p.2 #1 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
EB-1 wrote:
People can lie about a photo or even change it with processing, but the image is what it is. There are various systems used to authenticate the image and validate chain of custody.
EBH
A photograph is what it is, but it is never an objectively true stand-in for the subject it portrays.
There are all kinds of factors that make this the case:
Photographers make choices about what to show and what not to show. (A picture of Yosemite Valley almost never includes the parking lot from which it was made, much less the sounds of traffic.) We use long lenses to exclude things that are there but which we’d prefer viewers not see. We use cameras with movements to alter the plane of focus and/or perspective lines. We add filters to emphasize contrast in skies, to diminish reflections. We pick the time of day or the season in order to offer a particular interpretation. The photo is a minuscule slice in time that excludes infinite other views. We ask the sitter to smile, turn their head toward the light, use a brush to catch that unruly hair. We smooth the skin and remove the mole. We choose a camera position where the tree hides the parked car or the power lines. Hell, sometimes we leave out color and turn full color subjects into monochrome. We alter contrast, color balance, luminosity. We crop.
If anything, a photograph is more devious than a painting. We presume that a painting is not real, that it is only what the painter wanted us to see. But there’s an unspoken presumption that a photograph (a “capture”) at its best is just an accurate record of reality.
It isn’t.
A photograph can tell us something (sometimes a lot) about the subject, but it is what the photographer wants to tell us, not the full story.
None of this is wrong or bad. It is simply how photographs work. It is actually what we like about photographs.
Other than in clinical situations (court evidence, etc.) we are far more interested in photographs that express something _about_ what the photographer saw and _how_ he/she saw it.
p.2 #3 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
gdanmitchell wrote:
By the way, when you “shoot jpg,” you are actually shooting “RAW converted to JPEG in camera.” Your camera’s sensor generates “raw” image data that is then immediately converted to a jpg version (including various kinds of automatic post-processing — color balance, sharpness, saturation, brightness, and more) and the original raw data discarded.
Oddly, it often seems to me that camera jpg images are “super saturated” and quite often “super sharp.” If you want something subtler, that’s the job of post-processing the raw files yourself.
Just to add to this, some (most? all?) digital cameras allow you to tweak your image processing SOOC, so you can influence how that JPEG is built, so to speak. So even two shooters using identical gear may have that image processing settings setup differently and produce different images even standing right next to each other.
p.2 #6 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
EB-1 wrote:
People can lie about a photo or even change it with processing, but the image is what it is. There are various systems used to authenticate the image and validate chain of custody.
EBH
A photo is a 'rough' replication of reality. Even one's eyesight is a rough replication of reality. Not all species and not even all humans see a scene exactly the same. Being color-blind is just one example.
p.2 #7 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
gdanmitchell wrote:
One of mymantras when it comes to the “pure photography” and “no post processing” people is to observe that all photographs lie.
No photograph is or ever can function as a perfectly accurate surrogate for the original subject.
Very true. Maybe a better description is minimal post processing. There's a point where an overprocessed photo may be aesthetically impressive, but no longer reflects the actual image that was shot. No doubt that's a different point for each person. Eye of the beholder and all that.
p.2 #9 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
Thanks for all the replies
I think my OP is misunderstood, partly because I still don’t fully understand the digital processes myself - hell of a admission, but there we are 🤣👍🏻
In my youth I simply put a roll of film into my humble compact, went out and recorded what captured my eye. Totally oblivious to the chemical reactions taking place therin and thereafter.
Ignorance is blissful
I’ve come along way since then
I’d like to go back ( if it’s possible)
Shooting film in 2025 is totally out of the question - the costs involved today are crazy
Plus I enjoy auto iso
I’d like to recreate that same blissful ignorance I had back then. Maybe fit a silly low card that only allows 40 shots with the exception I can delete the shots I mistook
So
What would you say are the most simplistic settings on a dslr
My thoughts are:-
Low capacity SD card
I’ll try to stick selecting own iso values rather than auto iso
AWB - actually no I’ll set my own
Turn all in camera correction off
Select centre spot AF only
Select 1 shot
If opting for JPEG’s do I select natural or faithfull??
