What camera settings do you use for best pics?

[jarablue]

Hey guys. I know every situation calls for different settings but I just want to know what you guys are using the majority of the time when using your camera.

I have my metering set to average. I heard its actually better to set the metering to spot and click on the area in the screen you want it to focus on....is that true? I have contrast set to +1 saturation set to +1 and sharpness set to -1. I had sharpness set to +1 before noticing grain. What do you think the best sharpness setting is?

Also I set my iso manually as well as the white balance if I am outside or inside. Auto focus and flicker are set to auto.

What are your guys settings and why? Thanks!

 

[Mr. Ed]

I will have to look and see...many settings I change based on conditions.

I know metering is set to spot...I also press on the area I wish to focus on and hold...and it takes the picture. I do not use the shutter symbol anymore and my pics come out much much nicer.

(and btw...there is a thread on this already, I will try and find it)

 

[dougrb]

Keep a steady hand and set the ISO to 100. This way, even if you use flash, you won't get too much chromatic color noise. Indoors, auto white balance works well enough unless under fluorescent bulbs, and I actually lower the saturation a notch. Too much processing makes things worse IMO. I also like black and white a lot as well.

 

[rkkeller]

I have the ISO set to the fastest speed as I sometimes get blurry pictures at the lower setting as you have to hold it steady longer.

White Balance: Auto, other things at the default middle.
ISO: 1250
RES: 8mp
Widescreen: 5:3
Quality: High
Metering: Center
Auto Focus and Face Detection: ON

 

[Mr. Ed]

am I the only one that changes the settings based on conditions? lol

 

[AtodaK]

I think ISO 1250 works better for action shots no?

 

[Mr. Ed]

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_iso.html<<<<...credit to

What ISO denotes is how sensitive the image sensor is to the amount of light present. The higher the ISO, the more sensitive the image sensor and therefore the possibility to take pictures in low-light situations.

And, where you would have needed to physically change to a different roll of film if you wanted a different ISO speed, digital technology allows you to simply dial one in. In this way, you can record images taken at different ISO speeds on the same memory card.

ISO Speed & Exposure

ISO speed affects the shutter speed / aperture combinations you can use to obtain correct exposure.

Suppose your digital camera's light meter warns you there is not enough light to correctly expose a scene. You could use the on-board flash, but let's suppose again it's not allowed (like in a concert or indoors recital).

You would then need to use a higher ISO. Set on "ISO Auto" mode, your digital camera will automatically select a higher ISO. Otherwise, you can manually select the next higher ISO and see if the increased sensitivity allows you to obtain a correctly exposed picture. If it does, you can now take a correctly exposed picture.

Similarly, if you find the camera is using a shutter speed that is too slow (1/60 sec. and slower) to handhold the camera steady and shake-free (thus resulting in blurred pictures), and you cannot open up the aperture anymore, and you do not have a tripod or other means to hold the camera steady, and you want to capture the action, etc. etc. -- then you might select the next higher ISO which will then allow you to select a faster shutter speed.

ISO Speed & Noise

However, all this increase in sensitivity does not come free. There is a price to pay with your image appearing more noisy.

See, when you boost the sensitivity of your image sensor by selecting a higher ISO, the image sensor is now able to record a fainter light signal. However, it is also true now that it will record fainter noise, where noise is any signal that is not attributed to the light from your subject. Remember that an image sensor is still an analog device and it generates its own noise, too! The increased sensitivity allows the image sensor to record more light signal and more noise. The ratio of light signal to noise (S/N ratio) determines the "noise" in your resultant image.

An image sensor is usually calibrated so that it gives the best image quality (greatest S/N ratio) at its lowest possible ISO speed. For most consumer digital cameras, this value will be expressed as ISO 50, ISO 64 or ISO 100. A few digital cameras use ISO 200 as their lowest ISO speed.

Just as with its film counterpart, an image sensor will exhibit "noise" (comparable to "graininess" in film) at the higher ISO speeds. Unlike film, where graininess can sometimes contribute to the mood of the image, noise produced by an image sensor is undesirable and appears as a motley of distracting coloured dots on your image.

for a standard click shoot setting lower settings are suggested. but the shutter speed is fastest (for sports etc) at the higher setting, the higher setting is also good for low light but you may see more grainy pics <<<< MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

You obtain the best image quality by using the lowest ISO possible on your digital camera. If you want to ensure your digital camera always uses the lowest ISO setting, switch the ISO setting from the default "Auto ISO" (this setting is usually found in the Menu) to the lowest possible on the camera, say ISO 50.
If you mostly take pictures where there is enough light for a correct exposure, i.e. sunny outdoors, then using the lowest ISO on your digital camera will give you the best image quality your digital camera is capable of.
If you want to take pictures indoors where light may not be sufficient and in other low-light situations, then you would need to supplement existing light with flash or studio lights. Either that, or select a higher ISO. Of course, depending on your digital camera, a higher ISO may mean a noisy image.
A large image sensor (APS-sized and larger) means that you are able to use a high ISO speed without unduly worrying about noise. This means that you can take pictures in low-light situations without your pictures being under-exposed. It also means that in situations where it is required, you are able to use a fast enough shutter speed to prevent camera shake. All, again depending on your camera, without much noise.

