victorc Posted April 10, 2009 Share #1 Posted April 10, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Hi, I just recently purchased a Leica D-Lux 4. I took several test photos in jpg format, all of which looked perfectly exposed on the LCD, but after importing them to my Mac and my PC, the photos' contrast increased significantly to the point that dark details were lost. Is there something wrong with the camera or do I need to use a certain software? I've attached one of my photos below so you see the contrast issue. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks, Victor Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/81833-problem-with-leica-d-lux-4-jpg/?do=findComment&comment=867820'>More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 10, 2009 Posted April 10, 2009 Hi victorc, Take a look here Problem with Leica D-Lux 4 jpg . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
farnz Posted April 10, 2009 Share #2 Posted April 10, 2009 Victor, welcome to the forum! First off, I don't think there's anything wrong with your camera. It looks to me like a simple case of 'black cat in the snow syndrome' where the brightness of foreground and background are very different. It seems that the camera has (rightly) exposed for the bright dog and the dark background has consequently underexposed. If the pictures looked okay on your LCD then you might have its brightness turned up, which will make the background look brighter on screen. To minimise this exposure effect in the future you could check what metering pattern you have the camera set to; at the moment it looks like you're using either spot or centre-weighted but you're likely to have a more evenly exposed scene with matrix metering. Or you could brighten the background using a flash, or you could continue to expose for the highlight (as many people do) and fix the background in post processing. I hope you don't mind but I've adjusted your photo using Highlights and Shadows in PS CS3 to show that the background detail's still there and that the exposure's easy to rectify in this shot. (Unfortunately the amount of jpeg compression in the low data shot you posted has revealed an few jaggies but they're easily avoided by easing back on compression.) [ATTACH]135587[/ATTACH] Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shootist Posted April 10, 2009 Share #3 Posted April 10, 2009 Turn the cameras LCD screen brightness down. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted April 10, 2009 Share #4 Posted April 10, 2009 Theres a bit of info in the darks, more than is left in the whites but I dont knwo where in your workflow stuff is being lost. Interesting point though if you are being fooled into allowing the program mode to dictate because the LCD display looks good. Actually I think the LCD at the time of preview will light the scene til you can see it clearly and for focusing purposes, but the images in review should be as you see them on the computer when you upload. This isnt a serious attempt by any means, one pen tap and a slide to change curves, 1/2 second? All I am saying is the info is there. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/81833-problem-with-leica-d-lux-4-jpg/?do=findComment&comment=868105'>More sharing options...
rob_x2004 Posted April 10, 2009 Share #5 Posted April 10, 2009 30th f/2 at 320 must have been fairly bright? It says metered pattern, I could understand if it was spot or centre. Maybe some smart people can comment. I'm too dense or lazy to try figure it. Meter off the palm of your hand and show us what happens. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Ps ... Oh, the best I could come up with is the camera tried to give you exposure on 18%grey background but then things went haywire once the centre started burning out it said enough enough and went home early leaving you underexposed .... or theres some reason the camera is buggered up and isnt exposing and delivering jpg, which I kind of doubt. Maybe its worth toggling through all your jpg settings, contrast, sharpening, saturation, those sorts of things and see whats what in there, and if anything could be contributing. Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Ps ... Oh, the best I could come up with is the camera tried to give you exposure on 18%grey background but then things went haywire once the centre started burning out it said enough enough and went home early leaving you underexposed .... or theres some reason the camera is buggered up and isnt exposing and delivering jpg, which I kind of doubt. Maybe its worth toggling through all your jpg settings, contrast, sharpening, saturation, those sorts of things and see whats what in there, and if anything could be contributing. ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/81833-problem-with-leica-d-lux-4-jpg/?do=findComment&comment=868114'>More sharing options...
victorc Posted April 10, 2009 Author Share #6 Posted April 10, 2009 Thanks for everyone's suggestions! These are the settings for the test photo: "Pet" Scene, f/2, 1/30th, monitor ="0", exposure ="0", metering = multiple. I also took a variety of different scenes with "Snapshot" mode and "Program" mode, but all came out with the same effect: the shadows were significantly darker on the Mac/PC than on the camera's LCD. The subjects in all my photos were brightly lit and the photos were perfectly exposed while taking the shot and during playback. I even changed the LCD monitor down to "-3", but it was still very different. It may be that I'm a terrible photographer, but I would expect that auto mode would be able to produce decently exposed photos without me having to make manual adjustments or make edits in photo software. (my previous digital cameras didn't have this problem) I've attached a few more test shots. You'll see that the shadows have lost detail (unless I edit this problem with software) and the colors have lost their vividness. In the photo with the woman - the apron and hair... very dark. The headphones..can't see detail and image looks dull. In the other dog photo, the room was bright, but the photo looks dull. I also took a photo with my camera phone of the d-lux4's screen as a comparison to the original test shot. thanks, victor Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/81833-problem-with-leica-d-lux-4-jpg/?do=findComment&comment=868289'>More sharing options...
herrfox Posted April 11, 2009 Share #7 Posted April 11, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Victorc, here: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/leica-forum/digital-forum/74219-d-lux-4-underexposure-problem.html i speak about a problem also,so i reduced the luminosity of the display to -3 or -2! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 11, 2009 Share #8 Posted April 11, 2009 Never mind the display, that will always be incorrect anyway. What did the Histogram say? That is where you judge your exposure. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken_tanaka Posted April 12, 2009 Share #9 Posted April 12, 2009 Hello Victor; To me it appears that your use of a "scene" mode and/or a "film" mode is the culprit. (The lcd has no relationship to the camera's exposure.) If you've not yet solved this mystery I suggest that you reset all of the camera's setting (via the menu). You may be using a "Film Mode" with high contrast such as "Dynamic" which really overcooks image contrast. I also suggest you skip the "Scene" modes, which try to black-box your exposure settings. I've only had a D-Lux 4 for less than a week but I've found it does best when you just set the camera to P mode, or A mode if you feel you much tweak aperture. The raw files from the D-Lux 4 are nothing special but I'm finding that the JPGs are actually some the best I've seen from any p&s class camera. (And I've seen alot.) That Rob was able to recover so much detail from your image is a good example. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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