Help me settle an dispute about general camera settings / image quality...

M

modemmike

Member
I'll explain after a few people have voted but here's the deal, pick the two pictures you like best... none one of these pictures had any real thought or setup time but I need to basically prove to my wife that the "Auto Mode" sucks and I'm tired of hearing "you see mine look better" when they really don't. I'm not going to tell which picture is mine or her's but I think you can tell :o

just pick the better looking pictures from these six:

Picture A:
picture.asp



Picture B:
picture.asp


Picture C:
picture.asp


Picture D:
picture.asp


Picture E:
picture.asp


Picture B:
picture.asp


We get into these debates all the time because she repeats what her aunt says which is "photographers are born not taught" which I disagree with... while you can't be taught to be artistic you can learn to use your settings better. I learn by trial and error mixed with reading and watching others so if I may take some bad pictures but I'm learning on every shot so turn of the freaking auto mode and learn the settings or hand the camera over to me... this is where we end up arguing. >:(

The last two are the ones we are most different on even though it's not much different... the subject was not important, I was just showing how using a better mixture of settings would end in a better picture but she still feels the auto mode picture was better... what says you?
 
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I was going to say I will go first, but Nathan beat me to it... Anyway, I never was good at following the rules, so I'm going to say which one out of each pair I like better. I like the way A is framed better than I like B. C is framed better than D, but I'm going to have to vote for D because the color is far superior to C. Also, I think F has better color than E.
 
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I can't pick A or B. But D & F.

You know this comparison can't really be done unless you are using the same exact camera. The P&S 1/8 sensors have their own issues, likewise the 4/3 CCD v Nikon's FX CCD v Nikon's FX CMOS v Nikon's DX CMOS v Canon's APS-C CMOS v APS-H CMOS v FF CMOS....
 
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I guess you had to be there for C & D because that is color it really was... she used a flash on D!

With E & F forget the framing and angle, the picture itself is not important but the colors are.

I'm uploading a bunch more shots from that night and few she would simply not be able to get because the auto mode would have no idea what to do... thats what really burns me up is that we can't compare shot for shot because the auto mode would simply fall on its face for some shots so I'm left comparing shots that can be taken in auto mode... you'll see what I mean later when they are done uploading. I mean she was using the flash during fireworks until I leaned to asked why... she got mad but turned of the flash then later said "oh, that does look better" but she was still in auto mode... I'd rather have 1 or 2 spectacular fireworks pictures than a whole series of dull colorless pictures not to mention she was actually shooting just the fireworks with nothing else in the frame which is when I explained "with nothing else in the frame it's just a picture of fireworks and who wants that?". I heard once while learning how to do video editing that if its boring to video tape it's twice as boring to watch so I believe that taking pictures of fireworks is only useful if there is a landmark in the shot! Then she was going "oh, that looks nice" pointing to a shot of the castle with fireworks around it which I explained would not look the same on the computer because that tiny little screen does not give you a very good example of the picture, later when I download it she said it was out of focus, I explained the focus was fine but the camera moved and you can't see that sort detail on that little screen!
 
BTW, these were all taken on the same camera (Nikon D50), just two different people behind the eye piece... she is wonderful in well lit shots... I think, she thinks, that makes her a better photographer and my opinion, night shots show the real talent or understanding of a camera.
 
Since the question was about settings I'm not going to consider framing, etc....

Pic A - Seems like it has better exposure of the darker areas....white globes either side of "Tomorrowland"

Pic D - Hard to chosing on this one. I like the idea of C...no flash, but it's overexposed and there's too much TTA (distracting)

Pic E - No flash!!
 
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Okay and a few other things:

C has some banding and JPEG artifacting

Wait, other than D, they all do, which is probably why I didn't really comment on A and B.
 
Post a picture of your wife and I will tell you who takes better pictures :)

I do agree that a lot of photographers either have the "eye" or don't (though practice certainly can improve your sense of composition). My 7 year old takes better pictures than my wife, father or sisters - he just instinctively knows how to perfectly frame a shot. I'm really very impressed with him. He's also very helpful because I think the only family photos I am actually in (all 5 of them) were taken by him ! I can't wait to see what he does when he gets old enough to start learning a SLR.
 
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rlongenbach, my server is compressing them on the fly... maybe direct links to the original file would help?

I'll go back create links directly to each file so that my system doesn't compress them...
 
Each picture now has a link at the top of each... click on the letter assignment for the full size original...
 
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three things...
#1
in my opinion, creativity and vision are things that are born with the photographer... you either "see" the shot or you don't. the actual technical details (f/stop, shutter, ISO) are learned. it's a double edged sword. all the technical knowledge in the world can't help you if you can't "see" the shot within the shot.

#2
AUTO mode is guaranteed to give you crap more often that not. the key to being a skilled photographer is YOU telling the camera what to do, and not having it tell YOU what to do. when a camera is set on AUTO it "decides" what it thinks you are trying to do. ISO, f/stop, shutter are all set from shot to shot... impossible to get a consistent series that way.

i agree with you, mike, that AUTO is a horrible mode and i wish they would banish it from the $3000+ d/slr camera bodies. i have seen folks in the parks with top of the line canon bodies, shooting on the infamous green box with cheap lenses and it makes me cringe. if i was to spend $5000+ on a camera body, they would be no way in you know where that i would be using AUTO. BTW.... i consider "P" to be an more advanced AUTO, so that one's no good either.

i do all of my shooting in "Av", "Tv", or "M". PERIOD.

#3
A vs. B = my vote goes for A. B looks out of focus.
C vs. D = I like the composition and color of D more than C. the TTA is too strong in the background of C (distracting)
E vs. F = no opinion. composition does nothing for me but it wasn't supposed to, according to the OP. E is avail. light, F uses flash.
 
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AUBandPilot, I agree with you 100%... had I been more intent on actually using the photo for something I would have taken more variations of it but at the time I was simply showing my wife the difference between the flash on and off... my histogram was showing the over exposed area and I could have reframed it or adjusted the shutter... either way, having a more vivid colorful shot in my opinion is much better than having the flash on!

Now I wish I had gone back for better angle of this:
picture.asp

The angle isn't horrible but I would have liked to had more of the COP sign in the shot... the stupid "X marks the spot" ball got hot...
 
So then Tim, using available light makes for a better picture is what I'm driving at... turning on the flash washes out the color in my opinion... I like the vivid realistic colors but she'd rather turn on the flash and end up with what I call a gray scale picture!

Those X Marks the spot balls are like beacons of "don't photograph" this LOL.
 
"Tim" said:
i agree with you, mike, that AUTO is a horrible mode and i wish they would banish it from the $3000+ d/slr camera bodies.
Click to expand...

5D doesn't count anymore for that. And I think that was the only one over 2k that has the green box. Well because the next model up uses button + dial to switch modes.

I think Canon put it there for the times when you give your camera to someone else to take your picture with. Or the noveau-riche who want the most expensive thing out there. Probably why Best Buy was selling that camera. Along with an extended warranty, because we know that the camera's sensor will break right after the warranty expires.....
 
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Might I also add that my wife can't tell the difference between standard analog TV and HiDef... I have a 10ft HiDef 1080p projector (DLP technology to boot) and she really can't tell the difference >:( I even fire up actual 1080p movies (real high def) and still nothing, "looks the same to me!" .... oh well, I guess thats why men build home theaters and women say things like "is that supposed to smoke" or "where did those extra parts come form?" ;D
 
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