Best Settings for In-camera JPEG

[Giri]

I just got an X5S and am about to embark on a multi-month project. I will be taking hundreds of pictures every day and the goal is to have consistent pictures that can be zoomed into to closely inspect the subjects.

The client requires JPEGs and I'd like to give them the best image straight out of camera, since post-processing isn't an option.

What are your settings for the X5S with 45mm lens? Should I turn the sharpness up +2 and contrast +1?

My subject will be an intimate object that must fill up the frame and be completely in focus, so my plan is to keep my aperture at f8 or higher, and my shutter speed at 200 or higher. The reason for this is so that the entire object is always in focus, and I can not have any motion blur.

 

[Cat Eyes]

I would try to experiment with something similar under the same conditions. We have no idea what your subject is, lighting etc.

 

[No Wings-Just Props]

I just got an X5S and am about to embark on a multi-month project. I will be taking hundreds of pictures every day and the goal is to have consistent pictures that can be zoomed into to closely inspect the subjects.

The client requires JPEGs and I'd like to give them the best image straight out of camera, since post-processing isn't an option.

What are your settings for the X5S with 45mm lens? Should I turn the sharpness up +2 and contrast +1?

My subject will be an intimate object that must fill up the frame and be completely in focus, so my plan is to keep my aperture at f8 or higher, and my shutter speed at 200 or higher. The reason for this is so that the entire object is always in focus, and I can not have any motion blur.

In my experience I set Contrast to -1, and Saturation at 0. Sharpness at 0. Then due to your workflow you mention here you can increase Contrast and Saturation as needed quickly in your Post PROCESS and then deliver them. Once you are OVER Sat or Too Contrasty you can LOSE DETAIL that it seems you client needs. I would try and use 400th of a second as a shutter speed also to help preserve the detail your client is requesting. When you mention OBJECT what is the distance from FRONT TO BACK of the object and what shooting distance from it to you anticipate. F/8 with the 45mm might not be enough. I would consider the possibility of ISO 400 as it still is pretty clean in my experience. Hope this helps.

 

[mmarian]

I just got an X5S and am about to embark on a multi-month project. I will be taking hundreds of pictures every day and the goal is to have consistent pictures that can be zoomed into to closely inspect the subjects.

The client requires JPEGs and I'd like to give them the best image straight out of camera, since post-processing isn't an option.

What are your settings for the X5S with 45mm lens? Should I turn the sharpness up +2 and contrast +1?

My subject will be an intimate object that must fill up the frame and be completely in focus, so my plan is to keep my aperture at f8 or higher, and my shutter speed at 200 or higher. The reason for this is so that the entire object is always in focus, and I can not have any motion blur.

Without knowing what the subject ( "intimate object" ) is going to be and the conditions you will be shooting under, it is not a simple thing to suggest a "best camera settings" because if the conditions (light for example) change, so should the settings.

As a general rule the OOC JPEGs are never going to be as good as cleverly processed DNGs. Not sure why you ruled that out? To do a batch processing in LR with your own presets including WB, shadows and highlights recovery, curve, sharpening, saturation and all other tools at your disposal will output higher quality JPEGs than any OOC JPEGs you will ever get, no matter what your X5S camera settings are going to be.

Probably not the answer you were after but if you want the best, consistently great looking JPEGs, shooting DNG and processing is the only way to go.

LR, as an example, would do such job effortlesly for you. It is not that hard or time consuming as you might think.

 

[No Wings-Just Props]

Besides knowing the shooting conditions and subject because you are shooting JPEG, it would also be important to know what will be the final output i.e., Just viewing on a IPAD, cell phone, WEB browser, Display AD on a Big Sign over a Boulevard, what?

How good are you at hitting the exposures accurately? Do you know how to use the histogram. Do you know how to set color balance manually on site?
Do you have a large GRey Card or Color Checker Slate to help you?

Delivering JPEGS is a bit faster POST workflow, but it requires a great deal of knowledge and more time "on set" if your deliverable has to be of professional quality. The fact that you are asking for "one setting" to shoot JPEGS means someone lulled you into thinking that was possible. If your client is very forgiving, not a problem, but it does not sound like it...

Just giving you a heads up...

My personal setting for Jpeg shoots (when I shoot JPEGS) are( -1) Contrast, 0 or +1 Saturation, with the caveat I am also going to set COLOR BALANCE and exposure manually, and adjust everything as needed on site/set... I leave the sharpness at 0.

Just remember this advice is as good as the price you paid for it....LOL

 

[Giri]

Thank you everyone, I was looking for the -1 contrast for example. I know that on the Phantom 4 Pro my pictures looked better with the sharpness turned down a notch.