John Bennett
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To me anyways its about tradeoffs.
Theres no way anyone could ever convince me to part with my dslr for any PnS but they do have some redeeming qualities.While the small sensors in PnS do negate the ability to shoot at high ISOs theres nothing stopping somone from shooting at iso 100 or 200 on a tripod. An offshoot benefit of those small sensors is greater DoF all else being equal.
So take macro for example. All else being equal a DSLR shooter would have to stop way down to ensure adequate DoF, where-as with a PnS you can get away with a little more aperature and hense more light hitting the sensor.
Underwater.
I am very tempted to pick up a Pentax WP to bring with me at all times. My DSLR could do everything I currently do with it but now I also have the option of some underwater fish/habitat shots.Video.
Was out shooting Snowy Owls last winter with my daughter. While the shutter lag, slow focus and low fps would never allow her to capture a Snowy going from static, to launch, to flight the way I did.
She did get a very cool 10sec vid clip of it at 12x optical with a simple turn of the dialI love my dslr and all the options (providing I buy the glass) it opens up, however a nice PnS in the pocket to do the things a dslr cant is good to.
Good read Zach.
As someone whos trying to do just that and break into a niche market I found it full of sound advice. Have to learn to walk before you learn to run.The contamination is staggering when you look at that graphic.
Not that I’m defending Exxon (I’m not) but is it possible there are good reasons for the lack of cleanup?
Meaning, if in order to effect an efficent clean up theres a risk of doing some other harm? Either having to build the roads/infrastructure to get the machinery in, or if they have to remove thousands of tons of sand might that do irrepable damage to some other part of the ecosystem?Yeah I do Zach, in more ways than one.
I was taken aback when he told me he has a staff of 10 GAs to turn images that are selected for print to. Being a complete and utter neophyte at this I wasn’t prepared for that (amongst other things) when I asked about my freedom
In response to questions I’ve asked about preferred formats and post processing. The Art director of a magazine Ive been communicating with prefers to receive both the RAW and a low res JPEG for preview purposes. My guess is they use the jpeg to quickly assess the RAWs potential. He’s informed me once he decides to use an image he turns it over to his staff of 10 to process it to their specifications.
It makes sense really. Even at the simplest levels of processing sharpening for example is largely dependant on the print size. So if for example I were to “optimise” a full res jpeg that sharpening I’ve done would most likely not be the amount applied to a small insert or even 1/4 page print and being a jpeg (if thats all they) I’ve handcuffed them to an extent with regards to further or reducing sharpening.
As for the digital darkroom.
I too beleive that in the not too distant future the *stars* will be people whos processing skils are a cut above. Already, theres a world famous photogrpaher who employs a graphic artist to do all his processing for him. So chances are any digitial images of his that you see, were shot by him but processed by a professional GA.Times have changed.
Dusty the 40D is a nice step up from the 30D.
Aside from having some nice features that the 30D doesnt likelive view, 3 custom functions and a little weather sealing. Its image quality is nicer to. Its hard to put in words but theres a richness present that isnt there in the 30D. Possilby due to 14 vs 12 bit and or the digic 3 vs digic 2. Either I way I noticed a difference. AF and noise reductions are for the most the same.You dont have to have “L” glass. There are a numer of Canon non L lenses that are very good. Keep and use what you have untill you can or want to upgrade. If anything having those lenses will allow you to fill out other areas your lacking in. Again its better to have a lens than not.
Thats main point I was making. When you dont have a certain lens, your photograpphic opportunites are limited. Id rather have 3 lenses and an entry level body, thanDusty, I don’t know if any DSLR is waterproof. My MKIIn has survied through rain, it got soaked and is fine, Zachs body seems to have survied a quick dip. A friends 1DMKIII didnt survive a dip in some mud. Weather sealing is protection, not a surety.
