FastFreddy2 Posted October 23, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2017 (edited) I finally got around to doing some pictures on Sunday, of the PVC leggings I bought a couple of weeks ago. (I really like them.) Might have been made for me the fit is so good, but I have my doubts they'd be comfortable after a couple of hours - especially somewhere warm. I wore them for around 40-50 minutes while taking photo's, and had to peel them off when I had finished. I hadn't long been out of a wet environment, so my legs may have been damp to start with, but I might need to wear something on my legs (hose) to stop them clinging to my (freshly shaved) legs another time... During the 'session' (of 6 articles to be worn and photographed) I realised/remembered I had suggested previously I ought to get a remote switch to go along with using the self-timer, to get better images. 90% of the time I'd set the timer, I'd barely compose myself by the time the first image (of three) was taken. It was rushed anyway as I needed to get out with Mrs F in the afternoon, but running across the bedroom floor in 5 inch heels, pulling bits (clothing/boots) up, and then pulling my belly in, was usually too much of a challenge. At least one set of thigh high boots will need to be re-shot. Two reasons: The first is that in rushing back to my (pre-focused) 'spot' and trying to compose/tighten everything, with this particular boot, I seem to have missed my spot in every shot. So every image is soft. As importantly, especially when taking a pictures of black suede, exposure can't be under, and every frame was. Although the session was over before I could confirm this, I realised that -once again- using natural light wasn't prudent on a day when there was intermittent cloud cover. It's bad enough getting the exposure right when sat behind the camera, almost impossible when the light levels are bouncing all over the show, and my eyes are all too ready to accommodate the variance. It reminded me why I bought my strobe kit, 30 years ago. I still have the big light (good enough for small apertures on a medium format film camera with 1100ws), but I sold my two fill lights a couple of years ago - planning to replace them all with modern (digital) grade gear. In fact my main strobe has been on sale for a while too. It occurred to me, I might justify an upgrade to a G80 by virtue of the wifi function? (Which I know pretty much J/S about - on a camera.) Later in the day, I had yet another look at the G80 at JL Oxford Street, and this time there was a Panasonic rep there helping potential customers. It seems, the camera's wifi function is there (if you use an "app") so pictures can be taken remotely by a phone (as I understood it) and the outcome can be seen on the phone? Speaking as Mr app-less, I'm not keen, but it could solve half the problem I have. The other half would be firing flash. "I think" the strobe system I'm looking at (£1200 for 3 mono heads) has remote (on camera) wifi driven firing option. I did ask Miss Panasonic if the camera's onboard wifi system could be used for firing the strobe, and she believes not. And surprise surprise, Panasonic sell a bit of kit that attaches to the camera, to do that very thing: remote/wireless firing of strobes. While this seems like a lot of trouble for what is essentially a 'selfie', until I'm able to control my working photographic environment, I'm not able to make offers to others about paid work. I'm not looking to challenge portraitists for magazine work, but there is still a market for a well done portraits of the young, and old. It could be, I even find myself getting into budget wedding portraits - those at registry offices for example. (Where people might be getting married on a shoe-string.) Unlike 30 years ago, images taken are instantly assessable and 'goofs' shouldn't happen. The idea, is to make some money from photography, possibly enough to help pay for equipment. Or not. Speed I work, I'll be in a wheelchair by the time I get this sorted out. Tomorrow, I will just have to make do. Edited October 24, 2017 by FastFreddy2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shyheels Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 Photography involving timers and remote releases is something I happen to have a great deal of expertise in because of a long running project I have been doing. One series of cameras you might want to look into would be the Canon G-series of compacts. I have a couple of them - the G-11 and the G1X, both bought and used for this particular project of mine. They have (and other in the G-series do do) a customisable self timer that allows you to set the time delay for anywhere from 2 to 30 seconds, and then set the number of frames the camera will automatically shoot from 1 to 10 frames. This makes self timer photography MUCH easier, opens the door to many more possibilities and increases your chances of having a useable image or images. Both cameras - indeed the whole range of G-series cameras - shoot in RAW. The (more expensive) G1X has a larger than normal sensor size, giving it very good low light capabilities for a compact. Both have excellent handling of noise. And both have near DSLR capabilities and image quality - indeed I have used both in professional shoots and