How do you dial in your camera's "picture mode" settings?

[powasky]

I'm talking about in the menu, changing picture modes, sharpness, contrast, all that shiv. In the past I've tended to up almost everything (sharpness, contrast, saturation, and color tone) but now I've moved them all back to their original settings except for contrast (which is at -2). Is there a "best" combination of settings so that I can achieve the highest dynamic range? I'm not worried about getting perfect images out of the camera, I just want the best image I can get for PP.

 

[KmH]

Those settings only apply to JPEGs. JPEG was designed to be a final (no PP), ready to print image right out of the camera, file type.

JPEGs have little, if any, editing headroom because JPEG is a lossy, compressed, 8-bit depth file type. Bit Depth

A Large, Fine JPEG has already been lossy, compressed by a 4:1 ratio. Most of the compression is accomplished by discarding 80% of the original color data the image sensor captured and by converting the original pixles into 8x8 pixel, 8x16 pixel, or 16x16 pixel MCU's (Minimum Coded Units). JPEG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is little left in a JPEG you can PP.

 

[SabrinaO]

I think you should shoot raw and do all that in post so you would have all the control of what to adjust.

 

[sleist]

While it's true that these settings only apply to the JPGs, it's also true that when you use Capture NX2 or View NX2 to process Nikon NEFs, the picture control settings used at the time the shot was taken are applied to the raw file by default. It can be a time saver, if you know you like your picture controls set a certain way, to set them when shooting so they can be applied automatically during raw conversion.

I tend to shoot standard or neutral with minor tweaking to sharpness and contrast depending on the lens being used.

 

[pixilstudio]

i NEVER use them... all PP in photoshop and lightroom. i want the cleanest image to start with

 

[Diddy2theJJ]

I generally leave them alone too. I shoot to jpg and still do editing in post and it seems to work fine for me. I've spoken with other studios in town and they are also shooting jpg. Do most people shoot weddings in RAW format? The file sizes are crazy big....I know it's because there's alot more quality there though too.

 

[sleist]

i NEVER use them... all PP in photoshop and lightroom. i want the cleanest image to start with

How do you never use them. You need to choose a picture control in-camera. There is no "non-of-the-above".

For Nikon:

Standard
Neutral
Portrait
Vivid
Landscape
Monochrome

The raw conversion program may not apply them or may apply it's own default, but one has to be set in camera.
These are NOT scene modes. These are picture controls.

 

[Diddy2theJJ]

i NEVER use them... all PP in photoshop and lightroom. i want the cleanest image to start with

How do you never use them. You need to choose a picture control in-camera. There is no "non-of-the-above".

For Nikon:

Standard
Neutral
Portrait
Vivid
Landscape
Monochrome

The raw conversion program may not apply them or may apply it's own default, but one has to be set in camera.
These are NOT scene modes. These are picture controls.

Wow...you got really angry at that. Quick, go take a chill pill.

I think the means he leaves them at 0 instead of modifying them to a number.

 

[sleist]

Sorry - didn't intend to come across that way.

 

[powasky]

Those settings only apply to JPEGs. JPEG was designed to be a final (no PP), ready to print image right out of the camera, file type.

JPEGs have little, if any, editing headroom because JPEG is a lossy, compressed, 8-bit depth file type. Bit Depth

A Large, Fine JPEG has already been lossy, compressed by a 4:1 ratio. Most of the compression is accomplished by discarding 80% of the original color data the image sensor captured and by converting the original pixles into 8x8 pixel, 8x16 pixel, or 16x16 pixel MCU's (Minimum Coded Units). JPEG - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

There is little left in a JPEG you can PP.

I always hope that you respond to my posts because I know that yours will be the only post that I need to read...hahaha.

Sometimes I have to shoot JPEG because of CF card restrictions (I've only got a 2GB card and can't afford anything bigger right now). 2GB holds like 75 RAW images :thumbdown:

 

[KmH]

So get a second 2 GB card, and you can double it to 150 Raw files.

Surely, you can modify your spending by $1 a day: SanDisk SDCFX3-004G 4GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card (Bulk Package)

You don't even have to pay shipping because it's over $25: FREE with Super Saver Shipping

 

[powasky]

So get a second 2 GB card, and you can double it to 150 Raw files.

Surely, you can modify your spending by $1 a day: SanDisk SDCFX3-004G 4GB Extreme III CompactFlash Card (Bulk Package)

You don't even have to pay shipping because it's over $25: FREE with Super Saver Shipping

Man, if I'm going to buy new cards, I'm going all out. At least 16GB.