Just bought this camera used

[DaveMarks]

I just bought this camera used on ebay and i'm very dissapointed. Why would a camera that cost over $2000 require so much work to make the image look good? I have been involved in photography for over 25 years and things have always become easier to use, sharper, faster and just easy to get great photos. I have been using Canon products for a long time, have three canon EOS cameras and bought the Pro 90 IS. Have never been disappointed with canon.
The Pro 90 IS has done a great job for me and i wanted the flexabliity of being able to use my other EOS lens' and flash units. Why do i have to jump through hoops to try to get a sharp photo. My experience with Photoshop is extensive and this is not the way to produce good pictures. They should start off good or great and be enhanced by using photoshop to do special things to them. My camera is used and about a year old, do i need to install different software or enhancements from canon? I read about another person that was dissapointed with his camera and everyone want to blame the lens. Bull, I get sharp pictures with film. I don't have lens problems. How expensive is the lens on a point and shoot Digital camera? They are sharp? At least the ones i have seen are. I do photography for my income, i cannot sell the photos that this camera produces, nor would i even try. My Pro 90 IS is so sharp that i have to use soft focus filter on my portraits, to much detail. Any suggestion on how to solve this?

[WaterFaller]

Take a look at some of the photographs that the D30 has taken by touring some of the galleries documented on these posts. Then ask yourself what you are doing wrong. When you answer that, you'll have sharp pictures like all the rest of us.

[gandini]

Dave Marks:
I don't doubt your problems, but I think you're going to have to post some images, perhaps tell us about your workflow: are you using RAW, are you converting to 16bit TIFF and processing using linear actions? It's not that there's so much processing to make a D30image good--it's that the camera provides you with so much flexibility to produce amazing images (just listen to the testimonials on this issue--look at Pekka, Fred Miranda's photos, and many others)

Post some images, tell us what you're doing, and we can help you, I'm sure.

cheers,

[Gomez Photography]

Welcome to digital a whole new animal. You will do fine after a few lessons . You have come to the right place to learn more and get the best results you can. Hang in there. michael

[mrbobco]

hi dave...

i KNOW it's scary (especially when you come from the land of oversharpened point and shoot digitals like i have) i have to admit...i was a bit confused in the beginning too...i'd be curious to know what lens(es) you were using...

but...

i couldn't agree with michael more...check out some of the galleries out here:

http://photography-on-the.net/D30/thumbs.php
http://www.fredmiranda.com/
http://www.dlcphotography.net/

(pekka's; fred miranda's and don cohen's sites to name a few)...and you'll see that you CAN get amazing shots...it isn't so much as photoshop art...it's photography art...the one thing you will really have to get used to is framing your shot correctly...because there really isn't a huge amount of latitude for cropping (we all have to face it that there aren't quite as many pixels to go around once you start cropping)

but...as echoed in so many posts...take the time to learn your d-30...and like so many others...you truly will take pictures you could only have dreamed of before...

you came to the right place for advice tho...i can't even express how much help this forum has been to me...and an inspiration as well...as already stated...hang in there : )

bob

[rodevans]

Dave

I can sympathise and empathise!! I felt exactly the same when I first used the D30 - awful results - flat colours, poor focussing, exposure all wrong - in fact almost gave the camera back.

After lots of help from here stuck at it and am now getting 'pleasing to good' results.

To do this I had to go right back to basics and not take the lazy 'point-and-shoot' approach (not a criticism of you by the way but something that I slipped into myself!).

Keys to good results:

. Exposure has to be spot on
. Focus carefully tend to use manual whenever I can
. if using AF - set to centre point only
. if using the camera's meter, set to centre weighted and be careful of highlights

And as everyone else has said - take time to get to know your camera - it will pay dividends. My post precessing steps are small and generally come to adjusting levels a little and sharpening if I need to.

Stick at it... experiment - and good luck - the rewards will be great!!

