Matthew Bennett
09-13-2008, 10:13 AM
Since the camera is always looking to hold a JPEG party, a Wobble Party, and a Self-Exposure party, I thought I'd start a pity-party thread for all those who are finding the camera is ruining their imaging day.
I'm going to try to get all the 'mistakes' in this thread, so whenever I come across some useful advice, or see an example of a D90 gone bad, I'll copy and paste it into here, along with my own mistakes.
1. Don't bother changing the picture settings the camera gives you.
One of the first things I did, thinking I was being clever, is bump down the contrast settings on one of the pictures settings, the idea being that somehow it would give me lovely clean shadows. NO WAY!
Let the camera crush the blacks, it just works very well with the JPEG compression which wants to band/posterize out of focus areas, skies, clouds, gradations, etc.
I switched from a customized, low-con version of "NEUTRAL" to the standard setting of "LANDSCAPE', and immediately noticed the whole image was better in the end.
2. There is no limit to how much the JPEG compression wants to EAT YOU ALIVE!
It is Ravenous! Please, give the camera a visually complex, High range scene to image. It forces the D90 to adapt by upping the bitrate, which it will again lower at the first opportunity. DO NOT shoot a mellow, underexposed anything. Don't even think of retaining detail in your moody shadows...
You will also see moired brick walls, jagged fences, jagged 'anything' which is contrasty at a slight inclination.
Here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=146887
3. The Jello - always room for it!
The longer primes have more of an appetite. I'm always noticing jello on movements that I thought were quite SMOOTH when I was recording.
Probably you should prepare to really stabilize when using a 50mm or above... tripod, monopod, choose your weapon.
The RULES for a non-wobbly image by John Cabellero (copied and pasted)
Rule 1: You have to hold the camera extremely tight with your right hand and equally tight with your left, sort of pushing towards the lens while you focus. You have to squeeze it.
Rule 2: Get a foot hold and don't SHAKE the camera at all. Not even for a second.
Rule 3: Don't tip the camera even for a second. Tilting it back and forth even the slightest creates that rippled looking image from top to bottom.
Rule 3: When you pan do it firmly, not pushing the camera along suddenly. The camera needs to sort of flow with the image and stop very smoothly.
Again, while you move the camera you sort of have to feel like you are lifting the image and moving it along as if you were carrying a glass of water or jello and did not want it to ripple or shake while it glides. If you start moving the camera left and right up and down suddenly you are going to get the image you deserve for doing that.
Keep on trying this and practicing. Make it your goal to shoot handheld without wobbling. If you are not able to just get a tripod. With a nice smooth head, panning and moving up and down is a breeze.
And below is a link to the current poster boy for a "WOBBLY WORLD"
http://s477.photobucket.com/albums/rr134/jamesmel9/?action=view¤t=DSC_0012.flv
Posters, feel free to post your horror stories here, if you like, with gruesome grabs of the 9th level of JPEG hell.
It's a good idea to see how the camera 'breaks' to protect yourself from nightmares in the future, correct?
I'm going to try to get all the 'mistakes' in this thread, so whenever I come across some useful advice, or see an example of a D90 gone bad, I'll copy and paste it into here, along with my own mistakes.
1. Don't bother changing the picture settings the camera gives you.
One of the first things I did, thinking I was being clever, is bump down the contrast settings on one of the pictures settings, the idea being that somehow it would give me lovely clean shadows. NO WAY!
Let the camera crush the blacks, it just works very well with the JPEG compression which wants to band/posterize out of focus areas, skies, clouds, gradations, etc.
I switched from a customized, low-con version of "NEUTRAL" to the standard setting of "LANDSCAPE', and immediately noticed the whole image was better in the end.
2. There is no limit to how much the JPEG compression wants to EAT YOU ALIVE!
It is Ravenous! Please, give the camera a visually complex, High range scene to image. It forces the D90 to adapt by upping the bitrate, which it will again lower at the first opportunity. DO NOT shoot a mellow, underexposed anything. Don't even think of retaining detail in your moody shadows...
You will also see moired brick walls, jagged fences, jagged 'anything' which is contrasty at a slight inclination.
Here:
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=146887
3. The Jello - always room for it!
The longer primes have more of an appetite. I'm always noticing jello on movements that I thought were quite SMOOTH when I was recording.
Probably you should prepare to really stabilize when using a 50mm or above... tripod, monopod, choose your weapon.
The RULES for a non-wobbly image by John Cabellero (copied and pasted)
Rule 1: You have to hold the camera extremely tight with your right hand and equally tight with your left, sort of pushing towards the lens while you focus. You have to squeeze it.
Rule 2: Get a foot hold and don't SHAKE the camera at all. Not even for a second.
Rule 3: Don't tip the camera even for a second. Tilting it back and forth even the slightest creates that rippled looking image from top to bottom.
Rule 3: When you pan do it firmly, not pushing the camera along suddenly. The camera needs to sort of flow with the image and stop very smoothly.
Again, while you move the camera you sort of have to feel like you are lifting the image and moving it along as if you were carrying a glass of water or jello and did not want it to ripple or shake while it glides. If you start moving the camera left and right up and down suddenly you are going to get the image you deserve for doing that.
Keep on trying this and practicing. Make it your goal to shoot handheld without wobbling. If you are not able to just get a tripod. With a nice smooth head, panning and moving up and down is a breeze.
And below is a link to the current poster boy for a "WOBBLY WORLD"
http://s477.photobucket.com/albums/rr134/jamesmel9/?action=view¤t=DSC_0012.flv
Posters, feel free to post your horror stories here, if you like, with gruesome grabs of the 9th level of JPEG hell.
It's a good idea to see how the camera 'breaks' to protect yourself from nightmares in the future, correct?