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Had the camera a week - still not happy with my results

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When I first got my 10D, I was a tad disappointed. Part of me was hoping I wuold get better shots just by having an SLR. But truth be told, I have some shots I cherish that I took with my G3 and S400 and other P&S cams. But what I did figure out was the amzing amount of control, technical depth, and joy I would get from it.

A camera cannot substitute for the correct approach and capture of each shot. It can help, but you need to mature your skills first. I still haven't matured. But I realize that when I do, it won't matter as much which camera I have. That is why I went for the D70, to save some money and get a decent wide angle option with good range. Now my kit is a few pounds lighter and I can get the same level of quality. Maybe some think the absolute quality is not there, like moire and a little noise with ISO 200, but the content, technical excellence of exposure, and composition is there, my D70 will run along with the 10D any day.

At this point, my equipment is still better than I am. Stick with it, and I assure you that you will capture more and more shots that you are satisfied with.

--
-Jack
==================
Weblog: http://jacksarse.com
CTF Challenge Vote Booth: http://www.liteserv.com/ctfvotebooth
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Gear: see Profile
 
blulegend said:
When I first got my 10D, I was a tad disappointed. Part of me was
hoping I wuold get better shots just by having an SLR. But truth
be told, I have some shots I cherish that I took with my G3 and
S400 and other P&S cams. But what I did figure out was the amzing
amount of control, technical depth, and joy I would get from it.

A camera cannot substitute for the correct approach and capture of
each shot. It can help, but you need to mature your skills first.
I still haven't matured. But I realize that when I do, it won't
matter as much which camera I have. That is why I went for the
D70, to save some money and get a decent wide angle option with
good range. Now my kit is a few pounds lighter and I can get the
same level of quality. Maybe some think the absolute quality is
not there, like moire and a little noise with ISO 200, but the
content, technical excellence of exposure, and composition is
there, my D70 will run along with the 10D any day.

At this point, my equipment is still better than I am. Stick with
it, and I assure you that you will capture more and more shots that
you are satisfied with.

--
-Jack
==================
Weblog: http://jacksarse.com
CTF Challenge Vote Booth: http://www.liteserv.com/ctfvotebooth
GALLERY: http://lens.liteserv.com
Gear: see Profile
Click to expand...
 
hambern said:
I've noticed the same thing. The D70 takes great pictures. No doubt
about that. It's a really good camera. But that final boost, that
part where you go "wow" is not there. It often looks pretty flat
and dull, but great quality if you know what I mean.

Sometimes you see pictures that are better than others and I'm
starting to think that it depends very much in the lens. The kit
lens seems ok, but not more. It's an ok lens that gives a pretty
flat and dull image. It lacks that wow-effect from what I've seen
so far.
Click to expand...
I don't think it has anything to do with the camera. If you got a D2H I doubt it would change much. To get the best pictures postprocessing is essentially. You don't get many wow-pictures strait out of the camera.

Kay
 
Can someone tells me how to change the curve to white wedding? Is this function on the manual?
Ed
hambern said:
Sometimes you see pictures that are better than others and I'm
starting to think that it depends very much in the lens. The kit
lens seems ok, but not more. It's an ok lens that gives a pretty
flat and dull image. It lacks that wow-effect from what I've seen
so far.

But do this... Try to enhance the saturation and the contrast and
change the curve in the camera to, let's say, white wedding or
something. I think that might help a bit.

Good Luck
Tarkan said:
Hi people,

I've been playing with the camera for a week now - Camera is and
has been amazing me.

But I just not getting that punch out of my pictures, They just
seem a bit too lifeless - maybe the focusing is not sharp enough or
the composition is not very good. I'm not sure if my subject matter
is not helping or if I am missing a trick.

All the images where taken in default program mode, settings
saturation and sharpening set to normal, Tone set to normal.

I adjusted WB and Curves in NC and cropped and resized in Photoshop
CS. All taken with the kit lens.

Thanks for any input.

Tarkan

















This was taken using the portrait mode and I think it came out
quite good.



This was Landscape mode and this is very good as well.



--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
Click to expand...
--
'The essence of all slavery consists in taking the product of
another's labor by force. It is immaterial whether this force be
founded upon ownership of the slave or ownership of the money that
he must get to live.' - Leo Tolstoy
Click to expand...
 
