Straight Out of Camera

We've had a few requests for a back to basics competition down at ADAPS and we're thinking now of how to pitch the rules. We can see where it's coming from - you shoot something and, just like film, you put what you have in a competition with no post processing.

So far so good, but what about Custom Image, Digital Filters, in-camera HDR....all these things we have, should they be allowed in?

Where would you draw the line, given that we understand this competition is for the purists and those who cannot come to terms with Photoshop? What would you allow in? Would you allow cropping and sharpening afterwards?

And so on...comments welcome!

If the people asking for "back to basics" You could try Manual only but allow techniques from the dark room.

How about basing the rules on reversal film. No post processing at all, in or out of the camera - jpeg from the camera only, as if it were film.

E.G. No HDR, no digital filters (Analogue filters allowed), No Photoshop.

And no cropping... You get what you take...

We had a competition like this at our camera club, everyone was given a disposable film camera and the best 3 images put into the competition. the results were quite good. (I know it's impossible to do this here).

If its "back to basics" Would you also restrict the use of studio lighting ?

And the camera set to factory settings and kit lens ?...jeff..

No, none of that. If they have asked for "Back to basics" then give them exactly that. What's the nearest you can get to a disposable film camera .....

* Kit lens set at 28mm or 28mm prime
* All settings at factory defaults
* Must be taken at ISO 100, Sunny 16
* In camera JPEGs - no RAW
* No external processing other than copying in-camera JPEG onto memory stick

Yeah, basic .......... I like that

Andrew

John, there are so many settings in the camera that can be adjusted before pressing the shutter release and, at your club, there must be so many different camera models, that this would seem an impossible task to administer and "police".

However, perhaps it might be possible to have a competition in which any in-camera adjustments are allowed, but images displayed must be printed or viewed directly from the camera's SD-Card, thus ruling out computer-based PP.

Philip

Standard kits lens at 18mm, jpg and full auto mode. That would give you the same control as a disposable camera....ie no control. Frame and press the shutter.

The way to minimise any external influence and make camera set up visible would be to:

1. Entries to be submitted as ex-camera JPGs or JPGs created in PDCU to make it a specific size.

2. The judge selects what he believes are the best 5 entries.

3. The 5 finalists have to submit the .PEF (Raw) file for the image by email or FTP.

4. Someone with a good knowledge of EXIF format checks the images to ensure they really are within parameters.

5. Judge reviews the 5 (or less) images and selects the winner.

What happens is someone does not have a "Kit Lens"?



And what if they do not have a 28mm prime?

Then, what about JPG quality? *, **, ***, ****? and resolution? Full or reduced?

Allow simple global adjustments (brightness/contrast, sharpening, cropping) of in-camera jpegs. No layers, no clever tools)

Or absolute freedom in processing from an in-camera jpeg, just to prove that RAW doesn't have to be better...

Or perhaps any old standard lens (18-50, 17-50, 16-45 etc). It's not going to be easy to tie down the spec for the image. Some folks will be have better glass, others will have better have a better camera with better sensors. But i guess you can tie it down to a standard angle lens at 16-18mm, in jpg best quality and point'n'shoot full auto.

Entries submitted as RAW files, batch processed by the judge at default ACR settings.