Setting up a D3200 to be better

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nbuuifx

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Hi, I'm after some advice to make my D3200 better.

I started with a DSLR quite a few years ago with a Fuji S2 Pro. I took excellent photographs without trying. I was always chuffed with the results.

Unfortunately the sensor failed and it stopped working. So I replaced it with a D3200, but I'm always a little disappointed with the photos. They always look a bit washed out. As I say I'm just never that impressed - It's ended up not being used anywhere near as much and I'll tend to use my phone for photos instead which is a shame.

Before I give up altogether and sell it, is there anything that can be done to improve things? At the moment I'm doing a lot of post processing to improve them (they always look great on the screen on the camera).

I have the following lenses:

Nikon DX AF-S NIKKOR 18-70mm 1 3.5-4.5G ED
Tamron SP 70-300mm F4-5.6 VC Ultrasonic Silent Drive
 
I don't think that the results should 'always look washed out'. Maybe your exposure technique needs tweaking?

I wonder how you have the camera set up in the first place. You know - exposure parameters sort of stuff. And picture settings! I guess you're outputting jpgs? And I'm wondering ...

But assuming that there's no fault in body or lens, some bodies can meter a bit high or low, & once you know you can compensate ...
 
It is just set using automatic, I've tried tweaking settings unsuccessfully and ended up putting it back.

The photos I've taken today can't be uploaded, but I'll try and just get a few random shots tomorrow of things like trees etc. and post them up.
 
Set it to raw + jpeg at very least

have a go at editing raw files or/also tweaking the jpg standards. Do you want more saturation, etc
 
If shooting jpgs, look into picture controls ... you should be able to vary colour saturation.

If overexposure is the problem, use exposure compensation (button with +/- on it + the dial to vary)
 
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You could try the 'Vivid' colour profile if it has it? That usually makes things pop somewhat more.

The main thing is to experiment and see what things do. When I attended a few of the little meetups from here years back, I learned a lot from the other members. I had decided to jump in with full manual mode and was struggling to understand the effects of shutter speed, aperture and ISO. A couple of the guys took me aside and spent a bit of time going through the basics which was invaluable.
 
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