Anyone own a DSLR camera?

[Nocturnal]

I understand that post processing the images is a big part of making them look so eloquent. I want to know HOW much exactly post processing is needed. From what I understand, cameras such as the Sony F717 can take a lot more stunning pics out of the box compared to say the Canon Digital Rebel can in its most basic camera mode which would be auto I think?

So, how much post processing would be needed to make the picture taken with the DRebel the equivilent of the Sony F717?

Or, would the DRebel shot out of the box blow the 717 picture out of the water?

 

[Lyfer]

No.

 

[GoingUp]

what does post processing entail?

 

[Anubis]

my D70 will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

anyway if you just take a pic in a DSLR in high quality JPEG mode it will look as good if not better then the sony. shoot it in raw and post process it a lil and it will look better, the amount of post work you have to do depends on what you are trying to get out of the photo, if you just need to adjust teh levels and contrast, that takes about 1 min, more serious things take longer

 

[Nocturnal]

Originally posted by: Anubis
my D70 will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

anyway if you just take a pic in a DSLR in high quality JPEG mode it will look as good if not better then the sony. shoot it in raw and post process it a lil and it will look better, the amount of post work you have to do depends on what you are trying to get out of the photo, if you just need to adjust teh levels and contrast, that takes about 1 min, more serious things take longer

How does the D70 compare to the 10D or the DRebel?

 

[Wallydraigle]

If you use good technique and get sharp, properly exposed images to begin with, sometimes you don't have to do anything to it. Any time you reduce size you're going to have to sharpen a little though because pixels (and therefore detail) get thrown away, but that takes no time at all. However if you're going to make a nice big print you're going to want to take your time and get everything perfect. So really it depends on the image in question as well as what you want to do with it. Just for web stuff I'd say no more than a minute or two, and usually less than that.

What camera are you looking at?

 

[DBL]

Yes, you need to post-process to extract the most out of the picture. However, IMO, it is not necessary in order to compete with a 717. A properly exposed picture will look better than 717 right out of the camera. Perhaps not as sharp, but it also won't have that processed digital look. I can provide some examples in a bit. I have a 10D. IMO, nothing beats the creamy, noiseless pictures of a Canon CMOS at ISO 100.

Post processing, at a minimum, usually refers to USM (Unsharp Mask) filter in Photoshop (or other editing package). In photoshop, you can set up an action to do this automatically with standard settings and it will do 80% of the job for you. However, to really get the most out of a picture, you need to set the USM parameter specific to each picture. Naturally, I would only recommend doing this rarely or for picture you intend to print at large sizes.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal

Originally posted by: Anubis
my D70 will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

anyway if you just take a pic in a DSLR in high quality JPEG mode it will look as good if not better then the sony. shoot it in raw and post process it a lil and it will look better, the amount of post work you have to do depends on what you are trying to get out of the photo, if you just need to adjust teh levels and contrast, that takes about 1 min, more serious things take longer

How does the D70 compare to the 10D or the DRebel?

its better then teh d rebel in every aspect, the 10D has more features because its a more expensive camera the D100 and 10D are very similar the D70 does some things better and the 10D does soem better, read over at DP review they go into it pretty good over there

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Nocturnal

Originally posted by: Anubis
my D70 will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

anyway if you just take a pic in a DSLR in high quality JPEG mode it will look as good if not better then the sony. shoot it in raw and post process it a lil and it will look better, the amount of post work you have to do depends on what you are trying to get out of the photo, if you just need to adjust teh levels and contrast, that takes about 1 min, more serious things take longer

How does the D70 compare to the 10D or the DRebel?

its better then teh d rebel in every aspect, the 10D has more features because its a more expensive camera the D100 and 10D are very similar the D70 does some things better and the 10D does soem better, read over at DP review they go into it pretty good over there

It does one-up the rebel in most areas. However, it doesn't have an ISO 100, which is virtually noise free on the Rebel. I would also rate the Rebel picture quality as slightly better and many of the tests bear this out.

 

[iamwiz82]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: Nocturnal

Originally posted by: Anubis
my D70 will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!!!

anyway if you just take a pic in a DSLR in high quality JPEG mode it will look as good if not better then the sony. shoot it in raw and post process it a lil and it will look better, the amount of post work you have to do depends on what you are trying to get out of the photo, if you just need to adjust teh levels and contrast, that takes about 1 min, more serious things take longer

How does the D70 compare to the 10D or the DRebel?

its better then teh d rebel in every aspect, the 10D has more features because its a more expensive camera the D100 and 10D are very similar the D70 does some things better and the 10D does soem better, read over at DP review they go into it pretty good over there

Personally, I was looking more for quality of pictures than features so I got the 300D. I do wish it had a larger buffer, though.

 

[Anubis]

the image quality is fine by me check some of these out

num1
num 2

 

[Descartes]

I do mostly astrophotography with my various telescopes and the 300D, and processing is a given. The 300D is currently in vogue with astrophotographers who wish for a DSLR for ~$1000.

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Anubis
the image quality is fine by me check some of these out

num1
num 2

I don't think anyone is saying differently. The quality out of both cameras is extraordinary.

