LGW From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Posted (9 years 11 months 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 6822 times:
Hi all,
This is aimed at Canon DSLR users be it D30, D60 10D etc.
I have read many comments of different photographers settings they use and some get a little confused (don't they Joe )
So, once and for all I would like all Canon DSLR users to tell us :-
1) What metering mode they use i.e evaluative, etc
2) Quality, RAW, Large fine, etc
3) Parameters -1 0 +1 on Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation
4) White balance setting
I know this may be boring, basic etc but id be interested to get a definative list of different photographers favoured settings, so if you would be so kind to answer il shut up
Craigy From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2001, 1118 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (9 years 11 months 1 day 22 hours ago) and read 6747 times:
1) What metering mode they use i.e evaluative, etc
Partial metering (the circle in the middle). Since recently switching to this, my exposures have been mostly spot on with a little compensation when needed. When I used the full evaluative I was constantly changing the compensation as the colour of the sky changed (blue sky to white cloud) and the level of the sun rose or the position of the plane in the sky changed..
2) Quality, RAW, Large fine, etc
Is there another option other than RAW?
3) Parameters -1 0 +1 on Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation
Since changing sharpness tothe lowest (off) it's been GOODBYE TO JAGGIES. Since all the previous shots I took were on RAW, I can go back and reprocess them if I want to with this new parameter. (see question #2 above).
4) White balance setting
Always auto - the 10D seems to cope well.
Kingwide From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2001, 838 posts, RR: 21 Reply 2, posted (9 years 11 months 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 6740 times:
Not sure what this is actually worth but:
1) Metering mode: Errm All of 'em including manual with an incident light meter. Usually leave it on evaluative but often end up dialing in 1/3 stop over / under exposure. Partial is useful to me for some of the motorsport stuff I do in the pit lane and Center weighted is always a great fall back since I grew up shooting with Center Weighted meters.
2) RAW or Large Fine - depends on the subject / client requirements etc. I have to say I am becoming a fan of RAW although the D30 is dog slow in RAW mode.
3) Params: Well when I'm shooting JPEG it's +1/+1/+1. I also Cfn 3 to remap AF to the * button.
4) White Balance: Shooting RAW - auto because it doesn't actually matter. Shooting JPEG - whatever makes the most sense. Auto a lot but I do use the other settings to suit the conditions.
Ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 529 posts, RR: 18 Reply 3, posted (9 years 11 months 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 6736 times:
On the D60 & 10D I shoot RAW, leaving all settings and white balance at default/auto as these can be changed as required at processing
Exposure: evaluative - on D60 exposure compensation seldom required, on 10D often required depending on conditions - I usually shoot a few test frames and use the histogram to fine tune.
Occassionaly use partial, but seldom for aviation. In tricky situations, sod the meter, I guess and use the histogram to fine tune
Marco_polo From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 324 posts, RR: 19 Reply 5, posted (9 years 11 months 1 day 12 hours ago) and read 6659 times:
D30 Settings:
Typciall on Program Mode, Continuos shooting (3FPS), Single Shot Focus, Center Weight Metering, ISO 200, JPEG Fine Mode,
10D Settings:
Same as above except change color space to Adobe RGB and Continuous Focus.
LGW From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 7, posted (9 years 11 months 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 6616 times:
Sorry, I have just come out of the corner and taken my dunces hat off...
My settings are
1) Evaluative (most of the time)
2) I use Large fine JPEG
3) Sharpness -1, Contrast 0 and Saturation +1
4) White balance setting - Always AWB although I used to use the Sun WB when it was sunny but have read a few things and done a few tests and now use AWB all the time.
