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I bought a Pentax Optio WG-1 about a month and a half ago, B&H was having a sale and I'm something of a Pentax fanboy. It doesn't shoot RAW, there's no full-manual mode, and the maximum aperture is something like f/3.5; the sensor is pretty small, but I don't know exactly its size off the top of my head. Anyway, it's waterproof, comes in a range of I-dropped-it-in-the-grass-at-night colours (mine's metallic orange), and I'm basically happy with it. So far I haven't really pushed it, but it takes pictures from inside beer glasses just fine and all the reviews I read said surfers and snorkelers would love it. I like how quickly it turns on, a relatively short shutter delay (noticeable when one is used to a DSLR, but about one second, shorter than my previous P&S), and the fact I can map the green button to one-button-jump to movie mode. P&S models move so quickly I can't be sure, but I think it's about 1-2 generations behind. I paid about $250. I might have gotten not enough camera for too much money, but I'm not worried.
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Dec 21, 2011 06:03
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In terms of camera gear only, how would you rank your purchases? (Software, bags, etc excluded) Nikon user, so: 1. 35mm 1.8G 2. D7000 3. MB-D11 battery grip 4. SB900 5. 50mm 1.8 (might be moving up higher, I have just began to use it more) 6. 20mm 2.8 7. 80-100 2.8D 8. 40mm 2.8 Macro Sure, I ranked a lens above the actual body, but I was using that lens on another body before I bought the D7000. It's use has preceded the D7000, and as long as I continue to use the DX format, I will certainly continue to love that lens. It's a little tough ranking some of the gear vs other pieces, such as the grip vs a lens. I bought the grip just last week, but it feels like it was made to be on that camera from the beginning. As far as the lenses go, the 35mm for Nikon is an absolute beautiful lens. It was tough for me to think about the other lenses though. Because I spend so much time indoors, I had to rank the 50mm above the 80-200, even though I can just barely use the 50mm indoors before it becomes too cramped. I also really love that 20mm and it has served me very well in a lot of situations. The 80-200mm and 40mm Macro lens are by no means at all terrible lenses. There are definitely times when I like having the flexibility of that 40mm lens. I can use the close focus, and I also enjoy the focal length of it when it is not being used as a macro lens. I have the 80-200 listed as the second to last lens in my list, but it is not bad by anyone's standards. The only reason I put it so low is because I mainly only use it for sports, if I ever branched out more into portraits, I am sure it would quickly move up much higher. All in all, there isn't a piece of gear I have that I am unhappy with, though I wish I had a normal length fast zoom, I can overlook it just because of how much I love that 35mm lens. It will be interesting to see how everyone else ranks their gear, based on the photos they take, and the reasoning behind it.
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Dec 23, 2011 17:29
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Hi all, A quick question on focusing. I'm relatively new to photography as a hobby, but I've been enjoying going out and shooting on a regular basis and I've also been reading some books - in particular the Bryan Peterson stuff which came recommended to me on this forum. As a consequence I've been shooting in manual almost exclusively for the past 9 months or so. Recently I've followed some advice and also started shooting in point focus mode and not in any of the various area focus modes in the camera (I have a Nikon D3100). Now, I've found point focus works very well for about 90% of the stuff I do, but I've had a real hard time when doing action subjects - flying birds, kite surfers, etc. I find that I rarely get those subjects in focus. Especially when the subject is moving quickly and is small the camera tends to struggle getting it into focus. Sometimes I've resorted to manually focusing, but when I do I struggle to tell if I've gotten the subject correctly in focus in the pictures I shoot, until I go back to Lightroom and take a closer look. My question is this: how do you guys shoot moving subjects to get them in sharp focus, particularly ones that don't have a huge presence in the viewfinder?
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Dec 23, 2011 18:27
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There should be an option for AI Servo focus. The idea is that the camera will be continuously focusing while you are snapping off. I don't know about the 3100, but I have a low end canon and it doesn't work worth a poo poo. I suppose there is some operator error involved, but I gave up after a while. I have only done this a little myself, but using live view with magnification helps a lot towards getting manual focus down.
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Dec 23, 2011 21:59
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tifoso posted:My question is this: how do you guys shoot moving subjects to get them in sharp focus, particularly ones that don't have a huge presence in the viewfinder?