Once card is full - swap out and take to kiosk for enprints
Your views and advice please
Edit:
I’ve read many say the original canon 5d 12.8mp can be used this way even shooting RAW ?? The way I read it, it made out you could use / print the RAWs straight off??
Does anyone agree with this ??
My reason for this post is I no longer believe what I see is what “I” took. My cameras have way too much say and I think I’ll be shocked and mortified by the results I get without all the so-called help. But for me I’m losing sight of what photography is all about. I’m now so bloody lazy and so bloody reliant on this auto help I need to give myself a wake up call… I suspect it will be sobering to say the least 😳
Edit II :-
I still have my old 5d and 40d
Maybe that’s where I should start
I have booked off the 11 days prior to works Christmas shutdown so 11 days just for me and then 11 days with family as they’re off over Christmas too. I’m trying to organise myself ready for my 11 days solo.
p.2 #10 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
Pixelpuffin wrote:
Thanks for all the replies
I think my OP is misunderstood, partly because I still don’t fully understand the digital processes myself - hell of a admission, but there we are 🤣👍🏻
In my youth I simply put a roll of film into my humble compact, went out and recorded what captured my eye. Totally oblivious to the chemical reactions taking place therin and thereafter.
Ignorance is blissful
I’ve come along way since then
I’d like to go back ( if it’s possible)
Shooting film in 2025 is totally out of the question - the costs involved today are crazy
Plus I enjoy auto iso
I’d like to recreate that same blissful ignorance I had back then. Maybe fit a silly low card that only allows 40 shots with the exception I can delete the shots I mistook
So
What would you say are the most simplistic settings on a dslr
My thoughts are:-
Low capacity SD card
I’ll try to stick selecting own iso values rather than auto iso
AWB - actually no I’ll set my own
Turn all in camera correction off
Select centre spot AF only
Select 1 shot
If opting for JPEG’s do I select natural or faithfull??
Once card is full - swap out and take to kiosk for enprints
Your views and advice please
Edit:
I’ve read many say the original canon 5d 12.8mp can be used this way even shooting RAW ?? The way I read it, it made out you could use / print the RAWs straight off??
Does anyone agree with this ??
My reason for this post is I no longer believe what I see is what “I” took. My cameras have way too much say and I think I’ll be shocked and mortified by the results I get without all the so-called help. But for me I’m losing sight of what photography is all about. I’m now so bloody lazy and so bloody reliant on this auto help I need to give myself a wake up call… I suspect it will be sobering to say the least 😳
Edit II :-
I still have my old 5d and 40d
Maybe that’s where I should start
I have booked off the 11 days prior to works Christmas shutdown so 11 days just for me and then 11 days with family as they’re off over Christmas too. I’m trying to organise myself ready for my 11 days solo. ...Show more →
Hasselblad X2Dii and pick your lens. Turn on HDR with JPG,or HEIF and you have amazing images right out of the camera. You also end up with a great EVF/LCD and menu system. The feel in the hand it is the best I’ve tried, but I’ve only shot Leica, Sony, Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Contax, Bronica, Mamiya, Yashica, Nikon and Kowa, so I might have missed out on a better camera in hand. I find film affordable because I apply a good bit of discipline, but if you are the type that needs a second battery when out for the day, then film is definitely very expensive. On that note, I only shoot color emulsions and I find with careful metering I need little post processing.
p.2 #11 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
zdscanond5 wrote:
Very true. Maybe a better description is minimal post processing. There's a point where an overprocessed photo may be aesthetically impressive, but no longer reflects the actual image that was shot. No doubt that's a different point for each person. Eye of the beholder and all that.
It isn’t as simple as “more post processing = less natural photo.”
I generally do quite a bit of post-processing on my photographs. But in the majority of cases a main goal is to make the product look as natural and believable as possible.
Your visual system does not see the world the say the camera sees it. What the camera “sees” is far from a close analog to what you think of as “real.” (I can explain if you want.) Getting a photographic image to look less photographic and more like what you remember seeing often takes quite a bit of work.
p.2 #12 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
Pixelpuffin wrote:
Thanks for all the replies
I think my OP is misunderstood, partly because I still don’t fully understand the digital processes myself - hell of a admission, but there we are 🤣👍🏻
In my youth I simply put a roll of film into my humble compact, went out and recorded what captured my eye. Totally oblivious to the chemical reactions taking place therin and thereafter.
