New D2H Owner 1st Outing

I will check as soon as I get home tonight, and post my findings, but tone, sharpening, color and Hue--I thought RAW would have no effect on these settings. I know White Balance was auto, and ISO was 200.

FredJamesPhotography said:

Ok Joe now I'm curious. The pictures you showed either had some
great post work (which they don't look over posted, they look so
natural)
There are no default settings what so ever. I strongley suggest
going to the menu settings and look at the set-up menu:

Check and record the following on paper incase you ever change you
will have a good starting point from which to set things on.

Go to the shooting menu and chanck the following settings:

image sharpening
Tone
color
hue
WB
ISO

I think I got em all. You might very well have them set really good
from the previous owner who knew that camera or got some good advice
on settings from someone. As mentioned before by a previous shooter
of a d2h, his work never looked like yours. I have different ways I
set mine but am curious on what yours was set at. Check it out and
let us know. But make sure you record that info for yourself too.

Thanks, Fred (forgot glasses forgive spelling)

Click to expand...

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SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

So you bought a D2h! I LOVE that camera (the S even more so) and I have to say, these images are some of your best (digital) to date in regards to color and depth. I was looking over the used D2h bodies at KEH a few days ago and according to the site, none had the box with it. What grade did it have on the site? Im probably going to pick up a D2h soon to add to my Fuji S5. BTW, how do you like the D2h? --
My Fuji S5 Shots
http://stevem7.zenfolio.com/p1073533022/

My M8 shots
http://stevem7.zenfolio.com/p802740336/

My Homeless Project
http://www.pbase.com/stevehuff/the_homeless

My Leica film shots
http://stevem7.zenfolio.com/p159175107/

Raw only means those setting could be changed but they have everything to do with what you see from the image that it displays on the LVD and at home on the PC. Those settings are what make theimage what it is. They can be changed but yours look like they need no chnage at all.

If you have the exposure at +1 and one at -1 and both were shot in raw then the raw would show the 2 stop difference although you could bring those settings back to + - 0 or whatever needed to improve the image.

The Nikon default settings on these camera's usally haev been set and reset many times and I feel there might be something interesting with yours. You are a excellent photographer but the D2H is no point and shoot camera and since you did nothing but point and shoot....................thats amazing. Even if you componsated here and there your few shots shown here say alot.

I will look for what your settings are and tell you if I see something different.

Thanks again Joe, Fred

My Man Steve--I see you are still killing them softly with the Fuji S5 ;-)

The D2H I purchased from the was LN. I would have never knew it was used, but the firmware was up to date, and the date and time had been set already. None of the other accessories had been touched (Strap, books, software).

So far I have to say, I really like this camera. Damn near an exact digital replica of my F5. I now have my old work flow back, small files even in compressed RAW, great auto focus, and the camera responds to my every command without hesitation.

I was looking for your D2H Vs D200 post, but I see you deleted the images from your pbase site. I was thinking about getting the S5, but I ended up going with the D200 until the D3 arrives (June, July, Whenever???)

The only thing about this camera I don't like is the LCD. I no longer even use the thing.

digislr said:

So you bought a D2h! I LOVE that camera (the S even more so) and I
have to say, these images are some of your best (digital) to date in
regards to color and depth. I was looking over the used D2h bodies at
KEH a few days ago and according to the site, none had the box with
it. What grade did it have on the site? Im probably going to pick up
a D2h soon to add to my Fuji S5. BTW, how do you like the D2h? --
My Fuji S5 Shots
http://stevem7.zenfolio.com/p1073533022/

My M8 shots
http://stevem7.zenfolio.com/p802740336/

My Homeless Project
http://www.pbase.com/stevehuff/the_homeless

My Leica film shots
http://stevem7.zenfolio.com/p159175107/

Click to expand...

--

SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

I see....well, I will check those settings and post them here when I get a chance. I did play with a few of them, but I didn't think they would make a difference when shooting RAW. I basically used the same settings I have on my D200. For Instance, AWB is set for -2, and I'm almost sure sharpening is as high as it can go.

All the points of intrest that you listed, I did tamper with. I don't want to give you the impression that I showed up at the Vietnam Wall and took it out of the box and started plugging away ;-)

FredJamesPhotography said:

Raw only means those setting could be changed but they have
everything to do with what you see from the image that it displays on
the LVD and at home on the PC. Those settings are what make theimage
what it is. They can be changed but yours look like they need no
chnage at all.

