What settings do you guys use for your cameras? I noticed that when rendering from the face camera with default settings, it really doesn't look nearly as amazing as some of the facial images I've seen in the galleries. :( Also, on a side note, what are the 'optimum' settings in the render window when using firefly? Any and all help on these matters would be GREATLY appreciated. :)

Yeah, the default settings are crap. I usually use 100 focal length for the face, and between 75-100 for the main camera. It's good to experiment with different focal lengths - you can get some unusual effects. For my image in the gallery, "Bobblehead", I think I used a focal length of 25.

I used to use anything from 80-120 but now I generally stick to 65, which is pretty close to the human eye's focal length.

100mm for all cameras. PS Here's a little tip - Select any camera in the menu under the document window, then ALT-click any of the top 3 camera icons (left hand/face/right hand). They will be replaced by the camera you have selected. This is a neat way to access cameras like the Aux cam which don't have keyboard shortcuts. mac

I use a focal length 0f 80mm as the default on most of the cameras. For a Poser portrate I think somwhere between 80mm and 110mm is best, (just my personal taste). Actually it is the point of view which is the important thing, this determins the perspective amongst other things. I don't like Posers habit of changing the scale of the camera when the focal length is changed, so I locked the scale channel on most of my cameras by editing the preferredState.pz3, using "forceLimits 4" and setting "min 1" and "max 1". I also added an extra Dolly Camera and 2 extra Aux cameras to the preferredState.pz3. I sometimes parent a Poser square to a camera and apply a transmap for a vignette effect.

For the face 70-90 For the body 50-60 For a scene (outdoors or a large room) 35 mm

Mac, you just helped with one of the most frustrating things for me ... no keystroke for the aux cam. Thanks for the tip! I find the aux cam to be really helpful when creating new spotlights. As a point of interest I've read in a few places that 55mm approximates how the human eye sees. For most of my medium-length shots I use 90mm. 105mm for portraits. As karen1573 said, 25mm can be fun to play with ... I think of it as the "fisheye" setting.

I have read in a few places that 50 mm is the human eye focal length.

Correct, 50 mm is close to the human eye. However, focal length figures depends on the size of the film used. The correct statement is that 50 mm focal length for a 35 mm camera has the characteristics of the human eye. The Poser focal length figures are the ones corresponding to a 35 mm camera, which is the most common type out there. If you have a digital camera, you can note that focal length figures are different, since the "film" plane there is not of the same size as a 35 mm camera. I have no idea what the correct figure is for human eye focal length, but somebody with optical knowledge can probably calculate it from the size of the retina, the eye lense and the distance between them.

Well, I'm a photographer and I still use my old nikon F2 (1972). Nikon made a lens (no longer available) which was 55mm 1.2. This was meant to be close to the human eye, (reputedly between 55mm and 58mm). On the larger format 6x7 Mamiya, I use a 180mm for most things. That's equivalent to about 80mm on the nikon. My lenses are 24mm - for restricted spaces or wide-angle effects 35mm - room-sized interiors 55mm - most full-length or partially cropped body shots 105mm - all portraits and upper-body shots Of course, rules are meant to be broken, so the above is not a hard and fast guide. I often do portraits or full-body shots with the 24mm lens to get more dramatic effects. For portaits, anything from 80 - 120mm is considered 'correct'. The real rest is to use the Face camera and do a series of renders at different focal lengths, then compare them. Keep the framing as similar as possible in each render and go from 20mm - 500mm. You'll see that as the focal length gets longer, the perspective is flattened. So a head shot at 20mm will show a pronounced nose and distorted facial features, whereas at 500mm, the face will be flattened considerably. mac PS Dean - glad to help. It was a major PITA for me too until someone told me that one.

The real rest = The real test mac

As a photographer I can honestly say that the lighting arrangement/camera settings [placement, intensity, lens focal length, etc.]in Poser follow pretty closely to the real world of photography. Pick up a copy of a good book on photography at your library or wherever and you will find some excellent info on lense setting and lighting arrangement, most books have diagrams and charts covering these subjects.