Advice on pictures from a new D70

Just got a new D70 (with kit lens) last weekend!

Started to shoot and test it (for now on auto or portrait mode)

Got some nice sharp pictures. But also got many that the bg was too dark and one eye in focus while the other is not. (Like the picture below).



Any advice on how to improve that?

Thanks in advance...

... too bluish and dark. You should be getting colours like these:
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1034&message=10313290

Can you share your camera settings? Ensure you're shooting with Auto WB -2 for flash and outdoor pictures.

As for the case of one eye sharp and the other not, this is due to the relatively limited depth of field offered by SLRs versus prosumer digicams. For this shot, I'd try to ensure that my aperture is in the region of f/5.6 to f/8 and focus on the nose.
--
Regards, David Chin
(D.7.0. & C.P.4.5.0.0.)
N i k o n D 7 0 Links :> http://www.pbase.com/dlcmh/dslr_links

efimoore said:

Just got a new D70 (with kit lens) last weekend!

Started to shoot and test it (for now on auto or portrait mode)
Got some nice sharp pictures. But also got many that the bg was too
dark and one eye in focus while the other is not. (Like the picture
below).



Any advice on how to improve that?

Thanks in advance...

Click to expand...

The eye is OOF (out of focus) because of a very shallow DOF (depth of field) resulting from a large aperture being used.
The color looks funky too.
It would be useful if you posted your camera settings.
To lighten the BG, if you're using flash, go to a slower shutterspeed.
--
FJBrad
D70...it's not rocket surgery.

Thanks for the advice.

About the camera settings, Looked at the picture metadata:
White balance – auto
Focal length – 50mm
F-Stop – f/4.5
Exposure 1/60 sec

Are there any other camera setting that will be good to share?

Now I am worried that something is wrong with the camera that I got...

... don't hit the panic button just yet.

Set your camera up this exact way, and take another picture of the baby or some other person:

(1) P mode
(2) Auto WB -2
(3) ISO200
(4) Popup the flash
(5) Zoom the lens to 50mm
(6) EV +0.3
(7) Ensure flash mode is set to i-TTL (in the menu)
(8) In Optimize Image menu

• Saturation: Normal
• Hue: -3
• Tone: Auto (later, you can learn about Custom Curves)
• Sharpness: Auto

You should be able to get colours that look like this (Tokina 19-35, old lens):



this (Nikkor 50mm f/1.8):



or this (Sigma 18-50 f/3.5-5.6):



Good luck, and let me know how it goes!

efimoore said:

Thanks for the advice.

About the camera settings, Looked at the picture metadata:
White balance – auto
Focal length – 50mm
F-Stop – f/4.5
Exposure 1/60 sec

Are there any other camera setting that will be good to share?

Now I am worried that something is wrong with the camera that I got...

Click to expand...

--
Regards, David Chin
(D.7.0. & C.P.4.5.0.0.)
N i k o n D 7 0 Links :> http://www.pbase.com/dlcmh/dslr_links

You probably have just set the camera up wrong, this level of color problem can be easily fixed in an image editing tool anyway, here's something from Photoshop, with a simple Auto Contrast, and then manual adjustment of the color balance.



I suspect your white balance is set incorrectly. I simply shoot with the white balance set to auto, and have only very infrequently used another setting, if you're new to the camera, leave it on auto because that's good enough for almost all conditions.

As for the depth of field being narrow, that's one of the things that make SLR's special, the DOF control. You should be using F6.3 - F8 at this range to get both eyes in focus, indoors you'll need to be using the flash. If you want the background to be better illuminated you either need to slow the shutter speed down (which may lead to motion blur) or use an external flash like the SB800 and either the attached soft box, or bounce the flash off a wall or ceiling, that will fully illuminate your background.

Roland.

efimoore said:

Just got a new D70 (with kit lens) last weekend!

Started to shoot and test it (for now on auto or portrait mode)
Got some nice sharp pictures. But also got many that the bg was too
dark and one eye in focus while the other is not. (Like the picture
below).



Any advice on how to improve that?

Thanks in advance...

Click to expand...

There is something wrong with your camera.
Your wife appears to be defying gravity and standind on a wall.
Better get your camera serviced right away.

Sam

David,

Thanks for your help

Yesterday evening I tried some more testing…
I tried to change the parameters on program mode to the ones that you mentioned.
But I am afraid the pictures turned out really bad.

Probably some of the other setting are not right (my guess is Optimize image and Sharpening --> what should be the setting on those?)

Pls take a look at the setting of one of the new pictures and advise. Then this evening I can test some more.

Nikon D70
2005/05/12 23:22:02.8
JPEG (8-bit) Normal
Image Size: Large (3008 x 2000)
Lens: 18-70mm F/3.5-4.5 G
Focal Length: 52mm
Exposure Mode: Programmed Auto
Metering Mode: Multi-Pattern
1/60 sec - F/4.5
Exposure Comp.: 0 EV
Sensitivity: ISO 200
Optimize Image: Soft
White Balance: Auto -2
AF Mode: AF-S
Flash Sync Mode: Front Curtain
Auto Flash Mode: Built-in TTL
Auto Flash Comp: 0 EV
Color Mode: Mode Ia (sRGB)
Tone Comp: Auto
Hue Adjustment: 0°
Saturation: Normal
Sharpening: Medium low
Image Comment:
Noise Reduction: OFF

... change it back to Normal, or Custom.