Ignorance is blissful
I’ve come along way since then
I’d like to go back ( if it’s possible)
Shooting film in 2025 is totally out of the question - the costs involved today are crazy
Plus I enjoy auto iso
I’d like to recreate that same blissful ignorance I had back then. Maybe fit a silly low card that only allows 40 shots with the exception I can delete the shots I mistook
So
What would you say are the most simplistic settings on a dslr
My thoughts are:-
Low capacity SD card
I’ll try to stick selecting own iso values rather than auto iso
AWB - actually no I’ll set my own
Turn all in camera correction off
Select centre spot AF only
Select 1 shot
If opting for JPEG’s do I select natural or faithfull??
Once card is full - swap out and take to kiosk for enprints
Your views and advice please
Edit:
I’ve read many say the original canon 5d 12.8mp can be used this way even shooting RAW ?? The way I read it, it made out you could use / print the RAWs straight off??
Does anyone agree with this ??
My reason for this post is I no longer believe what I see is what “I” took. My cameras have way too much say and I think I’ll be shocked and mortified by the results I get without all the so-called help. But for me I’m losing sight of what photography is all about. I’m now so bloody lazy and so bloody reliant on this auto help I need to give myself a wake up call… I suspect it will be sobering to say the least 😳
Edit II :-
I still have my old 5d and 40d
Maybe that’s where I should start
I have booked off the 11 days prior to works Christmas shutdown so 11 days just for me and then 11 days with family as they’re off over Christmas too. I’m trying to organise myself ready for my 11 days solo. ...Show more →
Sounds like you want a compact "digicam" with full auto shooting jpeg. Too bad those have become tiktoc fashion accessories along with X100's. What you describe has nothing to do with simplicity or "purity". You're just describing point-and-shoot where the camera does all sorts of magic while you remain blissfully ignorant. Most any camera can do that, just set it to "A" or "P".
p.2 #13 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
Pixelpuffin wrote:
Thanks for all the replies
I think my OP is misunderstood, partly because I still don’t fully understand the digital processes myself - hell of a admission, but there we are 🤣👍🏻
In my youth I simply put a roll of film into my humble compact, went out and recorded what captured my eye. Totally oblivious to the chemical reactions taking place therin and thereafter.
Ignorance is blissful
I’ve come along way since then
I’d like to go back ( if it’s possible)
Shooting film in 2025 is totally out of the question - the costs involved today are crazy
Plus I enjoy auto iso
I’d like to recreate that same blissful ignorance I had back then. Maybe fit a silly low card that only allows 40 shots with the exception I can delete the shots I mistook
So
What would you say are the most simplistic settings on a dslr
My thoughts are:-
Low capacity SD card
I’ll try to stick selecting own iso values rather than auto iso
AWB - actually no I’ll set my own
Turn all in camera correction off
Select centre spot AF only
Select 1 shot
If opting for JPEG’s do I select natural or faithfull??
Once card is full - swap out and take to kiosk for enprints
Your views and advice please
Edit:
I’ve read many say the original canon 5d 12.8mp can be used this way even shooting RAW ?? The way I read it, it made out you could use / print the RAWs straight off??
Does anyone agree with this ??
My reason for this post is I no longer believe what I see is what “I” took. My cameras have way too much say and I think I’ll be shocked and mortified by the results I get without all the so-called help. But for me I’m losing sight of what photography is all about. I’m now so bloody lazy and so bloody reliant on this auto help I need to give myself a wake up call… I suspect it will be sobering to say the least 😳
Edit II :-
I still have my old 5d and 40d
Maybe that’s where I should start
I have booked off the 11 days prior to works Christmas shutdown so 11 days just for me and then 11 days with family as they’re off over Christmas too. I’m trying to organise myself ready for my 11 days solo. ...Show more →
If you want to shoot film, shoot film. If you want to shoot digital, shoot digital. But don’t try to make shooting digital to be the same experience as shooting film…that won’t happen. I have no idea what limiting your memory card to only 40 images would really do for you.
