Reccomended Settings

vandecarr

Hi,
I shoot mostly portraits and I was told by another portrsit photographer that I shoud set my Rebel xt parameter as follows:

Parameter 1: SETUP:
SIZE - Fine
SATURATION - MINUS 1
CONTRAST - MINUS 2
SHARPNESS - PLUS 2
FLASH - E-TTL with no exposure compensation
METERING MODE: Multizone (eyeball with two parenthesis)

Here is my question: Do you agree with this? Do you have a different or better reccomendation?

Thanks,
Mike

DoctorIt

Mike,
I think it would be wise of you to sit down with your manual and learn a little bit what these settings mean, so you better understand what you are actually doing.

For example...

METERING MODE: Multizone (eyeball with two parenthesis)

do you know what that causes the camera to do? And what about if you remove the parentheses? Do you know what that does? Your Canon manual will tell you

If you still have questions (you should, or probably will), come on back with ones that will actually improve your technique, not just your settings. Make sense?

FWIW, all these custom parameters:

SATURATION - MINUS 1
CONTRAST - MINUS 2
SHARPNESS - PLUS 2

are a moot point if you are shooting in RAW, which is what I would recommend for static portraiture. Even if not shooting in RAW, these can all be addressed in your post-processing and are not the end-all be-all for a good portait. Much more important to get right at the time of shoot is your exposure.

So my answer to your question: I tend to disagree, but again, these settings are of much less importance than others, in my opinion.

claudermilk

You really need to understand what those setting mean rather than set up he camera by rote. Why did he pick those particular parameters? What situation?

For example, my own most common settings are quite different. Size is RAW and I don't use on-camera flash (built-in or hotshoe-mount), so none of the rest really matter except metering. For me metering is typically Center-weight, in studio it really doesn't matter. The question is: why? I know (to be kind: center weight because I usually shoot theater & the middle of the frame matters far more than the edges to me, in studio I set my strobes by light meter & run the camera in Manual--so metering mode is moot).

I think you would be better served starting at 0 on all and finding out what those settings change. Then decide if you really like that look.

vandecarr

fellas, I know what they mean. I've been in the photo business for several years.

It was just a question.

I set my parameters just slight;y different when using a flash and was interested in what some of you do.

I shoot jpeg and have no need to shoot raw regardless of the debate on which is better and why.

I do this for a living, I know what I'm doing so easy on the attitudes.


FWIW,
Mike

DoctorIt

vandecarr wrote:

I know what I'm doing so easy on the attitudes.

Whoa, we were just trying to answer in a helpful manner.

Andy

vandecarr wrote:

I do this for a living, I know what I'm doing so easy on the attitudes.


FWIW,
Mike

Hi Mike,

Welcome to Dgrin. Doc and claudermilk are trying to be helpful, as they have been for a long time around here. We all just want to help So, settle in, and we'll all learn something And have a little patience and understanding with folks, mkay?

photocat

to answer to the parameters: I find it weird to put those settings in minus...
Not something I would do personally... ;o)))

claudermilk

No good deed goes unpunished....

I fail to see where either Doc or my posts had any "attitude" -- we just suggested that the use of the settings be understood. From the original post it sure didn't strike me that you already knew. Sorry for trying to help.

Seneca

***slowly backing out of this room***:D

ziggy53

vandecarr wrote:

Hi,
I shoot mostly portraits and I was told by another portrsit photographer that I shoud set my Rebel xt parameter as follows:

Parameter 1: SETUP:
SIZE - Fine
SATURATION - MINUS 1
CONTRAST - MINUS 2
SHARPNESS - PLUS 2
FLASH - E-TTL with no exposure compensation
METERING MODE: Multizone (eyeball with two parenthesis)

Here is my question: Do you agree with this? Do you have a different or better reccomendation?

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,

I would not do sharpening in camera. It tends to be a little heavy-handed and coarse compared to what can be done in PS.

Multizone metering can be influenced by the background, so you should not trust it to be absolutely accurate.

The E-TTL II can be accurate, depending on many things, like ISO and the particular flash. As a rule, I have found Canon E-TTL II to yield results that are a little darker than necessary. I tend to run +2/3 FEC on the flash (Sigma 500 Super) unless I need to protect the highlights. (Studio and simple slaved flashes should be managed manually.)

You definitely need to experiment to see what works for you, your flash, your print service, etc.

Is that what you were looking for?

ziggy53

vandecarr

thanks for the extra info.

I have actually tryed these settings that were mentioned and am really happy with the results.

I took several shots with these settings as well as with them all centered and it really does make a big difference for the better.

I do enhance them afterwards in ps most of the time but i think the skin tones, especially, look much better, out of the camera, with the settings as describbed above then.



Thanks,
Mike