Personal computing discussed

Moderators: renee, Dposcorp, SpotTheCat

 
TheEmrys
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2529
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 8:22 pm
Location: Northern Colorado
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 3:56 pm

Went up to Rocky Mountain National Park this morning hoping to get some pictures of elk. Well, there were none to be found. However, I was up early enough to catch the sunrise up on top at around 12,000 feet.

Image
Sunrise at 12k feet 1

Image
Sunrise at 12k feet 2

And an HDR shot. The more I play around with the in camera HDR on the Sony, the more I like what it can do.
Image
Sunrise at 12k feet 3
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:05 pm

TheEmrys wrote:
Went up to Rocky Mountain National Park this morning hoping to get some pictures of elk. Well, there were none to be found. However, I was up early enough to catch the sunrise up on top at around 12,000 feet.


Wonderful shots; I have camera equipment, but frustratingly North Texas isn't terribly photogenic from a topography perspective; our hills have just enough elevation to see that other hills obscure most of the horizon, and few are tall enough to make anything useful of.

<Near-R&P>And I still need to get my CHL. I'm not comfortable carrying obvious camera equipment into the places that I'd like to photograph without some kind of backup, given that I'm legally allowed to carry a concealed pistol once licensed, and I'd feel safer following my developing photography sense knowing that if it obscures my situational awareness enough for me to find myself in any kind of trouble I'd at least be equipped to get myself out of it.</Near-R&P>
 
TheEmrys
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2529
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 8:22 pm
Location: Northern Colorado
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:49 pm

Thanks much! Gotta say though that after shooting up there for 5 minutes, I was out of breath. Elevation is the great equalizer.

Also, I just need to share this great bit of gear I just picked up: The Black Rapid RS-7 is an amazing neck strap that completely changed how easy it is to shoot. Wow. Amazing.

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Rapid-RS-7-Camera-Strap/dp/B002WR7VSS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372632515&sr=8-1&keywords=blackrapid+rs-7
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
flip-mode
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10218
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 12:42 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 5:53 pm

Those are beautiful Emrys.
 
JustAnEngineer
Gerbil God
Posts: 19673
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: The Heart of Dixie

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:05 pm

The Curve RS-7 is intended to be a shoulder strap, isn't it? I'm really pleased with the very similar Black Rapid Sport strap that was recommended to me by w00tstock in a thread here. These straps are good equipment.
Last edited by JustAnEngineer on Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
· R7-5800X, Liquid Freezer II 280, RoG Strix X570-E, 64GiB PC4-28800, Suprim Liquid RTX4090, 2TB SX8200Pro +4TB S860 +NAS, Define 7 Compact, Super Flower SF-1000F14TP, S3220DGF +32UD99, FC900R OE, DeathAdder2
 
flip-mode
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10218
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 12:42 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:11 pm

TheEmrys wrote:
And an HDR shot. The more I play around with the in camera HDR on the Sony, the more I like what it can do.

I had decided HDR wasn't really worth it, given the need for absolute stillness for best results, but you've poked a hole in that way of thinking.
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:16 pm

flip-mode wrote:
TheEmrys wrote:
And an HDR shot. The more I play around with the in camera HDR on the Sony, the more I like what it can do.

I had decided HDR wasn't really worth it, given the need for absolute stillness for best results, but you've poked a hole in that way of thinking.


The need for 'stillness' will depend on the processing; if you're shooting RAWs and using software to put them together, they can be automatically (or manually) stitched just like a panorama before being used to 'stack' exposure for the HDR effect.
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:21 pm

JustAnEngineer wrote:
The Curve RS-7 is intended to be a shoulder strap, isn't it? I'm really pleased with the very similar Black Rapid Sport strap that was recommended to me by w00tstock in a thread here. These straps are good equipment.


I forgot to mention that I picked one of the Sport straps up using your recommendation, and to say that it is everything you said it was and everything I needed. I'm not quite lugging around a 100-400 yet, but I did give it a function check with the 70-300 at the zoo (moving, I have a processing queue). For a single camera/lens kit, it's perfect. Now I need to look into a solid (hopefully somewhat elements resistant) pouch to attach to it to carry batteries and memory cards. The 6D's WiFi and GPS are quite nice, but they eat batteries (of which I have plenty), and while I have a pair of slower 64GB cards that work well enough, my SanDisk 95MB/s 16GB card does fill up very quickly even when shooting RAW only :).
 