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Dec 23, 2011 22:26
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1. Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro 2. Canon 430EX II Flash 3. Canon EF 28mm f/1.8 USM 4. Manfrotto 190CX3 Carbon Fiber Tripod 5. Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS 6. Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 I absolutely love my 100mm macro, it's super sharp. I use it mostly for street and portraits but it gets plenty of macro use too. I keep debating getting the 135L but I like having a lens that plays double duty in my bag. Nothing beats my flash for opening up different shooting options however. I use it a ton for events and in the studio. I think every new photographer should be required to by a nifty 50 and then a flash before anything else. My 28mm USM has replaced my nifty 50 however. It's a great focal length on a crop sensor and the USM is a godsend after dealing with the ever focus hunting 50mm. The Manfrotto is one of the cheapest carbon fiber tripods out there and it does was it needs to do, be a light tripod I don't mind carrying around. The 55-250mm just doesn't get much use by me. The 100mm (160mm on crop) has enough reach most of the time and is so much sharper. I like having a telephoto zoom with IS in my bag though just in case and this fills that role. While the 50mm is an amazing value it's been replaced with better glass so it's perpetually loaned out to friends.
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Dec 23, 2011 23:31
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This may be a little too basic, but I've been working on a thread: http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3455923 I know you guys will cringe in horror that I'm using an iPhone to take these pictures, but I'm a machinist-wannabe, not a photog. I would like to take nice-r pictures but I'm at a loss for a decent camera that would take nice macro shots and a decent articulating arm for mounting at various "stations". Decent in this case can't be something really valuable, cause this is a machine shop and little crap will get smashed. Mostly I nearly accidentally dropped my phone in a bucket of sludge so I figured I needed help. Budget would probably be under $200 unless that's completely impossible.
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Dec 24, 2011 00:51
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You're not going to do much better than your iPhone for under 200.
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Dec 24, 2011 06:49
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Yeah, and the iPhone can take quite nice pictures too. It looks like your lighting is really ugly, so if you add a couple more lights to make it more bright anywhere there are harsh shadows that should help a lot 
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Dec 24, 2011 11:08
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nonanone posted:Yeah, and the iPhone can take quite nice pictures too. It looks like your lighting is really ugly, so if you add a couple more lights to make it more bright anywhere there are harsh shadows that should help a lot I'm already using 400W High Bay Metal Halide lights, how many more should I add.  What about one of these? http://www.amazon.com/CN-126-Video-Camera-Digital-Camcorder/dp/B004JZI78O/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1324736119&sr=1-1 on one of these? http://www.amazon.com/Manfrotto-196...d=1AIY65OT4CNNE Actually, if my iPhone is the pinnacle of sub $200 digital cameras I could salvage one of those iPhone motorcycle mounts and use that for the other part of my question. I have a Nikon D40 with the stock lens on it, I just get the jibblies thinking about taking it in the shop.
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Dec 24, 2011 15:21
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Hu Fa Ted posted:I have a Nikon D40 with the stock lens on it, I just get the jibblies thinking about taking it in the shop. Why is that?
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Dec 24, 2011 16:55
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tifoso posted:My question is this: how do you guys shoot moving subjects to get them in sharp focus, particularly ones that don't have a huge presence in the viewfinder? a foolish pianist posted:Why is that? Rank my gear: Pentax K10D Vivitar Series 1 28-105mm f/2.8-3.8 Pentax DA 17-55mm AL f/whatever kit lens Pentax F 28mm f/2.8 Vivitar Series 1 105mm f/2.5 macro Sigma 100-300mm f/(the darkness, oh the darkness) Then the rest of my random collection of stuff. The macro lens is sharp like laser but is currently a better lens than my skills are able to use, but occassionally I manage to get some really nice shots out of it. Too bad I so rarely take macro photos, gonna have to get more bug shots next spring/summer.
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Dec 24, 2011 19:01
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a foolish pianist posted:Why is that? I don't want to break it? It's hard enough to keep from dropping my little iphone somewhere stupid, I can just imagine dropping my nice camera in a chip pan while trying to juggle something.
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Dec 24, 2011 19:09
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Well, sure, but do you usually drop things in the shop? Particularly things with a strap that goes around your neck? I take my dSLR and spendy wide lenses on my kayak, up and down mountains, all kinds of places. What's the point of having the camera if you're too scared to take it anywhere interesting?
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Dec 24, 2011 19:50
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a foolish pianist posted:Well, sure, but do you usually drop things in the shop? Particularly things with a strap that goes around your neck? Your point is valid, and maybe this is an over-abundance of caution. But when my hands are covered with grease or covered in metal chips (ow ow ow) I just keep the iphone in a plastic baggy. When I need to concentrate on a bandsaw or the lathe I can stuff it in my pocket. Up above I posted a link for a articulating arm, I don't know anything about them but I guess I could see having a few around mounted near the machine. I think my D40 has a remote IR shutter capability?
