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Position:Home>Visual Arts> About the color histograms on the D300...?Question: About the color histograms on the D300!.!.!.!? Do you use the color histograms!? If you are not happy with the distribution of one channel's histogram, what adjustments would you make before reshooting!? Would you accomplish this with a filter!? Would you use a custom picture control setting!? Would you fine tune the white balance!?
Thanks!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: Hi Doc, my last Answer on here is yours!.!.!. I can't support the 'regime' here and I think we can do better - come and join in! :) Yes, I do refer to colour histograms, but the most important item is the reference to the overall exposure range and any 'clipping' rather than colour channel balance per se!. One of the main points of histograms and being able to view colour channels is that you Can't trust the preview image, which changes radically under different lighting conditions!. The channel histograms are actually of more use when it comes to shooting JPEG and TIFF files - you can use that information to help select an appropriate colour balance setting!.!.!. looking at neutral ends of the spectrum!. ;) If I am shooting wide latitude / contra jour images I will invariably choose RAW so I have full colour balance (and exposure corrections) available in post, so the colour info is not a critical asset at that stage!. I never colour filter a digital image: it's easier and more accurate to do it later on a calibrated monitor, or to choose an appropriate WB setting (or CWB), so the only correction I would make is to exposure - overexpose in RAW when you get clipping or you'll get noise when you pop the shadows, underexpose on JPEG and TIFF for highlight detail retention!. I rarely if ever use custom picture settings - again I have much more control and subtlety in post as custom settings often use a range of filters, e!.g!. for Portrait mode, you can get a combo of warm-up, softness, low contrast etc!. Ditto the white balance!.!.!. at most I would simply use a click balance in post, followed by a tune-up, which is non destructive using Adobe Camera RAW, Bridge or CS3!. Doc, if you take a look at my work you'll see the mixes of light I play with - in the old days I'd be using a colour meter with tranny and colour correction filters (or just plain neg)!.!.!. no longer!. http://www!.upstone-photography!.com - drop me a mail! I hope that helps!. Mike EDIT - Lizzie, be careful where gynaecological issues are concerned!.!.!. lots of photographers have been known to dabble in that department - you could end up with a considerably wider exposure range than you intended! :)Www@QuestionHome@Com I have been known to look at it sort of like seeking a second opinion!. However I believe white balance is best fine tuned afterwards on computer!. The only time the camera's color histogram would compel me to change WB would be if things were grossly distorted, by which time I would spot it with the naked eye before shooting!. I think the only time you could correct a given channel's histogram would be to mess with the lighting source!. Most times when things are really messed up is because you can't change the source anyway!. I admit it has been more just of a curiosity to me than a useful tool!. It does impress the heck out of other photographers when you show them what the D300 does! If white balance is important to me in a given shot (flesh tones etc!.) then I would use a gray card anyway!.Www@QuestionHome@Com Most cameras just show the Luminance (Light level) histogram which is used for checking the exposure is within the bounds of the sensors tonal range (not burnt out or pushed to black), the problem with this is that it's possible for the Luminance histogram, which is an average of the Red, Green and Blue channels, to look OK, but one channel (usually the blue with a bright sky) will be blown!. By keeping them separate, Nikon allow to see the channels individually so you tell if the blue channel is burnt out or not, which might mean an adjustment to the exposure, or indicate theres too much tonal range for the sensor and you might need to bracket shots!. It doesn't mean you need to correct the colour, if theres a lot of red in the picture then your histogram will have a 'fat' red histogram, if theres a lot of grass in the scene then the green histogram will show alot of content which just means there are a lot of pixels that are green in your picture (not surprisingly), not that there is a green cast!. ChrisWww@QuestionHome@Com I'm not sure!. My gynecologist suggested a histogram at one stage but i wasn't too keen on the idea!. You say they now do this electronically using color tools!? I am unsure what adjustments would have to be made after a histogram before re-shooting!. (I can't believe you asked that!) This is a very strange question!.Www@QuestionHome@Com To be honest, I don't use any of the doodads on the LCD!. I use the knowledge I have gained by shooting thousands of images, to set up the camera beforehand for the task!. That way I know exactly what I'm going to get when I press the trigger!. Sorry if I come off as a snotrag but it's like flying -- there's absolutely no substitute for stick time!. VWww@QuestionHome@Com this is above my head right now!.!.!.!.my camera is color-true most of the time unless i mess with the white ballance, it floors alot of my friends who are canon nuts!. (i shoot with an olympus e-500)!.Www@QuestionHome@Com i find a peice of white paper is all i need to set white balance, i find a palm reading ( plus one stop ) gives me true exposure, never use histograms!. aWww@QuestionHome@Com |