"Picture style" on the XTI

[Thora]

I recently looked in this feature that is on my camera. I didn't really know much about it. Does any one use one of the features other than standard? I am wondering if it would be useful when taking different type of Photos.
(Standard-Portrait-Landscape-Natural-Faithful-Monochrome)

[LeeR]

For beginners and those who just don't have the time to bother, these settings can be a godsend. For instance, in Portrait mode your camera will automatically choose a low depth of field and set the color for skintones, as opposed to Landscape where it would choose very high DOF and adjust colors to enhance the colors of nature. This is a real boon to beginners who are not sure which adjustments to make. As you get more experienced you will want to make these decisions yourself; there may be times when you want a portrait with high DOF, etc.
One word of warning, though. On most cameras, if you choose "Monochrome" (in essence, black and white) you cannot go back to color. Most of us can tell you horror stories about shooting something spectacular only to get home and realize we had the camera set to mono and all the beautiful images are in B&W. Ugggh!

[SusanH1970]

Actually, the picture styles do nothing to DOF. Portrait/landscape/sports MODE on the main dial will affect settings such as aperture, shutter speed, etc. (they're automatic modes).

Picture styles affect color, contrast, sharpness, etc. More information can be found here: Canon Picture Style

You can also download additional pictures styles.

Keep in mind that if you shoot RAW, the picture style won't have any effect. It only affects JPG's.

[ubikitus]

I've seen some people using custom picture styles and they look pretty good. For example: ???????/movie style - a set on Flickr
This guy claims that there was no post-processing.

[MrJones]

Originally Posted by ubikitus

I've seen some people using custom picture styles and they look pretty good. For example: ???????/movie style - a set on Flickr
This guy claims that there was no post-processing.

i've read what he wrote through google translate crappy translation.
first of all, look at his gear, his using kick ass lenses and the 5D.
second, I don't believe he got those results without PP, as there are a lot of photos with blurs and effects that I just can't see a camera produces straight out of the camera.

maybe I'm wrong, but that's what I think.

[inkista]

Having a 5D2 and some kickass lenses, I think it's actually possible. The blur certainly can come from using something like the 85L, or one of the TS-E tilt-shift lenses. And, there's always the fact that you can adjust the Picture Style settings and (I think) create your own via Canon's software.

I prefer to shoot RAW and post-process in LR3 for the added control. But for shooting video, since I merely dabble in it, and have no color grading software to do much post-processing on video, having Picture Styles is fun.

I also love the fact that I can use Picture Styles to help me out with B&W shooting. I particularly like that I can simulate B&W shooting with a color filter via Picture Styles. I still shoot RAW, so all that "editing" gets discarded when the image is loaded into LR3, but I do get confirmation on whether or not I visualized it correctly.

[MrJones]

Originally Posted by inkista

Having a 5D2 and some kickass lenses, I think it's actually possible. The blur certainly can come from using something like the 85L, or one of the TS-E tilt-shift lenses. And, there's always the fact that you can adjust the Picture Style settings and (I think) create your own via Canon's software.

I prefer to shoot RAW and post-process in LR3 for the added control. But for shooting video, since I merely dabble in it, and have no color grading software to do much post-processing on video, having Picture Styles is fun.

I also love the fact that I can use Picture Styles to help me out with B&W shooting. I particularly like that I can simulate B&W shooting with a color filter via Picture Styles. I still shoot RAW, so all that "editing" gets discarded when the image is loaded into LR3, but I do get confirmation on whether or not I visualized it correctly.

I agree. I'm using Picture Styles when shooting B&W also. still, the results he's getting there with radial blurs... I just can't see it coming straight out of the camera like that.

[ubikitus]

It's posible with a 50mm to get that kind of blur. The most interesting picture stye of his i think is the IR style.

Here's a link to a picture style similar to his that you can use. You may experiment with it. This is the Yamato picture style. The only adjustment you have to do is to move your Expo.Compensation in between -1 to -2 and white balance to 6000k to 6500k.
Canon Picture Style - Windows Live

[Bobd20011]

I use a simple custom picture style (sharpness +1 and saturation +2) and I shoot in RAW. When I upload the photos DPP recognizes those settings and applies them automatically, which cuts down on editing time. Does LR3 not recognize the settings applied in camera?

I was just wondering because I was considering getting LR3 this Christmas (is it worth it)?

[inkista]

Originally Posted by MrJones

... still, the results he's getting there with radial blurs... I just can't see it coming straight out of the camera like that.

Don't think that's "radial blur"; the 50/1.4 on both the Nikon and Canon side can give some nasty busy bokeh at certain subject distances.

And, of course, you can get some serious oof blur with an f/1.2 lens.


Canon 50D. Adapated Olympus OM-mount Zuiko 50mm f/1.2. iso 100, f/1.2, 1/1250s.

Obviously, you'd have even thinner DoF with a full frame sensor than with a crop sensor.