Hi Mongoose, I think you hit the nail on the head as I have come from a p&s where the colours are vivid. I am shooting in RAW format and am quite happy to post process pictures but want to minimise the mistakes I make initially so I don't have to fix too much afterwards.

I will take some other pictures and post another if I'm still struggling.

Thank you.

Hi people - thanks for all the replies.

Looking at it again I agree the problem is the focus - it's just when I first view the pictures the most obvious issue is the washed out look - but I'm sure this is me not understanding what's happening when I convert the image to .jpg as the .pef files look much softer and paler. I didn't knowingly change any contrast or exposure settings (I just thought I'd cropped it slightly).

For the focus I had the focus dial just set to the green auto option - should I have selected the centre option?

Matt - I will have a look at your sticky about monitor calibration, I'm sure this is worthwhile even if it isn't my problem now. I will also try the images on our CAD machines at work, they are regularly calibrated using a spider ...

Hyram - yes the background is rubbish, it's quite difficult getting her to sit still somewhere there is suitable light - hence the fridgefreezer (with magnets!) in the background, this is why I tried to use a low f number to blur it out ...

A lot of my images seem to be slightly out of focus, but still believe that's down to user error rather than any fault with the camera!

Thanks again for all the comments.

Hello again! As I said in my Hello thread I'm a total beginner still learning my way around the camera (K10D).

I have noticed a lot of my shots seem to be coming out kind of 'washed out' and almost hazy. I know I can recover them (to a point) and make them quite presentable using LightRoom or PhotoShop but think it would be better to try and get the photo right from the camera.

Here's an example:




Taken in Av mode

Exposure 1/60
F5.6
Shutter 1/60
ISO 400

I may be a noob but I don't want anyone to be gentle with their criticism - please tell me what I should/could have done to improve this photo - I can take it!

For some reason when converting this image to jpg so I could post it here the problem seems less obvious?! I guess PhotoShop has done something during the export. It's fair to say the .pef file looks paler than this .... The only thing I knowingly changed is that I cropped it.

Thanks

I know what you mean - I still need (or is that want?) a tripod, bag, zoom lens ... I get the feeling this is going to be an even more expensive hobby than golf!

Hi, welcome to the forum. I only joined here myself a couple of days ago and I also ordered my K10d from SRS, though I only got the 18-55 kit (I'm a total newbie with dSLR's).

I bought a Uniross replacement battery but haven't got to try it out yet as the original is still going strong on a single charge after 550+ shots Even though the Pentax battery seems to last forever, £40+ for a second does seem to be expensive ....

Thanks for the welcome

Hi everyone. I've been 'lurking' here for a short time and have been really impressed with the friendly advice and great photos I've seen, hopefully by joining in I will learn how to take some myself!

I recently received my K10D from SRS but as I'm a total noob when it comes to dSLR cameras (I had an old Olympus UZ750 previously) I think I may struggle a bit (a lot!) with the learning curve so hope you don't mind me asking lots of daft questions ...

Anyway, will save those questions for another post as I just wanted to say hello first of all!