I was wondering what kind of quality pictures you guys get straight out of the camera.
I have a d200 + nikkor 70-300 1.45-5.6 lens.
Some time ago i send it back to be fixed because it never made sharp pictures, and they replaced the AF transmission.
I know that im not pro on settings, but i tried alot, and made a shitload of photos.
But im getting kinda sad that a sonycybershot of 100 bucks, takes better pics then a 2k machine.
I have an example of the average photo i get straight from the camera.
http://rensedeboer.com/temp/d200test.jpg
They all are pretty noisy, lacking contrast, unsharp ect. and its pissing me off.
Do i just suck or could there be something wrong with the equipment, or is this all i can get?
Replies
Most of the Images on this site were shot with a D200. (tis my brother's)
http://www.kk-graphics.com/home.html
http://thomashawk.com/2006/04/10-tips-for-new-digital-slr.html
This guy wrote some tips and basics on good photography
The original on top is actually well leveled (according to levels in Photoshop), but sometimes you want to exaggerate it to make things pop. The edited one below has levels adjustments, color channel tweaks, hue/sat tweaks and a photo filter applied, along with sharpening.
If you're having trouble shooting in lower-light conditions, make sure your shutter delay is longer. To eliminate noise, use a lower ISO setting
Want more stuff in focus? Increase your fstop (this increases shutter speed though, so you have to compensate with longer exposures, or higher ISO's). I usually shoot with ISO 200 and fstop at 4.5-5.6
If shooting in darker conditions, I'll use ISO 400-600 (no higher or it makes too much noise) and then use a tripod and longer shutter delay.
If you want to "snap" photos in the dark, you must use a flash. It's the only way.
I know a photographer around here, going to ask if she can teach me a thing or two about how to use this thing.
"I usually shoot with ISO 200 and fstop at 4.5"
I did the same here with this photo, i might have even used ISO 100
-i switch modes a bit ( A, M, S, P) and see what i can get with those,
-i have my lightmeter now mostly at center, or spot
-focus point is the center
i resetted my cam and am changing some settings to see if it does any good.
trying new options like "optimize image" --> custom --> color mode I --> III
extra sharpening
contrast +
seems to be working out.
also a tripod is a big must i guess, going to borrow one for now, exp a bit with it.
I feel like taking the photo, is only 50% or less of the work, photoshopping it to perfection is the biggest deal.
To get rid of the background noise, i duplicate the layer, blur it our a bit, and then erase the focused parts with a soft brush.
just made a test shot, kept the settings basic, did change some things in the menu.
shooting menu:
optimize image
custom
image sharpening + 2
color mode 3
tone compensation - more contrast
didn't change much in photoshop, just a bit of levels and a 25% sharpen layer.
As well as being an excellent photo management tool, I use it for almost all my processing instead of Photoshop.
Prime lenses are amazingly sharp, especially the cheapo nikkor 50mm f/1.8. Here's a snapshot taken with the lense stopped down to f/2.2, no pp done at all.
100% zoom
camera raw has a function to remove color or luminance noise. in ps there's also better tools for noise removal than gaussian blur. try smart blur or reduce noise to clean up your photos from noise.
usually it also makes sense to not let the camera apply and effects and do ALL the post processing in ps. you have way more control this way.
and remember not to oversharpen your photos. it makes them look too artificial and digital
also that 1.8 lens entity mentioned kicks ass. its cheap and fun to use
I do make some common mistakes in photoshop like sharpening too much
Thanks for the tips guys, appreciate it.
Here's another picture taken with the cheap 50
I just got some one on one training in a studio today, and voila, (we just messed around with some objects and lights, no perfect setup..)
its just scaled down, straight from the cam with the telelens i've been using all along.
real size: http://rensedeboer.com/temp/d200studiotest.jpg
wednesday im going back to practice some more