Bill_K 0 #1 June 18, 2009 Hey you photo guru's out there. Any of you guys with a Canon (not sure if Nikon has this feature) ever play with the picture styles that are built into the camera? Any of you ever create your own for skydiving? Seems that it adjusts things like sharpness, contrast, etc. Yes, I'm reading about them and playing with them, just curious if anybody else here had played with them in the air. Thx, BK a.k.a. a hack wanna be... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #2 June 18, 2009 Not sure what you mean by "picture styles" but it is generally a bad idea to set settings like sharpness, contrast, saturation etc in the camera to anything but neutral, especialy if you only shoot jpg not jpg + raw. You'll ruin the pictures for further processing in photoshop and the like and magazines will frown at this too. Photoshop is much better than the camera anyway should you later wish to adjust something. So my advice is, don't. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #3 June 18, 2009 Quote Not sure what you mean by "picture styles" but it is generally a bad idea to set settings like sharpness, contrast, saturation etc in the camera to anything but neutral, especialy if you only shoot jpg not jpg + raw. You'll ruin the pictures for further processing in photoshop and the like and magazines will frown at this too. Photoshop is much better than the camera anyway should you later wish to adjust something. So my advice is, don't. Ah, that answers my question! I've never changed them for a skydive and have only just recently played with them for ground mess'n around. Here is a link that has some info about what they are. I will just leave that setting alone and on Standard. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #4 June 18, 2009 "Neutral Low sharpening, contrast and saturation: the ideal starting point for image-editing in the computer." I'd use that one ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #5 June 18, 2009 That is great if you want to edit all of your photos. But in that case, you really should be shooting raw anyway. If you want to print/burn right off your memory card or create nice photos without having to edit each one (the reason to shoot JPG), picture styles are necessary. I use landscape myself, but haven't spent much time playing with the others. I like the little bump in saturation it gives. You can go wrong with custom picture styles... Way too much saturation and sharpness destroys pictures, for example. But if you want the camera to create usable jpegs (without editing required), there's really no choice but to use picture styles. If you're shooting something important and want to be able to edit it as best as possible, raw is the way to go. You can apply any picture style to a raw file on your computer afterward, if you want to see what they look like. Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #6 June 18, 2009 Might be a difference between Nikon and Canon then, as I get perfectly good ready-for-customers pictures out of all my cameras (D70s, D80, D200, D300, D2X) without any saturation, sharpening etc turned on. Also, I think on the whole Americans like their pictures more saturated than we do anyway. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grayhghost 0 #7 June 18, 2009 nice, you were able to play the canon v.s. nikon, american v.s. european and .JPG v.s. RAW cards at the same time. An world-wide web triple-header. Like all the other camera settings just play with it and see if you like it. There are pre-made settings on the web as well, for you to download and test. I use them when shooting video on my 5D to drop the saturation and push the contrast for a more film-like look. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #8 June 18, 2009 QuoteThere are pre-made settings on the web as well. Got a link? Sorry about the camera war thing, was not my intent. I shoot Canon and know next to nothing about Nikon's. I'm still very new to the DSLR world in general. Heck, SLR world for that matter. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
grayhghost 0 #9 June 18, 2009 Sorry, my comments weren't directed at you. I don't think you are shooting the 5D so my links won't be of much use. A quick search of The Google will bring up everything you need. This is a good topic for the 'working' shooter and I am glad you brought it up. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dragon2 2 #10 June 18, 2009 What's your problem? Of course RAW is better than jpg if you want to do stuff to your pics later on, that's basic, something I presume you know if you have a 5D. And from what I've seen in all the years working for our magazine and for events and stuff, Canon pictures do look different from Nikon pictures do look different from Sony pictures do look different from Sigma pictures, out of the box that is. And yes, when I get pictures for our magazine from the USA the saturation has been upped pretty much always. So, you can jump high or low about it but it does seem to be a trend. ciel bleu, Saskia Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #11 June 18, 2009 I increase my saturation (not in-camera) because I like it that way, and I happen to be American (although not your typical American... I just live here). But I know many Americans who don't saturate their photos that much, and I have seen plenty of Euro photographers who do saturate their photos. I think it's all personal preference anyway.www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #12 June 18, 2009 Quote I increase my saturation (not in-camera) because I like it that way, and I happen to be American (although not your typical American... I just live here). But I know many Americans who don't saturate their photos that much, and I have seen plenty of Euro photographers who do saturate their photos. I think it's all personal preference anyway. Is that why your blues always look richer and fuller? Same thing with colors on peoples suits? I'm guessing yes, and if that is the case, then put me in that stereo type as I think those pictures just look better! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The111 1 #13 June 18, 2009 Yes, I cheat. www.WingsuitPhotos.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilotdave 0 #14 June 18, 2009 All I know is that if I put my cameras on Faithful picture style, as you recommend, they look very flat and dull. Exactly the same as an unprocessed raw file. I could pull them into photoshop or whatever and make them look better, but I often post a couple hundred pictures per weekend to my website... I'll let the camera do the work. I do tweak them before i post them, but i can do that in a quick program like picasa. Shooting tandems in faithful would probably be a bad idea. Dave Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bdazel 0 #15 June 19, 2009 Bill, I use a XSI. I use a couple different user defined profiles that I choose based on the current atmospheric conditions. For good, bright sunny days, I like to bump up the settings 1 notch (maybe 2 on the sharpness, I can't remember). Keep in mind, these are for students, when I know I won't spend much time post-processing. I concur that RAW is best when you really want that great shot. But in my experience, shooting RAW is far too time-consuming and generally unappreciated by the average student. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Bill_K 0 #16 June 22, 2009 Quote... I use landscape myself, ... Dave Dave, I did a couple of jumps on landscape this weekend and I very much like the colors and over all look of the pictures. Thanks for the note on it, gave me courage to try something different. I learn something new with that camera every day it seems like. Thanks again, BK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
