Photos look washed out (Page 2): Good advice JR1 and Searcher....... the results prove it.

nascar27 Loc: Kansas City, MO

JR1 wrote:

All you need to do is adjust the contrast in elements and perhaps as I DID up the colour a little, under 10 seconds.

It looks like an overcast day

Shoot at iso400
Switch to ap priority
set the camera to (hang on no battery) Auto or daylight white balance (overcast)

In the menu try VIVID picture control, I do like this setting

Good advice JR1 and Searcher....... the results prove it.

Screamin Scott Loc: Marshfield Wi, Baltimore Md, now Dallas Ga

You don't say what lens you are using...That could be part of the problem...Are you using a lens hood too ?...Other than that, the suggestions offered previously about changing your menu settings make the best sense...

Kinopless Loc: Mandurah, Western Australia

JR1 wrote:

All you need to do is adjust the contrast in elements and perhaps as I DID up the colour a little, under 10 seconds.

It looks like an overcast day

Shoot at iso400
Switch to ap priority
set the camera to (hang on no battery) Auto or daylight white balance (overcast)

In the menu try VIVID picture control, I do like this
setting

Sorry I think you're barking up the wrong tree..
Changing to 400 iso won't make any difference..
Changing to Aperture Priority won't make any difference..
Changing the white balance will only affect color, not contrast
which the original image is sadly lacking..
Set the camera back to it's factory defaults first and then test it again, outside.

bkyser Loc: Fly over country in Indiana

Kinopless wrote:

There's no way a D200 would take such low contrast images even at it's default settings.
Clean your lenses & filters and reset the camera to it's defaults before you start tinkering with settings.
They are great camera. The problem's happening through the glass either the window or the lens. imho.

Agreed! I have a D-200. You are shooting through a window, and possibly a screen. You have light bouncing around everywhere. Walk outside, and take the shots in normal mode, THEN, and only then change your settings.

rmalarz Loc: Tempe, Arizona

Took about 15~20 seconds to do a white balance.

However, I think your "out of the camera" image should be a bit better than you are getting.
--Bob

Papa Joe Loc: Midwest U.S.

authorizeduser wrote:

Changed to MORE VIVID and ENHANCED SATURATION.

Here is the result. BIG difference. Maybe a little more sharpening?

Attached are the results straight from the camera.

now I am shooting through a window so the results may be better outside.

Thanks to all

Good job! Not too contrasty... just right in my opinion.

Dlevon Loc: New Jersey

Maybe that's just the way it really is visually. We all see things differently, optically. Years ago when I shot film, I didn't like Kodachrome for its intensity. I loved Agfa film because the slides came out looking like what I saw. I actually miss it. But now with digital you can do what you like. Bump up the contrast in your pictures or lower it. Adjust the saturation or not. Read your manual as you can do a lot of things in your camera settings before taking the picture. If all else fails, just working on it in Photoshop or some other program will make the pic the way your eyes saw it or wanted too see it. There is so much we can do today that photography is a delight.

Sandu Loc: Brasov, Romania

Sorry, did you mention if you shoot in jpeg or raw?
If you deal with jpeg, Vivid setting (which you can customize) will do the job quite well. For raw, there's always the dark room, nowadays called PS, Light room, etc.
A plus for raw; if your WB isn't close, you can always nail it later on your computer!

EstherP

I am not familiar with your camera, and looking it up on dpreview didn't help - it is not listed there!
However, on my camera, I can select for Picture Mode: Vivid, Natural and Muted. If your camera has any settings like that (you'd need to check the manual), a different mode may be all you need.
Just a thought...
EstherP

WAL

Set the camera to auto. That should avoid any odd settings that may have been introduced to the camera w/o you knowing it.
Some thing is wrong. An out of camera JPG should look better than what you posted. Go out on a sunny day and take a picture with the sun behind you and one with the sun to your left or right.

Remove any filter on the lens. What lens are you using?

Post the pictures.

If you start with pictures like this correcting them in Photoshop will not yield good results.

WAL

Set the camera to auto. That should avoid any odd settings that may have been introduced to the camera w/o you knowing it.
Some thing is wrong. An out of camera JPG should look better than what you posted. Go out on a sunny day and take a picture with the sun behind you and one with the sun to your left or right.

Remove any filter on the lens. What lens are you using?

Post the pictures.

If you start with pictures like this correcting them in Photoshop will not yield good results.

WAL

Are we actually looking at a photo taken through a window?

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

D200 has no auto setting

Dlevon Loc: New Jersey

Forgot to mention, I've seen many dirty lenses and they don't take very good pix. Always clean your lenses before a shoot. Many times thats all it takes to fix half of the photo problems.

authorizeduser Loc: Monroe, Michigan

Thanks will try it