Rod

[DaveMarks]

Rod,
I have use Canon equipment for a long time, why have all the automated controls on this camera if they are ineffective. I saw you tread and the problem you mentioned, I'm seeing the same thing. The point is a $2000+ camera should do what it is advertised to do and do it well. I'm sure i can make it work, but at what expense of ease of use. I do portraits and wedding and want something that will work fast, this camera has been touted as the greates thing to come along. The comments everyone makes about the lens' bothers me. I bought this camera because i had a complete EOS system and would not have to invest in more lens'
My 35mm EOS focus and expose film perfectly. All I can say is this is very dissapointing. I have look at the work other have posted, showing the quality from the D-30. They look great. So it gives me home. I wanted a camer with controls that i was used to and felt that the transition would be fast and smooth. Well I guess that is not going to be the case. I will have to tinker with all the control and be more careful. As of right now i get better photographs from my Canon Pro 90 IS. It has all the same controls of the EOS, the disadvantage to that camera is it is to automated, with out interchangeable lens' I have been using it for all of my recent portrait work and it has done a great job with 80% of the work i do.
Anyway thanks for your encouragement, I'm also surprised that you mention "pleasing to good result" I want great to fantastic results and i want them to be quick. They should be with a camera like this one.

DAVE Marks

[DaveMarks]

What am i doing wrong? I have been able to pick up every EOS/Canon Camera that I have ever owned and take great pictures right out of the box. Do you use all the features of you D-30? If you cannot use them with success why have them on the camera. I'm going to experiment more with the camera and I'm sure i'll eventurally get great photos, but why all the hassel. Tell me what kind of photography do you do? I do a lot of portraits and wedding and want to switch to digital. I need to be able to work fast. I also do scenic and wildlife photography. I'm not trying to blow smoke but photography is not something that is greek to me. I'm a former Fuji Film employee, and have a degree in photography. I bought this camera to fit in with all the other EOS and Canon equipment that i have. Tell me a little about how you use the camera and what things you do to help with the focus or softness issue? I willing to learn, i've made the investment. I have to make it work. So we'll see what it takes

DAVE Marks

[DaveMarks]

Philip,
Thanks for writing and your encouragement, I looked at your site and you have some great photos. I live in that area and have taken a lot of photos in southern utah and the four courners area. Also up into Teton and Yellowstone NP's. You message talks about a lot of adjustment, consider that i shoot wedding and can have as many as 600 images to adjust from one wedding. I have shot both JPEG and RAW and converted the RAW to 16bit TIFF. I open the files in photoshop and do not see much difference in either image. Tell me about using linear actions? I have not used that. When i open my image in photoshop using JPEG or TIFF 16bit, the file is the same size. The only difference is the JPEB is 72ppi and the TIFF is 180 ppi, and the image size is different, if converted to both 180 ppi and image size of 8x12 the files are the exact same size. So what is the advantage to shooting RAW over JPEG? I have seen the images produced by you and others using this camera, how much is beening done to the image after exposure? Using Photoshop?
I bought this camera i'll make work. I'm open to any suggestions.
DAVE Marks
gandini wrote:
Dave Marks:
I don't doubt your problems, but I think you're going to have to post some images, perhaps tell us about your workflow: are you using RAW, are you converting to 16bit TIFF and processing using linear actions? It's not that there's so much processing to make a D30image good--it's that the camera provides you with so much flexibility to produce amazing images (just listen to the testimonials on this issue--look at Pekka, Fred Miranda's photos, and many others)

Post some images, tell us what you're doing, and we can help you, I'm sure.

cheers,

[DaveMarks]

I went to your site, how much of that is D-30 photography? Tell me what you do to improve the quality of your D-30 photography.

gomez Photography wrote:
Welcome to digital a whole new animal. You will do fine after a few lessons . You have come to the right place to learn more and get the best results you can. Hang in there. michael

[DaveMarks]

