Hi Guys,
I have been through this recent digital journey and am amazed how I have changed my PP along the way

I have pretty much settled for landscape now and find I can make minor changes as needed

I'm sure Jpeg and Raw shooters would have a different choice so have made this poll a RAW one
Regards,
Gary

Poll result (95 votes) Standard/Neutral (62 votes) Vote Vivid (17 votes) Vote Monochrome (1 votes) Vote Portrait (1 votes) Vote Landscape (7 votes) Vote One of the other custom controls (7 votes) Vote

I routinely shoot with picture control set to mono. The rationale behind this is that it's pretty easy for me to evaluate the color components of a composition in the viewfinder: they are right there in front of me. However, by having the camera set to monochrome, I can much more easily evaluate the graphic components of a composition: lines, repetition, and sometimes tones. It's been "explained" to me that this is a beginner's crutch, and that a real photographer wouldn't have to do this, but I don't see why it isn't applicable to even the most advanced photographer unless they're already color blind.

I do this regardless of whether the intended output is color or B&W. I always capture the file in raw; even on the rare occasions that I have a requirement to supply an unedited JPEG, I'll shoot raw+jpeg, intending the raw file for my own use. Since I do not use Capture NX2, I am always starting from a raw file with full color information and I do conversion and other post from there. (In fact, Lightroom actually re-renders the thumbnails during preview generation, so once the files are imported, I don't see monochrome at all until I do the conversion.)

_____
Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member

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I use a slightly tweaked version of Neutral as my starting point. But I have considered switching between that and Portrait since I do lots of people shots.

I process everything with Capture NX 2.2.5 and use Photo Mechanic 4.6.5 for ingest and JPEG extraction in batches. Stuff like that.

-- Mike

Interesting results already,
Quite surprised,
Did think about going standard/neutral actually, starting to confirm my initial thoughts,
Appreciate your input, I can see this giving me a different handle on this, hope it brings something to other D700 shooters as well,
Regards,
Gary

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Am shooting in neutral because I read somewhere that it would give me a slight increase in dynamic range.

-------------------
"On no account allow a Vogon to read poetry at you." - The Hitchhikers Guide

Gary I use Standard/Neutral when I shoot RAW for two reasons. Nikon recommends Neutral when you plan to do extensive PP and often the pictures look best with a standard setting. In any case, I am free to change it after the fact because I use CNX2 to post process my RAW files.

Bob Baldassano
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"Nikonians membership - My most important photographic investment, after the
camera"

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Tks for the tip Bob,
I'm learning something here,
After reading through the replies and your point about PP from Nikon, that is something I did not know about, many tks!

In general, I'm happy with landscape and only have to do minimal PP,

A different story with BIF and wildlife, I'm finding that discipline a bit tricky, especially regarding exposure and contrast,

Will give neutral a burst next time out and see how I go,

When shooting landscape, will still use the landscape picture control, (no pun intended),

Regards,
Gary

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Am I correct that when shooting raw and post processing in Lightroom, the picture controls do not do anything? Do they only work using Nikon software for post processing (when shooting raw)?

I always use standard/neutral, but with the sharpening cranked up. I only ever shoot RAW, and since I process everything in ACR and Photoshop, I believe the only effect of the picture control settings for me is on what shows up on the back of the camera. It helps to have that a bit sharper, but since I don't use it to judge the colour rendition, etc., I don't see it as worth my time to switch from one setting to another as I change from portrait to landscape, etc.

ACR has settings to correspond to the picture control settings, and I almost always apply "portrait" to pictures with people in it - a significant improvement in my opinion. But for landscapes and nature shots, I rarely find any of the other choices are what I would want, and use other settings to reach my goal. I find vivid and landscape a bit too contrasty and sometimes over the top in colour for my tastes.

Just my personal observations - I don't think there's a right or wrong here.

Doug G

Correct. Lightroom (and every other raw converter not source directly from Nikon, eg ViewNX and Capture NX) do not respect the in-camera settings. The in-camera settings are used to generate the JPG thumbnail that is embedded into the raw file, and this is in fact what is displayed on the LCD of the camera. However, LR generates its own previews and once a preview is generated, the embedded JPEG is ignored.

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Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member

My gallery is online. Comments and critique welcomed any time!

I don't know what is my most used. I use Portrait for portraits, Standard for action and general, and Landscape for landscape and macro. Which one I use most depends upon what I've been working on recently.

Thanks. That confirms what my understanding was also.

