Setting Picture properties in D2.

[seaton carew]

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Hi all D2 users.

Have any of you ever felt the need to make adjustments or use the option to make internal adjustments or maybe just as a pure experiment to contrast-sharpness-colour saturation.

I'm enquiring as a new user to the wonderful Leica Digilux 2.

 

Sc.

[daveleo]

i highly recommend that you play with all the variables (well, at least a few) and see what happens and see if you personally like the effects . . . or at least that you understand what the effects are.

 

there is also a photo forum somewhere up above so you can post some of your stuff for comments.

 

BTW . . . welcome

[John Thawley]

Hi all D2 users.

Have any of you ever felt the need to make adjustments or use the option to make internal adjustments or maybe just as a pure experiment to contrast-sharpness-colour saturation.

I'm enquiring as a new user to the wonderful Leica Digilux 2.

 

Sc.

 

I come down on the opposite side of the coin as Dave.

 

I'd rather know the baseline of my images as a default. I'm going to process the image anyway.... so I'd rather not be dealing with something I can't undo. Much more control in post processing.

 

But, experimenting is a personal thing..... so, to each is own.

 

JT

[jaapv]

I fully agree, John, but that implies shooting RAW. And the Digilux2 is one of the very few cameras that is basically best in Jpg.

[Digitom]

The JPGs are excellent. Many postings show that there is no need for RAW with Digilux 2. I also recommend to adust the picture settings. I use Kontrast LOW, Sharpness STD and for color saturation also STD. Just try it out, you will have better results when adjusting these 3 parameters. When you want RAW for your fotos, then just choose STD for all parameters because you will expose your pic in a postprocessing way (which is -IMHO- not really needed).

[jrethorst]

I'd rather know the baseline of my images as a default.

 

What settings do you use for contrast, sharpness and saturation? Do you leave white balance at auto or set it? If you set it, is it to one of the camera's settings, or do you set it with a card/manually? Thanks.

[John Thawley]

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What settings do you use for contrast, sharpness and saturation? Do you leave white balance at auto or set it? If you set it, is it to one of the camera's settings, or do you set it with a card/manually? Thanks.

 

I leave everything at factory settings. And, I don't shoot RAW.... unless I know I'm going to have some issues in low light.

 

Often I will adjust white balance to suit... but I feel that's a normal setting... not necessarily and "in camera adjustment."

 

JT

[daveleo]

FWIW . . . my D2 is set to iso100, jpg format, nominal factory values for contrast, etc . . . and B&W .

 

it's a rare event that moves me away from this and 90% of the time it's simply a switch to color (like a vacation !).

 

however, i use the D2 for personal, non-pro shooting , so i can walk away from opportunites that the pro's must deal with and capture.

[John Thawley]

FWIW . . . my D2 is set to iso100, jpg format, nominal factory values for contrast, etc . . . and B&W .

 

it's a rare event that moves me away from this and 90% of the time it's simply a switch to color (like a vacation !).

 

however, i use the D2 for personal, non-pro shooting , so i can walk away from opportunites that the pro's must deal with and capture.

 

I'm pretty much on the same page with you here. It is the camera I want to shoot with and enjoy myself.

 

Professionally, though, I never take the D2 track side, but I will use it during practice in the pits and around the paddock.

 

JT

[seaton carew]

Thanks guys.

I have only shot Jpg's with my D2 and wonder why most of you don't shoot raw? is raw that bad?

With my DP2 only shoot Raw.

 

Sc.

[nigelb]

It's probably not that RAWs are bad, more like the JPGs are so good, and that 5-6 sec wait for each RAW to write due to the tiny buffer.

 

I use my D2 on standard factory settings and have found no reason to change that, I find the colour rendition to be better and more natural than any other camera I have experienced. Though I often change into B&W. The beauty of the D2 is that I then don't have to bother with delving into menus, just concentrate on aperture, shutter and composition. Makes you think about your photography in a different way. Also as I apply minimal post processing, I don't need the 'flexibility' of RAW processing. For me its the ideal documentary camera, you're free to concentrate on the image itself rather than any other issues.

 

Nigel

[John Thawley]

It's probably not that RAWs are bad, more like the JPGs are so good, and that 5-6 sec wait for each RAW to write due to the tiny buffer.

 

I use my D2 on standard factory settings and have found no reason to change that, I find the colour rendition to be better and more natural than any other camera I have experienced. Though I often change into B&W. The beauty of the D2 is that I then don't have to bother with delving into menus, just concentrate on aperture, shutter and composition. Makes you think about your photography in a different way. Also as I apply minimal post processing, I don't need the 'flexibility' of RAW processing. For me its the ideal documentary camera, you're free to concentrate on the image itself rather than any other issues.

 

Nigel

 

That's it in a nutshell; " ... just concentrate on aperture, shutter and composition. Makes you think about your photography in a different way."

 

JT

[seaton carew]

Nigel.

 

The DP2 has over 6 second delay writing to card that never bothers me and the D2 still takes around 4sc for a Jpg to load even using a fast card.

Will take few in Raw and compare against Jpg.

 

Sc.

[AlbertoDeRoma]

I leave everything at factory settings. And, I don't shoot RAW.... unless I know I'm going to have some issues in low light.

 

Often I will adjust white balance to suit... but I feel that's a normal setting... not necessarily and "in camera adjustment."

 

JT

 

I second JT's suggestion to leave everything at factory settings. For a while, I was playing around with this setting and that setting, with the not surprising outcome that I was not getting consistent results. One has to get to 'know' a camera to get the most out of it and that requires some stability and repeatability from pic to pic.

 

I believe that any of the tweaks in the settings can be done better and less destructively in post processing.

 

Alberto

[nigelb]

Nigel.

 

The DP2 has over 6 second delay writing to card that never bothers me and the D2 still takes around 4sc for a Jpg to load even using a fast card.

Will take few in Raw and compare against Jpg.

 

Sc.

 

Well mine takes about 1.5 secs for a JPG and 6 secs for a RAW, just tried it with a Sandisc Ultra II 2G card. Surprised the DP2 is as slow as the D2 in RAW, I would probably miss a small percentage of shots using RAW on my D2.

 

Nigel

[Jon Schick]

Hi all D2 users.

Have any of you ever felt the need to make adjustments or use the option to make internal adjustments or maybe just as a pure experiment to contrast-sharpness-colour saturation.

I'm enquiring as a new user to the wonderful Leica Digilux 2.

 

Sc.

 

I have an LC1 so can't comment on JPEG settings as they may vary from the Leica (I turn contrast, sharpness and saturation down a notch on the LC1, unless I shoot B&W JPEGs, in which case the contrast goes back up).

 

I agree with others that at ISO100 there is really no point shooting RAW with these cameras. And ISO200 is OK too. At ISO400, I would always choose RAW and can pull out more detail than the JPEGs that way. See the separate thread on this forum about D2 and high ISO to see what can be done.

 

I also agree with John Thawley that it's worth getting the white balance right - either by choosing the correct preset or doing it manually with a card. It can make quite a difference (auto white balance is one area where I don't think these cameras excel).

[LKeithR]

Have to agree that the D2 jpegs right out of the camera are about as good as it gets, especaially B&W shot at ISO 100. Far better than most other cameras I've used. With my K20D and K10D I usually shoot RAW+ and process the RAW files but most D2 images can be used right out of the camera. Yes, I do sometimes PP the jpegs but only when I'm trying for a "special" look...