Roughly the same photo, different cameras

August 19, 2009 in The other, Uncategorized | No comments

I had a few minutes spare. I used a Canon A590 IS and a Nikon D90, and took pictures of a small shrub.

I wanted to see how the pictures look in fully automatic mode, and then how the pictures look in each cameras Program mode. Program mode is often quite like Auto mode, with the exception that the camera operator can change the Exposure Compensation. Exposure Compensation is simple – it tells the camera to expose the image more or less.

In my experience the auto modes of many cameras over-expose the image. Leading to washed out colours and/or the brightest parts of the image becoming solid white.

All images featured in the post are exactly as from the camera, saved via Photoshop to save some bandwidth. Click on a image to see it full size.

Here’s the Auto Mode images from both cameras. They have EXIF data, which you can use to view the exact settings.

Canon A590 IS:

CanonA590IS_full_auto

Nikon D90:

NikonD90_full_auto

I think both images are a little washed-out, and far from optimal.

Here are the images taken with Program mode.

Canon A590 IS (P Mode, -1 exposure compensation):

CanonA590IS_P_Mode_Exp_Comp

Nikon D90 (P Mode, -2/3 exposure compensation):

NikonD90_P_Mode_Exp_Comp

The Canon shot is a bit too dark. That was my fault. -1 exposure compensation was a bit too much. I also think the camera chose the wrong aperture.

The next shot was taken with the Canon A590 IS in Aperture Priority Mode (-2/3 exposure compensation):

CanonA590IS_AP_Priority_Exp_Comp

Conclusions:

There are several hundred dollars or pounds difference in the price of the Canon A590 IS and the Nikon D90.

In the above circumstances, taking five minutes to photograph a shrub, Auto Mode, for both cameras, produces a mediocre shot.

All beginners should learn how to use P-Mode with exposure compensation. Digital compact or DSLR.  They will produce some great shots with minimum effort.

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