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Dec 24, 2011 19:58
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a foolish pianist posted:I take my dSLR and spendy wide lenses on my kayak, up and down mountains, all kinds of places. What's the point of having the camera if you're too scared to take it anywhere interesting?
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Dec 24, 2011 20:09
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I have a Kinoflex toy camera that looks exactly like this. It has that little circular thing as well on the body that you can see on the bottom corner. That's a connector for a flash or something, right? I'm guessing that's not model specific. What do I look for? Can I also get a remote trigger that works for it as well? Also, the camera looks like it has two circular metal ridges on the sides that could have a strap mounted on them. Is there a more popular camera manufacturer you think would have a strap I could find that would fit it? Much thanks
the fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Dec 24, 2011 |
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Dec 24, 2011 23:41
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that's a pc socket, and it's common to pretty much every camera system ever made (to my knowledge). You can get a pc-hotshoe adapter for not-many dollars if your chosen wireless trigger doesn't support it. I use mine that way with cactus triggers
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Dec 25, 2011 00:33
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Hu Fa Ted posted:I'm already using 400W High Bay Metal Halide lights, how many more should I add. - Without looking up numbers, there's a high chance your iPhone is worth more than your camera, so if you're okay bringing it to the shop, you should convince yourself it's okay to bring the camera instead. - if your phone is significantly easier to use, due to weight/size go ahead and use it. The iPhone 4(s) has a fantastic camera. - without going into details (if you're curious ask, and somebody will articulate), your picture will look better if the apparent size of your light source is big relative to your subject. To increase your apparent size (ahem), bring the lights closer to the subject and make the lights bigger. I looked up the lights you mentioned you had, and it seems like it should be possible to DIY a softbox/beauty dish/other sort of diffuser to make the lights bigger.
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Dec 25, 2011 00:53
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I'm trying to print off a picture of mine for my mom for christmas but the print is darker than what it looks like to me in Photoshop. I just set up a brand new Pixma Pro9000 I've had so maybe I need to print a few more things to get it running at 100%? It's not terribly darker and I can settle with what it is printing, but I don't want all my pictures I print with it to be darker than what my screen shows me. Any ideas?
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Dec 25, 2011 05:35
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yoohoo posted:I'm trying to print off a picture of mine for my mom for christmas but the print is darker than what it looks like to me in Photoshop. [...] It's not terribly darker and I can settle with what it is printing, but I don't want all my pictures I print with it to be darker than what my screen shows me. Any ideas? In most cases, you run into this because the light you're looking at your prints under is too dim in relation to the backlight level of your monitor. Three easy solutions: Brighten your viewing space, dim your monitor, or live with it.
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Dec 25, 2011 05:43
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Hu Fa Ted posted:Your point is valid, and maybe this is an over-abundance of caution. But when my hands are covered with grease or covered in metal chips (ow ow ow) I just keep the iphone in a plastic baggy. When I need to concentrate on a bandsaw or the lathe I can stuff it in my pocket. The d40 does have support for the remote, and the remote is dirt cheap I think (10 or 15 bucks?). You can get one for even cheaper if you go with an off brand version instead (amazon has some for 3 bucks).
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Dec 26, 2011 04:29
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Mr. Despair posted:The d40 does have support for the remote, and the remote is dirt cheap I think (10 or 15 bucks?). You can get one for even cheaper if you go with an off brand version instead (amazon has some for 3 bucks). I bought the cheapest offbrand they had in stores here, I think I paid around 5 US. It is still going strong more than a year later. Good thing is, the shop would have let me return it within 60 days, so I had 60 days to find out of my remote was a dud.
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Dec 26, 2011 17:36
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I currently own just two lenses. The canon nifty fifty, and the kit 18-55 that came with my Rebel XS. I love the 50mm for how sharp it is (and how cheap it was), and I like the 18-55 range, but hate how not-sharp the lens is, as well as the general crappyness of the pictures it takes. Are there any cheaper lenses in the 18-55-ish range that are decently sharp (decently sharper than the kit 18-55)? Doesn't have to be Canon brand.
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Dec 27, 2011 18:19
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Tamron 17-50 F2.8.
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Dec 27, 2011 18:24
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So... I just accidentally dunked 3 sd cards and a card reader in warm tea for about 20-30 seconds. I wiped them off and have them sitting under a fan to try to dry them as best I can. Any chance they will still work? Is there any risk to putting them in a camera/card reader? None of them were super expensive or fancy and I had all the pics off of them.
