What is your favorite custom picture style settings?

[troutbowl]

I am interested to seeing how other photographers are setting thier custom "picture Style Settings" for diffrent styles of photography. I am trying to get the most POP and sharpness with out looking to saturated.
I shoot action and set my 30D as follows
Sharpness +1
Contrast -1
Saturation 0
Color Tone +1

[Tee Why]

I use RAW almost exclusively, but I shot in Picture style once and didn't see much difference and the images were soft, so I cranked the sharpness, contrast and saturation to max and near max and got decent results.

[KevinG3]

IF and when I use styles and the custom settings, I like neutral, everythihng set to 0. That allows me to make the changes needed later in post processing. If i were going to set these settings so I could use the pic right out of the camera, I would probably just increase sharp to +1 and maybe increase color sat by 1 also. Haven't really compared pics after changing these settings though as I normally keep them all on 0.

[troutbowl]

Thanks for your input, every little bit helps
Bill

[TooManyHobbies]

I shoot RAW or RAW+JPG, so I usually boost the settings for the JPG +1 or 2 Sat, +1 everything else. The JPGs are just so the wife can see results fast.

[calicokat]

I have been using the picture styles in raw processing, I like the Landscape setting alot

[J Rabin]

I'll be the oddball here. I've used "Clear" Picture Style to save some aerial shots on a hazy summer day. And I've used "Nostalgia" for some indoor shots under flash. Other than that, "Standard" has yielded me some time savings for batches shot under, well, standard conditions.

Since I never liked the fake over-saturated exaggerated look of Velvia transparency slide film (I must be the only person on the Planet), I do not like the Picture Styles that simulate this excess saturation.

But, that's just me. Jack

[KevinG3]

I have switched to faithful instead of neutral as the latter was very soft and a bit off on the color...Or so it seemed to me anyways. :)

[nehpets]

Contrast +2
Saturation +2
Sharpness +2

(i like Velvia...and i try to simulate it. pretty good results so far)

[condyk]

I shoot RAW only and would not use any of the in camera settings personally, tho' I understand why some like to. We have post processing to do what needs to be done and it does it so much better.

[Tee Why]

here are various picture styles on a same shot at dpreview.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneos5d/page14.asp
Other than monochrome, the differences are so small that I need one version next to another to peep, in order to see any diff. and they don't seem to be any better or worse.

Oh KevinG3, the diff between neutral and faithful is that faithful has WB set to 5200K vs AWB in neutral. That's the only diff, so if the ambient light is higher or lower than 5200K, then the WB will be off, and you know how difficult it is to change WB effects from a JPEG shot.

[tokyographer]

I use RAW almost exclusively, but I shot in Picture style once and didn't see much difference and the images were soft, so I cranked the sharpness, contrast and saturation to max and near max and got decent results.

Yea true cranking sharpness to the max is the best, doing otherwise would be like driving a ferrari on second gear!! Why would you wanna do that!

[gonzogolf]

Yea true cranking sharpness to the max is the best, doing otherwise would be like driving a ferrari on second gear!! Why would you wanna do that! Because if you are shooting jpg you can end up with some detailed part of the images oversharpened in the camera leading to noise and jpg artifacts. Better to start with medium sharpening in the camera and gently bring it up in post to the necessary sharpness without destroying detail. If you oversharpen in the camera it cant be undone. But the smart move is to shoot raw and not worry much about picture styles in the first place.

[MatthewW]

I wasn't aware it was possible NOT to use a picture style when shooting, even in RAW?

After all, even Neutral/Faithful are, in fact, picture styles.

[PMCphotography]

I use the "neutral " setting with the sharpness backed off one click.

I prefer to add sharpness and contrast on PP- both those are easier to add than take away.

[neilwood32]

I wasn't aware it was possible NOT to use a picture style when shooting, even in RAW?

After all, even Neutral/Faithful are, in fact, picture styles.

They are but they impart almost no change in an image.

When shooting RAW, picture styles only become an issue when viewing on the LCD and when importing to DPP etc (where the picture style becomes the starting point).

[godzakka]

For normal shooting (parties, air shows, etc), I tend to stick to standard with +2 Sat and +3 Sharp and Auto WB. Consistently good results in my images, I feel. All at JPG settings, never RAW.

During low light shooting, especially twilight, I've found myself turning to Portrait, +2 Sat, +3 Sharp and Daytime WB. Of course for shots like this I use RAW+JPG, so I can fine tune later, but honestly, most of the time I tune the RAW files to be so close to my above settings that I just don't need RAW that much anymore.

And while someone inevitably always comes and corrects me and tells me what I'm doing wrong by not shooting RAW, I say go with what works for you. For me, solid out of camera JPG images seem to make me, my customers and my viewers happy, even when printed at 12x18" or 16x20".

[pinoyplaya]

I shoot in RAW and do not use DPP, so Picture Styles don't really apply on my images :( I wish it did though. I like the picture styles Canon has on their website especially the "Clear" one.

[400dabuser]

I like doing my photos individually in DPP, it has finer controls over what you do, a custom setting? Don't have any

[ccp900]

heres the power of picture styles, i read this guy doesnt do post on his pic....that can be argued but canon HK had an interview with him seeing what he had done with the picture style editor
http://www.flickr.com/people/kevin32832/

http://www.canon.com.hk/en/canonclub/article/kevinwang.aspx

[kaydawgy]

I usually shoot in RAW as well when Im doing events, but for simpler stuff that isnt going to win me prizes, i tend to stick with Portrait with sharpness cranked up.

