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Photography technical advice, questions, tips and techniques.

Started by Tank, July 30, 2018, 10:37:09 AM

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Dave

I can achieve fuzziness at max zoom even with VR switched on!
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

hermes2015

"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

jumbojak

I found a neat RAW editor and viewer called Darktable. It's supposed to be similar to Lightroom and is free so I've started shooting strictly in the RAW format. My camera seems faster than before.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

hermes2015

Quote from: jumbojak on August 07, 2018, 02:35:15 PM
I found a neat RAW editor and viewer called Darktable. It's supposed to be similar to Lightroom and is free so I've started shooting strictly in the RAW format. My camera seems faster than before.

That's an excellent move; you will not regret it. I use Lightroom, but I will give Darktable a try. Do you know whether it has the Dehaze function?
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Tank

Quote from: jumbojak on August 07, 2018, 02:35:15 PM
I found a neat RAW editor and viewer called Darktable. It's supposed to be similar to Lightroom and is free so I've started shooting strictly in the RAW format. My camera seems faster than before.
I shoot in fine jpeg + RAW and almost always use the jpeg straight out of the camera.
If religions were TV channels atheism is turning the TV off.
"Religion is a culture of faith; science is a culture of doubt." ― Richard P. Feynman
'It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it's called Life.' - Terry Pratchett
Remember, your inability to grasp science is not a valid argument against it.

Dave

Quote from: Tank on August 07, 2018, 03:02:43 PM
Quote from: jumbojak on August 07, 2018, 02:35:15 PM
I found a neat RAW editor and viewer called Darktable. It's supposed to be similar to Lightroom and is free so I've started shooting strictly in the RAW format. My camera seems faster than before.
I shoot in fine jpeg + RAW and almost always use the jpeg straight out of the camera.
I will have to take another look at RA. Only ever used it once, at the county archive, they wanted jpeg for the index and private customers but RAW for the actual archive and professional cutomers doing their own processing.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

jumbojak

Quote from: hermes2015 on August 07, 2018, 02:42:17 PM
Quote from: jumbojak on August 07, 2018, 02:35:15 PM
I found a neat RAW editor and viewer called Darktable. It's supposed to be similar to Lightroom and is free so I've started shooting strictly in the RAW format. My camera seems faster than before.

That's an excellent move; you will not regret it. I use Lightroom, but I will give Darktable a try. Do you know whether it has the Dehaze function?

I do not. The workforce is taking a bit of getting used to. At the very least I'll save quite a bit of storage space on my hard drive.

"Amazing what chimney sweeping can teach us, no? Keep your fire hot and
your flue clean."  - Ecurb Noselrub

"I'd be incensed by your impudence were I not so impressed by your memory." - Siz

hermes2015

Quote from: jumbojak on August 07, 2018, 03:39:25 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on August 07, 2018, 02:42:17 PM
Quote from: jumbojak on August 07, 2018, 02:35:15 PM
I found a neat RAW editor and viewer called Darktable. It's supposed to be similar to Lightroom and is free so I've started shooting strictly in the RAW format. My camera seems faster than before.

That's an excellent move; you will not regret it. I use Lightroom, but I will give Darktable a try. Do you know whether it has the Dehaze function?

I do not. The workforce is taking a bit of getting used to. At the very least I'll save quite a bit of storage space on my hard drive.

As much as I'm a proponent of shooting RAW, I have to admit that it does mean you have to put in more effort at the end to produce acceptable pictures. With JPG, most photos look reasonably OK straight out of the camera.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Dave

Still can't seem to get the steadiness I want for full zoom shots with the monopod, and don't really want to drag my chunky tripod about. May try it as a bipod, just two legs extended. Could be used splayed or together. If that works I will look for a really lightweight tripod and maybe chop a leg off to reduce the weight further.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

hermes2015

Quote from: Dave on August 07, 2018, 04:03:55 PM
Still can't seem to get the steadiness I want for full zoom shots with the monopod, and don't really want to drag my chunky tripod about. May try it as a bipod, just two legs extended. Could be used splayed or together. If that works I will look for a really lightweight tripod and maybe chop a leg off to reduce the weight further.