images I have shot with them are in some prestigious stock libraries oversea. Worth checking out for self fashion shoots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted October 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 7 hours ago, Shyheels said: The (more expensive) GX1 has a larger than normal sensor size, giving it very good low light capabilities for a compact. Both have excellent handling of noise. And both have near DSLR capabilities and image quality - indeed I have used both in professional shoots and images I have shot with them are in some prestigious stock libraries oversea. Worth checking out for self fashion shoots. At circa £1100, this is a luxury I don't expect to be able to "afford" ... But it does look good! At the moment I'm looking at this: (as a solution) Looking into the Canon compact - that as you can see took me to YouTube, I got into camera reviews, the new D850 vs D5 vs the Canon 5D MKIV which led me to believe I have tastes beyond my needs. I even "discovered" the Canon 1D X MKII .... And, although I'm aware of the Nikon range, I rediscovered how good the (affordable) D500 might be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shyheels Posted October 24, 2017 Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 That’s the thing with technology nowadays - you can get a budget DSLR these days with capabilities far beyond what were top of the range pro models only a few years ago, and for the most part the demands of shooting for magazines etc have remained largely the same. We have capabilities far beyond our needs. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted October 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2017 While I appreciate your professional camera equipment requirements - I'm hoping you weren't referring to an £1800 camera body as a "budget" DSLR? If so, it's something of a concern.... This: I would hope, was "budget"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shyheels Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Not at all. I would not consider an £1800 camera body “budget”! I was thinking of the low hundreds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted October 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 7 minutes ago, Shyheels said: Not at all. I would not consider an £1800 camera body “budget”! I was thinking of the low hundreds. Very happy to hear it! And that Nikon has really quite good specs given the price. Dunno about the lens though ... Bloody camera choice is driving me nuts. While the G80 (with short tele lens I probably don't want) comes in at £799, some of the 'other' cameras mentioned already have some Xmas discounts applied. The Sony a7ii, -£200 with cashback .... The Nikon D500 -£150 .... That ugly Sony gets more attractive by the day. Especially since it seems to outperform its more expensive sibling (99) on 'continuous focus' mode. Ho-hum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shyheels Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Neither of those are going to be bad cameras. In a way you can’t go wrong. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted October 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 I suppose my main concern (one of many) is committing to a lens system I may regret. I already have a small number of Nikon manual lenses that could save me a bit of money initially, and lead me to where I might further invest. Meaning, I could get a bit deeper into the digital process, and through experience, work out where (if I'm going to) spend £800-£1000 on THE ONE lens I want to own, if I'm going to spend that sort of money on a lens. In some respects, the G80 with a 75-150 lens ticks every box I have at the moment. (I already have a 20mm I use on my G5.) Even at the £800 price for the two items, it's half the money of the 'sexy' enthusiast/semi-pro grade D500/a7ii or even a D750 bodies. One of the worries of using a smaller sensor, is that the optics will by default, give me depth of field I don't want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shyheels Posted October 25, 2017 Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 The smaller sensor will just give you a longer effective focal length - typically by a factor of 1.4 or thereabouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted October 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 (edited) 20 hours ago, Shyheels said: The smaller sensor will just give you a longer effective focal length - typically by a factor of 1.4 or thereabouts. I think that's the reduction for APS-C? Focal lengths are doubled; 4/3rds against 35mm equiv's. I tried quite hard to find a better chart - and gave up after 10+ minutes. Edited October 26, 2017 by FastFreddy2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted October 25, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 25, 2017 Rather frustratingly, I had earlier today decided 95% on the G80 and standard short zoom as the next investment. Saw this, and worked out the 4/3rds sensor is almost literally half the size of full frame. Yes, I was slow to put x2 mag with lens = half size sensor. I think I'm going to have to (gulp) pay to have a photo that was taken on my G5, enlarged so I can see what image detail looks like on paper, rather