The problem i have with all of this is that i have used canon equipment for a long time, and enjoy the ease of use. I bought a Canon Pro 90 Is and it does a great job. I wanted to go further and be able to use my existing canon lens' and canon flash, with a camera that had the same controls that i was used to. I figured the transition would be smooth. That is what dissapoints me. I have to jump though hoops to make this camer perform like it is suppose to. Why have all the features of A Canon EOS and not be able to use them or have to work around them to make the camer focus properly or expose the image properly. I shoot as many as 600 photos at a wedding, i do not have time to adjust everyone of them using photoshop. What type of photography do you do? What are the things you do to try to get the best image from your D-30. Is the because of the CMOS chip Vs the CCD type chip and is this why canon changed to CCD for the D-1? I have heard things about the CMOS being soft but i had no idea it would require so much work to make it look good. Just as Rodevans work he was getting pleasing to good results, this camera should provide great result, with very little effort. Are you saying that the point and shot cameras or the Pro 90 Is are oversharpened. If that is the case why do i read so much about everyone using unsharpen mask and sharpening tools on the EOS D-30, i'm confused. I can soften the image using filters on my camera when i want soft. But this is not soft, it appears to not be in focus. I will make this thing work spent to much money, but i'm very dissappointed that i have to do it this way. Tell me how you expose your photographs?
DAVE Marks

mrbobco wrote:
hi dave...

i KNOW it's scary (especially when you come from the land of oversharpened point and shoot digitals like i have) i have to admit...i was a bit confused in the beginning too...i'd be curious to know what lens(es) you were using...

but...

i couldn't agree with michael more...check out some of the galleries out here:

http://photography-on-the.net/D30/thumbs.php
http://www.fredmiranda.com/
http://www.dlcphotography.net/

(pekka's; fred miranda's and don cohen's sites to name a few)...and you'll see that you CAN get amazing shots...it isn't so much as photoshop art...it's photography art...the one thing you will really have to get used to is framing your shot correctly...because there really isn't a huge amount of latitude for cropping (we all have to face it that there aren't quite as many pixels to go around once you start cropping)

but...as echoed in so many posts...take the time to learn your d-30...and like so many others...you truly will take pictures you could only have dreamed of before...

you came to the right place for advice tho...i can't even express how much help this forum has been to me...and an inspiration as well...as already stated...hang in there : )

bob

[mrbobco]

hi dave...

first: my advice (what works for me)

so my advice (which really is just echoing what rod evans said):

AVOID the pop up flash on the camera (i'm sure you already know that one : )

Make sure exposure is spot on (use fel if you can, or better still...setup your camera so you can use the fel button for focus lock and the shutter button for your exposure lock; custom function 2/2 or 2/3...it's detailed on page 124 of the manual)

Focus carefully with your af set to center point only (was a BIG problem for me)

for the time being...use the one-shot autofocus unless your subjects are moving around all the time...

if using the camera's meter, set to centre weighted and be careful of highlights...using custom function 2/2 or 2/3 will allow you to lock focus with the fel button but set your exposure with the shutter button halfway pressed...this has saved me numerous times...

using these methods (most of which i learned here) you should start getting more predictible results...

i'm hardly a professional...but a serious amateur...i haven't been shooting for more than 5 years now...but i do take it seriously, although i do not need to make a living with my camera...just so you know where i come from....

...let me tell you my experience:

i owned an olympus E-10...very predictable (but very hard looking pictures) and easy to use...but a friend of my wife (professional photographer) had shown me his d-30...and after seeing it i SO craved the lens options...so as time went by (and the price of the d-30 went down) i finally decided to take all of my olympus equipment (camera, flash, lens extensions...everything!) and sell them on ebay (i keep all of my equipment in excellent conditions and was able to get $2000 for the whole setup) so: armed with my $2000 i was ready to purchase my d-30...now of course i had seen the budget rip off companies (like broadway photo) selling them for $1500 (or so they said) but fortunately i was able to steer clear of it...the long and short of it...about two weeks later...i had my D-30 in my hands...complete with us warranty for $2240...so it was already more than i could afford (i was figuring i'd have a halfway decent lens and camera for that price but i was wrong) i purchased a 28-135 IS USM from B&H photo (who i feel really are the best) and i was ready to experience my new setup.

so?