JustAnEngineer
Gerbil God
Posts: 19673
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: The Heart of Dixie

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:34 pm

Airmantharp wrote:
I need to look into a solid (hopefully somewhat elements resistant) pouch to attach to it to carry batteries and memory cards.
Are you looking for something small like the Joey 2? My backpack, camera case and lens cases are from LowePro's AW line. The rubber logo on the camera case has deteriorated after several years, but the basic Nylon portions are holding up fine.
· R7-5800X, Liquid Freezer II 280, RoG Strix X570-E, 64GiB PC4-28800, Suprim Liquid RTX4090, 2TB SX8200Pro +4TB S860 +NAS, Define 7 Compact, Super Flower SF-1000F14TP, S3220DGF +32UD99, FC900R OE, DeathAdder2
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 6:46 pm

Something like that; I actually have individual cases for batteries and memory cards to keep them together whether they're in my Case Logic sling (POS, but good design) or my Canon 1E gadget bag that I keep everything in. I just need something to shove those small cases in and attach to the Sport strap, along with something to jimmy a cheap monopod to that will keep it grounded to my back and not sticking out and poking things (mine has a metal cone that protrudes from the bottom if the foot is not extended all the way, and it doesn't like to stay extended).
 
lonleyppl
Gerbil XP
Posts: 380
Joined: Wed Jan 26, 2011 2:59 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:28 pm

Realized my Lightroom 5 Beta was running out, so I decided to finish processing my Austin photos. Didn't manage to get them done in time, so I used rawtherapee. It's slow, but it worked.

I wish camera gear wasn't so expensive. I spent about $45 on my bag, ($35 for the bag, $10 in supplies for camera storage). It's great and I really like it. I'll spring for a new strap eventually, as well as maybe a real bag, but that'll happen after college, after a 911SC, and after new lenses.
Lenovo W520
IBM dx340
Nokia Lumia 928
Sony a7 with far too many lenses to list or even count
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:39 pm

lonleyppl wrote:
Realized my Lightroom 5 Beta was running out, so I decided to finish processing my Austin photos. Didn't manage to get them done in time, so I used rawtherapee. It's slow, but it worked.

I wish camera gear wasn't so expensive. I spent about $45 on my bag, ($35 for the bag, $10 in supplies for camera storage). It's great and I really like it. I'll spring for a new strap eventually, as well as maybe a real bag, but that'll happen after college, after a 911SC, and after new lenses.


I was able to upgrade to LR5 from my educational license of LR3; you might look into educational or institutional licensing, just be warned: Adobe won't just take an institutional email for proof of status. They'll want you to prove it. I wound up emailing them my unofficial transcript showing classes for the then-current semester, and they took that; they didn't seem to mind that I wasn't in any classes that Lightroom might be applicable curriculum for, though that may or may not have changed (this was all for LR3, and I believe full retail was more expensive then).
 
JustAnEngineer
Gerbil God
Posts: 19673
Joined: Sat Jan 26, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: The Heart of Dixie

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:43 pm

Years ago, I got the full version of Adobe Photoshop included with an Epson SCSI scanner. The annual upgrade fee from Adobe for the Photoshop software was several times the cost of the original scanner package.
· R7-5800X, Liquid Freezer II 280, RoG Strix X570-E, 64GiB PC4-28800, Suprim Liquid RTX4090, 2TB SX8200Pro +4TB S860 +NAS, Define 7 Compact, Super Flower SF-1000F14TP, S3220DGF +32UD99, FC900R OE, DeathAdder2
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:52 pm

lonleyppl wrote:
I wish camera gear wasn't so expensive. I spent about $45 on my bag, ($35 for the bag, $10 in supplies for camera storage). It's great and I really like it. I'll spring for a new strap eventually, as well as maybe a real bag, but that'll happen after college, after a 911SC, and after new lenses.


