Problem: A80 has high Contrast

[Sam]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Just wondering if this is normal for this camera? Or does it need to
be calibrated?

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Sam wrote:

> Just wondering if this is normal for this camera? Or does it need to
> be calibrated?

Any chance you've set it by mistake to Vivid in Photo Effects?

-- Ron

 

[Sam]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Ronald Hands" <rhands@NOSPAMmountaincable.net> wrote in message
news:QAFGd.4046$aa6.1720@fe61.usenetserver.com...
: Sam wrote:

: Any chance you've set it by mistake to Vivid in Photo Effects?

No. Exifer confirms this. I took pictures of some Christmas lights at
night and the contrast was fine, but daytime pics in Auto or Program
mode with Auto White Balance in virtually every situation results in
slightly cloudy images. At first, I thought it was the photo lab that
we used when returned from holidays in the Caribbean but looking at
the pics on my monitor matched the prints. The lens is clean as well.
I haven't used the camera much but it appears that I have to manually
adjust each picture before printing. That's very time consuming.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Sam wrote:
>
>
> No. Exifer confirms this. I took pictures of some Christmas lights at
> night and the contrast was fine, but daytime pics in Auto or Program
> mode with Auto White Balance in virtually every situation results in
> slightly cloudy images.

IN that case, if it's still under warranty perhaps you should take it
back. I've been delighted with the results from both an A40 and A75
(see www.mountaincable.net/~rhands/index.htm for some examples).

> I haven't used the camera much but it appears that I have to manually
> adjust each picture before printing. That's very time consuming.

Well, I adjust each picture (in Photoshop Elements 2.0) before
sending out to a lab for printing, but mainly for cropping and
sharpening. The results, from several labs, seem to be an exact match
for what I see on the screen.

-- Ron

 

[Sam]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Ronald Hands" <rhands@NOSPAMmountaincable.net> wrote in message
news:nBRGd.4145$aa6.3521@fe61.usenetserver.com...
:
: IN that case, if it's still under warranty perhaps you should take
it
: back. I've been delighted with the results from both an A40 and A75
: (see www.mountaincable.net/~rhands/index.htm for some examples).

I did find some sample shots from another site and they too appear a
bit grey but I don't believe they are as grey as mine:

http/www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/A80/A80A.HTM

And here are my pics (the last shot of the couple is the most
greyish).

http/pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blondee_yvr/album?.dir=/2efd&.src=ph&.tok=ph7.0YCBJYNhKZJn

Please let me know what you think.

Thanks

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Sam wrote:

>
> And here are my pics (the last shot of the couple is the most
> greyish).
>
> http/pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blondee_yvr/album?.dir=/2efd&.src=ph&.tok=ph7.0YCBJYNhKZJn

Looks fine to me. There's obviously a lot of light concrete plus a
lot of light sky/clouds in the picture and this would influence the
meter reading. The meter tries to reproduce 18% grey and the result is
slight underexposure, particularly for the human subjects. If you had
moved in much closer to them, so that the metering was from the subjects
rather than the surroundings, the flesh tones would probably have been
better. Anyway, it should be easy to lighten it slightly by adjustment
of the Levels in a photo editing program.

-- Ron

 

[DaveT]

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Tue, 18 Jan 2005 11:29:37 -0500, Ronald Hands
<rhands@NOSPAMmountaincable.net> wrote:

>Sam wrote:
>
>>
>> And here are my pics (the last shot of the couple is the most
>> greyish).
>>
>> http/pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/blondee_yvr/album?.dir=/2efd&.src=ph&.tok=ph7.0YCBJYNhKZJn
>
> Looks fine to me. There's obviously a lot of light concrete plus a
>lot of light sky/clouds in the picture and this would influence the
>meter reading. The meter tries to reproduce 18% grey and the result is
>slight underexposure, particularly for the human subjects. If you had
>moved in much closer to them, so that the metering was from the subjects
>rather than the surroundings, the flesh tones would probably have been
>better. Anyway, it should be easy to lighten it slightly by adjustment
>of the Levels in a photo editing program.
>
Another A80 owner here. I concur with Ron's comments. I often go
with the center-weighted metering and put that on the subject of
interest - or set exposure on an area of similar illumination. A full
scene average in conditions of bright surroundings does tend to pull
the exposure down. I also suspect that digicams intentionally skew in
that direction to avoid blowing out highlights altogether.

I feel generally guilt-free in doing a slight tweak in Photoshop
Elements for such conditions when necessary, as that's often done
magically in the printing process with C41 films.
(And indeed, C41 prints of similar scenes sometimes come out on the
dull side if processed and printed in a fully automatic mode.)

DaveT