How do you change to custom curve white wedding?
Ed
John Tangney said:
AWB -2
Color IIIa
Custom Curve: White Wedding
Sharpness +1
Saturation +

Take a look at http://www.pbase.com/jctangney/desert_flowers_2004 ,
you will see plenty of punch! In fact, I will probably end up
backing off these slightly when I get time to do a little more
experimenting. But if you try these, you will see the kind of
'punch' this camera can deliver. Also, the shots on the gallery
were shot in JPEG/Fine, with nothing done in PS except resizing!
Tarkan said:
Hi people,

I've been playing with the camera for a week now - Camera is and
has been amazing me.

But I just not getting that punch out of my pictures, They just
seem a bit too lifeless - maybe the focusing is not sharp enough or
the composition is not very good. I'm not sure if my subject matter
is not helping or if I am missing a trick.

All the images where taken in default program mode, settings
saturation and sharpening set to normal, Tone set to normal.

I adjusted WB and Curves in NC and cropped and resized in Photoshop
CS. All taken with the kit lens.

Thanks for any input.

Tarkan

















This was taken using the portrait mode and I think it came out
quite good.



This was Landscape mode and this is very good as well.



--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
Click to expand...
--
Click to expand...
 
I am expecting my camera this morning and i am prety excited. I wish I can take photo's like yours in the first instance.
I am waiting by the door.
hambern said:
Sometimes you see pictures that are better than others and I'm
starting to think that it depends very much in the lens. The kit
lens seems ok, but not more. It's an ok lens that gives a pretty
flat and dull image. It lacks that wow-effect from what I've seen
so far.

But do this... Try to enhance the saturation and the contrast and
change the curve in the camera to, let's say, white wedding or
something. I think that might help a bit.

Good Luck
Tarkan said:
Hi people,

I've been playing with the camera for a week now - Camera is and
has been amazing me.

But I just not getting that punch out of my pictures, They just
seem a bit too lifeless - maybe the focusing is not sharp enough or
the composition is not very good. I'm not sure if my subject matter
is not helping or if I am missing a trick.

All the images where taken in default program mode, settings
saturation and sharpening set to normal, Tone set to normal.

I adjusted WB and Curves in NC and cropped and resized in Photoshop
CS. All taken with the kit lens.

Thanks for any input.

Tarkan

















This was taken using the portrait mode and I think it came out
quite good.



This was Landscape mode and this is very good as well.



--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
Click to expand...
--
'The essence of all slavery consists in taking the product of
another's labor by force. It is immaterial whether this force be
founded upon ownership of the slave or ownership of the money that
he must get to live.' - Leo Tolstoy
Click to expand...
--
Ufuoma Okoro
Pbase Supporter
http://www.pbase.com/ufookoro
CP5000, D70
 
I think your pictures look good! Most of them are taken in the shade, and that's what shade looks like in my book! You can probably get some better results in shade by adjusting the WB, and maybe add some punch by choosing the vivid setting and/or using custom curves etc etc.

BUT the most important thing here is to learn how to read the light! Taking pics in that hard lighting that occurs between light and shade is tough. Working on composition, and learning to 'see' the light the way your CCD/film sees it, is much more important than any settings, IMO.

If you look at the pics posted here on the forum, you'll see a lot of pics with punch in them without extra settings and without beefing in PS. That's because the light was right. Your camera only records what you point it at, so you need to point it at the right stuff. I think your pictures look good, your composition is there, but you've read the light wrong, IMO.

Of course, the pictures can be greatly enhanced in PS, but you have to have a good result to start with. PS doesn't make good photos, photographers do!

The best way to learn is taking lots of pictures - and to get a book on basic photography!!! Get a book, you'll thank yourself later :-)

Thomas.
Tarkan said:
Hi people,

I've been playing with the camera for a week now - Camera is and
has been amazing me.

But I just not getting that punch out of my pictures, They just
seem a bit too lifeless - maybe the focusing is not sharp enough or
the composition is not very good. I'm not sure if my subject matter
is not helping or if I am missing a trick.

All the images where taken in default program mode, settings
saturation and sharpening set to normal, Tone set to normal.

I adjusted WB and Curves in NC and cropped and resized in Photoshop
CS. All taken with the kit lens.

Thanks for any input.