for about 4 weeks that camera and i were attached...and for about 4 weeks i had nothing but overexposures, underexposures, blurry shots...(i went through a brief 2 hour period with the sigma ef-500 flash only to discover you can NOT use it in ettl mode with your d-30...so i returned it for a 550 ex) as far as my shots? you name it...it SUCKED! i was starting to miss that E-10 pretty badly...but when i managed to get a picture that WAS worth showing...the colors were so stunning...that i decided that i made a decision...and i wasn't going to let my inexperience get me down...this camera had SO much potential and NO piece of equipment was going to kick my butt : ) what did i try? everything...ultimately...i stopped fiddling around with raw...and set it for large quality jpegs...set the sharpening to maximum (it still isn't way over the top like the other digicams) and starting shooting everything...checking it out on the computer...finding out what worked for me (what does NOT work for me for sure is FULL auto mode...i still can't seem to get anything i like with it....which is WAY different from my wife's canon eos film camera...so i know what you're going through!) i finally settled on using the camera in Program AE mode (the "P" symbol) and resolved to not experiment until i could better understand the results...

the IS mode on the 28-135 was an enormous help...but the variable aperture (3.5-5.6) was making me crazy (not to mention i was getting wildly exposed pictures until i really started watching the exposure compensation) again...i just kept pluggin away at it...i didn't even think of trying any other shooting mode until i had figured out how to make program AE work for me...it took me another few days of experimenting...before i started getting predictable results...again...i started looking at fred miranda's site...and pekka's pictures...and realized just what could be done if you took the time to learn...pay attention...and experiment...

now when i started with the d-30...i was completely clueless...i had no idea about "L" glass or any other things...and to be honest...within a month i was completely happy with my d-30 shots...when i started comparing them to the E-10 shots...i realized how cold and flat the olympus pics really looked...it was a shock to me (what with the olympus alledgedly being a high pixel count but then we've all noticed that numbers aren't everything) the depth of field...contrast...and color...and just the simple beauty of the d-30 pics truly shine...and once i had them printed using the regular photographic process (dotphoto.com...NOT inkjet) i was completely sold! and i constantly get comments on the pictures...people still can't believe they came from a digital camera!

as far as my equipment...about a month ago i sold the 28-135...and upgraded to a 28-70/f 2.8 L...there truly IS a huge difference in clarity and contrast (and at twice the price of the other lens it's worth every penny...as i've seen so many people comment here...i truly adore this lens!)...not to mention you needn't worry about that variable aperture coming back to bite you everytime you zoom...i also have a 50/1.8 (which takes truly stunning, sharp pictures without the flash...) lastly...i have a 550ex speedlite and st-e2 remote...as well as a lumiquest promax diffuser and assorted tripods, ridata 512 mb cf card, simple tech 128 mb cf card, etc...

now as far as an answer to your questions:

the cmos chip generates less heat and uses less power than ccd chips...part of why you can get such great long exposures...but everything i've read here explains that canon went to the ccd for the d-1 because it IS designed as a PROFESSIONAL camera...by all accounts...the D-30...while pricey...was not meant to be a professional piece of equipment...although i know plenty of pros who own one...that's all been open to debate for months...

i personally don't see the cmos as "soft" (although it looked that way to me at first really) and especially noticed a marked difference in overall clarity when i upgraded to the 28-70L...i rarely sharpen my raw images (which come directly out of the camera with no sharpening to begin with) YES it DOES appear softer when you compare it to other consumer cameras...but perhaps the better way to look at it is that the other cameras are TOO oversharpened (something i wondered about for years) the things you read about people using unsharp mask, quantum pro, etc...is all based on working more with raw images (which are completely unaffected by the camera's sharpness settings) and tweaking them...

the advantage of working in raw mode IS that you can work on the pictures...and save them...without a change in quality...whereas if you were working on a jpeg...and then saved it AGAIN as a jpeg...you would lose quality...although i still shot jpegs for candids and family...anything that is truly important to me is shot in raw mode...where i'll always be able to change it later without losing quality...raw mode IS a pain from time to time...but well worth the effort...again...i understand that you don't have the time to weed through 600 raw images...i wouldn't either and i'm just a hobbyist...

