General Photography Q&As

Both for software and hardware…

So despite having had a DSLR for a couple years along with a large scale photo printer, and despite having spent pretty much the better part of the weekend working on this problem, i’m still such a photo newb that i don’t really know what i’m doing. In fact i’ve probably passed the point in my life where i ought to just sell everything and rely on the iPhone alone to take photos… (every IPhone photo i took on vacation looks superior to the DSLR anyway, i just want the zoom…)

Grousing aside, i can’t figure out how to use RAW files in Lightroom. I mean i’m at step one, i can’t get Lightroom to recognize the RAW files at all. I noticed that all the photos i took on my recent trip that I was trying to edit and compile into a “best of” list were all the .jpg versions, not the RAW - or in this case the CR2 files that Canon makes with the 70D. Lightroom “thinks” in stupid ways i don’t really want to spend the rest of my life figure this out, so despite Lightroom marking the photos on the SD card - both .jpg and .cr2 as having been imported - after watching videos and reading up on the Catalog for a few hours i just despaired, made a new directory and just manually copied all the .cr2 photos into that. But when i point Lightroom at it, it doesn’t recognize the files as being valid. Grr…

Using updated Lightroom CC subscription.

Lightroom should read Canon RAW no problem. You’ve got something weird going on. Are you importing the RAW files directly into Lightroom using the Import feature? Try removing the memory card from the camera and plugging it directly into the computer? Check to see if you have a camera firmware update?

As to image quality, an unprocessed RAW image will look flat compared to an iPhone photo, but that’s the point. RAW is just the raw sensor data the camera captured when you hit the shutter. It hasn’t been processed. But the beauty of RAW is that you can manipulate the hell out of that sensor data, processing it into something that looks incredible. I’ve taken overexposed shots and turned them into beautiful photos because I could adjust exposure and contrast and color.

Which is part of the downsides of RAW. You can get incredible photos out of the process, but there’s a lot more work involved. An iPhone is click-and-it’s-done.

I use Capture One Pro myself, which is what a lot of high-end professional photographers use. I like its RAW processing a lot better than Lightroom. You can try downloading a trial and seeing if it will read the RAW images.

Unprocessed RAW in Capture One

Processed RAW

It sounds a bit like you want someone to tell you the iPhone is better. Well, the iPhone is better. Your DSLR has been in the basement for two years for a reason, and your vacation showed you the reason. The iPhone takes amazing photos that look great straight up, and even better after 20 seconds in an editor on phone such as Snapseed. Cropped, adjusted, and printed to 8x10 if that’s what you want (most people use Instagram). As to zoom? Don’t be afraid to zoom with your feet.

I don’t want to be negative because photography as a hobby with a DSLR is great. But, like other hobbies such as miniatures, it’s about actually enjoying the process to eventually land on a superior result which the iPhone can’t attain.

Thanks, trying it now!

Well i have the photos, and i have taken them in RAW, and if i’m going to make a photo book for the family i want it done right.

Haha, well otoh… it’s frustration. I think it’s years of consumeristic product training. I’m not getting “perfect” results and it drives me insane. If i research a car, or a computer, or a household device there is a “answer”, but going down the rabbit hole of photography drives that part of my brain to madness because there’s just such a huge giant gap of knowledge and experience and i can spend months researching stuff without doing anything at all and end up in the same place where i started. I can’t take the kinds of pictures i want to take because everyone rolls my eyes when i have to spend 5-10 minutes reading the manual how to adjust things on the DSLR because i forgot how to do it (again) or nobody sits still long enough to let me set the white balance with a card, and then i get frustrated that i’m not getting the white balance i want, or the damn focus keeps resetting to auto, or the focus just won’t stop locking on to nearby brush and doesn’t work correctly through the viewfinder and i have to inexplicably only use the screen, and there’s a little voice in the back of my head telling me i screwed the photo up and i don’t know what i’m doing and i suck. And then i have to go back and process, what, 900 photos, and every gd one has to be adjusted in some way? Where with the iPhone… it is what it is. The lack of choice is actually a relief.

