Center for Digital Imaging Leica Digilux 2 Field Guide g A practical guide to the Leica DIGILUX 2 camera.
Copyright for all text and images used in this work are retained by Scott Geffert ©2004 (unless otherwise marked) All rights reserved. No part of this book shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the written permission of the author. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of information contained herein.
Introduction The LEICA DIGILUX 2 represents an important juncture in digital photography. To date, most digital camera manufacturers have attempted to make photography easier by removing traditional photographic controls, and replacing them with simplified fully automatic “point and shoot” controls. While an argument may be made that this was a step in the right direction, something important was lost in the process.
Table of Contents: Chapter One Getting to Know Your Digilux 2 Camera Chapter Three Digital Imaging Basics How your camera works ...................................6 Raw data format ............................................7 Camera capture parameters ..............................7 Analog controls .............................................7 Digital controls ..............................................7 Capture and playback/review ............................8 Bit Depth ............................
Chapter One Getting to Know Your Digilux 2 Camera
Getting to Know Your Leica Digilux 2 Camera How your camera works Before we begin to explore the features and operation of the Digilux 2 camera, it is best to understand the underlying process of how the camera creates, interprets and stores digital images. Very few digital photographers take the time to consider the process of capture and therefore place too much emphasis on post-capture editing on the computer.
Raw data format The benefit of capturing raw data is simply that you may compose and capture images, and rest assured that you will be able to reinterpret the data with little or no loss of quality. Capturing in the raw format mode of any digital camera is similar to shooting color negative film as opposed to color transparency film. Color negatives may be printed interpreted in many ways, as transparency film is more literal and is less forgiving in terms of exposure.
Capture and playback/review Program automatic exposure Shutter Priority automatic exposure Setting the aperture and shutter controls to the “A” position enables the automatic exposure mode. The Aperture ring has a locking button to ensure that the mode is not inadvertently changed when shooting. The camera will find the best combination of aperture and shutter speeds based on the metering mode selected.
Manual Settings Manual focus Manual focus is one of the joys of using the Digilux 2 camera. Simply turn the focus ring past the automatic lock, and you are free to focus from any distance from two feet to infinity. To assist with manual focus the Digilux 2 is equipped with a digital focus magnifier. This unique feature may be enabled under the camera’s setup menu.
Chapter Two Configuring Your Computer
Configuring Your Computer The iPhoto™ software application that comes bundled with every Macintosh™ computer is a wonderful tool for working with your digital images, and may serve as your “home base” for your collection of digital images. iPhoto™ is easy to use, and is well documented so you may take the steps in our guide, and build upon this basic information at your own pace.
•iPhoto™ will present a confirmation dialog giving you a second opportunity to delete the original images from the camera card. Choose Delete Originals. Note: As iPhoto™ only recognizes the JPEG format Digilux 2 images, any raw files will be skipped and will not be deleted from your card. The following dialog will verify the skipped files. To properly remove the device from the desktop you may click on the “NO NAME” drive icon, and drag it over the trash can icon on the dock.
Working with raw image files We have mentioned the benefits of capturing raw image files throughout this book. As raw image files do not automatically download to your computer when you connect the camera we have outlined a process you could follow to manage your collection of images. Whenever you see the “Unreadable Files” dialog you should MANUALLY copy any raw files from your card to this folder. By using this method, you will be able to quickly access your raw image files for editing.
Chapter Three Digital Imaging Basics
Digital Imaging Basics Before we begin discussing how to use your images on the computer, we feel that it is important to understand what is going on under the hood. As we discussed in the beginning of this guide the Digilux camera delivers a processed JPEG or a raw format image file. While we reviewed the basic concepts of how the images are created in your camera, in this section we will explain how the images inter-operate with your computer.
Exposure Exposure in digital photography is elusive for many users. Often times an image will look different across several computers and output devices. This variance leads people to second guess their work, and is the most difficult part of the digital imaging experience for the vast majority of digital photographers. The histogram is your key to interpret the quality of your captured images.
When you perform a custom white balance, the camera simply uses the white point of your scene as opposed to a hypothetical pre-determined white point. When working with raw captures, you may manually alter the white point after capture as you are working with the entire set of captured data. an image file as a finger print or road map.
Calibrating your display was not specifically designed to meet the needs of this sector of the photographic marketplace. The following screenshot represents the default color settings of Adobe® Photoshop™ CS. If you do use a larger working color space on your computer, simply allow Photoshop™ to convert the color from sRGB to your defined working space.
