how to calibrate 10D

[bgaras2001]

is there a way to calbrate the 10d with my monitor. when i view the image in the view screen, it looks great. after i download , the images are all much darker.

Is there an adjustment for that.....? thanks for any info

[slejhamer]

I had the same problem, Bob. The simple solution is to check your image exposure with the camera's histogram display rather than with the LCD. You might also want to set the LCD brightness to a lower setting so that it won't be as misleading; however this may be an inconvenience at times.

Cheers,

[rgibbons]

I had the same problem and finally cured it by shooting RAW instead of jpeg. Be sure to adjust the exp. comp. on the raw files so your whitest white is 255. This results in the fleshtones and midtones being a little brighter.

This works better than adjusting jpegs with levels in photoshop.

[scottbergerphoto]

The first step is to calibrate your monitor, provided it is a CRT and not LCD. Check to seee if you have Adobe Gamma on your Windows Control Panel. Use this to calibrate your monitor. Save the profile you create as your working monitor profile. You need to do this on a regular basis (every few months) as it will change. There are more detailed programs available for monitor calibration like http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=241655&is=REG, but Adobe Gamma is a start. There are also programs available with color cards to calibrate your camera. This has nothing to do with which file format you use. There is alot of information on the Web on "Color Management". Try a Google or other search. I am not an expert in this area. I use Adobe Gamma on my monitor and shoot Raw or Fine JPEG. What I see is what I get.

[LEC_D30]

Probably you are looking at a RAW file processed by linear conversion.

What software are you using to see the pictures?


LEC_D30

[scottbergerphoto]

lec_d30 wrote:
Probably you are looking at a RAW file processed by linear conversion.

What software are you using to see the pictures?


LEC_D30
Images processed by BreezeBrowser in Linear Mode do in fact look dark on the monitor until they are adjusted. Once they are adjusted in Photoshop or other program, the only way to know that what you see on your monitor is what you are going to see on your prints or for that matter on someone elses montor, is to calibrate your monitor.
If in fact you are doing Linear Conversion, try switching to Normal and using Linear only when needed. I have found that for most shots with decent exposure, this setting works fine.
Lastly, It has been observed by many people on this forum, that the images on the camera LCD often appear brighter then on a monitor after downloading without any processing. This appears to be normal. You are better off judging picture brightness on the histogram. Also, a slight under exposure is better then over exposure as you can not recover lost highights. It is usually possible to bring back details from slightly under exposed areas in post processing (Photoshop). In my experience over the last 600 or so shots on the 10D, a picture that looks good on the LCD can be made so on the monitor in post processing.