 

[rkkeller]

I mostly take pictures of all my dogs (5) so I really never change anything. I will try it lower or auto but I remember getting a lot of blurry pictures before.

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

Spot metering is usually my preferred method if there is great contrast (light/dark) in the scene. You have to decide where you want to preserve the details. Do you want to capture the details in the shadows, or capture the detail in a bright spot? Use spot metering, and meter off the spot where you want the best exposure. If you decide that shadow detail is important, your bright areas may be blown out (appear as pure white). The reverse situation is also true. If you meter off the bright areas, then the darker areas may appear as solid black.

There are 3 things that affect the exposure

1. Aperture (measured in F-Stops) (smaller values mean more light)
2. Shutter speed (measured in seconds) (larger values mean more light)
3. Film sensitivity (ISO value) (larger values mean more light)

Here is an example:

The camera determines that Aperture F4, Shutter Speed 1/30sec, and ISO200 are the correct settings for the desired exposure:
F4, 1/30s, ISO200
If I want a faster shutter speed, I am losing light, and need to make it back up. I can increase the aperture by lowering the F-Stop like this:
F2.8, 1/60s, ISO200
Or I can leave the aperture alone, and increase the film speed like this:
F4, 1/60s, ISO400

All of those three scenarios will have the same exposure, but generally speaking, lower ISO values tend to look better. Faster shutter speeds tend to eliminate motion blur and camera shake. This leaves us with the aperture value. This value is related to the size of the opening within the lens. I don

 

[Mr. Ed]

Palmetto this is all very true but we don't have that much control over the Evo's camera lol

 

[dougrb]

Palmetto this is all very true but we don't have that much control over the Evo's camera lol

Haha.. I was gonna say the same thing. It's all well and good to try and use DSLR theories, but Bryan Peterson hasn't written "Understanding Exposure For Your Phone Camera"!

Yes, set things for different scenarios, but try and get good at one thing such as staying steady or using the shutter timer. If you set the timer, then you'll know when to keep steady. Keep the ISO LOW! Yes, you might get some blur if your subject decides to move, but this is why flash is desirable. If you use auto flash, then the camera should know what shutter speed to use considering that the aperture is set as is your ISO.

There's really no need to make it more complicated than that.

Here's one of my kitty. Even at ISO 100, I decided to use a bit of noise reduction. The first one is with NR and the second one is without. I think it's pretty obvious though. It was dark as night in that room, so the flash helped a lot. She wasn't moving but I wasn't solid as a rock, either.

And yeah, she was reaaaaally comfy.
Doug

 

[Jayziac]

Try the current two best Android apps, Vignette and Camera 360, which have "stabilize shot" feature that uses the accelerometer to detect when the camera is stable for a split second before snapping the picture. It reduces the number of blurry shots by a lot, allowing a lower ISO (less noise), and a longer shutter speed in dim light.

Other than that, digital processing at the time of capture should be kept to a minimum (sharpness, saturation, contrast) so the picture contains the most detail, these can all be tweaked later on a PC. If they are set too high, there's less data in the picture to adjust later.

 

[Jenan]

Jayziac, thanks so much for the recommendation of the apps. I've been looking for something to help with camera shake in less than ideal lighting. I'll give both a try, it beats my current method of holding my breath while I take a shot, lol.
Much appreciated! Please, if anyone has found useful camera apps, I'm greatful for the input.

 

[Mr. Ed]

Hrmmmm...did u know

While taking video you can press on screen while recording and the focus square will pop up....press the square and it will focus that spot.

Just did it for an extreme close up vid.....had no idea lol

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

Palmetto this is all very true but we don't have that much control over the Evo's camera lol

It wasn't meant to help anyone directly. It was more of a brief lesson in camera light. How light is measured, and adjusted for.

With the EVO, one way to manually manipulate light is with the ISO. Making changes to the ISO will force the camera to change its shutter speed or aperture. There is also an exposure slider, but I must admit, I haven't used this as a camera much. I don't know which settings it prefers to change as you increase or decrease exposure but it does give 3 stops of exposure compensation.

For example, if you want to add a stop of brightness, does it add a stop to the ISO (from ISO200 to ISO400)? Or does it like to add that stop to the shutter speed (from 1/60s to 1/30s). Or does it like to open the aperture more (from F5.6 to F4).

I suspect that it makes adjustments as needed until you run out of options. For instance, you can't open the aperture anymore than fully open. So at some point, this option will go away. Likewise, the ISO and shutter speeds also have certain limits. I think that it makes adjustments to the settings rather than simply boosting the image digitally after taking it with the standard settings.

If I get around to testing this, I'll update this thread.

 

[Jayziac]

I believe most simple camera phones have a fixed aperture of F2.8, so only 2 of the 3 variables are adjustable (ISO & shutter speed), and ISO is probably just a digital enhancement so it increases noise as ISO goes up. So really the only thing adjustable is the shutter speed.

 

[gcobb]

I am a professional photographer. I have found that with this camera that when just taking snapshots, it will adjust itself to compensate for the amount of lighting you have. If you want high speed shots you can move your ISO up higher but there are other factors to consider as well. Not all Android phones have the same camera settings. As fpr spot, indoors I may use it but almost never outdoors.