Sony Picture Profiles ~ limitations

 

It's clear to me that Sony Picture Profiles are designed for video work.  Once setup, I imagine they are meant to be left alone. Because of this when working on an A6300 I've come across a few limitations in using the profile system for stills.  Here are four limitations.

Contrast control is a bit awkward.  In Picture Profiles contrast is managed in part by the Gamma black point.  "+" raises the shadows and "-" deepens the shadows.  That's not all.  There's the influence of the Knee function that sets the highlight rounding point and densities.  This is not a "show stopper", but changing these settings on the fly is a bit more complex than I'd like to tackle while working in the field.

The automated exposure bracketing feature is disabled when Picture Profile is selected.  Using the "mini-lab" in-camera processing that profiles enable, I want to get an exposure correct before exporting/uploading.  I don't want to have to adjust image densities on the tablette or cellphone, either of which only works in an 8-bit color space in any event.  I don't like the color distortions that come with even subtle "Curves" changes.  While not exactly a "show stopper," since I can manually adjust EV settings, the lack of auto exposure bracketing is something I've noted and wish were implemented differently.

Picture Profiles are not available when shooting on the silent electronic shutter.  I can't sort out why this would be the case, but on the A6300 it's not available.  This is a bother for the times I want to shoot something nicely color-graded and do it in absolute silence, such as when photographing in museums.  This is somewhat of a "show stopper" to me.

Picture Profiles are only available on certain models, starting with the A6300, A7II, A7RII, A7S, and the RX100IV cameras.  The problem is, with the exception of the A6300, I'm heavily invested in camera versions prior to those just listed.  While on the road I have no problem simply using the A6300.  Yet, what if I wanted to take advantage of the in-camera "mini-lab" on my other devices?  This is more of a "show stopper" as I'm not in a financial position to roto-till 95% of my camera body selection for the sake of gaining Picture Profile capabilities.  The costs are simply too high for this Old Guy living on a fixed income.

After returning from a trip to England I carefully reviewed the imaging results from the adventure.  Some Picture Profile recipes I found or created were more to my liking than others.  Discovery of what is possible was part of the whole exercise of shooting RAW+jpg.  If something fails, then I could process the RAW on the Big Computer back home.  For the works that I found acceptable, I could post straight to Flickr while on the road.  That was, afterall, the goal of this entire exercise.  Posting on the fly.

Lightly mulling over the subject of "film emulations" and in-camera color-grading I realized something that must be obvious to other people, but was entirely lost on me until now.  Back in the day when the Canon 5D MkII was introduced I very quickly learned that the in-camera jpg processor was junk.  It was such junk that I've assiduously avoided making in-camera jpgs ever since.

I "sorta" knew the following a decade ago when I picked up my first Sony A6000,  the Sony in-camera jpg engine is infinitely better than the earlier Canons.  When I looked at the file sizes of the A6000 in-camera jpg, they were smaller than RAW converted to jpg work.  I thought there had to be useful information missing from the Sony in-camera jpgs, so I've avoid until now using this in-camera jpg engine too.

The mind-changing thing that struck me was that I could accept Sony Picture Profile output and be content with the results straight out of the camera.  This, even with the smaller jpg in-camera file size.  Which led me to ask:  So why remain stuck with my avoidance of Sony's in-camera jpg engine?  Yes.  Ultimately, shooting RAW give more flexibility and all that.  But perhaps I'd not given the in-camera "mini-lab" it's proper due.  Maybe there was another way "to get there from here" that didn't involve the aforementioned "show stoppers."  

Again, it seems obvious now, but didn't while I was on this little Adventure.  Why not have another look at Sony "Creative Styles?"

If I got this right, perhaps I could color-grade the designed for stills work Creative Styles to look similar to the Picture Profile recipes and re-gain easily accessible contrast controls, exposure bracketing, and silent shutter.  And if I were really lucky, the Creative Styles I modified would be available on all my cameras going back to the NEX-5T and NEX-7.

The hope is that the in-camera jpg "mini-lab" processing is better than I've given it credit to be.