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G9X - My First Impression

Started Nov 24, 2015 | Discussions thread
mikan
OP mikan Senior Member • Posts: 1,401
Re: Pretty flower

flektogon wrote:

mikan wrote:

flektogon wrote:

mikan wrote:

flektogon wrote:

Hi mikan,

I have a rather different suggestion for you, how to improve your pictures. At least, this is what I am doing exclusively after experimenting, which now I see it was just pure wasting of time. So, leave the camera at the default settings. I think that the camera manufacturers know the best what is the best setting for their products. Instead, apply some post processing to every picture, which you feel could be improved. And you can do this while shooting JPEGs. OOC (out-of-camera) JPEG pictures, if they are not completely damaged by a huge exposure deviation, can be easily mildly post-processed. I am using the ACDSee (PC) application for my picture organizing/processing. But any photo editor will do the same. My post processing consists mainly in the "Lighting" modification. Such a way I can darken the (mildly) overblown skies for example, or to lighten areas in deep shadows. Yes, the cameras like Canon S90 (I believe that your G9X as well) can make such "improvements" directly in camera. It is called the "i-contrast" in the S90 for example. But I am not using it any more, as as was not happy with the results. I prefer to make such corrections myself in the ACDSee application. On the other side my Pentax cameras make a decent work by extending the dynamic range in camera. I have no clue how this works in the G9X, so try it. But even if it works well, you might need to do further tuning of your pictures, so do not be afraid doing so. Again, you do not need to shoot RAW pictures for such mild post processing. I used the RAW shooting and frankly speaking, I was not able to get even equivalent pictures to what my cameras were delivering as JPEGs.

Peter

Thanks for your suggestion, Peter! I have a 10 year old version of PhotoShop, and when I see a picture that I think could benefit from a level adjustment, I manually adjust the right most or left most bar until I like what I see. Occasionally I adjust the color balance if it is very off, contrast, curves, and exposure, but the exposure adjustment does not produce as good results as if I adjust the exposure of the camera. I understand this might be slightly off the topic, but I was just curious, do you recommand any other quick and easy adjustments?

I mainly tune individual "light" levels. You can't get the same result by changing exposure, as everything will be lighten or darken. And playing with the "S" curve can be very tedious. Instead, I am touching only selected light levels. Such a way I can darken skies and/or lighten the dark areas in the same picture. Here you can see the result:

I am not sure whether your photo editor has such tool. If not and you are planning to buy a new photo editor, I can really recommend the ACDSee.

Peter

Thanks again, Peter! I don't think my 10 year old PhotoShop can do something like this without creating a mask. Maybe it is time for me to look into a new photo editor. I will certainly look into ACDSee. I see that there are a couple of options available. Do you just use "ACDSee Photo Editor 6"? It's only $15!! Or do you recommand the Pro version or the 19 version?

Is that ACDSee 6 a Pro version? If yes, do not hesitate to get it. I had a version (Pro) 5 and later upgraded it to the version 8. The version 5 had the same tools, at least among those which I use. Remember, once you buy it, you can always upgrade if for substantially lower cost.

The one for $15 (discounted from $60 till January 7) is NOT a pro version, but it seems to offer the tool in your screenshot:

http://www.acdsee.com/en/products/acdsee-photo-editor-6

I'll download the trial version and see how it works out. $15 sounds like a very good price!

 mikan's gear list:mikan's gear list
Sony RX100 III Sony a6300 Sony E 50mm F1.8 OSS Sony E 55-210mm F4.5-6.3 OSS Sony E 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 PZ OSS +4 more
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