Nikon D5600 Picture Advise

wcharon

Senior Member
Hi to the Community...

First I have to say that i am a NEWBIE in Photography. I bought a D5600 with the 18/55 and 70/300. Also got the prime 85mm 2.8g. Started to take some pics in Manual Mode on ISO 100, Aperture F11 and 1/25s. To my eyes looking thru the display the color of the pics seemed OK but when i transferred them to the computer they looked pale or light in color.

I have several questions but in the meantime i will ask the most important at this moment:

1. Should i use the Auto ISO settings on?
2. What is a free friendly program to edit the pics?
3. Any other advise is GREATLY appreciated.

Attached is a pic for reference.
 

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Marilynne

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
I use Nikon's ViewNX-i to edit my photos. You can download it free at the Nikon website.

Under the Shooting menu (camera icon), what are you using for Set Picture Control? I use vivid.



 

nikonpup

Senior Member
suggest you try "a" auto to start taking pictures. Imo there is nothing wrong using auto when you are a beginning photographer. For photo editing programs use google to find free programs and try them till you find something you are comfortable with. I use picasa which is a old program no longer supported but has some features i like for some situations.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Hi to the Community...

First I have to say that i am a NEWBIE in Photography. I bought a D5600 with the 18/55 and 70/300. Also got the prime 85mm 2.8g. Started to take some pics in Manual Mode on ISO 100, Aperture F11 and 1/25s. To my eyes looking thru the display the color of the pics seemed OK but when i transferred them to the computer they looked pale or light in color.

I have several questions but in the meantime i will ask the most important at this moment:

1. Should i use the Auto ISO settings on?
2. What is a free friendly program to edit the pics?
3. Any other advise is GREATLY appreciated.

Attached is a pic for reference.
Well the over-arching issue with the shots you posted is exposure. Since I don't know your level of understanding, it needs to be asked: How well do you understand the rudiments of getting proper exposure (e.g. Aperture and Shutter Speed) and the role of ISO?

Your first shot, at least, can be spiffed up pretty well in my opinion (not that I spent any real time on this)...
......
test-2 #2.jpg

......
But the better solution, in my opinion, would be to get better exposure in camera which is why I'm answering your questions with another question. Better to have a proper understanding of the tools so you can apply them from a position of real understanding rather than just throwing solutions at the wall and seeing which one sticks.
 
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wcharon

Senior Member
Thanks for the advise @nikonpup and [MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION]...

Well to be honest regarding the principles role not much. What i can say is Aperture is the light that goes in the sensor, ISO is to compensate the light in lower conditions and Shutter Speed is to freeze movements. Am i correct and sorry if not well explained?

That's why i was thinking the Auto ISO was affecting the settings. First pic settings was 1/25, f/11, ISO 180 and 42mm. Second is at 1/30, f/14, ISO 100 and 165mm.

Thanks once again.
 

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Thanks for the advise @nikonpup and [MENTION=13090]Horoscope Fish[/MENTION]...

Well to be honest regarding the principles role not much. What i can say is Aperture is the light that goes in the sensor, ISO is to compensate the light in lower conditions and Shutter Speed is to freeze movements. Am i correct and sorry if not well explained?

That's why i was thinking the Auto ISO was affecting the settings. First pic settings was 1/25, f/11, ISO 180 and 42mm. Second is at 1/30, f/14, ISO 100 and 165mm.

Thanks once again.
Well you're on the right track. If you want to take better pictures I'd suggest a you read up a little on the concepts of exposure, especially if you want to shoot in full Manual. Exposure is quite arguably the single most important aspect of photography you need to fully understand.

This video by Sean von Tagen I would consider essential viewing for you: Shoot in Manual Mode Part 1 - Aperture, Shutter Speed and ISO Explained

In this video Tony Northrup demonstrates, in very practical terms, how these three elements work together to get you the shot you want (ignore the fact he's a Canon shooter): Aperture, Shutter Speed, ISO, & Light Explained-Understanding Exposure & Camera Settings.

I would encourage you to do further research on your own and that you experiment with your own gear because you will never, EVER move away from these core concepts, regardless of how good you get at photography or what type of photography you do. Simply put: If you don't understand exposure, you don't understand photography.

As a parting shot I will mention that you will, undoubtedly, run into arguments posed by those who do not like the concept of the Exposure Triangle; saying that ISO is not a part of exposure and that we are leading beginner photographers down the Primrose Path by perpetuating this myth. I'm not going to wade into that debate because I have developed an understanding of how ISO affects my shooting based on my own experience and I consider myself a Photographer, not a Photographic Engineer. So... Whatever my understanding is, and regardless of how technically correct it may, or may not, be, it's working for me and that's good enough FOR me. I'll leave endless (and I do mean ENDLESS) hashing of this point to those more predisposed to the technical aspects of photography over the artistic.
 
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Mark F

Senior Member
You could play around with the Sunny 16 rule
Sunny - f/16 |100 ISO | 100-125 shutter
Partly Cloudy - f/11
Cloudy -f/8
Really cloudy -f/5.6
Sunrise and sunset - f/4
From there you can see how the camera reacts to different f stops in different light.

The only time I use auto iso is for fast action and low light.
 
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wcharon

Senior Member
You could play around with the Sunny 16 rule
Sunny - f/16 |100 ISO | 100-125 shutter
Partly Cloudy - f/11
Cloudy -f/8
Really cloudy -f/5.6
Sunrise and sunset - f/4
From there you can see how the camera reacts to different f stops in different light.

The only time I use auto iso is for fast action and low light.

Thanks [MENTION=12825]Mark F[/MENTION]... Will give that a try...
 

dachshund

Senior Member
This discussion begs the question what is a good auto ISO limit? I use 3200 on my D5600 and D3300. What is the suggested setting among folks here? I have the ISO set to 100 as the base setting. Thanx in advance for any input
 

Bikerbrent

Senior Member
This discussion begs the question what is a good auto ISO limit? I use 3200 on my D5600 and D3300. What is the suggested setting among folks here? I have the ISO set to 100 as the base setting. Thanx in advance for any input

It all depends on what noise level you can accept! If you are happy with the results at ISO 3200 then you are good to go. If not happy with these results, then lower the ISO limit until you get results you are happy with. There is a good chance that the D5600 may work well at a higher ISO than the D3300 (D5600 is newer and a step up from the D3200).
 
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dachshund

Senior Member
It all depends on what noise level you can accept! If you are happy with the results at ISO 3200 then you are good to go. If not happy with these results, then lower the ISO limit until you get results you are happy with. There is a good chance that the D5600 may work well at a higher ISO than the D3300 (D5600 is newer and a step up from the D3200).

Thanx for the input. Your answer reinforces some other sources. There seems to some distrust of auto-iso in general, kind of like “there’s no such thing as a free lunch”. I think within reason, it’s a good tool, but I won’t be using 25000 any time soon, unless I want to take pictures of two crows in a coal mine.
 

mikew_RIP

Senior Member
This discussion begs the question what is a good auto ISO limit? I use 3200 on my D5600 and D3300. What is the suggested setting among folks here? I have the ISO set to 100 as the base setting. Thanx in advance for any input

Depends on many things, how important is getting the picture,how much noise you can stand, the camera model, and very importantly what you intend to use the image for, my Z50 is set auto iso to its maximum 51200 iso, not that i would recommend that, that is just my choice.

ISO 10000 and cropped

DSC_3316 by electric.mike, on Flickr

ISO 20000

DSC_0059 by electric.mike, on Flickr


I never want this high iso but not too bothered if i get it.
 
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