Another Noob Question

[Tyson]

I got out the manual on my E-500 and I found some neat things in side. My E-500 has a function that alows the mirror to flip up pause and then take the picture to prevant vibration from the movement. Is this common with all DSLR's?

Does anyone not us auto white balance? I have used different settings to get it right.

Also a setting for vivid, normal, dull, B&W and septa. For color shots I use Vivid. Is this also a COMMON adjustment?
What is the difference in adobe rgb and Srgb? which is better?

Noise reduction? Night shooting only? Is it a needed function?

I will ask more later.

 

[ksmattfish]

>Is this common with all DSLR's?

Mirror lock up is a typical feature found in SLRs/DSLRs beyond entry level. It is mainly used with the camera on a tripod.

>Does anyone not us auto white balance?

Most people probably do. I usually keep my white balance set to 5000 degrees, just like if the camera was loaded with daylight balanced color film. But I shoot raw, so it's easy to change later if I need to.

>What is the difference in adobe rgb and Srgb? which is better?

If you have to ask, you definately want sRGB. Don't let anyone tell you that Adobe RGB is better. It is in some circumstances, but unless your lab is telling you to use Adobe RGB, or you know exactly why you should use it, you shouldn't be using it. In general, the world runs mostly in sRGB: your monitor , your lab, etc... all use sRGB, or an even smaller color space.

>Noise reduction? Night shooting only? Is it a needed function?

I prefer to clean up noise in post-processing, but you should do some test shots and see how good of a job your camera does by itself, compared to what you can do with the software you have.

 

[Johnboy2978]

I think the mirror lockup function is a standard feature among slr's. I haven't used it at all yet, but it's there if I need it.
I rarely use auto WB. Most often I either use the light settings consistent with my strobe or will use a custom WB.
I think most dslr have different features as simple post processing in the camera that you mentioned. You can always do a better job w/ photoshop, but it does give you a little preview of what a pic will look like in b/w.
Adobe rgb or Srgb....from what I've read, you want to use the same color space as the image editor uses. If you use a color space aware program for editing like photoshop, elements, etc. you will want to use Adobe rgb, otherwise use Srgb. I've read that adobe rgb can hold more varied and different colors than srgb.
NR, use it anytime particulary at night. Needed? No, you can use noise ninja or neat image as part of the post processing you do. It might save you a step to do it in-camera though

 

[fmw]

Tyson, these are settings to tell the camera how you would like the firmware to process the JPEG. Those of us who save in RAW format don't use any of these things because they don't affect the RAW format. We normally do these things in the post process. If I were to save JPEG I would choose everything to be normal and make any changes in the post process. My cameras do very well with auto white balance except under tungsten lighting. I have to change white balance in those images in the post process. By the way, mirror lockup is universal in DSLR's so that the sensor can cleaned.

 

[Alex_B]

By the way, mirror lockup is universal in DSLR's so that the sensor can cleaned.

well, for sensor cleaning the mirror is also locked up ... true. but that often is a special thing in the camera's menu, which might be called 'sensor cleaning'
or similar .

When i refer to mirror lockup, i think of pre-shutter lock-up of the mirror, which separates the mirror swinging from the actual exposure. very useful with long lenses and all tripods which are not made from concrete.

but maybe the wording we use depends on the cameras we use

 

[ksmattfish]

I've read that adobe rgb can hold more varied and different colors than srgb.

That is right. It is a larger color space than sRGB, and someday we may all be commonly using it, but right now the world runs in sRGB.

Unless you have a really, really, fancy monitor ($5000+), it's color space is smaller than sRGB. You can't even see all the colors and saturation levels that are there in sRGB. Adobe RGB means even more colors and saturation levels you can't see how you are manipulating until you make a print, or buy a very expensive monitor.

Good ink jet printers can take advantage of a larger color space closer to Adobe RGB, and by making test prints it is possible for people to calibrate their workflow and system to accurately control color in Adobe RGB.

Optical printing machines in labs, economy and professional, work with sRGB only. If you give a lab an Adobe RGB file they'll either convert it to the smaller sRGB color space themselves, or give it back to you and ask you to do it. Several of the full service/pro labs I use will return all Adobe RGB files dropped off or mailed in without printing them. They don't even want to mess with it.

If you are doing your own inkjet printing with a decent printer and monitor, you might be able to use Adobe RGB to your advantage. If a client (one who knows what they are talking about) requests Adobe RGB, shoot it. If you are looking at photos on a regular monitor, and having prints made at a lab, whether for fun or for money, you'd probably be better off using sRGB. At least for today....

 

[fmw]

well, for sensor cleaning the mirror is also locked up ... true. but that often is a special thing in the camera's menu, which might be called 'sensor cleaning'
or similar .

When i refer to mirror lockup, i think of pre-shutter lock-up of the mirror, which separates the mirror swinging from the actual exposure. very useful with long lenses and all tripods which are not made from concrete.

but maybe the wording we use depends on the cameras we use

Yes, but sensor cleaning is the reason the locking mirror is included in all DSLR's in the first place. In 35mm cameras, mirror lockup was a feature only in the higher end products. If it weren't for sensor cleaning, the same would be true of DSLR's.