Im a Canon shooter so I can’t speak much to Nikon other than a few general things. Currently I’m shooting with a 1DMKIIn. What do I like about it? Everything. It doesnt have a weakness imo and is particularily very good at fast action like sports and wildlife. Its AF is, for the most part second to none ( 2 chips vs 1) and its high fps and large buffer allow me to take advantage of that. In short I can get shots with it I wouldnt get with less camera. I don’t know if your preapred to jump into a pro body from the get go though so it probably isnt applicable.
The Canon 40D is quickly becoming a very popular body. I owned one briefly, it is an awful lot of camera for the price point. My only “knock” on it was its AF. Not that the AF is bad or weak, its not. It just wasnt as good as the AF found in the 1DMKIIN and 1DMKIII. If I dont buy a Canon 5D as a backup body at some point, I’ll likely buy the 40D again as a backup.
The D300 is sure to be a winner with consumers as well. Priced higher than the 40D but it richer in features. After that you get D200 and 30Ds and so on down each makers lines. Once your into the Pro sumer grade bodies the features you get over and above the next model down aren’t huge leaps but they cost a fair bit.
I think initially a 40D would serve you well as would one of Nikons comparable bodies. The only thing is how much room does that leave for glass and accessories? Its a rhetorical question, but one that needs consideration.
Would you be happy with a 40D/D200 and kit lens (18-55) for 6 months or more?
Would you be happy buying $600.00 Prosumer 17-85 IS or prefer a $1,500.00 24-70 f2.8 L
Maybe a Consumer 70-300 or a $1,500 70-200 f4 IS or $2,000 70-200 f2.8 IS
Thats the hard part.Mapping out glass purchases (imo) is infinately more important than deciding on bodies.
/edit
Its unrealistic to think anyone can go out and get a body, a few gig in memory, spare batteries, CP filter, Tripod, cable release, and complete a lens line up from 17mm to 400mm in one fell swoop.
Its taken me 3 years to get the glass I wanted. Im one lens short (70-200 f2.8) of being done an thats for next year (hopefully).But I’ve had all my lenses mapped out pretty much from day 1.
I started with the entry level Rebel XT and kit lens, but because I knewI wated to concentrate on wildlife photography I bought the Canon 100-400L and then the 400mm f5.6L. That did me untill I could afford my next lens which was a Macro lens ( 180mm f3.5), then a nice fast prime for portraits and indoor low light (85mm f1.8), then finally replaced the kit with a 24-70 f2.8.Along the way I upgraded bodies when I could. The point Im trying o make is that I knew I was going o be fairlly serious ad would want specific lenses. Had I bought ad spent most of my initial budget on my body Id have been without good glass for a long time and limited in what I could do with only a 17-55 kit lens. Nothing (imo) chaffs me more than not having a lens
They turned out realy nice Scott.
Again I’m no flash, lighting expert, its far from my area of strength but using + Flash Exposure Comp (FEC) was what I was alluding, suggesting to earlier.
My very basic understanding, is that by setting flashes to ETTL was similiar to what John P said. It really doesnt matter what your camera settings are. The flash is going to meter and then supply the required output for whats its reading as a proper exposure, regardless of whether your at 1/50th or 1/250th.. When Im macro shooting insects, with off camera flash I set my f/stop based on the DoF I want and I set my SS typically at 1/250th. Not to use high speed sync but rather o avoid shake with a 180mm lens. Either way because the flash is on ETTL its going to suppy whatever power is needed to render a “propper exposure”. The only way to blow the whites then is to add some +FEC. You either add the +FEC on your body or directly on the flash.
The other way and probably more consistant way is to set the flash to manual such that its not on ETTL and is relying on the power you set based on the guide numbers. That way your flash power is consistant not matter your camera settings and you can either increase it or lower your SS/ISO and acheive overexposure that way.
Not sure im right as flash isnt my strength but thats my limited understanding.
Dusty, unfortunately I don’t think theres an easy answer. Further whats right for me, or the guy next to me may not be right for you.
