Canon 5D MK II Questions

[blakejacobsen]

Hello. I recently got a Canon 5D Mk II, which was quite an upgrade from my Sony a200. However, I am experiencing some difficulties with the camera. My main issue is the quality and consistency of the images when uploading them onto my computer. I adjust the lighting and shutter speed on my camera to perfection, but when I upload them to my computer and open them in my Photoshop CS4 Raw editor, they are substantially darker. The white balance of the photos is also very different. After doing some research, I've learned that I should invest in a calibration kit. I'm sure my Macbook's screen is not up to par in regards to calibration. Regardless, what strikes me as odd, is that I never had this problem with my Sony a200. The images shown on my a200's screen were almost identical to how they opened in RAW on my Macbook.

So what that leaves me wondering is:
1. Is my Macbook's screen really that out of calibration?
2. Or is my newest version of Adobe RAW (had to upgrade in order to open the cr2 files) slightly messed up?
3. Is there a setting on my Mk II that can correct this?

I've also noticed extreme contrasting on my Mk II from the day I opened it. It could be because I am so used to Sony's quality, but all the photos I have been taking have really deep contrast, even when I tweak the settings. Is it just me, or is there something faulty here as well?

I appreciate whatever information you can give me. Thank you!

 

[HoboSyke]

Make sure your exposure compensation is set on 0 and not -1 or -2

As for white balance are you shooting AWB or adjusting for each scene?

 

[blakejacobsen]

I don't have my camera on me right this second but I have not touched the exposure compensation. And I have generally been using the shade preset for the white balance.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I adjust the lighting and shutter speed on my camera to perfection, but when I upload them to my computer and open them in my Photoshop CS4 Raw editor, they are substantially darker.

What are you using to gage the image's perfection when you take the shot? The LCD monitor on the camera? The Histogram?

 

[KmH]

Plus how do you have Camera Raw configured in CS4?

 

[KmH]

Laptops are not real good for image editing.

 

[blakejacobsen]

I adjust the lighting and shutter speed on my camera to perfection, but when I upload them to my computer and open them in my Photoshop CS4 Raw editor, they are substantially darker.

What are you using to gage the image's perfection when you take the shot? The LCD monitor on the camera? The Histogram?

What I meant by adjusting the lighting to perfection was: Adjusting the shutter speed in adaptation to ISO 100 in order to achieve, based on what I see on the LCD after taking a few shots, what I believe to be sufficient lighting. I have not fiddled with the histogram yet (purely because I have no experience understanding/reading one).

 

[blakejacobsen]

Laptops are not real good for image editing.

Can you elaborate upon what you mean by configuration? I use Camera Raw 5.2.0.65.
Also, I don't have a computer to do editing with sadly.

 

[Bitter Jeweler]

I adjust the lighting and shutter speed on my camera to perfection, but when I upload them to my computer and open them in my Photoshop CS4 Raw editor, they are substantially darker.

What are you using to gage the image's perfection when you take the shot? The LCD monitor on the camera? The Histogram?

Well, what I meant by adjusting the lighting to perfect was: Adjusting the shutter speed in correlation to ISO 100 to achieve, based on what I see on the LCD after taking a few shots, what I believe to be sufficient lighting. I have not fiddled with the histogram yet.

Yup, that's a big part of the problem. You can't rely on the LCD to tell you the shots are perfect. It lies. Take your brightness setting and ambient light into consideration. The histogram is more reliable when you understand how it works and what it tells you.