Canon 1DII JPEG Settings

[Jack Flesher]

Here is what I use for indoor sports jpegs on that cam:

Portrait color (option #2), Sharpness at +4, Contrast at +1, jpeg compression at 8 (std) and NR "on".   Even at very high ISO's (1250) this delivers a very good print-ready image straight out of the cam.

Cheers,

Jack

[Jack Flesher]

For outdoor sports you're better off with contrast set to minimum, or you'll have blown highlights and/or blocked shadows. You can always boost contrast, but if you apply too much in-camera, you're screwed.

Actually, I have not found this to be the case with the 1DII, though I typically meter manually with the histogram.  

However, in changing light situations where I rely on the in-camera AE, I generally dial in -1/3 or -2/3 compensation to protect the right-hand toe of the curve.

Cheers,
Jack

[DiaAzul]

Here is what I use for indoor sports jpegs on that cam:

Portrait color (option #2), Sharpness at +4, Contrast at +1, jpeg compression at 8 (std) and NR "on".   Even at very high ISO's (1250) this delivers a very good print-ready image straight out of the cam.

Cheers,

Jack

Jack, thanks very much that is exactly what I was looking for. Compared with a RAW conversion the colours look a little 'off', but for what I need they are close enough  

JW - have you thought of uploading a custom curve to your camera for the horses, it would allow you to maintain contrast at the extremes and flatten contrast in the mid-tones (or any other funkiness you may wish to try). Failing that get the riders to wash there clothes in a different detergent -without the extra 'brightener' - may give you a stop or two to play with :-)

ciao caio

[Jack Flesher]

Try shooting dressage, where the participants wear white pants and shirts with black velvet vests and hats in direct sunlight. Keeping sunlit white and black velvet in the shadows from spiking both ends of the histogram simultaneously is a real PITA, even with the 1D-MkII. The same principles apply to outdoor weddings, although there really isn't any good excuse not to shoot those RAW.

Outdoor sports such as baseball has the same issues -- white pants with dark jerseys or vice-versa.  

And again, I have not had a problem with blown whites using the above settings -- but I do check the histogram to be sure I avoid blowing the whites.

[Jack Flesher]

Jack .. Why would you shoot at JPEG compression of 8 and not the highest quality of 10?  There is approx 2MB of lost info in the default comp of 8 compared to 10...

Because I do not see a signifcant loss in image quality between 8 and 10, and if I'm shooting jpeg to begin with, it's to have smaller files.

Cheers,
Jack

[DiaAzul]

I have been a lifelong RAW shooter, however, I will shortly need to undertake some work using JPEGs directly from the camera.

In order that I don't have to spend a week or so working out all the menus and settings, does anyone have a set of prefered JPEG settings for a 1DII for outdoor event type work that produce reasonably sharp results which can be displayed more or less immediately.

Many thanks in advance

[Jonathan Wienke]

For outdoor sports you're better off with contrast set to minimum, or you'll have blown highlights and/or blocked shadows. You can always boost contrast, but if you apply too much in-camera, you're screwed.

[Jonathan Wienke]

Try shooting dressage, where the participants wear white pants and shirts with black velvet vests and hats in direct sunlight. Keeping sunlit white and black velvet in the shadows from spiking both ends of the histogram simultaneously is a real PITA, even with the 1D-MkII. The same principles apply to outdoor weddings, although there really isn't any good excuse not to shoot those RAW.

[Jonathan Wienke]

I actually did make a 1Ds tone curve to increase the DR captured in JPEGs; for the 1D-MkII I simply set contrast to minimum, which does pretty much the same thing. But the color is a bit better.

[Jack Flesher]

Jack, thanks very much that is exactly what I was looking for. Compared with a RAW conversion the colours look a little 'off', but for what I need they are close enough  

No problem  

I agree they are not perfect, but pretty close out of the gate.  The portrait color mode is a tad soft, and if you want to be anal about getting it closer to perfect, you can pump the colors nicely by adding about 8~10 points of saturation in PS. At the same time, dialing in about -3 on the hue slider removes the slight tint of green from the shadows, but does warm the whites slightly.  I made a simple action for this and batch it on the jpegs if I feel the need -- takes only seconds to process them this way.

[BigRed450]

Jack .. Why would you shoot at JPEG compression of 8 and not the highest quality of 10?  There is approx 2MB of lost info in the default comp of 8 compared to 10...