Tarkan

















This was taken using the portrait mode and I think it came out
quite good.



This was Landscape mode and this is very good as well.



--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
Click to expand...
 
I'm not blaming the camera. The camera has exceeded my expectations in every aspect.

Tarkan
[U] Kay said:
hambern said:
I've noticed the same thing. The D70 takes great pictures. No doubt
about that. It's a really good camera. But that final boost, that
part where you go "wow" is not there. It often looks pretty flat
and dull, but great quality if you know what I mean.

Sometimes you see pictures that are better than others and I'm
starting to think that it depends very much in the lens. The kit
lens seems ok, but not more. It's an ok lens that gives a pretty
flat and dull image. It lacks that wow-effect from what I've seen
so far.
Click to expand...
I don't think it has anything to do with the camera. If you got a
D2H I doubt it would change much. To get the best pictures
postprocessing is essentially. You don't get many wow-pictures
strait out of the camera.

Kay
Click to expand...
--
To be Nikon D70 Owner[/U]
 
Thanks Roland,

What you said does make a lot of sense looking at the pictures now -

The leaf picture the lense was wide open (f4.5) I was suprised at the 'bokeh' as well.

the cat picture seems to be too cool so maybe a WB issue.

the sunset was just a test picture, mainly to see what kind of result the camera gave with them whispey colours.

regards,
Tarkan
Roland Wooster said:
I'll give you my input for what it's worth - see comments under
each picture. This is just my opinion, hope it's not too harsh, but
hopefully more vaulable to you than the "your pictures are great"
typical response.

Fundamentally the problem I see is you've shot a lot of them into
the sun and thus lost much of your chance for having bright colors.
If you shot with the sun behind you I think you'd get dramatically
different result, not that that's a solution to everything I think
in many of these cases you'd have been much happier with the sun
behind you.

Roland.
Tarkan said:
Hi people,

I've been playing with the camera for a week now - Camera is and
has been amazing me.

But I just not getting that punch out of my pictures, They just
seem a bit too lifeless - maybe the focusing is not sharp enough or
the composition is not very good. I'm not sure if my subject matter
is not helping or if I am missing a trick.

All the images where taken in default program mode, settings
saturation and sharpening set to normal, Tone set to normal.

I adjusted WB and Curves in NC and cropped and resized in Photoshop
CS. All taken with the kit lens.

Thanks for any input.

Tarkan

Click to expand...
I don't like the leaf picture, it's boring, and the bokeh is
particularly ugly, for what you were trying to do you probably
wanted the lens wide open, if it was already wide open, then well
it's a feature of the lens that I don't like.
Roland Wooster said:
Click to expand...
The tree on the right would be mildly interesting on it's own,
especially with some nice natural sunset or sunrise lighting on it,
the duck however is too small for my liking, and the water to the
right of the tree on the right has basically burned out so looks
wierd.
Roland Wooster said:
Click to expand...
The composition resulting in the tree on the left is distracting
and disturbing to me.
Roland Wooster said:
Click to expand...
This is probably my favourite, but what's that bright red thing in
the picture, looks like flare (I think that's the right term)
perhaps you needed the lens hood on.
Roland Wooster said:
Click to expand...
A bit dark and as a result boring, this one could probably be
adjusted in photoshop and be made quite nice.
Roland Wooster said:
Click to expand...
Why didn't you crop closer, and then boost the saturation if needed?
Roland Wooster said:
Click to expand...
The ducks are lost in the glare coming off the water, also your
colors look drab as a result of all the glare on the water.
Roland Wooster said:
Click to expand...
This is much better because the sun is to the side of you rather
than in your face. Although you should get closer and crop tighter.
Roland Wooster said:
This was taken using the portrait mode and I think it came out
quite good.

Click to expand...
Suprisingly dull colors, I can't put my finger on this one, perhaps
it's underexposed? Also, and this is just my preference, I would
have either gone with a deeper depth of field to get the entire cat
in focus, or shallower to get just the face.
Roland Wooster said:
This was Landscape mode and this is very good as well.

Click to expand...
I really dislike this one, I can't stand pictures with electrical
wires going across them, and the buildings aren't anything special
either.
Roland Wooster said:
--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
 
Hi Tarkan,

I don't think your pics are too bad. I think one big thing (which has already been mentioned) about getting that WOW factor is by finding the best light to take the photograph.