I really need to just tell all the photo vlogs, magazines, reviews, reviewers and guides to f@#$ right off and just do it in my shitty, ignorant, unskilled, hacky way, and be happier for not knowing any better.

iPhone 6S [iPhone takes great panoramas]

Canon 70D

iPhone 6S

Canon 70D

DLSRs are incredible cameras, but they’re not for everyone.

Phone cameras are good enough for most people, but if you have a DLSR you’re looking to take advantage of the much-larger sensor size (this makes a big difference), as well as the wide range and capability of lenses. I was discussing with a good friend of mine (and a much better shooter than me; he works in Hollywood) about lenses the other day. He was talking about buying cheap Russian primes on eBay and getting incredible results. Showed me some of the videos he shot on his 5D3 and they were gorgeous.

I talked about wanting a 600mm lens because I wanted more “reach.” I love shooting planes and birds, and being able to get incredible “close-up” images from long distance had an appeal to me.

Your 70D photos look flat. Are those the jpgs? If you have the RAW files, you can quickly improve the brightness, contrast, exposure, and color to make the photo “pop” at you.

Well I have to totally disagree, phone cameras are ok on nice bright outdoor shots. But a decent DSLR is way ahead in every way. Just try blowing up the average phone shot to 10 x 8 and see compared to an SLR. As an avid photographer it takes a bit of time to get it but once you do you will never look back. Lightroom is as simple as it gets normally and even in house development in a camera is better.

I am at work atm but once home can talk you through Lightroom if needed. Stick with it you will get great results. You could also take shots in jpeg format with the slr and still get good results certainly better than a camera phone.

Personally I use an NEX 7 which is somewhat smaller than an SLR but it’s the sensor size and quality of lenses that matter and a camera phone has neither compared to a decent camera.

Yea those are downsampled jpgs to fit under 2mb upload lit, they look pretty horrible compared to the full version. Need to send them to Flickr or whatever everyone uses now.

Capture One doesn’t recognize the files either so…not sure. Need to mess around with it more after work, maybe get a converter from Canon. Left the iMac to upgrade to Sierra last night, maybe some sort of RAW file upgrade path that’s blocked for some reason.

What if you drag and drop one of the .cr2 file from Windows Explorer into the Lightroom Library? Do you get an error?

Maybe your SD card is corrupted?

I’ll be a bit tongue in cheek as I like pictures and acknowledge that a flapping-mirrors (my name for DSLR) can take great pictures.

But yeah, nothing like a good 2010-era debate about the merits of DSLRs. Never mind that the ship has sailed, camera sales including DSLR and mirror-less sales continue to fall. If they were remarkably better wouldn’t sales rise? I mean, they’re at ISO 100,000 now, and 40 megapixels… and raw. Raw is better right?

Are people losing interest in photography? I’d say not, judging by my social media it’s at an all time high.

I’ll just open with the first terrible photo that comes up on flickr iPhone 7 search:

Imgur

How about iPhone 7 and night?

Imgur

I like this quote because most people are most people, including people that have an interest in actual photography. [quote=“Woolen_Horde, post:5, topic:130256”]
if you have a DLSR you’re looking to take advantage of the much-larger sensor size
[/quote]

I agree. They key advantage these days is depth of field provided by prime lenses combined with the large sensor area. While camera phones are making progress the direct results of a DSLR are undoubtedly better.

Interesting that you worded it like this instead of “your mid-day photos on an overcast day look flat”. I don’t intend to pick on Enidigm, I’ll come back to this in a second, but it’s so easy to assign the fault to the equipment or process (which I love to do too, because my pictures are not that good either!).

And raw. Raw gives you a bit more editing room. Instead of upping the contrast a lot, you can REALLY REALLY up the contrast. 99% of the time the extra room doesn’t help your pictures and often makes them worse. Sometimes it does help. But overall you can adjust the white balance, sharpness, saturation, curves, crop, and any other edits you do in a jpg almost as well.

