Settings Question: White Balance, Saturation, etc.

MattS

Just getting into proper digital photography with a Nikon 5400 ... my previous experience was with a Yashica SLR, where the only settings are F-stop and shutter speed (and, of course, the ISO of the film).

With respect to white balance and saturation, to name two, how important are these to tweak on the camera, especially in the instance where everything is coming into Photoshop CS right from the camera? Obviously, these can be tweaked on the desktop ... would I be missing something not addressing it on the camera?

mercphoto

MattS wrote:

With respect to white balance and saturation, to name two, how important are these to tweak on the camera, especially in the instance where everything is coming into Photoshop CS right from the camera? Obviously, these can be tweaked on the desktop ... would I be missing something not addressing it on the camera?

Shooting RAW or JPG? If shooting JPG, get it as close as possible to correct when you press the shutter. I would give the same advice when shooting RAW as well, though not all would agree.

But as a general rule, you are always better off starting with an image as close to perfect as possible before you do any manipulation.

MattS

mercphoto wrote:

Shooting RAW or JPG?

Or TIFF ... having some issues importing RAW into CS without going through Nikon's software (this presumably will change soon), but generally not shooting anything in JPEG.

wxwax

I wouldn't do any sharpening in camera. And personally I would not enhance the saturation either. If you're working on your image in PS, then don't let the camera make decisions for you. That's my approach. I rely on auto white balance, but there have been times when I should have used Manual White Balance.

mercphoto

MattS wrote:

Or TIFF ... having some issues importing RAW into CS without going through Nikon's software (this presumably will change soon), but generally not shooting anything in JPEG.

I forgot TIFF. If the TIFF file is 8-bit, then you aren't gaining any dynamic range over an 8-bit JPG to do much adjusting with. All you are doing is gaining that fact that none of those 8-bit pixels have been compressed and tossed away. Now, if we're talking 16-bit TIFF then you have something to twiddle with.

As per in-camera sharpening, I routinely shoot sports with the 20D "Parameters 1" setting. This has tone as neutral, but contrast, saturation and sharpening up one notch (with a range from -2 to +2, so I'm at +1). I've found it to provide very nice results that need little extra tweaking for that type of work. I would not use that setting for all my work, but its great for outdoor sports.

Whether you choose to do any of that in-camera or in post production is up to you. I've spent enough time with the camera to realize that for this type of photography I get very good results with those parameters and in-camera large-fine JPG. I do very little after the fact, and even those steps are automated as well.

DavidTO

MattS wrote:

Just getting into proper digital photography with a Nikon 5400 ... my previous experience was with a Yashica SLR, where the only settings are F-stop and shutter speed (and, of course, the ISO of the film).

With respect to white balance and saturation, to name two, how important are these to tweak on the camera, especially in the instance where everything is coming into Photoshop CS right from the camera? Obviously, these can be tweaked on the desktop ... would I be missing something not addressing it on the camera?

The only reason to increase saturation or sharpness would be to get a consumer-level image that pops without any post processing. If you're going to open them in PS, then you want a flat, even exposure that you can add saturation and contrast to. If you let the camera do that, then you run the risk of clipping valuable information in the image. You want to capture a nice, safe image with all the detail info present. You can then add whatever you want in PS.