Help - why does my iPhone 11 get it right (or almost right) and my Nikon D600 is troublesome: Admittedly, this is a difficult shot. Foreground is my water feature in my back yard and...

DRBerg Loc: St. George, UT

Admittedly, this is a difficult shot. Foreground is my water feature in my back yard and the background is a setting sun, taken with my iPhone. What would you photo pros recommend for settings to try and capture this same scene using my Nikon D600. I cannot accept the idea that my iPhone can do a better job than my Nikon.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

What was wrong with the Nikon shot? Did the issue involve an over-exposed sky or under-exposed foreground? Metering mode would affect results (spot vs. multi-zone, for example).

I am not a pro, btw 😊

DRBerg Loc: St. George, UT

You nailed it Linda. The sky was either completely washed out or the water feature was blacked out. I tried a force flash, but again the water feature was great and the sky was white. I will delve into my owners manual and try to figure out "metering mode."

gvarner Loc: Central Oregon Coast

An iPhone uses digital imaging for one thing and yours may be set for automatic HDR. That’s their default. The digital imaging substitutes for lack of all the mechanics that iPhones don’t have and the ability to add accessory filters.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

I'm not a pro either but since you're asking, if I was taking this shot I'd use a tripod and exposure bracketing. You don't say but it looks as though you could shoot that scene with a fairly short focal length. I'd use f/14 or f/16 and I'd get a focus lock on the foot of the waterfall area. I'd keep ISO at 100 unless it was ultra-important to freeze the flowing water. If I did want to freeze the water I'd use a shutter speed of 1/100 sec or faster (bracketing would still be a possibility if you have anti-ghosting as an option). I'd use matrix metering and if exposure bracketing wasn't a possibility I'd use exposure compensation of -1 or thereabouts to protect the sky highlights (the foreground is predominantly dark but the sky has small, very bright patches).

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

gvarner wrote:

An iPhone uses digital imaging for one thing and yours may be set for automatic HDR...

That's a great observation. I only have a $5.00 flip phone so I didn't know 😁

.

Ourspolair

R.G. wrote:

I'm not a pro either but since you're asking, if I... (show quote)

I agree with the philosophy of a 3-shot 2-stop bracketed exposure and HDR or some form of three-layer processing for this type of issue. The iPhone is likely set on HDR or some Apple AI derivative. Stay well and keep on posting.

Grahame Loc: Fiji

DRBerg wrote:

What would you photo pros recommend for settings to try and capture this same scene using my Nikon D600. I cannot accept the idea that my iPhone can do a better job than my Nikon.

I'm not a pro, but if you allow the sun to drop below the horizon things will be a bit easier as the contrast of the scene will reduce.

As for settings, if using a tripod, lowest ISO, aperture that gives you adequate DoF around f/8 if using a wide FL and then a 'speed' that produces minimum blinkies/histogram just at the right. Shoot in raw.

Then bring out the shadows in PP. I'm not conversant with the DR of your camera but do that to start with and if you can not achieve the result you want bracket and merge two exposures.

Wallen Loc: Middle Earth

DRBerg wrote:

Admittedly, this is a difficult shot. Foreground is my water feature in my back yard and the background is a setting sun, taken with my iPhone. What would you photo pros recommend for settings to try and capture this same scene using my Nikon D600. I cannot accept the idea that my iPhone can do a better job than my Nikon.

There are several ways a DSLR can correctly capture that;

1. Use graduated ND filter to cope with the high contrast shoots.
2. Use a tripod & exposure bracketing
3. Use a tripod & HDR
4. Shoot in RAW and adjust at post
5. Double exposure hack (using a tripod and a black card)
6. On certain angles, use of external flash (or many flashes) pointed at the ground
7. Lots of editing
8. (Hit or miss) Use auto setting
9. *Instead of sunset, shoot when the sun is up or when fully overcast.
10.*On Nikons, (Up to a certain point) use of Active D-lighting
11.** On some cameras (not the D600) use a flat image setting and adjust at post

If you have the tools, go for#1 or 6.
If not, go for #2, 3, 5, 8 & 10
The rest will require editing skills.
Some shoot may require a combination of these technique/setting/process depending on what is required.

Celphone cameras automatically edit the image so you get a good exposure. But looking at it closely, you will see it is also a compromise. If you can expose the DSLR properly, it will always be a better image.

hcmcdole

I would have to say the age of the camera versus the newest iPhone (although the iPhone 12 is around the corner?) makes a huge difference. I am guessing the software in the phone analyzes the scene a lot better than the software in the older camera (introduced 12 years ago)? And the software in the phone probably enhances the scene before saving it as well.

My old Samsung Note 4 made the dingy dark blue carpet at my grandson's pre-K school look like new. This was not reality but certainly made things looks better. I recall that day vividly as I compared the photo I just took with the carpet I was standing on. It was "unbelievable" but it looked "Great".

Bobspez Loc: Southern NJ, USA

DRBerg wrote:

Admittedly, this is a difficult shot. Foreground is my water feature in my back yard and the background is a setting sun, taken with my iPhone. What would you photo pros recommend for settings to try and capture this same scene using my Nikon D600. I cannot accept the idea that my iPhone can do a better job than my Nikon.

I'd love to see the iphone version, but I have a hunch it's partly a matter of post processing. Here's your Nikon shot with a bit of tweaking in Photoshop. Took a couple of minutes. Also with a smaller sensor the phone will focus easier. A D600 can focus better than this with the right settings. I think this type of shot would look better with the foreground in sharper focus.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Bobspez wrote:

I'd love to see the iphone version...

I thought the opening paragraph says that this is the i-Phone photo 😊

.

selmslie Loc: Fernandina Beach, FL, USA

gvarner wrote:

An iPhone uses digital imaging for one thing and yours may be set for automatic HDR. That’s their default. The digital imaging substitutes for lack of all the mechanics that iPhones don’t have and the ability to add accessory filters.

The right answer.

The iPhone can see that the scene's DR is too wide for a straight interpretation so it automatically does some shadow recovery.

If you were shooting raw with your D600 you could also recover the shadows so long as you don't blow the highlights. This would be the best solution.

But if you don't want to develop from the raw file you can also use Nikon's Active D-Lighting to accomplish something similar. There a several levels available so you might need to find out which one gives you the result you are looking for in each case.

Either way you are going to get a superior image from the 24MP D600 because the iPhone 11 is only 12MP and it has several stops less dynamic range than the Nikon. Besides that, the Nikon has a wide range of focal lengthe available. The iPhone has only two or three.

DRBerg Loc: St. George, UT

Well said Selmslie and much to think about.

R.G. Loc: Scotland

Grahame wrote:

..........aperture that gives you adequate DoF around f/8 if using a wide FL......

I agree with all that you've said, but in this particular situation the only reason that f/8 would be sufficient is because the background is hazy so it's irrelevant whether the DOF extends to the distant horizon or not. However, with a full frame camera, if you wanted the area of perceived sharpness to extend from the immediate foreground (which in this case is quite close) all the way out to a distant horizon, an f-stop higher than f/8 would be required, regardless of whatever focus point you chose.