Editing suggestions (Adobe® Photoshop™ CS) If an image is poorly exposed and does not have a pleasing tonal balance, work methodically from the shadow point up through the mid-tone and highlight areas. Your first corrections should be to the levels adjustment in the shadow area.
Archival printing using the Epson® 2200 printer Many digital photographers become frustrated when it comes to achieving high quality print output from their computer workstations. To help with this situation we have outlined a stepby-step guide for creating high quality prints using the popular Epson® 2200 Ink Jet Printer. This printer utilizes high longevity pigment based inks, and is perfectly suited for the Digilux 2 camera user.
•Under “Color Management” choose “No Color Adjustment”. While this does not sound logical at first, keep in mind that the color transformation has already taken place within Photoshop™ via the selected Paper/Ink profile. By choosing No Color Adjustment, you will ensure that the color transformation is not applied twice. Note: We suggest trying the Velvet Fine Art paper to get started.
Chapter Four Working with Raw Image Files
Software tools for editing your raw image files There are two ways to open and edit your Digilux 2 raw files. Adobe® Photoshop™ CS incorporates a plug-in called Adobe® Camera Raw™. This software interprets the image data, and allows you to make a wide range of image adjustments not possible with the JPEG file format. The second approach is to open the raw files in LaserSoft® SilverFast™ DCSE which comes bundled with the Digilux 2 camera.
Bit Depth The bit depth option gives you the ability to process images to 8 or 16 bits per pixel. We suggest using 16bits per pixel when importing your raw image files. By selecting 16 bits per pixel, you will retain the ability to edit all 16,500 tonal gradations as opposed to the 256 tonal gradations available in the 8bit per pixel option. Adjustment Tab Controls White Balance Enter a desired color temperature look, or drag the slider to interactively control the color and tint.
Detail Tab Controls While JPEG files are sharpened in-camera as they are processed, raw files are unsharpened. Working with unsharpened raw files takes some testing to find the best mix of settings. Under-exposed scenes and night shots will inherently have more digital noise, and will begin to break up if too much sharpening is applied. Outdoor images, and lighter scenes may be sharpened more aggressively.
Editing images using Lasersoft® Silverfast™ DCSE If you do not have Adobe® Photoshop™ CS and wish to edit your raw image files, Leica has bundled a very powerful tool from Lasersoft Imaging. While the interface is quite different than what you may be used to, Silverfast is an extremely powerful tool, and is part of a family of software modules that may be used with a wide range of scanners and cameras from different manufacturers.
When you capture, create, or scan an image into a computer, you are directly involved with tonal decisions, and your adjustments may make or break an image with equal ease. When people processed film they adhered to very exacting processing times, and temperatures to achieve high quality. With digital imaging, the same people will engage in guesswork that only leads to a frustrating experience. When evaluating or editing a digital image take a methodical approach.
Manually editing an image in SilverFast™ DCSE Mid tone Balance adjustment Shadow adjustments To automatically adjust the shadow point of your image. Click once on the black triangle and then select the darkest point in your image. The selected shadow point will be adjusted to an RGB value of 5,5,5. Between the black and white triangles on the icon, you will see an eyedropper tool. This tool allows you to pick a neutral point in the image.
Level adjustments Curve adjustments Global color correction If the automatic adjustment resulted in an overly dark image, you may click on the left (black) triangle and drag it to the left until you reach the desired shadow value. The same adjustments may be made to the highlight and mid-tone values.
Selective color correction Picture Settings Often times, you will want to alter the relationships between colors, or the balance of specific colors in an image. Selective Color Correction is the tool in Silverfast™ to perform these tasks. The easy to use interface simply offers you pull down menu items for each color family. Selecting the various options will allow you to quickly make the sky a darker blue, or a skin tone warmer while leaving other colors untouched.
Advanced Picture Settings Luminance Smoothing example: 0 (None) In certain circumstances where the subject matter contains high frequency repetitive patterns such as hair, text, window screens, and textiles undesirable artifacts may occur. These artifacts are often referred to as color moire patterns. A lower setting (0) applies no smoothing, and will show the most color artifacts. A higher setting (100) applies maximum smoothing, and will tend to de saturate colors in certain areas.