If you have the exposure at +1 and one at -1 and both were shot in
raw then the raw would show the 2 stop difference although you could
bring those settings back to + - 0 or whatever needed to improve the
image.

The Nikon default settings on these camera's usally haev been set and
reset many times and I feel there might be something interesting with
yours. You are a excellent photographer but the D2H is no point and
shoot camera and since you did nothing but point and
shoot....................thats amazing. Even if you componsated here
and there your few shots shown here say alot.

I will look for what your settings are and tell you if I see
something different.

Thanks again Joe, Fred

Click to expand...

--

SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

FredJamesPhotography said:

image sharpening

Click to expand...

+1

FredJamesPhotography said:

Tone

Click to expand...

+ More Contrast

FredJamesPhotography said:

color

Click to expand...

1 (SRGB)

FredJamesPhotography said:

hue

Click to expand...

-3

FredJamesPhotography said:

WB

Click to expand...

Auto +2

FredJamesPhotography said:

ISO

Click to expand...

200

FredJamesPhotography said:

I think I got em all. You might very well have them set really good
from the previous owner who knew that camera or got some good advice
on settings from someone. As mentioned before by a previous shooter
of a d2h, his work never looked like yours. I have different ways I
set mine but am curious on what yours was set at. Check it out and
let us know. But make sure you record that info for yourself too.

Thanks, Fred (forgot glasses forgive spelling)

Click to expand...

--

SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

Thanks Joe,

I would keep those settings but whenever you change always remember what you did change cause that camera will not reset to those setting cause they are not a factory preset.

This happened to me in the beginning and I had a setting that was so good and then started playing and it took awhile to figure what I had.

One thing I thought you might of had set was auto-ISO Since you said it was 200ISO that either means one of two things :
1- it really is 200ISO

2- it is set to Auto-ISO which in that case the 200 would stay on the LCD but directly above it is a small flashing signal that says Auto-ISO. It flashs letting you know you are on Auto and is very small and hard to notice. What will then happen is when you take the picture the camera will set ISO for each shot. This can work quite well but the only way you know what ISO was used is when reviewing picture on LCD you can quickly check the shooting data.

Thanks for the info and if there is any help I can ever provide, Just ask

This camera is really a fine tool .
Here is a family portrait I did with it using no flash at all.
Fred

http://www.pbase.com/fredjamesphotography/families

The family portraits are great. I wish I would have seen these images before I purchased the camera it would have made me feel easier about the purchase. I searched for images before I ordered the camera, and I only found a handful of images that I liked. These are priceless.

I appreciate the helping hand, and I'm sure i will need some coaching in order to tame the beast. I'll definitely reach out to you as questions come up

Kind Regards!
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SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

Actually three questions...

Primarily, with the D2H, why go w/ D200 to carry you over to D3?

But also:

• What lens primarily for the above pics?
• No matter what your camera/media, how do you always get such wonderful rich colors?

Thanks very much, really wonderful work, so glad I visited your site.

No 4 is great!

Most people buy a camera and use it for awhile and get some good images then get the newest model in hopes to improve.
Many do not try to fully understand and use it to it's fullest capabilities.

I feel I am about 60-70% of what my D2H can do. When I get it to do 100% of what its capable of then it will shine. I can show you what I mean with a link to smeone that can. I am on my portable right now and don't have that link.

When you see this camera reaching its fullest with people it truely is the best things going.

You have seen it do landscape by people like Roman, Eyes and many others and they can make those landscapes sing

Wait till you see what it can do when pushed to its full capacity with people, just amazing.
You had about the best out of the gate shots I have seen.
I'm here for any questions that I can answer.
If you don't mind me asking, what does a used one go for now a days ?
Mine will never sell and go to my son and daughter to train them with.

You should see what my 13 year old can do and she handles it like a pocket camera.
Thanks, Fred

Hello rbmphoto...

I purchased the D200 when it first came out. I just purchased the D2H Friday of last week.

I used the 70-200mm f/2.8 for all of the posted images.

Rich colors are a by product of good white-balance, correct exposure, and good lighting.

rbmphoto said:

Actually three questions...

Primarily, with the D2H, why go w/ D200 to carry you over to D3?

But also:

• What lens primarily for the above pics?
• No matter what your camera/media, how do you always get such

wonderful rich colors?

Thanks very much, really wonderful work, so glad I visited your site.

Click to expand...

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SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

Honestly, I took a few shots of them before I realized they were real people ;-)

Thanks!

Phillip Roscorla said:

No 4 is great!