You have a shit load of gear…way to much to enjoy them. Sell the entire lot, buy a cheap film p&s and spend the money you got from selling your hoard on film and processing. Seems to me you have many roadblocks up using digital, based on all your posts…bite the bullet and move to film.
p.2 #14 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
The most "auto" and least interactive digital photography experience has to be using a phone. So perhaps phone photography is the purist form. Yes, I just threw up in my mouth a little.
p.2 #15 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
Pixelpuffin wrote:
Thanks for all the replies
I think my OP is misunderstood, partly because I still don’t fully understand the digital processes myself - hell of a admission, but there we are 🤣👍🏻
In my youth I simply put a roll of film into my humble compact, went out and recorded what captured my eye. Totally oblivious to the chemical reactions taking place therin and thereafter.
Ignorance is blissful
I’ve come along way since then
I’d like to go back ( if it’s possible)
Shooting film in 2025 is totally out of the question - the costs involved today are crazy
Plus I enjoy auto iso
I’d like to recreate that same blissful ignorance I had back then. Maybe fit a silly low card that only allows 40 shots with the exception I can delete the shots I mistook
So
What would you say are the most simplistic settings on a dslr
My thoughts are:-
Low capacity SD card
I’ll try to stick selecting own iso values rather than auto iso
AWB - actually no I’ll set my own
Turn all in camera correction off
Select centre spot AF only
Select 1 shot
If opting for JPEG’s do I select natural or faithfull??
Once card is full - swap out and take to kiosk for enprints
Your views and advice please
Edit:
I’ve read many say the original canon 5d 12.8mp can be used this way even shooting RAW ?? The way I read it, it made out you could use / print the RAWs straight off??
Does anyone agree with this ??
My reason for this post is I no longer believe what I see is what “I” took. My cameras have way too much say and I think I’ll be shocked and mortified by the results I get without all the so-called help. But for me I’m losing sight of what photography is all about. I’m now so bloody lazy and so bloody reliant on this auto help I need to give myself a wake up call… I suspect it will be sobering to say the least 😳
Edit II :-
I still have my old 5d and 40d
Maybe that’s where I should start
I have booked off the 11 days prior to works Christmas shutdown so 11 days just for me and then 11 days with family as they’re off over Christmas too. I’m trying to organise myself ready for my 11 days solo. ...Show more →
Geez, talk about trolling. Sounds like you don't like photography or photo gear. You could try using a time machine to take you back to your youth, or maybe take up painting in lieu of photography.
p.2 #18 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
bwcolor wrote:
Hasselblad X2Dii and pick your lens. Turn on HDR with JPG,or HEIF and you have amazing images right out of the camera. You also end up with a great EVF/LCD and menu system. The feel in the hand it is the best I’ve tried, but I’ve only shot Leica, Sony, Canon, Olympus, Fuji, Contax, Bronica, Mamiya, Yashica, Nikon and Kowa, so I might have missed out on a better camera in hand.
I'm not seeing how that Hassy would be very comfortable holding large lenses in portrait orientation like a Canon or Nikon pro body with integral vertical grip. Is there a vertical grip available?
p.2 #19 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
Pixelpuffin wrote:
Edit II :-
I still have my old 5d and 40d
Maybe that’s where I should start
I have booked off the 11 days prior to works Christmas shutdown so 11 days just for me and then 11 days with family as they’re off over Christmas too. I’m trying to organise myself ready for my 11 days solo.
40D and 5D had rather limited jpeg processing. Particularly at high ISO Canon was bad for NR and lacking detail back then.
p.2 #20 · What do you consider to be the purest form of digital image capture?
gdanmitchell wrote:
Oddly, it often seems to me that camera jpg images are “super saturated” and quite often “super sharp.” If you want something subtler, that’s the job of post-processing the raw files yourself.
.
I think there are camera settings you can set for your own preferences. The sharpness, contrast, etc can be changed, at least on my camera and all previous ones I have had. I've only had Canon, but I am sure it would be the same for all brands.
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