Hi again,
It is best to experiment with these settings and make your own mind up,particularly with the sharpening setting.What i did was use a page ftom a magazine ......set the camera up at a fixed distance and set the zoom so you can clearly see the text on the page of the magazine.
Then,take a series of images ftom 0 sharpening up to the maximum setting...you can then compare the results by looking at the quality in each photo....i think you will be surprised at the results.
Saturation and contrast i have left at 0 and i do shoot in standard mode but sharpening i have turned down to the lowest setting......to me,after doing my tests,it seems like the sharpening actually makes an image less sharp the more you dial in.