New 6D2 owner coming from a t5i

[mlamb01]

After owning a t5i with the 18-55 kit lens for four years, I upgraded to the 6D2 with the 24-105mm IS II F4.  Big improvement over the t5i.  I shoot in raw and use lightroom to process my photos.

I've noticed that when I zoom in 1:1 in lightroom, images that I thought looked sharp when fit to screen have a smooth grainy appearance, especially on skin tones.  I didn't really see this with the t5i, it would just be noise instead.

On the t5i I usually kept the ISO at 400 or below, sometimes 800 occasionally.  Right before switching over to the 6D2 I discovered how to use manual with the shutter and apature set, and the ISO set to auto to allow it to adjust the exposure for me.  I'm doing that on the 6D2 as well, and I set the max ISO to 6400.  My shots on the 6D2 have usually been somewhere in the 1000 to 6400 ISO range.

Is going from a crop sensor to a full frame going to give me a grainy skin tones when I zoom in 1:1?  What should I expect tranisitioning from a t5i to a 6D2?  I just worry what is this going to look like if a client makes a large print with it.  

[mlamb01]

This isn't a full time job for me, rather something I do in my spare time.  Hasn't really made me any money yet.  So I'm really aprehensive about signing on for the subscription.  I worry that if I cancel the subscription, I will essentially loose access to all the edits and such that I have made in lightroom.  Cause I don't think I can export that catalog backwards, right?

[jrhoffman75]

Understood. You can certainly do great work with 6.14. It's just that the newer versions have some very good additional tools that really help with your editing.

It is true that you can't go backwards with catalogs, but the update doesn't alter your earlier catalog. You still have everything from 6.14. 

You should go on the Adobe site and read the info about what happens if you cancel your subscription. You don't loose any work you've done. You just can't do any more editing. 

It's really a personal decision. 

[shadowsports]

@miamib01,

I think you should look more deeply at shooting technique.  You have a great lens, so maybe spend more time shooting multiple shots of the same image using different settings.  I think that was mentioned previously. 

The 6D2 is a very capable body.  I'm always surprised at the detail and how well it does with skin smoothness.

Sigma 24~70mm (Art)

f 4.5

1/250

ISO 100

focal length 44mm

I use DxO for post.  Its a great "perpetual" alternative to Lr.  I've been taking pictures for a very long time.  Enthusiast level.  The guys here teach me new stuff every day.  

[mlamb01]

Maybe part of my issue is I had the auto ISO range set to 100~6400?  I did that though so I could get a higher shutter speed in the lower light because I was hand holding some of the shots.

When doing portraits, is there an ideal ISO range for the 6D2?

[Waddizzle]

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@mlamb01 wrote:

Maybe part of my issue is I had the auto ISO range set to 100~6400?  I did that though so I could get a higher shutter speed in the lower light because I was hand holding some of the shots.

When doing portraits, is there an ideal ISO range for the 6D2?

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Your question does not have an answer.  It is up to you to decide what ISO settings are acceptable, and which are not.  BTW, I use 100-12800 on my 6D2.  In practice, I try to take shots that are ISO 3200 or less.  Also, I only use ISO Auto in M mode.

[jrhoffman75]

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@mlamb01 wrote:

Maybe part of my issue is I had the auto ISO range set to 100~6400?  I did that though so I could get a higher shutter speed in the lower light because I was hand holding some of the shots.

When doing portraits, is there an ideal ISO range for the 6D2?

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I don't see objectionable noise in the image.

Since you are at max f/stop the only way to be able to use a lower ISO is a slower shutter speed and/or more light.

Since the 24-70 has IS you could maybe get by with 1/60 sec, but you are wise to be concerned about motion blur.

Rick's suggestion to look into DxO PhotoLab 4 is a good one.

DxO doesn't have a DAM system like Lr, but it does offer a plugin for Lr that would allow you to use Lr for cataloging and then transfer a RAW file to DxO for editing.

Each RAW processor creates slightly different rendered images. Some folks do not like Lr and feel that Capture 1 does a better job (and vice versa). Same with DxO and a half dozen or so other editing programs. And via editing one can ultimately produce images from any of them that will probably be indistinguishable from any other.

The only really accurate converter is Canon's DPP since they created the algorithms to process the sensor data from the sensor they designed. But that doesn't mean that DPP is necessarily the most pleasing output.

Concentrate on learning all the tools at your disposal in your version of Lr.

[ebiggs1]

"F4, 50mm, 1/125 ss, and 2500 ISO"

Wow! That looks like a pretty normal snapshot.  Were you in deep shade or was it night?  ISO 2500 seems out, way out, of reason for a shot like that in normal daylight even if you are out of direct Sun light. ISO 200 seems more appropriate. Whatever though.

A couple things;.............

"The only really accurate converter is Canon's DPP since they created the algorithms..." "Each RAW processor creates slightly different rendered images."

This may be true but it doesn't mean a thing if it isn't what you like or want.  The conversion by Adobe in PS and LR is by far preferred by the professional photography community and world, over Canon's own DPP4 or any of the other editors. Not even close. 

The latest version of PS and LR really don't do anything that your version can't do.  They do automate some settings but largely they accomplish the same goal.  This is only true, however, if you know how to use them properly. I have no real objection to doing the $10 per month rental scheme offered by Adobe and if I were still in business I would certainly do it. The improvement in procedure would be worth it as time is money in this business.

If I were you I would rethink the ISO issue. Always shoot full size Raw. I would set-up a preset in LR that applied lens correction and a tad bit of sharpening to the images as they are imported. This gives a good starting point to do your critical edits. If you or your clients need to view your photos at 1:1, you need to rethink how you shoot so that doesn't happen.

[mlamb01]

It was taken in open shade on a overcast day this past weekend, about 30 minutes before sunset.  I did try processing this in DPP4, and it did show the face better IMO.  But it lost alot of the detail in her hair.  I decided I liked the LR render better, here is what I ended up with...  Probably my favorite image from that session.

[wq9nsc]

I generally use DPP for RAW conversion.  Depending upon how you have DPP and your camera set up, it will use very aggressive noise reduction shedding far too much detail in the process. 

I have DPP set for 0 luminance and 0 chrominance default NR and use DPP recipes to apply a starting value of NR to groups of photos based upon my experience and tastes with my different camera bodies at different ISO settings.  From there I fine tune the level of NR and sharpening applied when needed.

Rodger