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Dec 27, 2011 23:31
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BetterLekNextTime posted:So... I just accidentally dunked 3 sd cards and a card reader in warm tea for about 20-30 seconds. I wiped them off and have them sitting under a fan to try to dry them as best I can. Any chance they will still work? Is there any risk to putting them in a camera/card reader? None of them were super expensive or fancy and I had all the pics off of them. Great chance they will still work. If you are very worried, fill a jar with rice and put them in that for a day or 3 if you really care about it. Edit: Rice will absorb the moisture without overheating/warping all of the important stuff inside. It is the cheapest/safest way to remove excess moisture/water damage without actually damaging the components inside, as far as I know. Sevn fucked around with this message at 23:43 on Dec 27, 2011 |
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Dec 27, 2011 23:41
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BetterLekNextTime posted:So... I just accidentally dunked 3 sd cards and a card reader in warm tea for about 20-30 seconds. I wiped them off and have them sitting under a fan to try to dry them as best I can. Any chance they will still work? Is there any risk to putting them in a camera/card reader? None of them were super expensive or fancy and I had all the pics off of them. Yeah you're fine. http://www.petapixel.com/2011/11/28/dslr-reunited-with-owner-after-year-on-ocean-floor-photos-intact/  The diver that found that was able to retrieve photos off the SD card which ended up leading him to the owner of the camera who lost it a year earlier.
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Dec 27, 2011 23:46
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Thanks. Hopefully they won't be ruined. Now I'm nervous about bringing my camera to the coast tomorrow, like this was foreshadowing for dropping my dslr in the water. 
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Dec 28, 2011 01:18
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Don't you have insurance? ENJOY LIFE, TAKE SHOTS, gently caress HESITATION.
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Dec 28, 2011 01:21
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A5H posted:Don't you have insurance? What he said!
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Dec 28, 2011 03:26
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Yeah, I really should get some real insurance- the homeowners insurance wouldn't cover incidental damage. I'm definitely taking the camera, don't worry. Will just have to figure out how to manage it if we rent kayaks.
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Dec 28, 2011 05:25
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BetterLekNextTime posted:Yeah, I really should get some real insurance- the homeowners insurance wouldn't cover incidental damage. Also you might want to look into the cotton carrier system if you're going to take your camera on a kayak. It works great for me.
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Dec 28, 2011 16:23
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Im going to Thailand in a few weeks and plan on taking a lot of photos, however i don't intend to take my laptop how do you guys go about backing up your photos when away from a computer? do you just buy lots of memory cards? i was considering getting a cheap tablet (possibly a 32gb blackberry playbook since they are less then £200 now) but im not sure if that is the best way edit: probably not a playbook since it only has a microusb drive 
Skam fucked around with this message at 12:54 on Dec 30, 2011 |
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Dec 30, 2011 12:43
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I've been trying to crack that same nut for an upcoming vacation, and the only conclusions I can draw so far are: 1) dedicated compactflash backup device- all are based on non-solidstate hard drives, which is less reliable, and they kind of peaked in niche popularity a couple years ago so there aren't too many around in superlarge sizes. 2) android tablet with a CF->USB adapter and external USB hard drive- also based on moving hard drives, and software for file management between two external devices might not be as plug and play as it would with a laptop 3) just spend those couple hundred dollars on more CF cards (I think this is what I will do) and fill them all up. I'd love to hear what other ideas you guys have.
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Dec 30, 2011 13:34
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Skam posted:Im going to Thailand in a few weeks and plan on taking a lot of photos, however i don't intend to take my laptop Netbook. Easy way to back up all your photos, plus you can use it for email, twittering and internetting.
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Dec 30, 2011 13:50
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Yeah, and when you find a place that's got WiFi, upload your pictures somewhere safe (from your netbook)
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Dec 30, 2011 14:03
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spog posted:Netbook. Yeah its useful to have one anyway, especially if you need to access your banking or similar (no way I'd be trusting shared computers for that). Don't expect to be able to upload large pictures with any degree of reliability though, most of the internet connections in hotels and guesthouses over there are extremely slow up. Next time I'm going to try with my Acer tablet, but its not as convenient as it only has a single USB port and limited storage whereas my netbook has multiple ports and 500GB
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Dec 30, 2011 14:33
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spog posted:Netbook. Just looking round some stores and this does seem the best option. The only thing that bothers me about it is that after the holiday I will have no use for it, whereas a tablet I would. Although looking at the options I dont seem to have a lot of choice.
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Dec 30, 2011 14:35
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Double post Edit (I hope) : the sa android app does not like me today Skam fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Dec 30, 2011 |
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Dec 30, 2011 14:35
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