The Sport strap we are talking about above from BlackRapid is $70 retail, and that's what you'll pay new. The Canon 100E gadget bag I picked up at Fry's I had matched with an Amazon fire sale for $79.

This stuff hurts, but good supporting equipment is the difference between 'I'll be right there!' and **** that ****.

Though, if you're using a T1i and a kit lens, you do have a very nice, light, and portable kit. Canon's 55-250 IS II is a great companion, and the 50/1.8 works (wouldn't wish it on anyone that could afford anything more), as does the 40/2.8, which is really Canon's Best Buy for any of their EOS cameras, but there's some things that the 50/1.8 'Shifty Fifty' can do (including taking pictures slightly cheaper) that the optically excellent and accurately focusing 40/2.8 'Shorty Forty' cannot whether used on a T1i or a 1D X (don't look it up if big price tags scare you). Notably, the 50/1.8 is the cheapest autofocus lens you can mount on a Canon EOS camera that can give you a decent focus-isolated shot indoors, and there is no equivalent among other systems.

For reference, I got into DSLRs because my youngest sister, still in college, wanted one, and I found a full T1i kit (with bag and card) for a good price used. I used it for a while and tried to learn it, since I didn't want to put something in her hands that I couldn't show her how to use, and I passed her the 55-250 IS II and a 50/1.8 when I did. Now I just need to get on her to use it more, she's about to graduate :).
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 7:59 pm

JustAnEngineer wrote:
Years ago, I got the full version of Adobe Photoshop included with an Epson SCSI scanner. The annual upgrade fee from Adobe for the Photoshop software was several times the cost of the original scanner package.


I've looked at the full versions; I'm interested because they allow you to edit layers in 16-bit, whereas Adobe still limits Elements to 8-bit layers only. Not a big deal and can be worked around if needed, but yeah, annoying. I hate throwing data away until I render, no rounding until computation is complete and all.

Luckily, while Lightroom isn't cheap, you only really have to upgrade when you collect stuff that your version doesn't support well enough for you. Canon's DPP is a pretty powerful tool, and I do need to go wrap my head around it fully, as I'm sure it does some things better than Lightroom (you may be aware of them, I just haven't invested the hands-on to make any research relevant).

I went to LR5 because I could do it with an upgrade, and because it's a real upgrade from LR3, especially if I had to use DPP to 'pre-process' my RAWs into a TIFF or something that wouldn't lose too much information.

Also, Adobe's Elements packages are usually reasonable at retail, and regularly put on sale or even given away with some stuff; I've even seen them discounted in a Newegg bundle, and there isn't an educational version (might be nice if it dropped it to pocket change).
 
TheEmrys
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2529
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 8:22 pm
Location: Northern Colorado
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:28 pm

flip-mode wrote:
TheEmrys wrote:
And an HDR shot. The more I play around with the in camera HDR on the Sony, the more I like what it can do.

I had decided HDR wasn't really worth it, given the need for absolute stillness for best results, but you've poked a hole in that way of thinking.


Thanks, I felt the same way. Until I figured out that a monopod made both HDR and Panorama worthwhile. And I even got one free with my camera. I love having the option of a monopod or a tripod.
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
TheEmrys
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2529
Joined: Wed May 29, 2002 8:22 pm
Location: Northern Colorado
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Sun Jun 30, 2013 8:29 pm

JustAnEngineer wrote:
The Curve RS-7 is intended to be a shoulder strap, isn't it? I'm really pleased with the very similar Black Rapid Sport strap that was recommended to me by w00tstock in a thread here. These straps are good equipment.


It is a shoulder strap, but I use it both ways, depending on need or location. When I was worried about someone trying to steal it, I use it as a neck strap.
Sony a7II 55/1.8 Minolta 100/2, 17-35D, Tamron 28-75/2.8
 
PenGun
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 893
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:48 pm
Location: BC Canada
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Mon Jul 01, 2013 5:24 am

Not sure I'd want to hang my camera by it's hot shoe. Still the heaviest combo I can put together with my Fuji X-E1 is under a Kg. The new 55-200 and it still don't break 2.2 lbs.
Fuji X-E1 Leica Elmar 135 4 XF60mm 2.4 Macro | Zeiss FE 35mm 2.8
http://carnagepro.com
"Everything ... they eat everything, and fear is their bacon bits."
 
flip-mode
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10218
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 12:42 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Mon Jul 01, 2013 2:23 pm

TheEmrys wrote:
flip-mode wrote:
TheEmrys wrote:
And an HDR shot. The more I play around with the in camera HDR on the Sony, the more I like what it can do.

