Basic Photoshop settings for RAW JPEG conversion.. EX2F?

frascati wrote:

Ah, so, you know how this camera has this nice fast lens. Well, performance isn't always great wide open. Are all your shots wide open? Try stopping down a bit, it will also give you more depth of field making things sharper. The downside is it will be darker, so you may be at a higher ISO, may look a bit more like the old camera.

Most of the excitement and ink devoted to comparisons of these compact digitals' lenses based on speed/aperture should be taken with a grain of salt? The gushing over this was everywhere. So is it the case that this range is only useful under the most pressing circumstances with the condition that IQ must suffer? Or will I learn to love it for subjects with a relatively flat plane of focus where background blurring is desireable? Under what other circumstances is this aperture a real advantage?

Would this thread have been more appropriate to the beginner's forum? I wasn't aware of how near the bottom of this learning curve I really am. Coming from the previous camera is like starting anew.

All marketing hype should be taken with a grain of salt.

Likewise I agree with Eoanthropus that you should also take the wang measuring contrast with a grain of salt.

The EX-2 is an excellent camera judged on IQ. The lens is superb and the f/1.4 is nice to have. The lens is one of the biggest reasons I bought and continue to keep and use the camera. It behaves very well within the normal parameters of a compact small sensor camera with a classic 3X wide to short tele zoom.

I keep the ISO at 80 as much as possible and shoot with f/stops in the f/3.5 range normally. You do need to understand that the max f/stop is variable over the zoom range and the f/1.4 is only available at the widest end of the zoom range. The lens performance wide-open is very good. Here's two photos taken with the lens nearly wide-open.

ISO 200 f/2.5 (near wide-open)

antique mall

ISO 80 f/2.8 (again near wide-open)

trillium

And a photo taken at a smaller f/stop. The effects of diffraction apply to all optics and limit their functional f/stop range over DOF. The EX-2 is a small sensor compact and behaves accordingly. I don't start worrying about diffraction with the EX-2 until I get past f/5.6.

ISO 80 f/5.1

swings

You originally noted shooting in manual when you began this thread. I rarely do. You'll find the camera functions very well in P and A, S modes and it's a joy to use.

You'll improve rapidly if you keep after the raw file processing and eventually reach the point where you'll find it's the fastest and easiest way to achieve an excellent result -- the EX-2 will back you up. If you have SilkyPix and want to start there that's fine. No need to be distracted otherwise, it's good software, it's free with the camera, and it get's the job done.