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I’m looking for a mic for the X-T3 that would fulfill dual purposes: - Act as a mic during zoom calls (using my X-T3 as a webcam). Ideally something that picks up better sound than airpods or Bose headphones. - Be useful for travel audio while taking video (also with the X-T3) — kids sports, backcountry trips. Would something like the Rode VideoMicro fit this purpose or is that asking too much for a camera-mounted mic?
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Aug 17, 2020 18:55
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I've given people the video mic me for selfie video diaries on a project and it sounded decent enough, I'm guessing the video micro would be a step up from that. The main thing is you want the mic as close to you as possible and depending on how close you have the camera it may not wind up being better than a headset unless you get it off camera — the headset mics aren't great but they're at least right up on you. It'd be better than the mic on a laptop but setup dependent on whether it'd be usefully better than a headset I think.
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Aug 17, 2020 19:32
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Depending on how you are on charging devices, the Rode Wireless Go gives you a wireless lavalier.
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Aug 17, 2020 19:35
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In my experience microphones are very much you get what you pay for. The video micro may be stretching it's capabilities for mobile video, but should be very suitable as an audio mic for meetings since levels are pretty consistent. Just make sure your room tone is low. I have a similar set up for my camera but is wholly overkill when attached to my computer. Specifically an Audio Technica AT897 paired with a Tascam DR-60D audio recorder. This allows me to use a lower noise level and the adjustable gain is cleaner as well. This gives a wide range or adjustability suitable for portable video work. I've recorded stuff ranging from ocean sounds to literal rocket launches. It's 64dB of range. I can't image something like your built in audio recorder being able to handle much more than 24-ish. I'm not saying to go the route I did, I just want you to know the limitations of buying cheap.
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Aug 17, 2020 19:52
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Helen Highwater posted:This is his post where he's agonising over whether to upgrade his D3200 to an R5, an S1r or an 8x10 view camera. Many trains were wrecked in aid of writing this post. 
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Aug 18, 2020 04:23
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Note that he's been asking pretty much the same questions over and over for the past two years or so. In every case he lists some gear that he's picked out and then asks advice on some utterly inconsequential part of the set up. Previously he's asked for advice on which lightmeter to get with his large format dreamkit, or which shutter release is recommended. He's never shot a single frame of film and he wants to open a high-end gallery store in a mall selling 72" metal prints of his photos for thousands of dollars a pop. He has posted some of his photos and they are bad. Like, 'pressed the shutter at the wrong moment but uploaded it anyway' bad.
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Aug 18, 2020 06:22
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Helen Highwater posted:Note that he's been asking pretty much the same questions over and over for the past two years or so. In every case he lists some gear that he's picked out and then asks advice on some utterly inconsequential part of the set up. Previously he's asked for advice on which lightmeter to get with his large format dreamkit, or which shutter release is recommended. He's never shot a single frame of film and he wants to open a high-end gallery store in a mall selling 72" metal prints of his photos for thousands of dollars a pop. He has posted some of his photos and they are bad. Like, 'pressed the shutter at the wrong moment but uploaded it anyway' bad. I find it fascinating that he has a persistent dream of shooting Velvia 50, despite having a chronic allergy to saturation. Half of his comments on other peoples' photos are "you should print it extra large and sell it for thousands of dollars" and the other half are "it's too saturated". You'd think he'd have looked at some Velvia in all this time. He does know what it's famous for, right?
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Aug 18, 2020 07:08
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Helen Highwater posted:This is his post where he's agonising over whether to upgrade his D3200 to an R5, an S1r or an 8x10 view camera. So his other dream is to build an OS from scratch and comercialise it. He doesn't seem to even know how to program yet. "Since 4th grade, I've been an idea person" Hahaha, sure thing buddy. Keep dreaming big! Mega Comrade fucked around with this message at 08:11 on Aug 18, 2020 |
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Aug 18, 2020 08:02
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There was also the time whe he wanted to launch a global communications network that would be satellite based with no latency.
