Saturation question

[lkohawaii]

I have a Canon digital Rebel that I've been fighting with for the last year and a half. Had a film Rebel and loved it. I hate this digital rebel...but have seen the point and shoots and dislike those even more. So I am determined to learn how to use this camera. I must say it is getting better.
Getting ready to go to WDW in about a month and a half. Some of my pictures were coming out with a very red skin tone...figured that one out in my parameters I had the color tone all the way to - duh was supposed to turn it to + for more yellow tones. Will check out how my pics come out now. O.K. so there's also a saturation setting in there. Can someone explain to me about saturation?

Also having problem with a mean shadow on the walls when I use the flash. Bought a flash and still the problem exists. I don't think this has to do with the parmeter settings...I erased the pic that had the shadow so I'll have to post that later for help.

Thanks for your help. I wish I had found this board before I went on my Disney cruise last summer.

Someone explain to me what this "Kelly" lens is? Will it make a huge difference in my pics. It just kills me to spend money on this camera that I hate but I know that maybe the right equipment will make a world of difference. I just want pics like I used to get with my film Rebel. All I did with that camera was leave it on green and push the button.

 

[Charade]

It's unusal that you're seeing over saturated (bright bold colors) on a Canon. Especially in the skin tones. They're known for accurate colors. I would recommend putting all your settings back to "0". If the pictures still don't look right to you on your PC, try viewing them on another. What you may be seeing is your monitor is misadjusted.

About the flash...

Are you getting harsh shadows with an external (shoe mounted) flash? You probably will but they should be less harsh than the built in one. If the flash you bought has a bounce (or swivel) head, try bouncing the flash off the ceiling. That will really knock down the harsh shadows.

 

[donaldduck1967]

The "Kelly Lens" is the sigma 18-125. I don't know if you will get better pics or not as I don't own the Rebel

 

[Kelly Grannell]

If you want the most neutral colour: set everything in the parameter to 0

The Kelly: it's not a quality lens per-se, it's more of a versatile lens 18-125 so you are less likely need to change lenses while you're travelling. But the lens is good enough that I even use it for my pro applications.

Have you calibrated your monitor? Maybe the off colour is a result of whacked out monitor. Rule of thumb: Set monitor to 6500K colour temp, don't boost the colour, have contrast about 75%, brightness at 50%. Then go to dpreview.com and open one of the camera reviews, they have a black bar with greyscale. Make sure you can see the entire bar from totally black to totally white. Adjust brightness and contrast accordingly to achieve that.

The shadow: as long as you have the flash NOT at the top of the lens, you'll have shadows on the side of the subject. This is not the camera's fault, this is physics of light.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

oh, and visit the the second link to learn photography basics. It's still in-progress of me writing the whole thing but the basics are already there.

 

[jann1033]

i can relate...i thought the xt would be a breeze since it looks pretty much the same( dials at least ) to the film..the jokes on me however it's getting better


one thing is if you can get the parameter to 0 again could you tell me how...i keep trying what they say in the book about setting it with no success ( so down to 2 working and 1 totally flubbed up parameter)

i would get the best lens you could afford. i was trying to muddle through with my sigma film rechipped kit lens and another not so great zoom..they worked fine on my film but stunk on my xt...i got the canon 28-135 IS( shaky hands) the kit canon (18-55mm, just figured for wider angles and maybe get something better when i have more $$) and a 50mm f1.8...while i stil have at least 50% stinko shots i have gotten a few i like with the better lenses. imo the lens makes a world of difference to my enjoyment/frustration factor
2 with the 28-135 i actually like ( btw i have two whole folders named" crap crappy" in my zoombrowser....unfortuantly they are the 2 biggest folders..someday that might not be the case )

 

[lkohawaii]

Thanks everybody. When I come home I'll try calibrating my monitor..although I don't think that's it because when I send the photos to costco for processing with no edits some still come out too red. But, you know I'm new to all this digital so I may be wrong. I'll go back and set everything to 0 too and see what happens. Thanks and Kelly I read your lessons and are anxiously awaiting more.
I read somewhere too where you said it's the photographer not the camera that's taking crappy pics..and you're right. I'm just trying to figure this camera out. Anyone know of a good book for the Canon Rebel. The instruction manual is way to vague.

 

[lkohawaii]

jann1033 if you have a Canon Rebel I can tell you how to get your number back to 0 under parameters. If not sorry can't help. I also saw while playing around how you can reset all camera settings..which I think I will do.

 

[Anewman]

Saturation affects the color intensity, but not color tone.

In your pictures, how do the white areas look?

 

[ndelaware]

VERY NICE pictures Jann!!!

 

[jann1033]

jann1033 if you have a Canon Rebel I can tell you how to get your number back to 0 under parameters. If not sorry can't help. I also saw while playing around how you can reset all camera settings..which I think I will do.

hooray! i do so if you can pm me or I'll check back here

 

[jann1033]

VERY NICE pictures Jann!!!

shocking isn't it ? ( thanks really)

 

[lkohawaii]

O.K. Kelly please explain how to calibrate my monitor. I thought you went to control panels and changed settings. Can't seem to do it there. I'm running windows XP if that makes a difference.

 

[lkohawaii]

hooray! i do so if you can pm me or I'll check back here

I PM'd you but if anybody else needs to know how to get your parameters back to 0 I'll be glad to post it. Didn't want to confuse anyone on here.

 

[Anewman]

O.K. Kelly please explain how to calibrate my monitor. I thought you went to control panels and changed settings. Can't seem to do it there. I'm running windows XP if that makes a difference.

This image should gradually go from black to white(and inverse), it should also be very nuetral in color(not pinkish or bluish).
let us know how it looks.

 

[jann1033]

so is newman's grey bands look grey it's ok right? i have a dell/xp and don't see anywhere I can change anything beyond the resolution and how many colors but the bands look grey so mine must be ok

 

[Kelly Grannell]

you don't change it through your PC, any setting must be done on the monitor itself through the monitor's user's menu.

Unless you buy Spyder or Huey calibration system.

 

[Anewman]

you don't change it through your PC, any setting must be done on the monitor itself through the monitor's user's menu.

Unless you buy Spyder or Huey calibration system.

When you install Adobe CS2 it also installs a program called "Adobe Gamma" that allows you make adjustments. It has little wizards that help go through the process, doing it manually give more control.

Also depending on you PC/Video card you can also make adjustments there. This is from a laptop...

You should really start with the monitor in standard state and make further adjustments in software, it will give you the most dynamic range that way.

 

[jann1033]

hmm thanks i found that an did adjust it some...i'llsee how different my pictures look

 

[Kelly Grannell]

You should really start with the monitor in standard state and make further adjustments in software, it will give you the most dynamic range that way.

Yup. Start with monitor first. No amount of software can fix your monitor problem if the problem stems in your monitor.