Custom lets you adjust:

• Saturation: Normal
• Hue: -3
• Tone: Auto (later, you can learn about Custom Curves)
• Sharpness: Auto
• Color Mode Ia

Also, increase your Exposure Comp to +0.3 EV

All your other settings look OK.

Show your results, whether bad or good - we can take it from there.

--
Regards, David Chin
(D.7.0. & C.P.4.5.0.0.)
N i k o n D 7 0 Links :> http://www.pbase.com/dlcmh/dslr_links

It does look better. Yes post processing can improve the picture. But still I would expect better results from my new camera.

Yesterday I tried to shot some more and in program mode to set F6.3 - F8 to ensure both eyes get in focus

The problem is that if the flash was on then I was not able to change the f-stop. If I gave up the flash, I could change the f-stop but the pictures turn too dark or blurry.

Is it a must to have external flash to have reasonable tones in the bg when shooting indoors? (Note: the shots were on auto mode and auto WB)

So far shooting with the Olympus 5060 indoors gave better results (bg never so dark)

I will try some more tests this evening and post the results with exif data

Thanks for your help!

I will try some more tests this evening and post the results

efimoore said:

It does look better. Yes post processing can improve the picture.
But still I would expect better results from my new camera.

Click to expand...

I suspect it's still user error rather than camera problems at this point. Based on your problems you sound like someone new to photography, or at least new to SLR photography.

Without trying to insult you, please bear with my analogy, your complaints sound like someone complaining a Ferrari doesn't work because it doesn't move when you hit the accelerator, you have to learn how to use a clutch, this is the same thing, you need to learn how to use the tool before blaming the tool.

efimoore said:

Yesterday I tried to shot some more and in program mode to set F6.3

• F8 to ensure both eyes get in focus

The problem is that if the flash was on then I was not able to
change the f-stop. If I gave up the flash, I could change the
f-stop but the pictures turn too dark or blurry.

Click to expand...

If you can't control the aperture when you pop up the flash, but can when the flash is down it sounds like you're in program mode "P" rather than aperture mode "A", once you're into aperture mode you will be able to control the aperture whether the flash is up or down.

efimoore said:

Is it a must to have external flash to have reasonable tones in the
bg when shooting indoors? (Note: the shots were on auto mode and
auto WB)

Click to expand...

No, you can get great images with the internal flash. However, the external flash will certainly be better, plus you can bounce the external flash (which you can't do with the internal) one major advantage of bouncing is you can eliminate, or reduce, shadows.

efimoore said:

So far shooting with the Olympus 5060 indoors gave better results
(bg never so dark)

Click to expand...

Simply further proof you haven't comprehended the capabilities of the camera. I used an Olympus C5050 for 9 months in the year prior to getting my D70, and this camera is leagues ahead of the Olympus.

efimoore said:

I will try some more tests this evening and post the results with
exif data

Click to expand...

Best wishes,
Roland
http://www.rolandwooster.com

Finally I got some better results today
I reset the settings and then followed your advice on the custom settings.

Thanks!

Yes, I am new to SLR.

And my husband is giving me hard time and saying “why is the bg so dark?” and “why some of the picture is not in focus”. This is especially problematic when you shoot 2 people standing near each other and only one gets the focus.

I know that this camera is much better and the pictures turn out much sharper, but my first tries didn’t turn out very well and I got bad feedback from different family members.

Today I tried again and got better results. If it’s a learning curve then that’s OK. I have all summer to learn.

Thanks for all the explanations!

It can be a long road to getting great pictures with a DSLR. But just keep practicing, and you will get there. That being said, there are a few things you could do to help speed you along the path. Please forgive me if you are already aware of all this.

You may want to consider getting a book or two. Thom Hogan's D70 guide will help you become intimately familiar with your D70 ( http://www.bythom.com ). Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson is recommended by many people here, but I have not read it.

If you haven't already done so, you should start learning some post-processing techniques. You can start with Photoshop Elements, which has 90% of the features of Phososhop CS for about 20% of the price. Learning even the most basic techniques like unsharp mask and simple level adjustments can improve your pictures immensely.

There are also lots of free tools available:

• Noiseware Community Edition noise reduction software is quite good - http://www.noiseware.com

• If you don't already own Nikon Capture, Rawshooter Essentials will allow you to try out shooting in RAW mode, with which you can get much improved images over the out-of-camera jpegs. The D70 does not have the best in-camera jpeg conversion.

• virtualPhotographer from Optic Verve is a lot of fun to play with - it allows you to get really creative. http://www.optikvervelabs.com/ And this is something you can use to amaze all those skeptical friends. ;-)

--Will