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Aug 18, 2020 10:35
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Helen Highwater posted:Note that he's been asking pretty much the same questions over and over for the past two years or so. In every case he lists some gear that he's picked out and then asks advice on some utterly inconsequential part of the set up. Previously he's asked for advice on which lightmeter to get with his large format dreamkit, or which shutter release is recommended. He's never shot a single frame of film and he wants to open a high-end gallery store in a mall selling 72" metal prints of his photos for thousands of dollars a pop. He has posted some of his photos and they are bad. Like, 'pressed the shutter at the wrong moment but uploaded it anyway' bad. I have an idea for an improved tripod mount that will use 3/4 10 threaded hole size rather than 1/4 20. This will allow for more stability and better sharpness when making large format landscape images. Is this a good idea?
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Aug 18, 2020 13:12
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The proof load for a 1/4 20 grade 2, the weakest grade, is 1750 pounds. The bolt has nothing to do with the rigidity of a mounting system.
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Aug 18, 2020 13:45
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Any recommendations for really good, solid 35mm workhorses at a reasonable price? I've started up a business doing film styles (serious ones, not the half arsed influencer crap) so I'm shooting a lot of test rolls at the moment and want something nice and quick and reliable. My old OM-1 seems to be missing focus now, I'm guessing the pentaprism is out of whack, but to be honest I want something nice and modern and AF. I've got a Pentax MZ-5 which is really nice but apparently they're a ticking time bomb due to a plastic part used in the shutter.
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Aug 18, 2020 14:13
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IMO a basic Canon EOS body is a good call. They’re not trendy, and can be had really cheap. EF mount means access to an awesome, modern lens catalogue.
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Aug 18, 2020 14:26
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Biscuitbeard posted:Any recommendations for really good, solid 35mm workhorses at a reasonable price? define "reasonable". Also what do you currently have if anything, aside from the OM setup, and what kind of pictures are you taking here?
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Aug 18, 2020 14:29
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You've already got a Pentax and presumably a lens or two that fits it. Pentax manual-focus glass didn't quite take the nosedive in prices the way orphan-mounts like Canon EF and Yashica/Contax did when the world discovered autofocus in the late 1980's, but it's still pretty cheap and there are plenty of lovely K- and KA- mount lenses out there; you're competing with dorks like me with Pentax DSLRs wearing manual-focus glass, and we are not a wealthy bunch of dorks. Staying with autofocus, the F- and FA- series lenses (mount is Pentax KAF) are generally well-liked and can be picked up cheap, most of the time. I"ve got a F-28mm/2.8 in my bag that consistently puts out lovely pictures when I remember to point it the right direction, I think I bought it like 8 years ago for $100. Find another Pentax AF 35mm body that somebody dug out of their basement and just keep going. I had a couple before I moved, bought for like $50 or $60 with cheap consumer-grade lenses and rotten batteries. They worked fine. Seconding the "what kinds of photos?" question, too. Do you need long telephoto? Super-wide? Low-light? Multiple flash setups? Super-fast autofocus?
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Aug 20, 2020 01:58
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Well I decided I wanted a medium telephoto since I wanted a nice prime for taking car photos at local car events, nobody has a Canon EF 100mm or 135mm 2.0 for sale around me, so I ordered a 100mm f2.0 Yong Nuo from China. Wish me luck. I mean I don't have any nice long lenses. I've been geting by with the nasty rear end kit 75-300 4-5.6 USM III and i find most of my photos at around 100-130mm anyway, so I figure even a budget Chinese clone of the EF 100mm 2.0 will be an significant upgrade. Trambopaline fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Aug 21, 2020 |
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Aug 21, 2020 06:42
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Trambopaline posted:Well I decided I wanted a medium telephoto since I wanted a nice prime for taking car photos at local car events, nobody has a Canon EF 100mm or 130mm 2.0 for sale around me, so I ordered a 100mm f2.0 Yong Nuo from China. Wish me luck. 100mm seems an odd focal length for cars what sort of distances are you?
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Aug 21, 2020 08:14
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The local clubs usually do rallysprint and autocross events. I'm far away enough due to safety requirements. Usually about 10+ meters, but since cars are much bigger subjects than birds or even people I haven't been far enough away that I desperately need a very long telephoto lenses to fill the frame. I'm mostly doing panning shots. I also prefer the compressed look and use longish focal lengths for cars since if you go too wide it messes with the cars lines and the perspective distortion looks less pleasant.
Trambopaline fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Aug 22, 2020 |
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Aug 21, 2020 21:23
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Find a used 70-200 f/4L. You won't regret it.
