Nikon's Picture Control, is it best to set In-camera or post processing?

[GaryMarsh]

I have recently upgraded to the Nikon D7000 and I am wondering which is the best way to use the picture control feature. Am i best setting it in camera e.g to Landscape, Portrait etc.. prior to taking my shots or do I set it using Nikon Capture NX2 software in post processing or does it not really matter which method i use first?

Any help on this topic would be much appreciated

Regards
Gary

[Peter Ryan]

Hi Gary and welcome to CiC.

The question is simple but the answer not so.

I assume you are shooting in jpeg mode so choosing one of these tells the camera's internal program what influences you want it to adopt when processing your image. This assumes you are not going to do any post processing yourself. In this case it is improtant to read what the manual says and if that suits the scene in front of you then adopt it. But it will give different settings to each mode. It is supposed to make it simple.

If you are going to do any post processing yourself (which is advisable) then undoing some of these choices is harder than creating them in post production software. If you are going to some post processing then leaving all settings on neutral gives you the best options. You have much more processing power in your computer than in your camera.

If you shoot in RAW and process the image then it is not important as these settings do not come into play other than to show what the image looks like when the camera displays it on your camera's screen but it does not effect the RAW image capture.

[GaryMarsh]

Hello Peter,
Thank you for your reply, I always shoot in camera RAW and then process them in Nikon Capture NX2 where I can then set the picture control if I think it benefits my pictures. I just wondered if it was a good idea to set the picture control in camera or leave it set as standard/neutral, then add picture control in post processing such as the Landscape setting.

Regards
Gary

[Fraz]

Peter,

If I understand you correctly, if I have the picture control settings set to vivid, and I shoot in RAW, the camera will apply the adjustments to the image when it appears on the camera's screen, but when I open the RAW image on my computer, the adjustments will not be applied?

[crazykeithurbanfan4ever]

I have a Canon Power shot s5i5. When I go to concert I Get pictures like the one that is shown. What setting do I need to put my Camera on, so I won't get a picture like this, but a clear picture.

[hoddo]

Peter,

If I understand you correctly, if I have the picture control settings set to vivid, and I shoot in RAW, the camera will apply the adjustments to the image when it appears on the camera's screen, but when I open the RAW image on my computer, the adjustments will not be applied?

All correct unless you use ViewNX2 or NX2 to work on your nef files. Use either of these programs and all you in camera settings will be in play with the benefit of adjusting them all as well. So, it's like having a rendered jpeg but in NEF format. It's the same with Canon software, DPP(?) for Canon cameras.