so my to reiterate my advice (figured i'd put it at the top of this post so you wouldn't have to wade through all the other crap : ):

Make sure exposure is be spot on (use fel if you can, or better still...setup your camera so you can use the fel button for focus lock and the shutter button for your exposure lock; custom function 2/2 or 2/3...it's detailed on page 124 of the manual)

Focus carefully with your af set to center point only (was a BIG problem for me)

for the time being...use the one-shot autofocus unless your subjects are moving around all the time...

if using the camera's meter, set to centre weighted and be careful of highlights...using custom function 2/2 or 2/3 will allow you to lock focus with the fel button but set your exposure with the shutter button halfway pressed...this has saved me numerous times...

lastly...keep reading here...it is an amazing wealth of friendly information!

using these methods (most of which i learned here) you should start getting more predictible results...

i hope all of this helps...

thanks for reading...

bob

[DaveMarks]

Bob,
Thanks for all your advice, I will try the things you have suggested. I also use B&H for a lot of my photo equipment. I bought this camera used with a battery grip on Ebay, it appears to be in very good condition and i met the owner of the camera and he seemed pleased with the camera. I use the Canon 420ex flash units, i have three of them. They gave me perfect exposures with my 35mm and with the Canon Pro 90 IS. I know that I do not use Canons most expensive lens, but have always got good results from them with my other cameras. I may have to invest more money to make this work. I will make it work and I sincerely appreciate your advice and suggestions.
Thanks,
DAVE

[rojoyinc]

Dave - I purchasd the D30 (as a pro of 25 years)
due to it's buttery softness... You have to also realize that when you see pictures from your film camera you're seeing it usually in a 6x9 inch size.
When you view D30 images you're usually viewing them on a 15-19" monitor limited to 72dpi.

Have you had your D30 printed printed at a digital lab to 6x9" paper prints? Or even 8x10 paper prints for that matter?

I've had up to 30x40 paper prints made and they are comparible to my 6x7 film camera prints. And far exceed any of my 35mm film camera prints.

You also have to realize that when you shoot film, you take the exposure then hand it to someone else to do your printing. (usually) When you shoot digital you need to do your own lab work/printing.

I have no problems at all with the D30 and wish I could use it in place of my film cameras. (but digital processing is more time consuming on my part then film).

A couple quick tips:

1. Set the focus mode to "center spot only"
2. Change meter mode to "center weighted Averaging"

Ron - http://www.houseofphotography.com
(site is primarily D30 portrait images)

[nitwit3]

Ron,

Your site along with Fred Mirandas is where I started and if I ever had any questions about how a D30 could work in talented hands they were answered on those sites. You are a genius.

Side note...as you remember, I'm only 5 weeks into photography and the D30. From my point of view, I had numerous exposure problems and had difficulty getting a clean image. I bought the Expodisc on Fred Miranda's advice (got it this week) and quite frankly, haven't had an exposure problem since.
http://www.pbase.com/image/685632

The above link leads to 3 very small galleries I use for experiments and verify progress. The page opens to 4 photos I used the expo disc on..big difference in exposure...finally starting to see a glimpse of quality. You set standards that are extremely lofty and likely out of reach for newbies, but it is a joy to try.

You are an inspiration.

The Nitwit3
Larry, the golfer from Georgia

[DaveMarks]

Ron,
Thanks for your feedback, everyone seems to enjoy the camera. I still have some work to do to develop a positive opinion. You site is impressive, I hope to be doing similar quality work soon. I have just started my business, after over fifteen years of working for Fuji Film I decided to go back to my true love and do photography on my own. I have a website that is still being worked on, I created it myself. But the quality and type of photography that you do is something I hope to be offering shortly. Your right about the printing vs viewing on a monitor. I will have to hold off judgement till I see some prints. Tell me, what do you use to reverse the polarity on the x-flash connection in your studio. My units will not fire, the book mentioned reverse polarity problems. I guess that is another thing I'll have to buy. Also what lens, are you using with the D-30? Once again thanks for the encouragement.