I had decided HDR wasn't really worth it, given the need for absolute stillness for best results, but you've poked a hole in that way of thinking.

Thanks, I felt the same way. Until I figured out that a monopod made both HDR and Panorama worthwhile. And I even got one free with my camera. I love having the option of a monopod or a tripod.

Your pictures compelled me to take the a57's HDR for a spin last night. Here's the before and after, straight from the camera:

Image

Image

I also took some shots in RAW and then post processed. The image quality of the darker areas of the scene is definitely superior in the HDR shot than in the post-processed single exposure shot. You taught me not to dismiss HDR. Would the most superior results be achieved with bracketed RAW exposures?
 
PenGun
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 893
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:48 pm
Location: BC Canada
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:20 pm

flip-mode wrote:


I also took some shots in RAW and then post processed. The image quality of the darker areas of the scene is definitely superior in the HDR shot than in the post-processed single exposure shot. You taught me not to dismiss HDR. Would the most superior results be achieved with bracketed RAW exposures?

Actually a graduated neutral density filter would be very useful here.
Fuji X-E1 Leica Elmar 135 4 XF60mm 2.4 Macro | Zeiss FE 35mm 2.8
http://carnagepro.com
"Everything ... they eat everything, and fear is their bacon bits."
 
flip-mode
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10218
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 12:42 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Mon Jul 01, 2013 3:44 pm

PenGun wrote:
Actually a graduated neutral density filter would be very useful here.

Looked that up and, yeah. Is the idea to get similar results to the HDR image without employing HDR? Seems like a great thing to have for shooting without a tripod.
 
PenGun
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 893
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:48 pm
Location: BC Canada
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Mon Jul 01, 2013 4:03 pm

flip-mode wrote:
PenGun wrote:
Actually a graduated neutral density filter would be very useful here.

Looked that up and, yeah. Is the idea to get similar results to the HDR image without employing HDR? Seems like a great thing to have for shooting without a tripod.


HDR is fine in it's place but a bit overdone a lot of the time. Taking a good exposure with all the tones you want is pretty well always superior. The graduated ND is very useful here.

Still, stacking a few bracketed exposures, which is what HDR is, can yield very nice images.
Fuji X-E1 Leica Elmar 135 4 XF60mm 2.4 Macro | Zeiss FE 35mm 2.8
http://carnagepro.com
"Everything ... they eat everything, and fear is their bacon bits."
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Mon Jul 01, 2013 7:43 pm

The HDR algorithms that cameras have are usually well-tuned and effective, but they're also usually less flexible, and one-shot sorta things.

Shooting bracketed shots (or just simply bursts) is always a good idea; the more data the better. And remember that anything involving a camera and jpegs involves throwing data away. In-camera HDR is no better than those silly effects that they build into the firmware, and is likewise better accomplished in post if at all possible, though it's certainly useful for on the spot proofing.

You'll at least be able to get an idea of the 'worst case' while shooting and can adjust if needed, instead of praying that you captured everything or shotgunning it, which can cause you to miss shots if you overdo it. Cards, batteries, and sunsets don't last forever :).
 
flip-mode
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10218
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 12:42 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Thu Jul 04, 2013 11:07 am

Ugh, last night I performed awfully. And, idiotically, I forgot my tripod. With that, here's my best shot from the night - a hand held 4 second exposure that is, at least, decently focused:

Image

I hope everyone else had a good night.
 
PenGun
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 893
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:48 pm
Location: BC Canada
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Thu Jul 04, 2013 4:25 pm

This is how it works. You do your best and fail. Then you pick yourself up and try again, with the knowledge you gained from your last failure.

"TONIGHT" in Carl's (from ATHF) voice.

