internal settings for Red flowers

Thank you so much. I went out this morning and shot RAW which I have
never done before and loved fiddling with the RAW photo, and will remember to underexpose tomorrow and see what it brings...So many people have
had this problem in my group, I will seem like a guru to them with your answer. Thank you again very much

M
06-11-2010, 01:11 PM   #10
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Marc, have a heart. Lesmore asked specifically what internal camera setting you use - he meant custom image, JPEG pixels and quality levels etc. Why dont you just give it to him - instead of using so many other words.
We all know there are no best settings. Eg, for general outdoor shooting I use Bright - Saturation and Hue '0', Contrast '+2', Sharpness '+2 Fine'. Auto AWB. Auto ISO set between 100 to 400. Jpeg set to 10 MP + Highest Quality. I shoot RAW + JPEG.
We know you are a highly regarded Pentaxian, and a great help on this wonderful Forum.
Cheers mate.
06-12-2010, 05:45 AM   #11
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I was just scared to take pictures of flowers and posted to the forum about my settings because my images just glowed when shooting red, purple and white. Yes I cleaned the camera and reconfigured all the settings and this was a purple flower that I shot in the afternoon yesterday.

M
06-13-2010, 09:46 PM   #12
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QuoteOriginally posted by nanhi Quote
Marc, have a heart. Lesmore asked specifically what internal camera setting you use - he meant custom image, JPEG pixels and quality levels etc. Why dont you just give it to him - instead of using so many other words.
Because I don't use the same settings all the time.

QuoteQuote:
We all know there are no best settings.
You may know that, but I suspect 90% of people who ask this question don't. that's why I inform them of this fact.
06-14-2010, 06:38 PM   #13
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QuoteOriginally posted by Marc Sabatella Quote
If there was such thing as "best" settings for all people in all situations, those would be the defaults and there would be no way to change them. Opinions on best settings will differ from one person to the next even for one given photo, and will also vary from one photo to the next. Rather than obsess about getting it "perfect" in camera - there is no such thing - just find something that works pretty well most of the time in your opinion, and expect to perhaps need to custom process some pictures individually.

But if you are curious what settings others use, do browse this and the beginner's forum for the dozens of existing threads on the topic.
Maybe Lesmore is just curious in trying new settings to maybe find that he/she will like one of our settings more than the current ones. I can tell you that I like to err on the side of the "more". Higher contrast, almost max sharpness, higher saturation, higher high/low adjust, and even hue.
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