Best settings for picture control

J

jayw

Senior Member
As I get more use of my D5300, I'm finding the results to be lacking in saturation, etc. First, I'm using the "P" setting and a Tamron 16-300mm lens with VR enabled when hand held.

I did some research and found the Picture Control settings. I also read that there is an "A" (automatic) setting for each setting (Saturation, etc.). Has anyone used the "A" settings and what are your thoughts?
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
This is mostly a question of personal taste.

You could try using a different picture Control (landscape or vivid) and, if these still don't satisfy you, you can change their settings in picture control adjustments.

The A setting is used to have a priority on aperture when you take the pictures, the picture controls are used to flavor the raw file converted by the camera.

My way of doing it is to shoot raw and then apply whatever I think my picture needs as far as post processing.

Good luck.
 
R

RocketCowboy

Senior Member
Like Marcel mentioned, I found Vivid to be my favorite, but Landscape was also a good setting when shooting landscapes.

One thing I would suggest for both would be to look into adding sharpness to the default settings. And remember, Picture Control only affects jpegs processed by the camera, so you won't see the changes with RAW files unless using Nikon editing software to process.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
jayw said:
As I get more use of my D5300, I'm finding the results to be lacking in saturation, etc. First, I'm using the "P" setting and a Tamron 16-300mm lens with VR enabled when hand held.

I did some research and found the Picture Control settings. I also read that there is an "A" (automatic) setting for each setting (Saturation, etc.). Has anyone used the "A" settings and what are your thoughts?
Click to expand...
If you shoot RAW your shots coming out of the camera look dull and flat because that's the nature of a raw file; you adjust pretty much everything (saturation, contrast, etc) during post processing. You can apply profiles such as Vivid, Landscape, Portrait, etc. with just a click during post processing if you choose to.

If you're primarily shooting JPG, profiles allow you a lot of flexibility. When I shot JPG the Picture Control I used most often was Standard but with the Saturation setting bumped slightly and of course I always suggest JPG shooters adjust the Sharpness setting in whatever Picture Control being used from the bizarrely low default setting of 2 to either 6 or 7. As for there being an "Automatic" setting for Picture Controls, I just checked my girlfriends D5300 to be certain, and there is no such setting. You have to choose a particular setting for every adjustment in each of the individual Picture Control menus. If you're not happy with the degree of saturation in your JPG photos, try using the Vivid Picture Control. Just remember to adjust the Sharpness setting.
 
Fred Kingston

Fred Kingston

Senior Member
Along with what's already been posted... There are facilities for creating your own Picture Control files, and uploading/installing them to your camera...
 
J

jayw

Senior Member
If you look to the extreme left of the slide, say saturation, you'll see an "A" for automatic. But thanks for the hint on adjustments.
 
F

Fat Fingers

Banned
Every Nikon I have D3300 D7100 D800 D810 and all I have ever had have been at Sharp +9 and I shoot thousands of professional photos a week and never had any problems .If you have older lenses from the film era then up the contrast to + 3 and they will be excellent.

If you ever get a camera with Clarity control leave it alone ..its a picture wrecker
 
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