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Aug 22, 2020 15:55
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Helen Highwater posted:Find a used 70-200 f/4L. You won't regret it. Yeah I was going suggest a zoom with that kind of focal length coverage for events.
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Aug 22, 2020 15:57
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Helen Highwater posted:Find a used 70-200 f/4L. You won't regret it. I’ve got one of those. Nice lens. Mine was around $400 in pristine condition.
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Aug 22, 2020 17:32
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I know that would be the ideal, they have a great reputation for having great image quality and the zoom range is perfect, but the yongnuo only costs a third of a second hand one looking at my local market. I've already ordered the yn before I posted, I'll just have to save my pennies if it leaves me wanting.
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Aug 22, 2020 22:29
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Used twice and it broke. Cheap junk. 
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Aug 23, 2020 01:37
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bird with big dick posted:Used twice and it broke. Cheap junk. Wow, that doesn't even look like carbon fiber all the way through. Who's that, MeFoto? I'd be a little surprised; mine is aluminum but I've used it for years and it's holding up fine. I assume you've reached out to their customer service; have they said anything?
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Aug 23, 2020 02:52
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Trambopaline posted:I know that would be the ideal, they have a great reputation for having great image quality and the zoom range is perfect, but the yongnuo only costs a third of a second hand one looking at my local market. I've already ordered the yn before I posted, I'll just have to save my pennies if it leaves me wanting. if you bought from Amazon just go give it a try and see how it is, if it's terrible then return it. I will say I think you might be surprised, some of these "no-name" third party lenses are incredibly good. Samyang's 35/1.4 and 135/2 and others are basically as good as it gets short of the Sigma Art line and are ridiculously affordable in comparison and sit basically among the sharpest lenses PhotoZone/OpticalLimits has ever tested.
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Aug 23, 2020 03:15
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Yeah, the samyang 35 is a sweetheart of a lens. Focus ring isn’t damped worth a drat but who gives a poo poo about that?
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Aug 23, 2020 03:17
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ExecuDork posted:You've already got a Pentax and presumably a lens or two that fits it. Pentax manual-focus glass didn't quite take the nosedive in prices the way orphan-mounts like Canon EF and Yashica/Contax did when the world discovered autofocus in the late 1980's, but it's still pretty cheap and there are plenty of lovely K- and KA- mount lenses out there; you're competing with dorks like me with Pentax DSLRs wearing manual-focus glass, and we are not a wealthy bunch of dorks. Staying with autofocus, the F- and FA- series lenses (mount is Pentax KAF) are generally well-liked and can be picked up cheap, most of the time. I"ve got a F-28mm/2.8 in my bag that consistently puts out lovely pictures when I remember to point it the right direction, I think I bought it like 8 years ago for $100. I'm shooting a variety of stuff, basically just sample scenes I can also snap on my Sony kit to create a reference when making film presets. Lots of portraits, some urban and landscape shots, and some test charts etc. 50mm is all I really need. President Beep posted:Yeah, the samyang 35 is a sweetheart of a lens. Focus ring isn’t damped worth a drat but who gives a poo poo about that? Biscuitbeard fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Aug 23, 2020 |
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Aug 23, 2020 03:18
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I’m not much help there, unfortunately, as I’ve never had the chance to use the Sony lens. Personally though I’m very happy with my copy of the samyang. Haven’t noticed any vignetting issues, and I usually don’t pay much attention to that anyway as it’s easily fixed in post. e: I’d be happy to post some raw test shots ITT on Monday. Curious to see how it stacks up. President Beep fucked around with this message at 03:31 on Aug 23, 2020 |
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Aug 23, 2020 03:29
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I'm extremely happy with my manual focus copy of the Samyang 35/1.4 (have not tried the new AF 35/1.4 but would assume it's optically identical?). One thing to be aware of is that you have to absolutely loving nail focus with these superfast lenses. I personally have always felt that they are not conductive to autofocus and advocate manual focus on an appropriate body (ideally one with focus peaking and an electronic viewfinder, or at least one with a factory split-prism focus screen that you know is in calibration). If you are off even a little bit at 35/1.4 or 100/2 then it won't be sharp. Literally you need to nail the focus ring to within a degree or two, five degrees or so of error and you'll miss critical focus. I personally would assume that a lot of the "sample variation" is people being loving morons and not hitting focus and then blaming the lens. Particularly if the autofocus may be a little slow/inaccurate.
