Canon 1D mark 3 question...

rich56k

Just purchased a 1D mark 3 (Thanks Nimai!!) and am getting into the settings (have a shoot tomorrow) and ran across the "JPEG Quality" settings (it was defaulted to 8/10).

Hmmm... now I have been shooting everything at Jpeg Large on my 20D...but I can't for the life of me figure why with such a capable camera (mark3) would I even consider compression in camera?? (besides the L, M1, etc options such as 20D- The mark 3 offer 1/10 up thru 10/10 in each size!!YIKES!!)

My frame of mind is ALWAYS shoot at maximum - the manual only mentions reference to file sizes about this.

However I know from smug experience that PS J12 can always be saved as J10 without consequence (which I do) does this logic transfer to the mark 3?

Or were the engineers just going nuts with extra features?

Anybody with actual experience with the various settings and results that can offer their insight?

Thanks
rich56k

ziggy53

If you are shooting for hire and shooting sports then I suggest using JPG quality level 10, which is a minimal compression. If there is a possibility that you might have to edit the images you will appreciate having all of the original quality possible.

If you are shooting anything other than sports then I really would consider using RAW format. The extra exposure headroom and white balance adjustment is well worth the extra effort.

If you are just shooting for yourself and you don't anticipate editing, there is almost no "visual" difference between level 8 JPGs and level 10 JPGs. The difference is, of course, present at the pixel level and you will see a very slight difference if you know what to look for. For any editing I would always like to start with as little compression as possible because re-compression will potentially create a more visible difference in the final output. (It partially depends on the subject matter, fine detail and scene contrast, as to how visible any compression artifacts appear.)

rich56k

Hi ziggy53,

Yes I'm shooting motorsports both for hire and freelance for print publication, I appreciate the reply and will take your advice and shoot at level 10.

I was leaning in that direction - you just confirmed my belief!!

Thanks!!

-rich