# Have You Adjusted Any In-Camera Settings Such as Contrast, Sharpness etc....



## PeK77 (Dec 31, 2013)

I have a Nikon D5300 and am wondering if anybody has adjusted sharpness settings in their camera body.  I've been shooting potraits with a 50mm and the eyes are very sharp - they're just not crystal clear sharp.  I've also heard of photographers adjusting sharpness with masks in post.  I'd prefer to get as much directly out of the camera as possible.

Thanks in advance!


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## Tailgunner (Dec 31, 2013)

PeK77 said:


> I have a Nikon D5300 and am wondering if anybody has adjusted sharpness settings in their camera body.  I've been shooting potraits with a 50mm and the eyes are very sharp - they're just not crystal clear sharp.  I've also heard of photographers adjusting sharpness with masks in post.  I'd prefer to get as much directly out of the camera as possible.
> 
> Thanks in advance!



Since I shoot a lot in Jpeg, I try to get things as close as possible in-camera. It's probably not as important shooting in RAW since the RAW/NEF file retains so much information that you can adjust later in Post. Anyhow, I adjust sharpness a notch or two and White Balance around A3 depending one what my subject looks like ATM.


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## Derrel (Dec 31, 2013)

I often shoot RAW + JPEG in the camera, and set the sharpening to "HARD" in the menu. It's a good sharpening algorithm that Nikon has, and it's tailored to each JPEG size, compression level, and of course to each camera.

I think if you want to shoot JPEG, you need to turn the auto-vignette correction to at least Normal. Tone Curve is the setting for how contrasty or flat the image is; I think that can make THE BIGGEST difference of most of the control options, so, be aware that like, on say a flat-light overcast day, you can, and probably should, turn the Tone Curve control to a HIGHER-than normal setting! In harsh, bright, contrast-laden sunny beach in the summer kinda' light, turn the Tone Curve to LOW.

AUTO tone curve does a good job.

Saturation--turn it up a little bit. On cloudy or foggy days, crank the Saturation upward.

I think the easiest way to make simple, fast tweaks is to shoot in Vivid or Direct Print modes, both of which for example, make some real, actual changes to the basic settings, ones that you can easily SEE.


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## Overread (Dec 31, 2013)

Adjusting sharpening in the camera isn't getting more out of the camera as such. All it does is tell the cameras built in processing software to apply more sharpening to the final JPEG that the camera produces. 

As such it only affects JPEG output and if you're shooting in RAW mode you won't get any benefit. 

Furthermore its only sharpening the photo; you can do that yourself in editing outside of the camera using software; better still you can adjust the amount of sharpening to suit the photo since some will less than others. If you've used a high sharpening in the camera you can't go back and say "wait a sec this shot doesn't need it" (if shooting in JPEG mode). 
Furthermore the camera applies it to the whole photo; in editing outside of the camera you can specify where in the photo you want sharpening. 

Have a read/search on: Sharpening - unsharpen mask - clarity tool - high pass filter sharpening - output sharpening - layer masks

Ron Bigelow Photography Articles has many articles and makes a good starting point.


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## hirejn (Dec 31, 2013)

Sharpness is up to your photography skills and the quality of the lens more than the sensor. If you shoot RAW, you control sharpening of the file in post. If you shoot JPEG, the camera applies a sharpening algorithm and in post editing a JPEG is like trying to manipulate dry paint.


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## DarkShadow (Dec 31, 2013)

Yep in camera jpeg +2 sharpening, Contrast+1, Noise reduction off , Lighting Optimizer off. The defaults are more conservative.


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## PeK77 (Dec 31, 2013)

I'm surprised to see so many people shooting jpegs.  I shoot raw because I can adjust so much after the fact.  It has been really great having the flexibility to edit but it does certainly take more time.  Most of my shots that have had the biggest issues have been moving children.  Adult shots have been great.

I always shoot with a tripod.

Thanks to everybody for your reply.  There is a ton of great information in this post - thank you!


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## D-B-J (Dec 31, 2013)

I shoot RAW all the time, so I have all my in camera processing sliders set to 0 or neutral, as they essentially do nothing for me.

Jake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## hamlet (Dec 31, 2013)

I always use the raw setting. If someone likes an image i took they just say so and i give it a complete makeover in lightroom. I should probably shoot in Jpeg because i shoot hundreds of images at a time. I just dont want to ever look back at my images and regret not being able to change things.


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## Tailgunner (Jan 1, 2014)

PeK77 said:


> I'm surprised to see so many people shooting jpegs.  I shoot raw because I can adjust so much after the fact.  It has been really great having the flexibility to edit but it does certainly take more time.  Most of my shots that have had the biggest issues have been moving children.  Adult shots have been great.
> 
> I always shoot with a tripod.
> 
> Thanks to everybody for your reply.  There is a ton of great information in this post - thank you!



Well, I don't want to turn this into a RAW vs Jpeg but Jpeg has it's advantages, like shooting sports. Even Professional Sports Photographers will shoot Jpeg&#8230;they can click off more shots using Jpeg increasing their opportunity to capture a moment.


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## CaptainNapalm (Jan 1, 2014)

Many people recommend bumping up the in-camera sharpness setting from 3 (default) to 6 or so.  Of course, this will only be of benefit to you if you're shooting JPEGs.


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