DAVE Marks www.DaveMarksPhotography.com

rojoyinc wrote:
Dave - I purchasd the D30 (as a pro of 25 years)
due to it's buttery softness... You have to also realize that when you see pictures from your film camera you're seeing it usually in a 6x9 inch size.
When you view D30 images you're usually viewing them on a 15-19" monitor limited to 72dpi.

Have you had your D30 printed printed at a digital lab to 6x9" paper prints? Or even 8x10 paper prints for that matter?

I've had up to 30x40 paper prints made and they are comparible to my 6x7 film camera prints. And far exceed any of my 35mm film camera prints.

You also have to realize that when you shoot film, you take the exposure then hand it to someone else to do your printing. (usually) When you shoot digital you need to do your own lab work/printing.

I have no problems at all with the D30 and wish I could use it in place of my film cameras. (but digital processing is more time consuming on my part then film).

A couple quick tips:

1. Set the focus mode to "center spot only"
2. Change meter mode to "center weighted Averaging"

Ron - http://www.houseofphotography.com
(site is primarily D30 portrait images)

[beach512]

Dave -
Nice work on your website. Keep at your D30. I am new to it as well (1 month). I have taken about 500 pictures so far and I am struggling like everyone else. Alot of junk, but it is me, not the lenses or camera.
I have gotten some terrific shots with the D30 though. Probably about 5 out of the 500. I had some printed 8x10 at photoaccess.com after I profiled and edgesharpened. I was blown away when I got it back. These were JPEG images too ! I have shot 35mm for a long time and never have gotten an 8x10 to look that great. If I had used a TIFF file, non-linear, profiled and sharpened using Pekka's action, the results would be even better.
Keep at, keep reading, inquiring and learning. I watch these forums everyday and dpreview.com too. I know in our microwave society, we tend to have little patience with something that does not work great instantly.
The D30 is an incredible machine and I know I have not even scratched the surface of its potential.
A few months from now, you will be thankful you have it. You won't be able to go back to anything else, if you are willing to invest your time now. You would not think you would have to "pay your dues" after paying $2300 for a camera, but you do.
Good luck and we look forward to seeing some great work coming from you. You already have the photographic talent. Now you need to build up your D30 talents. Good luck and best wishes.

Dave

[sasc]

I just got D30 to and have a Casio and Pro90. I was prepared for the softness and have downloaded a lot of full size photos to play with. Yet mine is much softer than they to start with, using a 50mmf1.4 which is supposed to be a very good lens.

Worse than that is when I apply the least little sharpening any straight lines like feathers, fences, cats whiskers, straight lines on a vehicle, etc, go to jaggies and red and blue coloring.

Im pretty dissapointed. This happens with raw, with all settings and with any lenses used.

[surfinrcp]

Hey guys, and gals. I am always impressed with the feedback on this board. You guys have helped me so much just steering me to the right sites, and making me observe more in the pictures of others and my own. I do a lot of surf photography and last year moved to an Olympus 2100 because it had a great standard zoom. I have learned a lot in the last year. I am now shooting out in the water with a housing using an EOS 630 with a fisheye or 28-90mm. I was curious about the 100-400L that you guys are using with the D30. I have heard that @ 400 it isnt too good. I was looking at sticking a 1.4 teleconverter on there so I can get the range. I was also curious how much you guys paid for your 100-400L? Let me know, and thanks again for all the insite.

Also anyone have recommendations on slide scanner?

Ramón
www.rcpphoto.com

[DaveMarks]

HI, thanks for your comments. I have the pro 90 and enjoy it, a lot. It is very sharp. All Of my portraits of children, babies and High school seniors were shot with it. I'm having a hard time learning to appreciate the softness of the D-30. The fact that sharpening action tools are needed to make a decent photograph bothers me. I just got the camera this past Monday and really want this to work out and give me great results. Stay in touch and let me know how things go for you.
Dave
went to your website, your photos on your site are great, you have a good eye.

sasc wrote:
I just got D30 to and have a Casio and Pro90. I was prepared for the softness and have downloaded a lot of full size photos to play with. Yet mine is much softer than they to start with, using a 50mmf1.4 which is supposed to be a very good lens.

