Originally posted by jfdavis58 Jonas,
I tried, really I did. ... -snip- My eyes go crossed, then roll back, my mind wonders...
Do us(me) a favor and summarize the result into something new I can try/apply -vs- something else that I might normally/formerly do. I'll be happy to give it a try and let you know my results and thoughts.
Ok: A semi controlled test using some reasonably decent tools tells us thet the K10D color histogram shows values that are closely related to the level of saturation (at sensor level) if we set the WB to K5000 - no matter where we use the camera, or what the light is.
This can be useful for those shooting raw, and if we don't care what the colors on the LCD screen look like. (those=we=I?)
The background is, as carpents mentions in his summary, that the color histogram is influenced by the JPF settings. This is because the histogram is made up from the JPG embedded in the PEF/DNG file.
Conclusion: I, and maybe some more, get a way more reliable color histogram when shooting indoor or in mixed light by just leaving the WB setting to K5000 rather than to AUTO or some fixed value.
Originally posted by Gimbal Well done, so end of line, for the histogram to be reliable one should use WB 5000K no matter what light there is. At least that’s what I recall from reading the thread very late last night.
Exactly. As I have had the K10D for a week only this isn't tested over time. This far it seems to work fine, outdoors as well as indoor (and I always try to exposure to the right).
Originally posted by Rick Me too! I found it very interesting - even if I couldn't follow it all.
Working through the threads over there is painfully tedius. I finally copied and pasted a couple out of the thread, saved them, and assumed I could always find my way back when my stock of patience was replenished. Like Gimbal, I'd like to hear your short and sweet version of the results to make sure I understood what your conclusions were.
See above.
Originally posted by carpents I'm determined to not go back to dpreview, so I gave yours a quick click just to make sure I was correct in my assumption of your testing.
Since the histogram is based on the JPEG produced by the camera, it will produce a different histogram based on the JPEG settings of the camera. It will do this even if you are recording RAW only. Since that is the case, I wonder if you can mimic the same results of adjusting the temperature by adjusting the JPEG settings.
When I was traveling, I shot 2MP JPEGs for quick viewing on the laptop, and I found that bumping up the contrast and saturation produced a better view on the dismal laptop screen. Making those contrast/saturation adjustments had a noticeable impact on the histograms, primarily pushing the reds farther right. I have since used similar settings to keep from blowing the red channel and have had success.
I tend to like using a more pleasant color balance while shooting, hence I would prefer not keeping the temperature at 5000 all the time. I also know the temperature of the lights in my house (2800K, they are not normal incandescent) and have had pretty decent luck using that setting.
What do you think?
If you have had succes trying not to blow the reds, and also had pretty decent luck using the K2800 setting, well, then everything is fine. That's what I think.
(In my series of test shots I also tried different values for contrast and saturation. They didn't affect the color histogram very much. From the discussion at DPR I understand that this might be becasue of my target (the Gretag 24-patch color chart). With another target with a larger area of one or two colors the settings should affect the color histogram more. That's probably what you have experienced in real life situations.)
But then again, if you want better luck than decent you can try a higher setting. It all depends on how far to the right you want to place the red channel when shooting. I guess you have a routine that works fine for you (judging from your pictures).
to all:
This is all about learning to know the equipment. I don't recommend people to always do what I say. These are just my findings, something I like to learn in the process of learning a new tool. Or maybe rather; a way I like to do it and something that makes sense to me. Some will just continue to shoot JPGs, some don't like it when the LCD screen colors are off and others again already have other ways, that suits them, to work.
yours,