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SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

For some reason, had erroneously determined you were planning to get a D200 to carry you over. As a long time D200 owner, I've been tempted by D2H series for a long time and several times considered replacing the D200 with the D2Hs, but been afraid of losing detail with cropping sports shots. The richness of the D2h images is so tempting though.

Now that you've worked with the two, would you briefly comment? The D3 may make the comparison not as significant as in the past, but if reports are correct, it could be a long time before most of us have the chance to buy to take that plunge.

I think your color richness answer really translates into talent...

I have not worked with the d2h long at all, but I really like it. My only negative is that I don't feel that I can trust the LCD on the D2H, and the Auto White balance on the D200 is much better than the auto white balance on the D2H.

The thing that bothered me the most about the D200 was how soft the images appeared right out of the camera. They sharpened up nicely though, and when I used a tripod, they really did not need much sharpening at all.

The D200 is a fabulous camera, and I will be using them both side-by-side this weekend--17-55mm f/2.8 on the D200 and the 70-200mm f/2.8 on the D2H

The higher res of the D200 for scenics and group shots, and the D2H will be used to zoom in and get the composition I want in the camera so I don't have to crop--well that's the plan.

rbmphoto said:

Now that you've worked with the two, would you briefly comment?

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SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

You can find them on http://www.keh.com all the time. I paid $1,300 for LN 5,000 shutter releases. Came with the original box, strap, battery and charger--software included.

I will be trying to push this camera as much as I can, because I really like it thus far.

fredjamesphotographysidekick said:

If you don't mind me asking, what does a used one go for now a days ?
Mine will never sell and go to my son and daughter to train them with.
You should see what my 13 year old can do and she handles it like a
pocket camera.
Thanks, Fred

Click to expand...

--

SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

If you don't mind sharing, what processing, if any, did you do to the photos after you brought them into the computer?

I find that the Auto WB works well outdoors, but indoors it's a mess. Also, for some reason, my D2h pics always look "grainier" than those posted by others here. I wonder if I have some setting different from everyone else. It's almost as if my sensor has more noise than others or I was shooting at a much higher iso. I'm still trying to find out what the trick is to get those beautiful, sharp pics like you and others have posted.

--
http://karlfranz.com

Hello Giorgio2004!

I have to tell you, I’m not a post processing guru by any means. I drop it in PS, hit it with a little contrast, saturation, lift shadow, resize, and border it—that’s all. One of the main reasons I went with the D2H was to be able to manipulate high quality small files quickly. So far, the camera is exceeding my expectations.

giorgio2004 said:

If you don't mind sharing, what processing, if any, did you do to the
photos after you brought them into the computer?

I find that the Auto WB works well outdoors, but indoors it's a mess.
Also, for some reason, my D2h pics always look "grainier" than those
posted by others here. I wonder if I have some setting different from
everyone else. It's almost as if my sensor has more noise than others
or I was shooting at a much higher iso. I'm still trying to find out
what the trick is to get those beautiful, sharp pics like you and
others have posted.

--
http://karlfranz.com

Click to expand...

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SIGNATURE: This is a picture I did not take of a tall, greying man with crooked teeth whom I've encountered three times while photographing downtown, and each time, he's approached me quickly from the front, with a long stride, and each time he's leaned toward me and said the exact same thing 'OLD ONES ARE BETTER' while palming his ancient brass Leica, opening his hand enough to show me what's there, but not enough really showing-off!' (An Unknown Leica Street Photographer)

It wasn't just me that noticed that. Your pictures as said before look fantastic and for someone right out of the box with that camera is not the norm.

I really think people play a little too much with settings and forget to go back to the basic's.

My thought on settings is that you adjust them to give the best ressults and maybe treak alittle here and there but some things need to be looked into carefully. Auto ISO for example. I feel a camera's metering system is dependent on certain factors that many of us don't know. We did not design the tool and alot of times I find things in the auto mode used the right way can give ressults much like yours.

An example: I hand metered a overcast wedding shoot outdoors. I used the Expodisc and did everything right. The pictures looked great. For the heck of it, I changed to auto ISO and thye looked even better. The camera was able to change what it felt needed for a better exposure. I then went just a little off from where I metered and it was the same type light but gave me a red cast in the , manual mode. I adjusted many times and was in a hurry. I said forget it and switched to WB cloudy........Bingo, Fantastic color. WB means so much and exposure falls right behind. other settings like hue and + - on WB also play thier part.

Here are acouple from that shoot. No flash and sun was almost gone on second one. Slow shutter and they were moving.

Fred

You will love it, its a great camera.