Nikon D50 vs Pentax point and shoot

Vianna Szabo · 03-18-2006, 08:05 PM

Hi everyone

My first digital love was a Pentax Optio 33L. It was my introduction to the digital world and I was thrilled.... until I had to photograph a teething toddler and also found my enlargements were often pixelated. So after much searching and forum reading I purchased a Nikon D50. Wow, the clarity is astonishing but I am having real problems with it reading warm colors too strong. I am frustrated because when I photograph my paintings I cannot adjust the white balance without the flash insisting it must come on which, if you are working in oil, renders the photograph a splotchy shiny mess. When I photograph in auto with the flash off I get photos that read unrealistic warm tones. My Pentax, on auto with the flash off, reads the cool and warm tones correctly. This is true no matter what the light conditions are.

My question is am I just Nikon challenged and do not understand how to run this fine camera or is there a real problem here?

These are photos I took of a painting that is in progress. ( my way of saying excuse the mess) I photographed it inside my studio and outside, with close ups of the face. Both were with the cameras on Auto with the flash off. To me the Pentax is a much truer reading of the painting.

I appreciate any advice on this matter

Thank you, Vianna Szabo

Vianna Szabo · 03-18-2006, 08:08 PM

The first one is the Pentax and the second is the Nikon.

Help!

Chris Saper · 03-18-2006, 09:06 PM

Vianna,

I can't begin to think of all the things I don't know about that could cause this problem. The only digital camera I have had until recently is the Nikon 5700. I found that I ALWAYS had to adjust -or at least check - the levels and that my images did look a bit red. I can't say though whether that is because of my uncalibrated monitor / printer, my printer settings, the color space or what. All I know is that I had to figure out how to jury-rig my settings to get good prints and good digitally posted images. I just got a Canon and haven't yet experimented to see if the images show any differently.

Take your Nikon image into Photoshop - Image - Adjust- Hue Saturation - Reds and desaturate the reds a bit. Alternatively, try the Photo filer - Cooling filter. Or you could try the custom white balance function.

Chris Saper · 03-18-2006, 09:08 PM

PS If the flash insists on flashing, crank up the ISO, you might be able to go as high as 1600 on your tripod withot sacrificing quality. The higher ISO is like having faster film.

Vianna Szabo · 03-18-2006, 10:13 PM

Thank you, Chris for responding so quickly,

I have been running the photos through Adobe and doing as you say, reducing the saturation but the reds still overpower the cool tones. In the painting of Kayla her lips in the painting have a very soft blush of violet over them that is lost in the image. Actually violet tones are predominate in the painting and I do not feel that is represented. No amount of fiddling on Adobe brought that out. I have not tried the Cooling filter (Is that in Adobe?) or messing around with my printer settings. Although the Printer is giving me a good representation of what I see on the monitor. I would be interested to hear if your Cannon does the same. Is this a Nikon thing or my lack of knowledge as a photographer thing?

Vianna

Molly Sherrick Phifer · 03-19-2006, 09:32 AM

I discovered that if you put the flash down, the camera figures out that you don't want the flash. In the automatic modes, you can disable the flash using the flash button on the left side and turning the thumbwheel. For some reason, the designers thought they would "make it easier" to disable in program and manual modes, so all you have to do is pop the flash back down. It took me about three weeks to figure out - and I'm an engineer!

Please don't hesitate to e-mail me if you have any other problems, Vianna. I've had my D-50 since June and have it pretty well figured out. Right, Chris?

Ilaria Rosselli Del Turco · 03-19-2006, 12:50 PM

Vianna, just to let you know that I also always have to process the D50 images in Photoshop to adjust the red that is always too strong.
My former Nikon 5700 was doing the same, so perhaps it is a characteristic of Nikon, that is maybe welcomed when taking pictures of holidays.
When I see the difference between paintings and their photos in colour and distortion, I wonder how much our photo references differ from the subject!
Ilaria

Vianna Szabo · 03-19-2006, 02:17 PM

Thank you Molly for the information and for making me feel like less of an idiot. It is really interesting to me how the Pentax will shoot without a flash in medium to low light with good results but the Nikon in manual will refuse. I have been taking one photo after another this morning in different modes with the flash down, but every photo of the painting of Hannah is still too warm.

I appreciate the offer to email you and may take you up on it. Can I bake you a favorite cookie to send to you for this kind offer?

Ilaria
That is interesting that your Nikon did the same thing. Maybe it is a Nikon "thing". It's frustrating for me because I use a lot of cool tones so my photos don't read as close to the painting as I would like. As far as the reference photos, your right, that could be a nasty problem. Guess that's why it is so important to work from life so you know to adjust when the photos are not reading correctly.

Thank you for the advice and comments.
Vianna

Mike McCarty · 03-19-2006, 04:05 PM

Vianna,

Your troubles seem to be related to the need for a proper white balance setting. Here is one of the threads located in the "Photographing your artwork" section (there are others) which talks about this very topic:

http://forum.portraitartist.com/show...3&page=1&pp=10

Vianna Szabo · 03-19-2006, 10:40 PM

Thanks, Mike for sending me that posting. I will go out this week and purchase some black fabric and a gray card and will post the results.

Vianna