Worse than that is when I apply the least little sharpening any straight lines like feathers, fences, cats whiskers, straight lines on a vehicle, etc, go to jaggies and red and blue coloring.

Im pretty dissapointed. This happens with raw, with all settings and with any lenses used.

[Cecil Walker]

Not to sound sacreligous or anything, but...

Isn't it possible that the D30 ISN'T the right camera for the job in this case? In a ton of evaluations, the Fuji S1 Pro has always excelled at skin tones and has been the tool of choice for pro wedding photographers that need accurate skin tones without manipulating hundreds of photos.

I love the images the D30 produces and how easy it is to manipulate them into images I can be proud of, BUT I WOULDN"T WANT TO DO THAT TO HUNDREDS OF SHOTS FOR ONE SHOOT!

I'm just saying that, maybe Dave would be better off owning a used Fuji S1 Pro...

Thoughts?

Cecil

[DaveMarks]

Cecil,
It is not skin tone that is the problem, it is the lack of sharpness. I have read a lot of information lately and I must say that I'm amazed at the amout of time that is put into correcting the sharpness issue. Just read the standard work flow for one of the very popular people on this site and i'm stunned. I want to use canon because i have a full canon system and use the Canon Pro 90 Is, with great success. I want to expand my ability with digital and i will make it work and find a system to enhance the images. If you would like to view some of my work, please do. I'll list a few links to my galleries and all of the photos shot in these galleries are with the Canon Pro 90 Is. This camera is new to me, but the canon system is not. I worked for Fuji Film and know about the equipment they have and sell and i love there film, but i use canon equipment and intend to continue to use canon equipment. Thanks for your imput, but not thanks to Fuji equipment.

http://www.davemarksphotography.com/
http://www.davemarksphotography.com/HSSeniorsGallery.htm
http://www.davemarksphotography.com/bridal/bridal.html

Cecil Walker wrote:
Not to sound sacreligous or anything, but...

Isn't it possible that the D30 ISN'T the right camera for the job in this case? In a ton of evaluations, the Fuji S1 Pro has always excelled at skin tones and has been the tool of choice for pro wedding photographers that need accurate skin tones without manipulating hundreds of photos.

I love the images the D30 produces and how easy it is to manipulate them into images I can be proud of, BUT I WOULDN"T WANT TO DO THAT TO HUNDREDS OF SHOTS FOR ONE SHOOT!

I'm just saying that, maybe Dave would be better off owning a used Fuji S1 Pro...

Thoughts?

Cecil

[sasc]

For me the after camera work isnt a problem. I always did something to my casio and Pro90 pics too. But the jaggies and moire I am getting is really the problem. When they arent there the camera is ok although it has the underexposure problem too. I also like the wonderful lack of digital looking noise in it. And coming from starting with old manual film slrs both 35 and medium format, I like using the lens controls for zooming and focusing.

I am also noticing something odd with raw on my camera. I used raw with Pro90 too and with the D30 it seems as if no matter what setting its givin in converting the photo looks the same.

[Cecil Walker]

Dave,

That info helps. What settings are you using in the camera, with regards to sharpness?

I'm curious if you're using the default setting or already have it set to try and sharpen the images straight from the camera.

[nitwit3]

I figure he's not fully read the manual to be in touch with a couple of features. I'm saying his WB is likely way off. The smartest thing he could do is buy the Expodisc and use custom WB for his important shots.

I looked at his site and he *does* like to ride the edge of oversharpened..unusual in portraiture...with that said, it becomes important to the extreme for him to have everything else absolutely spot on or he will get some horrible results...and I guess he has or he wouldn't be moaning. There is a learning curve with the D30 that *experienced* photographers get frustrated with...however, what lead them to the D30 was not just a spur of the moment purchase, it was well thought out after seeing incredible results by other D30 users.

Hey Cecil,

Yer a friggin' *engine noise* lover like me eh? Sorry I haven't got back to you from Pbase. Been busy lately.
I've seen a few of your pics on a couple of sites...you are very, very good at action shots. Tip of the hat to you Cecil...that's not an easy task with the D30...takes some real timing ehh?