Here is what you can do with raw (based on a 2017 article):

Here is what you can do with jpg:

I like how he picked a slightly more interesting photo for the raw example just to help confirm-bias the semi-interested reader. Is the raw conversion much better? Not to my eyes, it is over-processed, and I’d rather have my time back and not fiddle storage while on vacation.

Here’s the main point on your photos @Enidigm. You weren’t out there 30 minutes before sunrise with a heavy tripod and an ultra-wide angle lens. But that’s fine, those are nice photos. You can probably edit them and crop them into a great photo book for the family. Getting to that spot 30 minutes before sunrise probably didn’t or wouldn’t fit with your vacation plans or goals. It seems to me like the iPhone fit better with your vacation plans and goals.

But keep the DSLR as a hobby! Family photos, outings around town, weddings, kids, all fun and better with a DSLR and a couple reasonably-priced prime lenses. I’m conscious of the negative tone in this post, but they really are better. Just not worth the cost and effort for a lot of situations.

Yeah, I’m inclined to agree with Scott. I know how to use SLRs as well as Adobe Camera Raw, and, yes, the results can really be fantastic but for general snapping you simply can’t get more convenient than a decent phone camera these days. It’s staggering how good these little things are.

I have an LG G3 that’s quite old now and I remember taking it to several weddings a few years back and some of the photos I took gave the pros’ pictures a run for their money, and I didn’t dick around with most of them either.

While your gear is certainly important – you can’t beat SLRs and RAW files for image quality – I think you’ve got to strike a balance between convenience and quality (and cost!). I also think one of the most important things which will cover a multitude of sins is just having a good eye. That and being in the right place at the right time with your finger ready on the shutter!

All I can say with regards to using your pro software and hardware to get results close to perfect is: practice makes perfect. Try and get a handle on what all the stuff on your camera does and when they should be used. It’s a lot to remember when you’re out and about taking photos but all that eventually comes naturally. Once you can identify why certain shots didn’t come out right that’s when you can start learning from your mistakes. It’s a steep slope with a wealth of riches at the top.

I used to be really into SLR photography through university and for some time after it, but I eventually tired of dragging such a big and expensive piece of kit around with me and fiddling with it to get the right shots. I only had film and there was no auto function so you had to make sure things were right. I sometimes flirt with picking it all up again, after all, SLRs have come a long way since I last used them properly, but… eh, we’ll see. My phone cam is fine at present! :-)

Like you, I cannot get Lightroom to recognize my CR2 files. But at least I know why: I am still using Lightroom 5.

Anyway, there is a workaround. First, get your CR2 images onto your computer (if you use Canon CameraWindow or equivalent, it will recognize which files are new just like Lightroom does). Then, download and run Adobe DNG Converter to change the CR2 files into DNG. Those can be imported into Lightroom normally.

As for iPhone vs DSLR, the best camera is the one you have with you, so iPhone has an advantage if you don’t carry your DSLR everywhere. But the iPhone also has definite limitations, which may or may not limit your photography.

Finally, when you do have your DSLR handy don’t be afraid to use Program or Auto mode if you are confused by the controls, later start tinkering with Aperture Priority and see what it does. Most of the other controls can safely be ignored until you know what they do.

To be fair the days of dragging a camera the size of a small baby around are long gone. A decent mirrorless camera and lens fits in a coat pocket I know mine does.

My Mother in Law has a Fuji X100T and it is just awesome, the jpegs are so good out of the camera. Again it is small and easy to use and set up.

My iPhone takes ok pictures but even when getting good shots I always feel if only I had my Nex with me.

I used to maintain a flickr account, here is the link for anyone interested in seeing a Nex 7 which is smaller CSC camera can do, personally my iPhone couldn’t do most of them. Reemul Flickr

Well thanks for the help so far guys!

For some reason updating the iMac to Sierra fixed the CR2 issue - Apple Photos, Lightroom and Capture One can all see the files properly now. Shrugs. I’ll post some photos later to see what I can get out of them.