Hi! Newbie here. When I was still using a p&S, I had my pictures printed at a local Kodak store near my place. Colors were rich and pictures were sharp. I've only gotten a Canon 30D late last year. I had a few test prints there and the colors were not that saturated, and prints had a haze to it. In my monitor (uncalibrated--no spyder here), it appeared sharp and had good colors. And I also sharpened with PS. I have no adjustments in-camera. What do you think is wrong? Is it the developer or is it my monitor? I was thinking of trying digiprint... TIA!

I dont know much about monitor calibration but I read that Canon DSLRs are typically set at default values which are very conservative and it's up to you to tune it to your individual liking. At factory values, colors are unsaturated and sharpening is subtle. Perhaps you should take a look at those settings.

Regardng prints I suggest FujiFilm Digital (FDI) Mini-labs. (I have no experience with DigiPrint but others speak well of it.) Look for an FDI with "Frontier" logo. There's one in MegaMall (which I highly recommend) and another at the Mall of Asia. Dont forget to give them a file large enough for at least a 4R size. FDI prints film and digital files very well. Note that not all Fuji outlets have digital minilabs. Only those with the Frontier system do.

By the way, Welcome to DPP!=)

I only have my prints developed in labs like DPI in Astoria and Digiprint, which gives great services because they deliver for free.

You should go to labs that follow your ICC profile. To view your pictures more accurately on your monitor, it should be calibrated so what you see is what you get (which isn't the case if it's not calibrated). You can use Spyder to calibrate it. It's a gadget you dangle on your monitor so it "corrects" the colors of your monitor.

Hope this helps.

P&S cams will always have conceivably sharper and more saturated jpegs as their settings default to a punchy look and color accuracy isn't its primary concert (simplicity is). DSLRs try to make their default settings as flat as possible and allows the user (presumably more experienced or willing to learn the intricacies of color and sharpening characteristics) to tinker with the in cam settings or do it in post-processing.

Ram - FYI we use frontiers to print all our lab prints (Print and deliver service) and we also use Noritsu Machines (with Kodak paper) in our central lab.

Thats why we deliver them a day after since they are all printed in our central lab.

Most important to get good prints is to calibrate your monitor. Also labds that support/give out their ICC profiles.

Thanks

I dont know much about monitor calibration but I read that Canon DSLRs are typically set at default values which are very conservative and it's up to you to tune it to your individual liking. At factory values, colors are unsaturated and sharpening is subtle. Perhaps you should take a look at those settings.

Regardng prints I suggest FujiFilm Digital (FDI) Mini-labs. (I have no experience with DigiPrint but others speak well of it.) Look for an FDI with "Frontier" logo. There's one in MegaMall (which I highly recommend) and another at the Mall of Asia. Dont forget to give them a file large enough for at least a 4R size. FDI prints film and digital files very well. Note that not all Fuji outlets have digital minilabs. Only those with the Frontier system do.

By the way, Welcome to DPP!=)

are the print sizes and resolutions pixels mentioned in this link also being used by our local photo labs?

http://www.americancamera.us/ac/faq.php

Hi! Newbie here. When I was still using a p&S, I had my pictures printed at a local Kodak store near my place. Colors were rich and pictures were sharp. I've only gotten a Canon 30D late last year. I had a few test prints there and the colors were not that saturated, and prints had a haze to it. In my monitor (uncalibrated--no spyder here), it appeared sharp and had good colors. And I also sharpened with PS. I have no adjustments in-camera. What do you think is wrong? Is it the developer or is it my monitor? I was thinking of trying digiprint... TIA!

I suggest you give us a sample of your pictures for better judgment of your problem. It might be that you are also using manual now since P&S' are set mostly on auto.

Hi! Newbie here. When I was still using a p&S, I had my pictures printed at a local Kodak store near my place. Colors were rich and pictures were sharp. I've only gotten a Canon 30D late last year. I had a few test prints there and the colors were not that saturated, and prints had a haze to it. In my monitor (uncalibrated--no spyder here), it appeared sharp and had good colors. And I also sharpened with PS. I have no adjustments in-camera. What do you think is wrong? Is it the developer or is it my monitor? I was thinking of trying digiprint... TIA!

I believe everything that needs to be suggested has been suggested. Try DigiPrint, you'll never go wrong. Oks ba sa endorsement, Miguel? :D

Btw, Welcome to DPP, Jasmine!!:)

sorry wrong reply and deleted :)

oops sorry I thought you are comparing this with inkjet printers. I suggest that you download some reference images on the net like the PDI target and send the image file no editing/conversion for develop to find out the cause.

Ram - FYI we use frontiers to print all our lab prints (Print and deliver service) and we also use Noritsu Machines (with Kodak paper) in our central lab.

Thats why we deliver them a day after since they are all printed in our central lab.

Most important to get good prints is to calibrate your monitor. Also labds that support/give out their ICC profiles.

Thanks

OT:

Thanks for the clarification. We passed by to Digiprint SM Sucat today (we have field work in the area.) Film processing is: P30 developing, P6.5 per 4R print, free film and free delivery. I like it. I will try Digiprint one of these days if I can find one nearby (Robinson's-Ortigas area.)

Thanks for all the replies and the welcomes. I am new to slr photography but not that new to photoshop. So yes, I used manual settings, pp my pics--curves adjustment, color correction and USM--and according to my uncalibrated monitor, pics were sharp and had good color saturation. Being new to slrs, I'm still :afraid: to post my less than perfect pics here... :Grin: Maybe when I've improved my shots! So now I have to buy a Spyder? where's the cheapest place to buy it? This hobby's getting expensive... have to explain to hubby that I need to buy another gadget...:Scared:

The spyder won't make your images look sharper, its to make sure that the colors and the luminosity is more accurate.

Jon Kung gave the best suggestion. You should download a test file and send it to the same printer to see whether or not its the printers problem or your camera. David Tong's comment is also correct. Leave a PS all to its own and the internal conversion will most likely be a really saturated and sharp image.