I have often thought that I am using such a great camera but not taking advantage of all of its features. Then I consider what my investment in time, frustration, etc will be if I were to make the switch from Lightroom to NX2 and decide that I would rather spend the time taking pictures. Slowly but surely, Lightroom is filling in the voids and continues to get better and better. Add in the file management features and Lightroom is pretty good.

Personally I am a big fan of the D2x Mode2 picture control.

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I usually use neutral/standard so that I can manipulate (tweak) in PS Elements.
There are times when only "VIVID!" will do though.

"Great things are not done by impulse but by a series of small things brought together." Vincent Van Gogh
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I use a customized standard PC. Sharpness is set to 5 and contrast bumped up by 1.

Mick
www.mickklassphoto.com

Quite surprised by the results so far,

Did some testing of my 300 f4 the other day with a 1.7 TC,
Tried various settings but found I was doing a lot more PP with standard or neutral,

Not sure why, I may have to re-visit the in camera settings, in the end, I guess personal preference will always be the quickest way by setting the camera up from the start

Regards,
Gary

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Unless you post process in NX2 (which I do not), the picture control has no influence. I only shoot in RAW. I keep my setting in standard. I post process in Lightroom3 and CS5 a little.

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I recently read a blog from a known photographer who said that he downloads his NEF files into Adobe Camera Raw (6.2) and then ACR recognizes the camera settings.

I told him that I thought he was mistaken, as ACR will only recognize white balance and exposure and that the only way to get the ACR to bring the NEF to your intended settings is to use a calibration import setting or to do a preset after you have imported (I'm thinking Lightroom).

He said that his workflow with ACR recognizes the camera settings.

I think he is wrong but I'm just a lowly amateur and he is a respected photographer.

Of course, if he is right, I might change my workflow.

What do you think?

I guess it depends on what he means by "recognizes the camera settings". Also, what makes him a "respected photographer", his photographic skills, his knowledge of post-processing techiniques or the fact he has a blog?

Don't sell your "lowly amateur" staus short.

Mick
www.mickklassphoto.com

-"The reason they use the word "guru" in headlines is "charlatan" won't fit.

-"3 correst guess in a row makes you an expert."

-"Believe half of what you read, and nothing of what you hear, and you'll be OK."

Assuming you are shooting in RAW, I think he means that if you set a picture control in a Nikon to, let's say for example purposes, "vivid", when you import into ACR, you will get the vivid settings. I think that ACR will ignore the camera setting of "Vivid" and just give you a neutral starting point (but recognizing white balance and exposure). What is your opinion.

Well, I generally don't use ACR, but I think all you get is the White Balance setting. Shapness, contrast, saturation and other elements of the picture control and camera settings are ingored. That's one reason that I prefer Capture NX2. It also give me a chance to apply different PCs in post and see if I might prefer somethig else for that image, or to use in-camera later for a certain type of shooting.

Mick
www.mickklassphoto.com

Mick,

That's been my understanding as well. I thought that something might have been developed in ACR 6.2 that I missed. But, I do follow the news pretty closely. Thanks,

Lance

I shoot raw so I don't have to fiddle with picture controls. I find them very time consuming to learn and remember. Not worth the effort, for me. But, that is me.

Doug Lee
New Jersey Exit 4

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Hi Doug,
I shoot raw as well but I find if I have the picture control set up to my liking, PP is a breeze,

I'm only really having trouble when shooting wildlife and the dynamic range is a bit tricky,

Another surprise for me was how many voted vivid, would be interesting to know why so many are using that option?

Regards,
Gary

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Hi Gary,

You must use NX2 for PP. I use LR3, so the pic controls don't buy me anything.

-Doug

Doug Lee
New Jersey Exit 4

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Yes Doug, I use NX2 for all my PP
I used to own Paint Shop Pro a while back, (a poor mans Photoshop),
The only thing I miss is cloning and I used to do a lot of collage,
And I should point out, I wasn't "digitized" at that stage and was scanning colour slides
I found using layers a pain compared to the fast Upoint of the NX2, and if NX3 is in the pipeline, I'm hoping for some new tools, If not, I may get elements to do the occasion PP that NX is lacking
Regards,
Gary

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So is it correct to say that if you shoot in RAW picture controls are unrecognized in Aperture 3 as well? I would like to know this for sure. Can anybody confirm?

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I voted for Vivid because most of the time I like the colors cranked up.I shoot a lot of flowers,wildlife, etc. As a PP I use DXO Pro.

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