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Aug 23, 2020 03:36
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Yond Cassius posted:Wow, that doesn't even look like carbon fiber all the way through. Who's that, MeFoto? I was joking, it got ejected from my vehicle during a car crash and run over by a truck I think.  Not sure about it being carbon fiber all the way through, I'll take a closer look. Yes, it is MeFoto. e: it looks like CF all the way through. bird with big dick fucked around with this message at 12:57 on Aug 24, 2020 |
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Aug 23, 2020 12:33
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IDK who might care about this but: if you are doing WFH stuff and want to have that super streamer quality video for your zoom calls and whatnot, I have been using one of these $30 HDMI-USB capture cards and it's perfect. https://www.amazon.com/MavisLink-Ca...98393216&sr=8-3 I had my job order one of the fancy $300 official brand ones, but they dragged their feet and hosed it up so it wouldn't arrive in time for classes starting, so I got the 30 dollar one expecting the quality to be poo poo and figuring it'd be temporary. Turns out it's perfect. Full resolution, accurate color, 30fps, and if it's not true 1080p I can't tell. Shows up as a camera device in windows with no drivers required. I've been using it with my Z6 and a 50/1.4 for a week now and everyone keeps complimenting me on my dreamy bokeh and incredible sharpness. President Beep posted:Yeah, the samyang 35 is a sweetheart of a lens. Focus ring isn’t damped worth a drat but who gives a poo poo about that? Me, with an armful of radioactive Takumars: t  t
Sagebrush fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Aug 25, 2020 |
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Aug 25, 2020 23:11
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Yeah the Elgato is only if you need 4k/60fps
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Aug 25, 2020 23:13
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I use that canon to webcam tool they came out with a few months ago. I think most of the big DSLR makers have done the same thing since.. the image is dramatically better than everyone's laptop cameras even without going full silly and running at f/1.8. I have no basis for comparison against a dedicated capture card, but the price can't be beat. Install program, plug in camera, zoom sees it as a webcam.
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Aug 25, 2020 23:31
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xzzy posted:I use that canon to webcam tool they came out with a few months ago. I think most of the big DSLR makers have done the same thing since.. the image is dramatically better than everyone's laptop cameras even without going full silly and running at f/1.8.
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Aug 25, 2020 23:42
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Sagebrush posted:Me, with an armful of radioactive Takumars: t Oh, dude. Don’t get me wrong; I love my Rokkor 55mm f/1.7, but if I’m using and AF lens then I’m gonna use the AF.
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Aug 25, 2020 23:42
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jarlywarly posted:Yeah the Elgato is only if you need 4k/60fps One upside to the 4K60 Pro card: you can send the captured video to multiple apps natively. Helpful if you need to do something like send the camera to Zoom and OBS without resorting to software fuckery.
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Aug 26, 2020 20:49
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ReverendHammer posted:One upside to the 4K60 Pro card: you can send the captured video to multiple apps natively. Helpful if you need to do something like send the camera to Zoom and OBS without resorting to software fuckery. Oh that is useful!
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Aug 26, 2020 21:38
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Not really a gear question but I'm curious about B&W settings in Lightroom. I've got photos touched up from a friend's wedding and want to give them all some B&W copies as well. What's the best practice for this, is it case-by-case or is there some sort of batch process I can run that will work well?
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Aug 27, 2020 23:55
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Mister Speaker posted:Not really a gear question but I'm curious about B&W settings in Lightroom. I've got photos touched up from a friend's wedding and want to give them all some B&W copies as well. What's the best practice for this, is it case-by-case or is there some sort of batch process I can run that will work well? I used SilverEfex for doing black and white conversions of digital and really liked it. You can still get the old version for free and you can batch import, apply the film profile you like, touch up, and then batch export again. https://nikcollection.dxo.com/nik-collection-2012/
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Aug 28, 2020 06:50
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I also use SilverFX Pro, as well as Tonality by Skylum for B&W processing. Both of those let you manage batches, or create a recipe and save it as a preset that you can just apply with a single button click.
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Aug 28, 2020 10:52
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