Some of your photographs have both extremes (eg: very bright background - sun shining on water, and dull foreground - ducks in the shade), which would be quite a challenge to get a nice exposure on.

In situations like this, I find the easiest thing to do is walk around and find the best place to stand where there are not extremes of light that will upset the camera too much.

I've spent hours wandering around wanting to take a photo of something but not being able to find good light. Eventually once I know more about metering, etc. I'll be able to maybe take photos under these conditions but until then I just look for places that have good light and take my photos there :)

-----------------------------------------------
http://www.pbase.com/kmaisch/
 
It is the kit lense.

Would you say then it is better to adjust for black and white then using the droppers in NC ?

Tarkan
KenEis said:
Tarkan said:
Hi people,

I've been playing with the camera for a week now - Camera is and
has been amazing me.

But I just not getting that punch out of my pictures, They just
seem a bit too lifeless - maybe the focusing is not sharp enough or
the composition is not very good. I'm not sure if my subject matter
is not helping or if I am missing a trick.

All the images where taken in default program mode, settings
saturation and sharpening set to normal, Tone set to normal.

I adjusted WB and Curves in NC and cropped and resized in Photoshop
CS. All taken with the kit lens.

Thanks for any input.

Tarkan
Click to expand...
--
Ken Eis
Click to expand...
--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
 
Can you let me know the steps you took?

Your picture is more saturated then I like, but your picture gets across the fact it was very sunny and bright - which mine does not!!!

Tarkan
gonzalu said:
Well, it may be your settings. The D70 is not meant as a point and
shoot and perhaps you need to be willing to do more "to" the camera
to get the pics you want.
I took your picture and simply touched it up a bit in Protoshop to
simulate what I would do to the camera to get closer to the result
"I" want from it. A computer will NEVER do what you want unless you
tell it how to do it :-)

I also cropped it to make a better composition which makes it stand
out more and helps isolate those features that make it have more
PUNCH. Also keep in mind those pictures you really like, the ones
you think have punch, do you notice anything lthat is common? Tight
shots, isolated subjects, etc. If you want colorful pictures, make
sure the scene is colorful to begin with. Cameras have a way to
make the reality of life so mouch more so. Unlike Film, digital
cameras usually render a more faithful scene... meaning if it
looked lifeless, it probably was lifeless. The camera can make it
look better or Photoshop can. It is up to you to tell the cameara
to do it. And, once you set the right controls, you can just keep
on shooting.

another advantage is that if does not look good on the LCD, shoot
it again! and again and again until you get what you want.

Here is yours and my crop mod of it... hope you don't mind. Cheers





--
Manny
FCAS Member
http://www.pbase.com/gonzalu/
Click to expand...
--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
 
Thanks, that looks much better.
jfrush said:
Some of it is your composition and subjects, but some pictures just
need a little post processing. The best advice I've heard here is
to shoot RAW. That way you can play with the settings using Nikon
Capture. After doing this for a while you start to learn which
settings work best for which situation and you will begin to get
more and more pictures right in camera.

Adobe Photoshop can work wonders. below is your Cat picture before
and after Photoshop. It took about 1 minute to do this. (Auto
levels and Saturation boost)



Click to expand...
--
To be Nikon D70 Owner
 
Plenty of thought provoking idea's and approaches !!

I will be out again tommorrow (if they weathers good) to try some more shoots, but I think I will be more critical of lighting and composition and hopefully achieve what I am looking for.

Thanks again.

Tarkan
 
  • McD.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Just what on earth is a 'lense'?
 
Remember, the greatest most expensive camera in the world does not guarantee great images - you still need to be a grood photographer. From Matthew Brady to Ansel Adams into today's digital age, there are still fundamental elements of photography that never change, lighting, composition and subject matter to name a few.

Of course, in today's age, the ability to post-process, just like doging and burning with film prints, ushers in whole new skills in order to create a great image. Fortunately, with good software, both on camera and in our computers, obtaining great images is perhaps even more obtainable than in the silver halide era. However, you can obtain nothing if the original capture does not follow decades old fundamentals.

Your images are good, be proud, and keep shooting.

Peruna
 
  • McD.
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Just what on earth is a 'lense'?
 
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