Just one more question on the 40D, please!

I recently bought a 40D and like it a bunch. While I was researching which camera to buy, I seem to recall reading about changing the default settings to obtain better results when shooting jpgs. Have any of you done that? Can you offer suggested settings, please. Or any other changes in the defaults settings for better results with any other features?

BTW: I did a search on this website to see if this topic has already been discussed, but I couldn't find any.

Also, are there any words of wisdom or warnings regarding downloading new drivers or progrms for the 40D?

You help will be appreciated very much.

Thanks

I think you should strongly consider shooting RAW, then all the various "Picture Style" .jpg settings are irrelevant - you are free to process to .jpgs any way you like any time in the future without being locked into whatever you had set in-camera and throwing away the RAW data. The camera comes with all the software you need for processing the RAW images and there's tons of info here on the forums, give it a try!

There aren't any "drivers" or "programs" for the 40D. There are pictures styles that can be downloaded and applied to the camera, and you can adjust the standard picture styles or create your own (check the Canon website for details).

...& welcome to the forum!

There are updates to Canon software. Just real carefully to make sure what you are looking at is 40D compatible.

As for settings, its probably best to experiment to find the settings you like because people can like different looks.

Id actually delay the 'shoot RAW' advice and look at picture styles for now( see manual for how to engage - its a button on the back at the bottom) , shoot in JPEG Large and set landscape mode (well try it and see if you like it) - i do when im lazy... RAW is great but for everyday shooting for the novice id say learn the camera more and then know when your going for a groundbreaking photo and take it in raw as well....

it definantly improves images but often a keenly photoshopped jpeg can compete on an everyday usage scenario - and processing RAW for that pic of your kid in the backyard - for me - just isnt worth it alot of the time.

I may get blasted for these comments but its just advice... take it with a grain of salt...

Super-Nicko wrote in post #6238564
Id actually delay the 'shoot RAW' advice and look at picture styles for now( see manual for how to engage - its a button on the back at the bottom) , shoot in JPEG Large and set landscape mode (well try it and see if you like it) - i do when im lazy... RAW is great but for everyday shooting for the novice id say learn the camera more and then know when your going for a groundbreaking photo and take it in raw as well....

it definantly improves images but often a keenly photoshopped jpeg can compete on an everyday usage scenario - and processing RAW for that pic of your kid in the backyard - for me - just isnt worth it alot of the time.

I may get blasted for these comments but its just advice... take it with a grain of salt...

I agree, learn the camera, get the jpegs the way you want them, then move into learning about raw files and how to tweak them to generate the jpegs. It will give you more creative flexibility/recovery by working with the core sensor data, but I agree that is a later phase.

At this point, just read up on the picture styles in the manual, and play with the existing ones/create your own variations, they are handy in a snap.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #6238602
I agree, learn the camera, get the jpegs the way you want them, then move into learning about raw files and how to tweak them to generate the jpegs. It will give you more creative flexibility/recovery by working with the core sensor data, but I agree that is a later phase.

At this point, just read up on the picture styles in the manual, and play with the existing ones/create your own variations, they are handy in a snap.

I also agree with these two - nothing wrong with jpegs (large/fine) and that also encourages you to get as good a photo as you can in the first place.

In the past, with my 300D and 350D, I have never changed the picture styles (think the 300D didnt have the option, cant remember now lol), but with my 40D (which I have had since May of this year), I did change to Faithful and increased the sharpness to 4 or 5 I think it was. I much prefer the look of Faithful, with nothing else changed in those settings - I think the manual states that Faithful makes the images looked washed out (or maybe that was natural/neutral), but they look much nicer to be honest than Standard. Of course it also depends on what sort of shots you like taking as to how you want them to look, so its definitely worth trying the others.

Linda

I believe that picture styles started in the XTi for the Rebels, and the 30D for the xxD series. I could be wrong though, I have gone through too many bodies to remember clearly. I find that I personally like the look of the landscape style, with a minor tweak for my custom style. I have found that a variation on the faithful style is great for portraits for what I shoot though.

TeamSpeed wrote in post #6238955
I believe that picture styles started in the XTi for the Rebels, and the 30D for the xxD series. I could be wrong though, I have gone through too many bodies to remember clearly. I find that I personally like the look of the landscape style, with a minor tweak for my custom style. I have found that a variation on the faithful style is great for portraits for what I shoot though.

Yeah I might try Landscape soon, when the autumn colour arrives - I dont do a lot of that sort of photography but would like to do some more as I have recently bought the 24-105 F4L IS USM so will give that picture style a go soon. I mostly do macro stuff and some bird shots so the Faithful is brilliant for those - I found the Standard a bit too larey (probably ok if you shoot raw but I dont at the moment - I experimented ages ago and saw very little difference with what I was shooting so didnt bother, but probably will again sometime).

Linda

i set mine to user 1, and set to (by pressing info button)
sharpness + 6
Contrast +2
the other two i kept 0

I set mine based looking sample pics on 40D review at dpreview, and choose which i like

Picture styles do serve one or two purposes even when shooting RAW.... they just aren't the "final word" on how your images will appear... in other words you can still change your mind. (There's a lot less room to change your mind with JPEGs, because so much data is thrown away during the in camera conversion).

Here's what Picture Styles do when shooting RAW:

1. The chosen Picture Style will dictate how the review image will appear on the camera's LCD. This isn't a huge deal, since the review image itself is of somewhat limited use (the histogram is far more informative). However, you can tweak the Picture Style if you wish, to change how the image appears on the LCD a bit.

This is because in order to display any review image on the LCD, the camera has to produce a small JPEG "thumbnail" and it uses the chosen and/or tweaked Picture Style as a guide how to do so.

2. If you use Canon DPP to convert your RAW files, it will first try to use the "tags" that the chosen Picture Style has applied to the file, so the preview will will reflect those settings. You have the option to change any of the settings, though, before making the conversion. And, so long as you archive your RAW files, you can always change your mind later and go back and convert the file differently.

Yes. There is an argument for going ahead and doing in camera JPEGs as a learning tool. That forces you to be more careful setting the camera. However, the same can be said for shooting RAW and doing conversions later. On your larger computer monitor you can see what's going on a lot more clearly and accurately, than you can in camera.

Of course, you could always shoot RAW + JPEG, so long as you have enough memory cards. I normally just shoot RAW, although it makes for a lot more post-processing. But, when we are printing on site I'll shoot RAW + JPEG so our printing folks don't have to spend their time doing conversions. I think you'd find most news and sports photogs are shooting JPEG or RAW + JPEG, too, in order to meet deadlines.