Canon/Nikon.
No real answer there either. If I were given a choice between a free D3 or a free 1DMKIII I’d choose the Canon 1DMKIII because Canon has a better line up of long lenses which is my main pursuit(wildlife photography). Another person who’s main pursuit might be portrait/studio might opt for Nikon because they’re flashes are better (and cheaper). Sports shooters would probably opt for Canon for a few reasons and so on and so forth. Guides might very well opt for Nikon because outside of Canons Pro bodies, Nikon has better weather sealing, Canon for the most part has done a better job at noise control, the only exception migt be the D3 (atleast untill Canon fires back ) :).Theres no real anwer or recomendation imo other than its hard to go wrong with either.
What I will say is try to decide how serious you might want to get in a year or twos time. The more serious you think you might want to get the more you should budget for glass initially. Glass last, bodies dont. if you think it will never be more than a casual pursuit get a body that will let you grow into for a good while.
Good glass usually cost as much and more than the bodies themselves and its almost certain that at some point you will upgrade your body, no matter what you buy now. Your glass can last a lifetime.
Good idea, Ben.
My main concern is getting enough light on the objects to properly expose with a low ISO setting, a relatively narrow aperture for sharpness front-to-back, and a short shutter speed.
Hope I don’t cross a line here 🙂
This type of photogrpahy really isn’t my thing so my question is more general in nature.Zack, if your trying to blow the whites for what amounts to a high key shot I’m not sure why you’d be using ISO 800 and F14. Your on a tripod so SS shouldnt be an issue and slap can be controlled with mirror lockup. Without knowing all the techs your DoF only needs to be about 2 to 3 inches. If you can get away with f8 to f11 and you drop your ISO considerably you shouldnt have much trouble clipping the whites. The flash can’t it be controlled by going manual on the flask and using the guide #s, rather than ETTL?
Im not on my home monitor so I cant really judge the shadows to well but the first thing I noticed/thought when you inserted the reel shots was a lack of detail in the darks. They appear (on this not so good monitor) to be clipping the blacks. I think id start with as low an ISO as possible and use +FEC if not manual on the flash.
Zach if your thinking commercial have a look at this link.
Can’t take credit for this, another poster on another board found it. He’s getting some really nice results though. I think he said the largest box (28″) was 110.00 or so.
Home page
http://us.boothphoto.com/home.cfmThere are smaller boxes as well as complete kits. No idea what the various kits cost.
http://us.boothphoto.com/prod_detail.cfm?PRODSELECT=9&PAGESELECT=prod_detail_data.cfm#DPBKSince he posted the link Ive booked marked and will give them alot of consideration when I decide to get one. benefit for me is they’re local 🙂
Hunting them on foot. This winter has been pretty unproductive though, not sure why that is but numbers are down.
Calls should work. I know people who bait them with live mice so a mouse squeeker or cotton tail call should work. At the least I have in the past gotten them to turn and look at me using a mouse squeeker. I have some GHOs in the woodlot behind my house, I hear them a couple times a week but havent located them yet. Ive been toying with the idea of trying a call on them but short of digital MP3s the only Owl call Ive seen available commercially is a Barred Owl (“Who cooks for you”) which is sold for and used by Turkey hunters.
forgot to add in the previous reply that if you do opt for a 300 f4 prime, that will take a TC well giving you a little over 400mm effectively.
It could very well be a GHO Joel. I find distinguishing between GHOs, LEO and SEOs pretty difficult even with good looks at them. The “tufts” of hair atop their heads are really just tufts of hair and not ears at all just to add to the confusion but are often used to id them.
GHO’s are pretty aggressive and are pretty much the top of the food chain in the owl families. They’ll go after pretty much anything and yes, that includes people who get too close, especially during nesting season which is starting now (Feb). I know of a few “photogs” who have lost parts of their scalps to GHOs.