The Nitwit

[Cecil Walker]

Thanks for the nice comments Nitwit! I'm trying!

As a matter of fact, the autocross photos (http://solo2.reptileracing.com) were all taken with a "borrowed" D30 and 70-200mm f/2.8 for evaluation purposes to see if I'd like the camera.

Well, I guess I did because I just ordered a D30, 70-200mm L, 28-70L, and a 1.4 II teleconverter from Greg at Canoga Cameras (http://www.canogacameras.com) on Thursday.

Hope to have a few more shots soon!

Cecil

[surfinrcp]

Hey Cecil, how do you get the off the page effect with the shadows on your site with the pictures? Good shots by the way.

[philgabe]

This may not be very useful but from what I can tell one of the key of getting tack sharp images from D30 is to get the exposure perfect. On perfectly exposed picture absolutely sharp images can be obtained with a slight amount of Photoshop unsharp mask (it takes less than 15 second to do that). Often just increasing contrast a bit is all it takes. I'm not saying that this will give you better results than the fancy sharpening techniques that involve 20 steps, but once printed on quality paper it's certainly no less sharp than 35mm film prints. Exposure in digital is trickier because sensors cannot handle overexposure as well as film (it's more like slides). If you expose your picures for the highlights (or for portraits if you increase the exposure from meter reading on a caucasian face by about 1-2 stops depending on light), you should be fine. The downside of shooting RAW is that any mistake you make is amplified because you get exactly what the sensor captured, but the clear upside is that you have the most flexibility and information to get a superb image.

When I read your post it reminded me of when you buy a Ferrari, things that used to be simple with lesser cars become complicated, every little mistake have results that are amplified, but once you have learned how the car behaves, it rocks like nothing else.

I bet you anything that once you have experimented and made mistakes and corrected them you'll agree that the D30 can give you tack sharp images with very little additional sharpening. With your experience in photography the time needed to adjust to that particular digital camera should be much less than for most people.

Best,

Phil

[Cecil Walker]

Surfin,

Thanks for the comments regarding my website. I'm really just getting started with it in a semi-serious fashion! I should get my new D30 and lenses tomorrow!

I created my drop shadows in Photoshop by:

- Increase canvas size to 120% in both directions.

- Create a new layer.

- While on the new layer I use the selection tool and draw a box around the original photo (matching the size).

- Use the fill tool to fill the selection with Black.

- Deselect the selection.

- Use the Gaussian Blur tool to blur the image. Experiment with the settings to get the right blur.

- Move the blurred shadow layer behind the original photo.

- Using the Move tool, move the "shadow" down and to the right to your liking.

- When you get the look you want, use the selection tool to crop the image down if you want to save some space. Be careful not to crop into the blurred shadow!

Basically, that's it. It sounds way more complicated than it really is. Alternatively, I just found an even simplier way to do it but I don't know if it has exactly the same effect yet.

- First, start by making sure you're dealing with the photo as a PSD photoshop file.

- Increase the canvas size to 120% in both directions just like the instructions above.

- Click on Layers, then Layer Style, then select "Drop Shadow". Experiment with the settings to get the look you want, then click ok and crop to your liking!

Hope this helps!
Cecil

[echelonphoto]

Dave,

I can sympathize with your frustration. I just sold
a Fuji S1 which I thought did very well with weddings
as long as you didn't overexpose..I'm now looking into
a D1x because its faster and has more resolution, but
some of my fuji shots if everything was right on..were
made into stunning 20x30's with very little work and
these are from jpegs. When I saw some of the shots
on this site, it swayed me into looking into the D30, but
from what your experiencing, I think I will take some
more time looking into this. BTW your in your bridal
site it looks as if the highlights are blown out in the
brides gown in almost every shot...maybe you are
overexposing your D30 also.

Good luck

Andy

[sasc]

There is also the possibility that something is wrong with the camera and not Dave. I have been testing mine and there is definately something wrong with the focus on it. I will be contacting Canon again about it.