All the great artists got good like this.
Fuji X-E1 Leica Elmar 135 4 XF60mm 2.4 Macro | Zeiss FE 35mm 2.8
http://carnagepro.com
"Everything ... they eat everything, and fear is their bacon bits."
 
flip-mode
Grand Admiral Gerbil
Posts: 10218
Joined: Thu May 08, 2003 12:42 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Thu Jul 04, 2013 10:12 pm

On technical terms, things went much better tonight. I even went full manual for a bit and it turned out well. If only my neighbor put on a show like Coney Island.

Image

Image
 
PenGun
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 893
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:48 pm
Location: BC Canada
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Wed Jul 10, 2013 2:12 pm

I am in the process of converting my camera to a full spectrum camera. I will probably do this next month. Anyway I got my first IR filter the other day and although the 'hot mirror' is still in place there is a 100 angstroms or so above, towards red, the 720nm, quite steep cut, that the Hoya R72 provides:

http://th08.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/f/2 ... 3alfyn.jpg

Of course exposure is a bit of a problem but I came up with some stuff. Greyscale:

Image

A blueish take:

Image

And I took the greyscale from this one:

Image
Fuji X-E1 Leica Elmar 135 4 XF60mm 2.4 Macro | Zeiss FE 35mm 2.8
http://carnagepro.com
"Everything ... they eat everything, and fear is their bacon bits."
 
PenGun
Gerbil Elite
Posts: 893
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 1:48 pm
Location: BC Canada
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Mon Aug 26, 2013 1:16 pm

Well the IR stuff is coming along. I'll soon have a camera with no interior hot mirror but I have not quite got there yet. Anyway ... some clouds. This with a Hoya R72:

Image
Fuji X-E1 Leica Elmar 135 4 XF60mm 2.4 Macro | Zeiss FE 35mm 2.8
http://carnagepro.com
"Everything ... they eat everything, and fear is their bacon bits."
 
Airmantharp
Emperor Gerbilius I
Posts: 6192
Joined: Fri Oct 15, 2004 10:41 pm

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Wed Aug 28, 2013 7:10 pm

I still love the detail that the Fuji sensor provides. Sure wish Canon would move away from the Bayer pattern; I'll raise a beer for them if they actually push out the rumored 25MP full-frame FoveonX3-style sensor they've been working on.

Anything to get rid of that nasty AA filter.

But in other news, I have been using the hell out of my 6D- just not on things that I can share publicly :).

Also, I got a real case of Pentax-envy today. The K5-II(s) is a very impressive APS-C body, only really lacking a superb AF system (something like a cross between the 7D's motion tracking and the 6D's low-light focusing ability would be great). That is of course until I really researched their lenses- they have an amazing selection of beautiful, well-built pancake-style lenses along with inexpensive weather-sealed zooms and a really cool 2.8/50-135 portrait zoom, but seriously, they need to work on their glass. There'd be no sense in upgrading from the 16MP Exmor sensor to the 24MP Exmor (as Nikon did with the D7000 -> D7100) if they don't get some significantly sharper glass out there!

At least Fuji got that part right :).
 
SecretSquirrel
Minister of Gerbil Affairs
Posts: 2726
Joined: Tue Jan 01, 2002 7:00 pm
Location: North DFW suburb...
Contact:

Re: General photography thread [img heavy]

Fri Sep 06, 2013 9:49 pm

So I've finally been using the new camera for what, ostensibly, I bought it for. I haven't had much time for "fun and artsy" photo stuff, but even at high school football games I occasionally get an interesting shot or two.

I was waiting on the squad to do their half time performance. All their poms were lined up and waiting...
Image

Image

One of the benifits is that I get field access priveledges so I get different angles for game shots.
Image

This is about a 50% crop of the original. At 1:1, it is a bit noisy and fuzzy due to the higher ISO and being at the far end of the lense zoom where the 20-200 is a bit soft.
Image

This one is also about a 50% crop. In general, the 20-200 doesn't do too bad a job, especially at 1/3rd the price of the 70-200 f/2.8.
Image

And she is the reason I'm out taking pictures in 100+ deg Texas sun....
Image

I could not have planned the lighting in this shot better and it was just a chance shot...
Image

Alright, enough cheerleading and football. :D

--SS

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest
GZIP: On