D-70

[Bradwah]

Hey guys...I need a little help here. I've been into photography for quite a few years now. Own and love the F-80, but recently made the leap to d-70. I do some concert photography and have been pretty impressed with its performance...even if the images come out somewhat underexposed on my computer as compared to what I see on the back of the screen.

Today I was just taking random shots out the front of my house, and comparing shots with my borrowed friends powershot a-70. Needless to say I was disappointed with the d-70's performance. The sharpness doesn't seem to be there, the colours aren't as vibrant, and there isn't as much detail in darker areas as I got with the powershot.

Please help me....am I doing something wrong??? The images don't seem to be the same as what I see on the back of the screen, But they look not to bad when I plug the d-70 via the RCA into the TV.

[ustein]

What you see on the camera LCD screen does not matter and is not correct. The most important part is to check the histogram so that the exposure is correct. Also viewing on a TV monitor is not relevant for the same reason.

What counts is what you see on a properly calibrated PC monitor and in a print using good profiles.

Sorry, that may sound complicated (and in the beginning it is). Have a look at the new book "Color Confidence";

http://www.outbackphoto.com/resources/books.html

Without a basic understanding in color management you will always compare apples and oranges. I remember exactly when I got this advice 4 years ago (solutions were way more expensive then). I started using a calibrated monitor and things improved.

Uwe

PS: you may also have a look at my e-books to get a basic understanding about the digital workflow. Can save you a lot of time with trial and error:

http://www.outbackphoto.com/booklets/booklets.html

[Photo-John]

Uwe is correct. It's time to do some color management research. Uwe's workflow books would help and there's a lot of material available on the Internet. If you have Photoshop, the place to start is with the Adobe Gamma tool. Use that for an initial monitor calibration. Then you'll know that your monitor is at least on the right track. The next step is understanding hardware profiles and how they work.

The most important thing for you to know right now is that every device sees colors a little bit different. Color management is a system for helping devices communicate correctly. Profiles are like little translators attached to a device or image file. Most consumer cameras use the sRGB colorspace which is primarily intended for displaying JPEG files on the Internet. I'm not exactly what the colorspace options are on the D70, but I'm sure it has more than just the sRGB option. Maybe Uwe can tell you or you can look it up in the manual. Anyway, you need to know what those settings are, choose one, and use it correctly with whatever software you have on your computer.

Consumer cameras are made so that the average user gets pleasing photos with minimal effort and knowledge. Digital SLRs are different. They leave the photographer more room to decide how he or she wants their images to look. That means you have more control, but you also have more responsibility. You have to make a little more effort to have your photos looking the way you want. But the original files have so much more potential than those that come out of compact digital cameras like your friend's A70.

So your first assignment is to do a little research on color management. You can post on the Digital Imaging forum here or do a Google search. There's tons of information available. No doubt, enough to confuse you good. So go get confused and come back with some questions and we'll help you start to sort it out. The learning curve with a digital SLR is steep. But the results are worth the effort for most serious photographers.

Hope that helps-

[ustein]

>If you have Photoshop, the place to start is with the Adobe Gamma tool. Use that for an initial monitor calibration.

But really only as a first step. Good hardware calivration tools cost these days $250 and are worth it.

Uwe

[Norman]

That there is a difference in colour from one manufacturer to the next. I use a Nikon Coolpix 995 & find my images straight out of the camera are "flat" & if I print direct to my little HP photosmart 100 6x4 printer, they seem to lack contrast. My friend on the other hand has a Canon G3 & his prints in comparison come out of the camera with good colour & enough contrast to pop.

I have read articles in the photo magazines where people have developed settings in the user menu to mimic films like Fuji Velvia, by choosing a saturation & exsposure + or - to give that feel to their photo's.

[ustein]

>That there is a difference in colour from one manufacturer to the next.

1. Depends also very much on camera settings and their defaults

2. Actually the pros like it slightly flat out of the camera as adding contrast is easier than removing contrast.

Here is my settings advice:

sharpening in camera off
contrast medium
saturation low

Uwe

[Norman]

>That there is a difference in colour from one manufacturer to the next.

1. Depends also very much on camera settings and their defaults

2. Actually the pros like it slightly flat out of the camera as adding contrast is easier than removing contrast.

Here is my settings advice:

sharpening in camera off
contrast medium
saturation low

Uwe

I'll give that a try, I was initially disapointed in the flat results, because I was thinking the HP Photosmart 100 was the perfect solution to the photo's being trapped in my computer, so I could quickly print out photo's for family & friends. I know realize that all digital images need a little tweak .

Sorry I posted a Coolpix comment in the Digital SLR forum, I come here to learn, as I'm trying to afford an DSLR.