Dumb Question

[Al Beatty 0]

Hi group,

 

Something about digital camera have been bugging me so I'll ask the dumb question. Why does the shot alway look better on the camera's LCD than it does after downloading into the computer? It's alway much darker/muddy when first downloaded. Is there an adjustment feature (for the LCD image) setup menus I've missed in all of my digital cameras (P&S or SLR)? Thanks in advance for your comments. Take care & ...

 

Tight Lines - Al Beatty

www.btsflyfishing.com

Flyfisher magazine

[Wulff 0]

alot has to do with the small size of a LCD.

For example I could take a shot and at full resolution it can be horribly out of focus, but with some sharpening an resizing down to 800 x 400 it can look wickedly sharp.

 

The LCDs also do make the imges appear brighter than they are. Lastly, dpending on the type of camera and dslr all cameras apply differing amounts of in camera processing. In large part to satisfy the people who want to take an image and see good results out of the box and this is most apparent with PnSs. With DSLRs its assumd the photographer is willing to do some post processing athouh if you set in camera processing hparamaters high enough, you can have the camera do all of it.

 

If your shooting raw than almost no procesing is done, thats left entirely to the photographer todo in post processing, so raw files do look horrid when DLed vs whats seen on the lcd.

 

J

[Will Milne 0]

AL

 

What you are describing is pretty much a given with digital. LCD screen images wil look brighter/snappier than the downloaded image. If you work in RAW format the difference is even more startling:).

 

The fix is .......

 

Use the LCD image to judge composition and nothing else. Use the Histograms to judge exposure . Just like film you really have to think of the digital file as a first step , that requires in the case of film- interpretation of the negative as it makes the transition to paper through wet chemistry. In the case of digital the same applies, through image editing software , as the file makes the transition to web image/print etc.

 

Will

[Graham 0]

Hi Al,

 

I asked myself the same question recently when taking some pics at a friends Christmas party. I was bouncing flash off the ceiling, mostly taking pics of kids by the tree opening presents, and the images looked perfect on the LCD screen. I haven't done much indoor flash photography, and I was surprised upon opening the files that they were underexposed by a full stop. Nikon Capture worked very well to brighten the photos and luckily none of the shadows were locked up but I was surprised to learn that the on-camera LCD could be so much brighter. But, I guess thats something I've learned while bracketing sunset shots in the Adirondacks last summer, and Will Mine is right, the Histogram is the best way to judge exposure. I have my camera set up now to show the entire pic on the LCD, with flashing white to signal any over exposed areas, and at the bottom of the screen is the RGB histogram. But I'm typically used to making sure I haven't blown the whites instead of locking up shadows. I think it takes a lot of practice to be able to look at your scene and know just how much true black there is and to balance that with the amount of true black on the histogram.

 

I guess thats one of the things I love about photography, I have decades of learning and practice in front of me and it will allways be a challenge.

 

Graham

[Graham 0]

One other thing, the camera LCD brightness can be adjusted in the menu section, and perhaps there are times, such as indoor flash photography, when it might be helpful to darken the LCD?

[FlyTyingPhotographer 0]

Another variable is that computer screens are not always accurate. I've noticed especially in older computers that they seem to be much darker. Graphics and photography professionals often calibrate their screens to get proper colors, brightness and exposures. You would have to get a colorimeter for this. It gets even more compliceted when you try to print from your computer with a printer. Because then the printer and computer need to be calibrated for accurate exposures. Adjustments can change over time and need to be rechecked. I still shoot film and scan it. I can make all the adjustments I need to make in photoshop or with my scanner software.

 

Rob

Http://www.RobValineimages.com

[FishHawk 0]

It's your computer screen. I used to work in pre-press and digitail photography before I retired and we had computer screens that could be calibrated. They're very expensive. FishHawk.