[ChadAndreo]

I wish I could get the results kevin wang gets. What other picture styles are people using?

[WaltA]

Not even sure what my picture styles are set to in either camera. I shoot RAW and LR doesn't use them.

[seek167]

I have a canon rebel t2i Im using it for different kinds of pictures each time i use the camera. I was wondering what is the best quality to use? is raw, raw+l or just that funny shape next to the L... All the things I read are kind of confusing me. I was also wondering if the picture style made a difference. I didn't see much but I don't have much of a train eye. I am just learning this camera. Any tips on anything with this camera would be great. Thank you in advance.

[tonylong]

Well, there are typically three levels of jpeg sizes, Small, Medium and Large, so if you want the fullest resolution go Large. There are also compression qualities, from Course (jagged "stairstep" icon) to Fine (smooth curve icon). So, the "best" quality jpeg with the highest resolution would be L with the smooth icon for Large/Fine.

Now, Raw is a different matter-- you have different Raw options (depending on your camera -- I don't have a T2i). These would range from sRaw (a lower resolution) to just Raw, the full resolution. These are not compressed like the jpegs -- they are also not processed into an actual image using the Picture Styles, White Balance and other settings.

So, the Raw files give you high quality but you have to process them in a Raw processing app, such as the Canon software Digital Photo Professional that came with your camera. In the Raw software you make the choices of how to process them and are responsible for determining the final quality and size. From there you do the conversion to either a jpeg or a tiff to apply those decisions and the processing.

You may wonder why shoot Raw -- there is a subforum that has frequent discussions on the subect, check it out, but in a nutshell the Raw file retains the full range of data captured by the sensor, whereas when a jpeg is created it has processed the data according to those settings I mentioned, then compresses the resulting image into an 8 bit "cooked" jpeg and discard "unused" image data. This is great as long as you don't need to do "serious" processing -- jpegs are much smaller than Raw files and so you can shoot faster and process faster, but for many types of shooting you can make use of the greater range of image data in a Raw file.

As to using Picture Styles, check your camera manual -- they are designed and named targeting types of shooting you do. For general use Standard gives pretty good results, Landscape puts a bit more "poof" in an image but is not so good for, say, Portraits (which is therefore given its own PS). The two that are more "vague" are Neutral and Faithful -- read the descriptions in your manual. Take some time experimenting and see if there are types of shots that seem to "work" with those. That's all I can suggest!

[Tomash]

I shoot RAW. I don't think picture styles apply.

[tonylong]

I shoot RAW. I don't think picture styles apply.

Well, there are a couple of actual uses for Picture Styles if you are a Raw shooter. In the camera, you should be aware that the Picture Style affects the Histogram. Specifically, the contrast and saturation values can present a "false" reading, typically pushing luminance and RGB values beyond what they "really" are. Of course, Raw files have built-in highlight headroom but, especially if you are one who likes to Expose To The Right (ETTR) then you can benefit by using the Neutral Picture Style and even going beyond that by setting your Contrast and Saturation to zero -- you can then nudge your exposure and visually verify that you are keeping within the more generous guidelines.

Now for those who don't pursue ETTR and who prefer to just get a properly exposed shot the Picture Style will still be OK if you have it and the White Balance proper for your scene, because you don't want to push things farther than that "good exposure" level necessarily, although still with Raw you do have more latitude.

Of course, if you use DPP you also have the nifty ability of DPP to read the picture style and use it when rendering your Raw preview, and I think that's pretty nifty. I have my cameras set to Neutral though, so I just wait until I get my grubby paws on the pics to play with the Picture Styles if I decide to load them into DPP. It's a fun program to play with even though Lightroom is my "serious" Raw processor.

[seek167]

Thanks that helped. I am still reading and learning with this camera. I don't ever understand half of the stuff I read but when someone explains it like you did I understood the whole RAW thing. I will be taking a lot of pictures of cars and cars at the tracks. Its hard to practice these thing when the weather here is cold, snow, rain, etc... Is there anything you can suggest to help me at all?

thank you once again

[tonylong]

Thanks that helped. I am still reading and learning with this camera. I don't ever understand half of the stuff I read but when someone explains it like you did I understood the whole RAW thing. I will be taking a lot of pictures of cars and cars at the tracks. Its hard to practice these thing when the weather here is cold, snow, rain, etc... Is there anything you can suggest to help me at all?

thank you once again

Well, cars is a specialty, that's for sure, and it's not a field that I have any expertise in. But, yeah, shooting in Raw will help you tame unwanted highlights and such, but light is the big factor with Raw shooting -- light and composition because there is a huge difference between shooting a car just sitting around and shooting a car that jumps out at you.

Have you checked out the Transportation sub-forum of the Photo Sharing section? You might find some ideas there:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=37

[Hellenico]

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2418/5783463856_15c4946eac_m.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenicos/5783463856/)
Buckminster & UNO overlooking Kenmore Square (http://www.flickr.com/photos/helenicos/5783463856/) by helenicos (http://www.flickr.com/people/helenicos/), on Flickr


My custom "Velvia 50" Canon Picture style applied (replicated the Fuji Velvia 50 Film colors!!!) on a RAW shot of an S95 !!!


Camera Canon PowerShot S95
Exposure 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture f/4.0
Focal Length 15 mm
ISO Speed 320
Exposure Bias 0 EV