Canon 30D User Manual

Page 30

Page 30 of 35

Now let me describe the individual settings:

Contrast: I leave this in the middle. You can soften images by turning it down,
or make them harsher by cranking it up. I prefer Nikons which have an AUTO
mode which adjusts automatically to the subject. On Canons you need to set
this up or down manually if you have an unusually contrasty or flat subject. It
always looks fine to me left alone at 0.

Sharpness is really how much extra sharpening is added. I leave at the
default. The image can look harsh if set higher. Play around and see what you
like, just remember it's not really sharpness, which if it was I'd crank it up, but
artificial sharpening which is added later to the image. Too much looks bad.

Saturation is the vividness of the color. The 30D is exceptional in that it
allows much more saturation than other cameras. Set to the middle of the
boost, or +2, it's the same as most cameras cranked to the max. It has two
positions above that, which are loud and louder color. Try it yourself and see. I
love this!

Color Tone shifts skin tones. It seems to shift most other colors a little, too.
Try it yourself and see if you like the effects. + makes skin tones yellower
(yellows go greener) and - makes them redder (yellows go more magenta). -
might mimic Fuji Velvia 50's wonderful warming of yellows and oranges. Try a
- setting.

You can check the settings by going to the main menu and going back into
these. You also can check them by pressing the INFO button. It will report
these settings cryptically as a string of four digits. Sorry, I don't make this stuff
up. If one fine day Canon asks me for my input, these will be much easier to
figure out.