Personally I almost never used mirror lockup on 35mm cameras - perhaps a handful of times in my entire life. I almost always use it with medium format SLR's because the mirrors are large and heavy and shake the camera more. I don't think it is an important photographic feature in DSLR's but it is a necessary maintenance feature.

 

[Groupcaptainbonzo]

Mirror lock up is often used when taking long exposures or macro (Which is often the same thing). You set up the shot with your camera on a tripod. Flick the mirror up, (Everything goes black, as the mirror is no longer reflecting the view). The mirror moves quickly up and this causes a small, but often noticable, vibration. When this has passed the shutter travels and records the image. Hopefully the vibration is not recorded.
everything else is as stated by the others.. (Go with sRGB most soft/hardware uses it and until you need to change, it will save a LOT of trouble.

 

[Alex_B]

Yes, but sensor cleaning is the reason the locking mirror is included in all DSLR's in the first place. In 35mm cameras, mirror lockup was a feature only in the higher end products. If it weren't for sensor cleaning, the same would be true of DSLR's.

ah, ok, got tzhe message here now hmm, the third time i totally misunderstood someone on this forum in 2 days ... maybe I should not reply while at work

I don't think it is an important photographic feature in DSLR's but it is a necessary maintenance feature.

just did a test a week ago with a giotto-tripod (ok, not a high end heavy tripod, this I got since it is good for travelling) and a 300mm lens and cable release. i took images of a test chart to check the AF of the camera/lens combination. and having mirror lock-up enabled made really a difference in sharpness! Things got even more extreme when I went to 420mm using a teleconverter on that lens.

I have to admit though, that this was a test-setup, which of course was more sensitive than a real life photographic situation.

unfortunately i cannot post the images right now as i did these tests shots around 700 miles away from my current location

 

[cosmonaut]

For all of you evolt 500 people this site will help...
Cosmo
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/oly-e/e500-sett.html

 

[Jeremy Z]

Does anyone not us auto white balance? I have used different settings to get it right.

A lot of us don't, because on digital SLRs, it is wrong a lot of the time. (i.e. any time we're not using natural light) For what it's worth, my Olympus C-750 Ultrazoom has outstanding automatic white balance. It was easily 5X better in any artificial light than my Pentax DSLR. By the reviews, this seems to be common to most DSLRs. Maybe Olympus is the exception though. To find out if you should use it, take some indoor shots without flash, at night. If you're light is supplied by conventional light bulbs (incandescent) then your pictures make look yellowish, sometimes even orangish. If you're shooting under fluorescent lighting, they may look greenish or purplish. If either of those is what is happening, your automatic white balance isn't working properly. In that case, you should manually set your white balance for the type of light you have. Usually, when you change it in the menu, you can see the effect in the LCD immediately.

Also a setting for vivid, normal, dull, B&W and septa. For color shots I use Vivid. Is this also a COMMON adjustment?

Vivid makes colors a bit brighter and more saturated than is natural. This usually looks great in landscapes, which is why people like Fujichrome Velvia film so well. In people pictures it can make people's clothes look like they're almost glowing, and give unnatural color to their skin. Normal might be better for people pictures, but try them both and see which one you like better. Oftentimes, normal is calibrated for skin tones. Dull usually adds nothing, and leaves things perfectly neutral. For product photos, this is sometimes desirable. For pictures of people & landscapes, the prints usually look very flat & dull. B&W is for black & white. Don't do this in the camera, unless it has the option of saving in color at the same time. You can do this in the software afterwards and still have the option of going back to color. Sepia is B&W with kind of a brownish cast, as if it is(an old B&W print that has aged quite a bit. It kind of looks old-timey. Sepia is my favorite for portraits. It has all the qualities of B&W, but without ever appearing cold like B&W sometimes does.

Noise reduction? Night shooting only? Is it a needed function?

It is needed for longer shutter speeds. Whether you have the camera do it now, or monkey around with it later in software is up to you. I just let the camera do it automatically when the shutter speeds drop below a certain point. I'm sure your camera can do this too.

I will ask more later.

Before you do, read the manual. On a digital SLR, you will not get everything your camera has to offer unless you do. At first, just look up the things you're curious about. Then play around for a bit, and look up the new things you've discovered, but don't know what they are. Then, spend some time and read the whole thing. (I do this on the train or during lunch at work) I used to not read manuals. I'm a smart person, technically speaking, but I found that I was only getting about 85% of what my cameras had to offer if I didn't read the manual. Also modern manuals are very well-written. Olympus has some of the best in the business, even showing a lot of sample photos. It really is worth your time, and then we don't have to retype the whole manual for you here. :blushing:

 

[Tyson]

The E500 manual stinks! I figured it would explain things better, it doesn't.

 

[markc]

I agree with Matt on sRGB vs. AdobeRGB. AdobeRGB has a larger color range, but to do that, there are more steps between each color. This means that in sRGB, you have finer control of the colors you do have. If you capture in AdobeRGB and then convert to sRGB to print, you are losing data. Unless you stay AdobeRGB the whole way through, you are better off with sRGB right from the start.