I have better pictures on my HDD of each but these are all I have online atm.
Great Horned
Long Eared
Mike.
Using a boat is often a better way to approach wildlife. For some reason they dont associate boats with “danger” in the say way they do a person inching towards them. Example: I can usually get pretty close to Herons when in a canoe. Getting within 50ft when on foot is failrly rare.The Bigma is a very nice lens. Not as sharp  or as vivid in colour as some others but more than capable. Colour and contrast can always be tweeked in PS for some punch. The only *real* cons Im aware of is 1) its weight and 2) its relatively slow to focus. All zooms are though ( HS or not ) and the longer the potential focal range the longer it can take to acquire focus if it ends up searching through the range.
Something to keep in mind is that Sigma just announed a new 120-500 that has both HSM and OS.
While its certain to be more expensive thna the Bigma, it may drive down the price of the Bigma once its in stock and available. So you could opt for the newer edition with both HSM and OS, or take advantage of cost savings when its arrival forces the price of the Bigma down.
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0801/08013103sigma120400.aspbtw it looks like you found a LEO (Long Eared). They can be tough to shoot, typically preferring to remain deep within branches, so getting uncluttered and clear looks can be really tough.
How aproapos.
On the plus side, carrying a lens like that would assure you of all the finest attention at any airport you visited. Â “Please step this way, sir, and talk to these nice men in suits…”
🙂
Zach
that and a couple of rod tubes and your trip is toast…
Ha Ha
Mike
I would not under any circumstances bring that anywhere near an airport. I can imagine the reception some guy wanting to take pics of planes or an airshow and having that (or the 500 2.8) mounted in the back of a jeep would get.
I know a guy who found himself flanked by cops early in the moring because he was in camo, in a field trying to get deer and using a 400 mounted on a Bushhawk. He told the cops its was a camera and he was still quite literally told to put it down and step away.
Not a comfortable situation to be in Im thinking.
Guys
It really is a lot worse to have perfect fishing weather 75 degrees, no wind, like we do in south Texas and not having the time to actually go fishing. Â At least you guys can’t fish right now. Â Our local salt fishing reports are off the charts for redfish and big sea trout. And we work on and on…..
Brett
I’ll remember that the next time the plows dump 3 feet of frozen snow/slush across the front of my driveway. My arms and back are so sore from digging out the past couple weeks I dont know if I could muster up the strength to toss a #18 dry on a 4wt. Keep in mind Im writing this less than 24hours after the last storm dumped another foot plus and as I look at my office its snowing again.
Sure it hurts when your stuck in the office and conditions are perfect, but 4 to 7 months of closed seasons and living vicariously through others is another kind of pain altogether. Cabin fever, shack nasties call them what you will blow 🙂
the good news is now that its Feb I can start my countdown.
79 days to goAlan your Dads carving is fantastic.
Well I would have to say that the January Arts and Crafts post went very well. Let’s keep in going in February! I would love to see MORE people contribute this month. Zach we didn’t see a single photo from you and John Bennett, Richard Bernabe, and Mike Anderson I know you guys all have great stuff so let’s see it on the post!
Here to a great month!
Joel
It’s not for lack of tryng Joel. Ive been getting up at 5am every Sat/Sun and out the door looking for things to photograph (its all I can do here until Openers) but I havent had much luck. For some odd reason things (wildlife) are abnormally skinny here this winter and were in the midst of a record year for lack of sunlight. Read something recently that we’ve had 33% less sunlight than normal this year. Man talk about the winter blues 🙂 I honeslty havent shot in decent light since December 1st..All of which means I may have only kept about 2 dozen images since Christmas.
Heres a few that I Have kept over the last few weeks.
Couple Harris hawk images.
Northern Hawk Owl
Barred Owl
Hopefully we get a thaw and the Steelhead start running in the next week or two.
I may actually try to hit one of the rivers this weekend just to change gears.