Sharpening and Scaling in Silverfast Note: Preset sharpening settings may be selected or custom settings may be previewed and applied. If uncertain, check Auto Sharpen. Scaling for output Descreening is useful when copying half toned artwork. Customizing sharpening settings Click on the Preview button in the Sharpen dialog, then click anywhere in your image; the software will present a preview of the final file with the current settings. Adjust the intensity for the desired level of sharpening.
Chapter Five Creative Techniques
Night/Low Light Photography Technical Note: When creating night shots, we suggest that you capture in the raw format. While this will slow down your capture process, and consume quite a bit of storage space, you will benefit from having full access to the captured image data when you edit your image on the computer. For example: when you shoot in any of the JPEG image modes, your image data is processed according to the color/exposure set at the time of capture.
Basic Night Shots Advanced Night/Low Light Shots With the previous steps as a starting point, you may wish to set the camera to Manual mode to dramatically alter the scene. •Switch the shutter speed dial to 2+ and set the aperture to Automatic •Set the White Balance to Daylight •Using the selector dial for shutter speeds, take a series of images ranging from 1/2 second to 8 seconds. As the aperture is in automatic, your exposures should be fairly consistent.
Sports Photography •Set the camera to JPEG mode, best quality •Set the Shutter Speed dial to a 1/500th to 1/2000th of a second •Set the Aperture ring to the A position. •Set the Focus ring to the AF position Composition tips: When composing your subject, practice filling the frame by zooming in as far as possible. This serves two practical functions: you will be using the full resolving power of the camera’s sensor, and you’ll be able to zoom out as your subject comes closer to the camera.
Portraiture Tips The 28 to 90mm (35mm equivalent) lens of the Digilux 2 is ideal for photographing people, The wide angle view coupled with fast auto focus, accurate auto exposure, and virtually noiseless operation allow you to capture the most fleeting of moments. For more formal portraiture, the longer focal lengths and manual controls give you the freedom to be creative. While an entire book may be dedicated to just portraiture, we will focus on a handful of techniques well suited to the Leica Digilux 2.
Studio Lighting The Leica Digilux 2 may be used in conjunction with electronic studio flash lighting equipment for an even higher level of control for portraiture or still-life applications. When using external lighting, manual exposure mode operation, and the histogram will allow you to quickly establish the proper exposure.
Environmental Portraits Before you begin: Backlighting in automatic mode Many times a traditional portrait is an uncomfortable process for the subject. If you have trouble getting people to pose for your images, try exploring environmental portraiture. People are more comfortable in their own environments, and you will find that this type of portraiture may be highly successful. Environmental portraits are often created indoors under mixed lighting conditions.
Once you start to think in terms of how the metering process works you quickly realize why Leica included three metering modes and two auto focus modes in the design of the camera. Average metering mode looks at the entire scene to evaluate the tonal range. If the scene is predominantly light, the meter will tend to under-expose the subject. Spot metering mode gives you precise control of the metering area. Only the area in the small cross hairs is utilized for exposure evaluation.
To evaluate exposure in the various modes, you may position your camera, frame your subject and press the shutter halfway to hold the setting when the desired exposure is achieved. Pressing the shutter all the way will take the picture. Once you let go of the shutter button, the process begins again. Note: Due to the need to deliver a real-time preview for focus from the sensor data, you may find that the displayed image does not reflect the effect of the exposure adjustments.
Chapter Six Common Photographic Problems
Common Photographic Problems While we have tried to anticipate the types of photography you may encounter in the creation of this guide, it is almost certain that you will run into situations where what is happening with your captures simply does not make sense. After spending many hours with the Digilux 2, I have collected a gallery of failed images. These images are valuable as they indicate what went wrong based on exposure, color balance, and other capture parameters stored in each image file.
28mm 1.0 Sec. f 7.1 Manual Exposure ASA100 50mm 1/60 Sec. f 2.1 Manual Exposure Flash (Direct) ASA 100 “When I first heard of the Digilux 2 camera, I expected the camera to be decent, but I was pleasantly surprised by the flexibility of the camera’s built-in controls and excellent image quality. I have used digital cameras since the late eighties, but I cannot remember a camera that has struck such a perfect balance between ease of use, and photographic flexibility.
©2003 Robert Kim About the Author Scott Geffert is the president and co-founder of Center for Digital Imaging Inc. a New York City based technology consulting firm specializing in digital photography and imaging workflow. A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology, Scott has been involved with Photography since 1976, and the Apple® ® Macintosh™ computer platform since 1984.
