GRD2: If I _had_ to occasionally shoot JPEGs...

[jsb]

Hi, to all of you...

First, I need to say I've spent a lot of time reading all of your great posts, and looking at all of the incredible images posted here on this forum; and I have to say that there are some seriously talented individuals in this forum! I have learned A LOT! And that's the reason why I'm posting, to solicit some advice...

I'm not a pro, but I am concerned about image quality. I'm shooting some RAW and some JPEGs. For family photos, I'd like to be able to occasionally shoot JPEGs, as there are some situations I feel are more suited for taking a quick image without a whole lot of thought.

So, given that, what would you recommend for getting the best JPEG image quality from the GRD2? I think that there will likely be a given set of constraints, and I'm trying to figure out what those constraints are.

Thank you, in advance, for your time and consideration.

Best wishes to all...

jon

 

[LotC]

... what would you recommend for getting the best JPEG image quality from the GRD2?

Use lower iso (up to 200iso) to keep noise to a minimum, if that may be an issue for you.

Keep an eye on your white balance. Use a custom white balance if necessary.

Watch your histogram, the camera is your lightmeter, so control your exposure.

Best quality jpeg relies on the user getting it right in camera. The camera won't do it for you.

Presumably you ask this because of the relatively slow .dng write speed of the GR-DII. Don't forget with the GR-DII you can still take a second shot as the previous one is being written. My advice would be to use RAW whenever possible, it's the only way that you can get the best out of the GR-DII. jpeg as a rule will not do this camera justice.

Hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[Will]

I would have the image set to soft when shooting colour and low contrast low sharpening for B&W. That would give a jpg file with most potential to process if you decided you needed to later.

 

[cam]

both Will and LotC gave you good advice.

the JPEGs are really not all that bad, especially for family photos. unless you're planning on printing them huge, you're not like to see much difference. it's nothing to be ashamed of. i shoot JPEG quite a bit of the time. (i have one image in the gallery here and it was shot JPEG. i pushed the file quite a bit to get a film look to it, but you can still get a taste.)

i do wish that Ricoh would turn the noise reduction ALL the way off because that's the reason for most of the issues people have with GRDII JPEG (the other niggles can be circumvented by Will's advice). large blocks of colour can lose detail and there is a slight smearing, inherent in any noise reduction software.

so that's my tip: make sure NR is set to off! it's still, unfortunately on, but at least not quite so strong.

 

[Caer]

I would have the image set to soft when shooting colour and low contrast low sharpening for B&W. That would give a jpg file with most potential to process if you decided you needed to later.

I would have thought that if you're going to post-process the images, you might as well shoot raw.

Also, to Jon: don't forget that when you shoot raw on the GRD2, it also saves a full-size JPEG of the image too, so you might as well just shoot raw all the time. That way, you have a more flexible and potentially higher-quality version of the image in addition to the pre-baked JPEG.

 

[cam]

I would have thought that if you're going to post-process the images, you might as well shoot raw.

Also, to Jon: don't forget that when you shoot raw on the GRD2, it also saves a full-size JPEG of the image too, so you might as well just shoot raw all the time. That way, you have a more flexible and potentially higher-quality version of the image in addition to the pre-baked JPEG.

there are several reasons to shoot JPEG (size of card, bracket/continuous modes, etc) especially for family occasions. the last thing you want to do is run out of "film."

Jon's not asking what is better. he knows. everybody knows. it's RAW. end of story.

he's asking how to optimise the JPEG settings so he can get the best out of "pre-baked" JPEGs, a perfectly valid question. not everybody here is a pro, nor are they looking to make poster-sized prints. but that doesn't mean they don't want to get the best image possible, given whatever limitations.

i shoot JPEG frequently to take advantage of the bracketing mode. (i have an arm injury i'm still recovering from that causes me to twitch the camera when i press the shutter. this allows me to still possibly get a focused shot.) i have shot some stunning images. are there times i wished i had shot RAW? you betcha! i'm apologise to all the purists out there, but i'm not ashamed of my JPEGs. i'd rather get the picture in the first place than have it be exquisite every time.

(rant over)

i'm sure Jon would like to hear from others, even original GRD shooters (you might look in those threads, by the way, JON) on what they do.

 

[Will]

I would have thought that if you're going to post-process the images, you might as well shoot raw.



True, but that doesn't answer his question.

Reminds me of the joke about the person who asked someone on the street "how would I get to the train station from here". After some consideration the man on the street said "If were going to the station I wouldn't start from here"

 

[jsb]

You guys are AWESOME! I cannot tell you how much I welcome your insight and experience. Like I said, I've been learning a lot just reading these forums, and "living vicariously" through talented individuals such as yourselves.

Many thanks to all of you!

Sincerely,

jon