JoakimE From Sweden, joined Nov 2001, 408 posts, RR: 8 Reply 8, posted (9 years 11 months 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 6605 times:
For my D30,
1) What metering mode they use i.e evaluative, etc
Evaluative, at least I think that's what I'm using, always forgett to check that up
Usually underexpose by 1/3 or 2/3 too, easier to fix an underexposure than over, if you can't get it perfect in the first place that is
2) Quality, RAW, Large fine, etc
Always RAW, no reason not to shoot RAW
3) Parameters -1 0 +1 on Sharpness, Contrast and Saturation
Since I use RAW, I don't mess with that in the camera
4) White balance setting
AWB, lazy and can change when converting the RAW file, love RAW
Thomasphoto60 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 3723 posts, RR: 25 Reply 13, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 6485 times:
Well now a few questions from a 'to be' DSLR shooter. After getting a ton of requests from clients and perspective clients, I've decide to take the DSLR plunge next month with the purchase of a Canon 10D. This of course will compliment my 3 other Canon SLRS and lenses. I'd like to preface this by saying that I have photographed in every format from Linhof to Leica and have little problems adjusting to the different film and camera sizes, however digital does seem a little daunting, especially in the field where events happen awfully fast. So I guess my first question would be.......How steep is the learning curve from film to digital? What is Breezebrowser and similar programs and are they included in the most DSLR packages? The FPS (frames per second), from what I have read, unlike a traditional film cameras with a motor drive attached, one can not expect to burst off a series of shots in the same manner, is that correct? I see from the consensus that RAW/Large Fine are the overwhelming file preferences, if that is the case how many images can one get on say a 256MB card?
I never have cared too much for auto modes, preferring manual for full control. So with that said, are there any manual DSLR shooters out there?
I realize that with anything creative you must learn by doing and figure out which is best for you, still any tips, hints, ect..would be appreciated.
Skymonster From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR: Reply 14, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 6470 times:
Thomas,
Answering your questions in order:
Learning curve - its not the camera, its the post-processing. As far as the photography is concerned, using a (say) 10D is pretty much the same as using a film-based Canon EOS
Breezebrowser - is Canon's software that processes RAW files and converts them into TIFs, JPEGs and the like. It comes with the camera. There are alternatives - Zoombrowser, Phase One - which you have to buy.
FPS - You can shoot a sequence of up to around eight or nine (can't remember which) pics in much the same way as you can with a conventional camera. Whilst shooting a sequence like that, the camera writes to the buffer. Once the buffer is full you can't shoot as the camera needs to write the pictures out to the flash card.
Ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 529 posts, RR: 18 Reply 15, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 20 hours ago) and read 6463 times:
I agree with Andy - the beauty of the 10D is that if you have used a Canon SLR, you'll have no problem using this - it has its quirks, but no more than you would expect from switching between differnt film cameras.
The 10D offers full manual control, if that's what you want (I quite often shoot in full manual). The big plus for the "creative" photographer is the ability to review the image you've taken (much like using Polaroids to set up a shot) with the bonus of a histogram analysis of the scene allowing you to fine-tune exposure in a very precise fashion. Put it this way, when working with studio set ups, I've abandoned my flashmeter preferring to use a few test shots and studying the histograms.
The learning curve - well you will need to acquire some proficiency with Photoshop or similar, but if you are already familiar with post processing scans, the transition to digital is pretty painless - and you will certainly appreciate the freedom from grain and noise issues!
Thomasphoto60 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 3723 posts, RR: 25 Reply 16, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 19 hours ago) and read 6455 times:
Thanks guys,
Indeed I am familiar with Photoshop, as I have some 392 pics here. While I have used several digi p/s cameras I am familiar with the view screen on the reverse but a DSLR is a whole different animal.
Several years back I have used the Frosher Pro Backs on my older F1s and Mamyias when I was doing studio work so I am familiar with the Polaroid analogy.
Craigy From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2001, 1118 posts, RR: 0 Reply 17, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 18 hours ago) and read 6448 times:
Thomas,
To add to what Andy posted,
You can shoot at about 3.5 fps up to 9 shots in RAW mode and the camera will buffer them. However, once the camera has written enough data from the buffer to the memory card (a couple of seconds or so), you can take a few more shots.
In the UK, the camera comes packaged with Canon's Zoombrowser, Remote Capture, File Viewer/Converter and Photo Stitch software plus a licensed copy of Photoshop Elements 2.0.
The only real difference from my EOS 30 to my 10D in terms of user input is the exposure. I was constantly having to overexpose my Provia slides on the EOS 30 by +0.5 whereas on the 10D, I have to underexpose - typically -0.3 or sometimes -0.6. The histogram on the image replay means that you can nail a good exposure very quickly. The biggest luxury is changing the ISO setting on the fly. After shooting at 200mm 1/250 F8 at ISO 100, I can slap a 500mm on, change the ISO to 200 and shoot 1/500 F8.
