Best internal settings for KM 7D

Hello everybody,

I did some great macro shots this summer with my 7D. In retrospect I think part of the merit is due to the 7D largely above average viewfinder. Something that is simply indispensable for precision focussing and gets easily overlooked in lots of reviews that compare static studio photographs.

Anyway, when the job of taking photographs is done, I just can't find the time to pp my photographs (unless there's a good default script available for processing 7D's RAW files within Photoshop ?).

Hence I'd like to set my KM 7D in the best way to use the .JPEG directly from the camera. I think the following review presents a convincing case for setting the default Sharpness setting to +1 : http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/minolta/maxxum_7d-review/

But what is the experience of users here for the other settings, such as Color and Contrast settings ?

Thanks to all for your input,
JM

[nt]

The good news is that almost every digital picture that I've ever taken has been improved to some degree with PP. The bad news is that you have to do it!

I just returned from a summer vacation with 2000 shots that had to be knifed down to a managable 600 plus keepers. All, with a few exceptions were greatly improved with PP. Of that I got a hundred or so, to be keepers'n shows.

It was a big job, yes, but you gotta do it or go back to print film......yuck!

I'm big on rich color so here are my in camera 7D settings.....right or wrong.....

Exposure compensation : +0.5
Saturation : +1
Color Mode : Natural+
Sharpness : +1

See a few samples on my site : http://stv.smugmug.com
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http://Stv.smugmug.com

Maxxum 7D/VC-7D, Maxxum 7/VC-7, Minolta AF 50:1.7, AF 35-70+macro, AF 17-35:2.8 D, AF 28-75:2.8 D, AF 24-105 D, AF 100:2.8 Macro D, AF 100-300 APO, AF 75-300 D, TCx1.4, 5600 HSD, 1200AF Macro Ring Flash (Dimage A1, Maxxum 7000 & 9000 systems, all long gone)

Stv said:

>

I'm big on rich color so here are my in camera 7D
settings.....right or wrong.....

Exposure compensation : +0.5
Saturation : +1
Color Mode : Natural+
Sharpness : +1

Click to expand...

I agree with these settings. These are the ones Gary Friedman recomends in his book.

I saved these in one of the three memory settings so I could keep them without having to memorize them.

......... oh, and I forgot the ...... Contrast+1 ........

Exposure compensation : +0.5
Saturation : +1
Color Mode : Natural+sRGB
Sharpness : +1
Contrast : +1

BTW: These are my Standard Internal settings and not on my 123 Memory dial settings.

--
http://Stv.smugmug.com

Maxxum 7D/VC-7D, Maxxum 7/VC-7, Minolta AF 50:1.7, AF 35-70+macro, AF 17-35:2.8 D, AF 28-75:2.8 D, AF 24-105 D, AF 100:2.8 Macro D, AF 100-300 APO, AF 75-300 D, TCx1.4, 5600 HSD, 1200AF Macro Ring Flash (Dimage A1, Maxxum 7000 & 9000 systems, all long gone)

Thanks to all for your help.

Here you can see one of my shots from this summer :

http://www.flickr.com/photos/69344599@N00/247578554/ (there must be better ways and sites around to upload photographs... )

If pp remains a must, then I'd like to ask you if there's a special plugin
or default macro especially finalized/tuned for 7D shots ?

I have a friend who is a professional photographer using notably Nikon D200 and he tells me that he has designed a macro in Photoshop to apply a series of "standard" corrections to the vast majority of his D200 shots, except those which require specific treatment.

Best
JM

I'm really the last person here that should be doling out PP advice. However, if you are gonna take the effort to make a decent image you shouldn't treat the PP like it's Fast-Food or something.

That said, I'd suggest that you invest in the Adobe Elements package now in version #5. I've had 1,2 and now on #3, waiting for Costco to bring in the #5 version.

Elements have an Auto Fix that will be right up your alley. The Quick Fix is more advanced but VERY easy to master and just a few minutes per image depending on your computers ability to process data rapidly. The Standard Edit is very powerful for my needs. It is easy to master and it's fast. The Standard Edit has salvaged many an image for me.

--
http://Stv.smugmug.com

Maxxum 7D/VC-7D, Maxxum 7/VC-7, Minolta AF 50:1.7, AF 35-70+macro, AF 17-35:2.8 D, AF 28-75:2.8 D, AF 24-105 D, AF 100:2.8 Macro D, AF 100-300 APO, AF 75-300 D, TCx1.4, 5600 HSD, 1200AF Macro Ring Flash (Dimage A1, Maxxum 7000 & 9000 systems, all long gone)

The PP is half the fun and 9/10 of the work. Each frame is different, and I'd be very hesitant to use a standardized macro or action for all of my shots. It takes a fraction of a second to take the photo (ok, more than that if you want a long night exposure), and several minutes or hours to make it worth sharing.

If you absolutely must automate it, you might try what I do. I handle the RAW conversion manually in CS2 (ACR) but then save as TIFF. I have several actions defined for automatic "conversion" of the TIFF to JPEG, including some basic adjustments and USM. This really only works well when I have a single series to do and can check some sample results first, but it's the only way to go through dozens of shots at a time. The RAW conversion still takes me 2 - 3 minutes each, as I adjust all parameters by hand till it looks right to my eyes, and crop as needed. I wouldn't give that up for anything, but that's just me.

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Check out more of my photos at http://gallery.johnrives.com

I used PSE4 until I found Upshot! I prefer Upshot Fast Fix's results. The Crop and Rotate function is the best and fastest I've seen. The program doesn't care whether you're loading MRW or JPG images and will output to TIFF or JPG.

you have a dSLR. Use the three custom memory settings available for your most likely shooting conditions; use the custom white balance as well. For example, I have a sports and portrait settings in memory, leaving the last open for special situations. I use the custom white balance setting for such situations as snow...but set in only at the beginning of the shoot.

Apart from macros (fowers and butterflies type of things...), I mainly shoot portraits. What settings did you choose for this type of shooting ?

JM