 

[MeanMeosh]

pic after post-processing from a sony dsc-f717

i'll post pic before processing after i get home...

 

[DBL]

Here is a before and after example.

Unprocessed


Retouched


Side-by-side

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: DBL
Here is a before and after example.

Unprocessed
Retouched
Side-by-side

side by side link isnt side by side, and it looks like you just auto leveled it in PS

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: Anubis

Originally posted by: DBL
Here is a before and after example.

Unprocessed
Retouched
Side-by-side

side by side link isn't side by side, and it looks like you just auto leveled it in PS

Well, for the side by side, I layered the two half's together. The unprocessed on the right and the processed on the left. Sorry for the confusion.

Honestly, if you think I just auto leveled in photoshop, than you really don't know what you are looking at.

If I remember correctly, these were the steps I used

1) Manually leveled
2) boosted the saturation of some of the colors (not normally necessary but I felt it worked in this case)
3) local contrast enhancement (USM 20,50,0)
4) Reduce in size to 480 pixel width
5) Sharpened (USM not sure, probably 170,.5,3)

Thats it. About 90 seconds at most. The difference should be night and day. If not, invest in a new monitor.

 

[dman]

Are there any DSLR's that allow the lcd display to preview the shot? I assume there's a limitation of the camera / mirror system preventing that, so I assume not. Anyway, not something I care about but my Wife would like that feature. She has a hard time seeing through the viewfinders on many cams and/or finds them uncomfortable in general.

 

[DBL]

Originally posted by: dman
Are there any DSLR's that allow the lcd display to preview the shot? I assume there's a limitation of the camera / mirror system preventing that, so I assume not. Anyway, not something I care about but my Wife would like that feature. She has a hard time seeing through the viewfinders on many cams and/or finds them uncomfortable in general.

Nope. Nothing currently. Perhaps in the future. You can't really do it with a DSLR since the mirror is in the way. I believed Olympus used a slit prism to overcome this in a older camera, although it had a fixed lens.

 

[dman]

Maybe would be nice to have a separate mini-cam/lens for the preview function... I know it defeats the whole SLR concept, but, there are times when you don't need to see through the lens and getting it close enough would work. Like in a crowd, holding the camera up about head level to snap a pic in the distance, etc.
You already gotta carry a big camera around, so having a second for those shots is cumbersome.

 

[Wallydraigle]

Originally posted by: dman
Are there any DSLR's that allow the lcd display to preview the shot? I assume there's a limitation of the camera / mirror system preventing that, so I assume not. Anyway, not something I care about but my Wife would like that feature. She has a hard time seeing through the viewfinders on many cams and/or finds them uncomfortable in general.

The old Olympus E10 and E20 have a light splitting prism that sends light to the viewfinder and the sensor for the LCD at the same time. While they are "SLR-like", they don't take interchangeable lenses. I'm not sure if this design was carried over to the new E1 or not.

 

[shekondar]

Originally posted by: DBL

Originally posted by: dman
Are there any DSLR's that allow the lcd display to preview the shot? I assume there's a limitation of the camera / mirror system preventing that, so I assume not. Anyway, not something I care about but my Wife would like that feature. She has a hard time seeing through the viewfinders on many cams and/or finds them uncomfortable in general.

Nope. Nothing currently. Perhaps in the future. You can't really do it with a DSLR since the mirror is in the way. I believed Olympus used a slit prism to overcome this in a older camera, although it had a fixed lens.

I've been wondering the same thing... They should be able to do it - just lock the mirror up (I think nearly DSLRs can do this - most of them have a Bulb setting). Then just send the output from the sensor to the LCD. You just wouldn't be able to use the LCD and viewfinder at the same time.

 

[GTaudiophile]

D70 vs. 300D = Jury is still out.

I still contend that the 300D with its CMOS sensor will blow the D70 away in low-light/high-ISO settings. Meaning, the 300D will have less noise.

 

[kyutip]

I don't have DSLR but considering one.
I've been lurking around D70 forum at dpreview and I read that you can use custom curve loaded into the D70 to get more pop out of the picture (adjusted to the way you like). It's like auto post processing out of the camera, you can turn this feature on and off if you shot RAW.
But, you do need Nikon Capture to load the custom curve to the camera and it cost $99 (free trial for 30 days).
I've seen the picture with the custom curve (no post processing) and it looks great but probably not to the level of my F707 (after all, not everybody like really vibrant colors)

As for D70 and 300D comparison, I think 300D is more toward "point & shoot" crowd since most of it's feature set are automatic (metering & focusing) but it has cleaner picture on low ISO. D70 is more of a photographer camera, almost everything are adjustable. If looks matter to you, D70 looks better in all black compare to the amateurish look of 300D.

 

[Linux23]

Yes.

Take a look at my Unfinished website Photopedia. It has tons of pictures taken with my 10D, and most of them are not post-processed because it takes time to sort out the images I want, and then to process each image in Photoshop.

I at least shoot 500-600 images per shoot. Scanning through 500 images takes a lot of time that I do not have. But I must admit, it is rewarding.

**not a professional photographer**