Thomasphoto60 From United States of America, joined Jan 2000, 3723 posts, RR: 25 Reply 18, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 18 hours ago) and read 6430 times:
Thanks Craig,
Its good to know that I can work on the fly as I used to working at rather a fast pace.
JFKTOWERFAN From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 1100 posts, RR: 17 Reply 19, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 6393 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW DATABASE EDITOR
with the bonus of a histogram analysis of the scene allowing you to fine-tune exposure in a very precise fashion.
Ckw From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 529 posts, RR: 18 Reply 20, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 4 hours ago) and read 6383 times:
There is not a universal "ideal" histogram, because it depends on the content.
In an "average" scene (whatever that might be) the histogram should look like a smooth hill with the peak in the middle and trailing off right to the edge of the graph.
If you are shooting a scene with lots of light areas (note NOT necessarily under bright light), then the hill should bunch up torwards the right side of the scale, shoot a scene with predominently dark areas , and the hill moves to the left.
Each vertical line in the histogram represents the number of pixels in one of the 255 levels of brightness available (0=black 255=white). 0 is at the extreme left, 255 at the extreme right.
In a perfect exposure of an average scene (provided the scene's contrast can be captured by sensor) you will want a few pixels to represent pure black (darkest shadow), and a few to represent pure white (highlights) - if your graph does not extend from end to end of the histogram, you are compressing the dynamic range of the scene and creating excessive contrast. If you see a spike at either end of the histogram, you've over or under exposed.
The key is to understand what the histogram is telling you and be able map it to the scene you're trying to capture. It takes a little while, but you'll soon be able to visualise the scene as seen though the viewfinder as a histogram.
The best way to learn is to play around with an image using the level controls in PS - you'll be able to see the effect changing the graph as on the image.
If you have a DSLR, its worth getting very familiar with the histogram as it allows you to fine tune an exposure much more easily than with even the most sophisticated metering system.
Kingwide From United Kingdom, joined Aug 2001, 838 posts, RR: 21 Reply 21, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 3 hours ago) and read 6379 times:
hehe! I was about to post almost exactly the same text as Colin but with a picture as well. So here's the picture but without the words since Colin said 'em for me
Correct exposure at the top, too much shadow second and too much highlight third. Note the difference in the histograms.
JFKTOWERFAN From United States of America, joined Sep 2001, 1100 posts, RR: 17 Reply 22, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 6367 times:
AIRLINERS.NET CREW DATABASE EDITOR
Thanks guys, I wasn't sure if the logical looking histogram was it or of there was more to it. I really appreciate you guys sharing your knowledge with the rest of us(I am sure I am not the only one).
EGGD From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2001, 12426 posts, RR: 40 Reply 23, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 2 hours ago) and read 6365 times:
Yes but usually with the ideal histogram you will have your black and white sliders at either end and the grey slider will be at the base of the 'peak' so to speak, at least thats what i've found when i've used the histogram (usually I just go on memory).
EGGD From United Kingdom, joined Feb 2001, 12426 posts, RR: 40 Reply 24, posted (9 years 10 months 4 weeks 1 hour ago) and read 6360 times:
Here's another good example to show what I mean:
you'll still have to change the colour balance though if you have a caste (i've got a pink caste in my photos), and you'll have to do that manually (I think, also there might be a histogram for that too??).
25 EGGD: And just to back up what Colin has said, my picture was underexposed slightly and hadn't nearly enough contrast (but thats just a camera problem and t
26 Ckw: OK we need to be careful here in distinguishing the use of the histogram on a DSLR and as part of levels in Photoshop. On the DSLR, it simply provides
27 EGGD: Yeah I understand the loss of detail but I assume thats just because of the underexposure coupled with the low contrast.
28 BA777: Got my '30 now, got a new 28-105 F3.5-4.5 MKII USM coming this week before the RIAT on Fri/Sat. I've been using RAW recently quite a bit, however my f
29 EGGD: I like this camera.. I'm amazed at the results even at 820mm there's no deterioration in the image quality despite the B-300 being a little 'used' htt
Sponsor Message: 
From , joined Dec 1969, posts, 
)
From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2001, 1118 posts, 
From UK - England, joined Aug 2010, 529 posts, 
From United States of America, joined Jul 2001, 324 posts, 
From Sweden, joined Nov 2001, 408 posts, 
From Netherlands, joined Oct 2001, 3809 posts, 
Printer friendly format 