Do you own any VR lenses? If not, it may be worthwhile to invest in one.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Dave

Quote from: hermes2015 on August 07, 2018, 04:19:34 PM
Quote from: Dave on August 07, 2018, 04:03:55 PM
Still can't seem to get the steadiness I want for full zoom shots with the monopod, and don't really want to drag my chunky tripod about. May try it as a bipod, just two legs extended. Could be used splayed or together. If that works I will look for a really lightweight tripod and maybe chop a leg off to reduce the weight further.

Do you own any VR lenses? If not, it may be worthwhile to invest in one.

All my Nikkor kenses are VR and the Lumix has a similar system. But, at 30x zoom, I cannot seem to get a decent "quick" shot. A shake of a couple of mm gets outside the scope of the optical reduction. And the ability to be able to hit the button quickly, but not always smoothly, with beasties and birdies is essential. Dragon- and damselflies are easy with a steady camera if you set up and zoom in on their favourite perch - just wait for them to return. And I can use the IR or radio remote for the Nikon or the Lumixlink NFC app on my phone for that one. The latter is good because I can hide somewhere and see what the camera sees on the phone, with control of the zoom - but it is slow to react and reset.

Those dragonflies were not as crisp as I know the cameras can achieve, but they were the best of the bunch. Pictures picked from trial shots, using the monopod, today yielded more better quality shots at the same distance (shots of leaves, no dragonflies and only camera shy butterflies about.) But still too much movement on "grabbed" shots.

Hands and arms used to be rock steady once. Cable releases or bulbs were a boon as well, you could tread on the latter if need be . . .
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

hermes2015

Yes, I can see that the VR system is stretched a bit under those conditions. Another option would be to use shutter priority mode and set a very high shutter speed, along with a higher ISO speed to still get decent exposure.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Dave

Quote from: hermes2015 on August 07, 2018, 05:53:09 PM
Yes, I can see that the VR system is stretched a bit under those conditions. Another option would be to use shutter priority mode and set a very high shutter speed, along with a higher ISO speed to still get decent exposure.

Yes, high shutter speed + low f No OK for "shallow" subjects, the f4.5 on the 55-300 at 300 is a limitting factor though. Have to check online for the Lumix specs. I still suffer from the old concerns about loosing quality at high ISO to graininess, though that gave some great artistic effects using B&W film!.  Not sure what the effect is on digital, will experiment more.

There is more data retained in a "darkish" image than a "burned out" one.
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74

hermes2015

Quote from: Dave on August 07, 2018, 06:13:50 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on August 07, 2018, 05:53:09 PM
Yes, I can see that the VR system is stretched a bit under those conditions. Another option would be to use shutter priority mode and set a very high shutter speed, along with a higher ISO speed to still get decent exposure.

Yes, high shutter speed + low f No OK for "shallow" subjects, the f4.5 on the 55-300 at 300 is a limitting factor though. Have to check online for the Lumix specs. I still suffer from the old concerns about loosing quality at high ISO to graininess, though that gave some great artistic effects using B&W film!.  Not sure what the effect is on digital, will experiment more.

There is more data retained in a "darkish" image than a "burned out" one.

Set it at ISO 800 or even 1600. You may be pleasantly surprised. On my D600 the noise at 1600 is still very low.
"Eventually everything connects - people, ideas, objects. The quality of the connections is the key to quality per se."
― Charles Eames

Dave

Quote from: hermes2015 on August 07, 2018, 07:20:36 PM
Quote from: Dave on August 07, 2018, 06:13:50 PM
Quote from: hermes2015 on August 07, 2018, 05:53:09 PM
Yes, I can see that the VR system is stretched a bit under those conditions. Another option would be to use shutter priority mode and set a very high shutter speed, along with a higher ISO speed to still get decent exposure.

Yes, high shutter speed + low f No OK for "shallow" subjects, the f4.5 on the 55-300 at 300 is a limitting factor though. Have to check online for the Lumix specs. I still suffer from the old concerns about loosing quality at high ISO to graininess, though that gave some great artistic effects using B&W film!.  Not sure what the effect is on digital, will experiment more.

There is more data retained in a "darkish" image than a "burned out" one.

Set it at ISO 800 or even 1600. You may be pleasantly surprised. On my D600 the noise at 1600 is still very low.

Will give it a go!

(Just checked camera, it was set at ISO 100!!)
Tomorrow is precious, don't ruin it by fouling up today.
Passed Monday 10th Dec 2018 age 74