LittleBit Loc: St. Louis, MO

So many of the photos that are posted are of “EXCEPTIONAL QUALITY”. The colors are so “VIVID”. I’m need to know if it’s the camera that was used or the post processing abilities of the photographer, that create such beautiful photos? I have a Canon T5i camera and am wondering if I am able to achieve the same “QUALITY” (vivid colors/sharpness and contrast) with my camera? Are am I kidding myself?

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

What have you been doing so far towards educating yourself about exposure, focus and the importance of light?

.

User ID

No camera on the market has a more than ~10% edge in IQ vs your camera. People do pay a lot to partially chip away at that 10% ... although they also get some other useful features in the deal.

So if you’re OK with the usability of your camera, put your $$ into software, and perhaps a new computer if needed.

————————————————

Start with a simplified program like PS Elements (for example). Don’t know what lens you have but it is excellent, like ALL recent lenses are (yes, some are better but no matter).

Dig in your heals against the UHH tide that insists on upgrading your hardware ! It’s a red tide, very toxic.

Someday, for your own reasons, you will upgrade for reasons of useability or for specific features. This will automatically come with some incremental boost in IQ but nothing astounding boostwise.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

The vivid colors etc are easy.
In PS/PSE just slide the vibrance and saturation over and a couple of other enhancing sliders and wa la you have vivid photos on the verge of being cartoonish and totally over cooked.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

With respect to Architects post, there is another way to achieve vibrance etc. Try increasing the saturation and vibrance adjustments in your camera (not forgetting contrast). While adjusting, take a few shots to get a combination which suits your taste, and away you go.

camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

The camera and lens are only tools. You can achieve the level of quality you have talked about if you follow some rules, as has been told to you by Linda of Maine.
In the first place, color saturation could be the result of the image processing in camera or your input during editing. Sharpness has more to do with you than the lens in use. If you know what you are doing your images have to be sharp. Contrast could be the result of the optic in use although most of the time it is added in editing. A good, sound knowledge in editing images is of paramount importance in digital photography.

You can achieve those goals but as Linda said, do your homework first.

CHG_CANON Loc: the Windy City

In reality, the images you're viewing are processed doing things on a computer that you cannot do within the camera alone, such as carefully adjusting the white balance, adding saturation overall or to specific colors, and 'moving' the black and white points that serve to deepen the richness of the colors and making the whites whiter. This makes the image seen sharper via contrast, as well as using sharpen techniques in the software.

Some things you can do to your JPEGs from an EOS camera (any camera) are:

1. Go into the picture style definition for Standard (pages 135, 95 of your T5i manual)

2. Update Standard for:

Sharpness = 4 (increase by +1 from the default)
Contrast = +1 (increase to the right of 0)
Saturation = +1 (increase to the right of 0)

3. Then, only shoot in 'Standard'.

4. For the P, Av, Tv modes, use +0.7 EC if you perform some editing to your JPEGs before sharing. Use +0.3 EC if you use the files directly from the camera.

5. If not using already, also review these best practices for sharply focused images: How to obtain sharp images in digital photography

When it comes to editing, the current aesthetic is less is more. In reality, it's maybe not so much less work, rather, less obvious work in the result. Shoot for maybe a week at the settings above. Try another week with the sharpness at 5 and saturation at +2 from default. See if you like the results, can detect a difference in the subtle changes.

Your EOS T5i is a superb camera, but it does depend on the lenses you use and your shooting / processing technique. The changes above are things that can all be done in the camera. You can do these things 'free' even before moving onto processing on a computer.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Post a sample image.

cameraf4 Loc: Delaware

The point is, if you use "proper photographic technique" and "crank-up" the settings on your camera, you can (possibly) get Vivid, Sharp, Snappy images SOOC. 9 times out of 10, that is NOT what you are seeing here. Folks here have learned how to really make use of the post-processing apps on their PCs/Macs and know how to make their images really stand out.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Too much or just right? All a matter of taste (subject, light and focus at the scene, colors and other tweaks in pp):

Three Amigas, on Flickr.

Not a "big boy" camera:
Olympus E-M10MarkII
OLYMPUS M.Zuiko lens, 75-300mm F4.8-6.7 II

While sitting at a computer is obviously not everyone's idea of a good time, editing raw files can be rewarding and fun, and offers more options for personalized results than a camera "style" setting does.

Delderby Loc: Derby UK

From what I have read from time to time in this forum, many, perhaps most, do not even try to adjust their cameras, preferring to post process - and why not - it's a most reasonable and interesting pass-time. Even so, most decent cameras have useful adjustment parameters, such as WB, Saturation, Vivid, RBG, BW, Sharpness, HDR, and more. Of course, if the menu structure is difficult to understand and non-intuitive, I can see why so many photographers never get to know their cameras, beyond the exposure triangle.
Successful SOOC is about knowing your camera and using all it's facilities. The RAW pundits have no choice but to rely on PP to sort out any failings. They will also parrot each other to insist that RAW is the only way, which, of course, rules out the need to ever get to know their cameras.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

On my Sony and Nikon camera's I usually set them to some VIVID settings in the camera. But that is a personal choice, I used to shoot with Minolta glass and it seemed to have VIVID built into it.
Now I can get close setting my camera's to some level of VIVID.
I can also, and often do, add contrast and color in post, in fact, I do it for most of my shots.
Again, it is a personal preference and I choose VIVID.
Both camera's also allow me to make settings for sharpness and contrast, but I usually leave those up to post.
Oh, I shoot in Jpeg. (sham on me) but I am so good on my initial exposures (cause I'm so great) I don't need no stinking RAW.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

For me WAY TOO MUCH.
But the trend seems to be overcooked photos here in this forum.
There are times it might be good but it seems like nearly all are that way.
Yes, I do some manipulation but try to keep it as I saw it.
But if you like it then continue as you like it. We all are different and that makes things interesting.
I seldom comment on the cooking of the photo because the poster likes them and unless specifically asked just enjoy them as they are.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

color is just about right - light is contrasty, but exposure is good. The shadow areas could use a little opening up. There must have been a great blue sky overhead, with low angle sunlight on the right, so lighting was definitely a little challenging, but overall a very good image from an exposure and post processing point of view.

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

With a couple of exceptions I have the opposite sense about UHH 😊 Check out this site:
https://500px.com/editors

If we were in the same room looking at a print under the same light, there might be differences in our ability to see colors. Viewing photos online presents its own - sometimes seemingly impossible - set of challenges.