than on a screen. Sadly, the last time I was impressed with image quality, I'd just done some enlargements off slow B+W 35mm XP1 film I might have rated at 25 ASA and then processed myself. I felt at the time, it came remarkably close to matching medium format, which by that time I owned too. Thankfully, colour (print) film couldn't match that too, so there were gains to be had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted November 7, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2017 Unless I spend £1800 on a Nikon D500 body (I have Nikon lenses) I'm going to get the G80 despite the small sensor size. I can't afford to invest money on a semi-pro/enthusiast camera, just for taking photo's of Ebay sales stuff (as I pretty much did with the G5. ) Panasonic have knocked £100 off the price of the kit, if you commit to taking a camera in for part-ex "at some time in the future". Basically, they are temporarily reducing the price of the kit to 2016 prices to stay competitive over the Christmas period. I think Nikon are knocking £200 off the D500 too, but the body is still twice the price of the Lumix kit. To be honest, it's twice the camera, but I don't need that yet, I have in mind to buy a Sony next year. Compact full frame like the A7S II, but I'll wait for the Mark III that hopefully comes with an even better focusing system than the already improved MKII. The outlet I plan to buy from, provide a 2 year warranty with the Lumix, but I won't be buying before Black Friday since it's only a couple of weeks away and in principle, I'm not in any hurry. That said, I have my first (unpaid) commission this century, coming up next weekend. I've been asked to produce some PR images of a local Remembrance Day parade. As I understand it, the pictures are to be publishes in the local newspaper, and I've been asked because the local paper doesn't want to pay for a photographer on the day especially if it helps promote the good work done by the organisers, who have endured some criticism from the paper. If they are provided images, they will publish one, for the benefit of those who lost family members in two great wars. Taking photo's of me wearing various types of footwear is still proving to be a challenge, but I've produced some results and they will be published soon. I have used fully 'manual' settings, and this is simple for me due to my experience with film cameras. I took a lot more care with exposure levels, and made some progress. Still less than ideal, but some improvement has been achieved. Last Saturday, I used the G5 and took photo's of perhaps 10 styles of boot and clothing combo's. the first hour (or more) had me trying to work out what I had done to screw up the settings and get a 3 shot burst on every photo, no matter what I did. With the clock ticking, and light changing, I gave up and reset everything choosing to work out the problem later. The session went fine after that. The culprit was the HDR setting. On my phone, (the only place I have any previous experience of it), selecting HDR -I thought- allowed a wider dynamic range at the cost of image quality in some areas. This might be the case, but it certainly isn't with the Lumix. Selecting HDR means three images are taken and subsequently merged into a single image matrix. Image detail that would otherwise be missed by the sensor are recorded by both over exposing a frame (to get shadow detail) and under exposing (to try to recover detail, blown out in the highlights). It helped explain why I heard 3 shutter movements, but could only find one image to delete! While I was at it, I remapped the function keys to do the things I need them to, rather than what Panasonic thinks might be useful... I'm finally learning how to use the camera - as I'm about to upgrade it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted November 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 13, 2017 Well, despite hearing about the 'all singing all dancing' Lumix G9 only a few days ago, I've actually placed an order for the G80 (with lens I may sell immediately). John Lewis were offering a trade-in discount, with Panasonic offering some cash-back too. These combined effectively knocked 25% off the cost of the kit. Although Black Friday is only 11 days away, it was still too good an offer to miss. If B/F produces a better discount - which I've been assured by several sellers is very unlikely - I can still return the kit I've ordered for a refund. My worry remains image size, 16mb vs 20/24mb, somewhat solved by the availability of the Lumic G9 with its 20mb base to 80mb image size for stills and landscape photographers. (Sensor shifting composite technology.) Since I don't have a need for larger files as yet, I plumbed for the lower budget option which for what I want, might be perfectly adequate. G80 body (before discounts) £629. G9 body..... £1499. This a serious contender for a pro rated camera, following on the success of the GH5. Only nerds need watch .... Does everything. Competitor to D500 perhaps? The gig yesterday went well. There were at least two others there photographing/videoing the event, each with significantly more expensive kit than myself. While that was a little daunting, me and my little camera were able to move about discreetly and get some pictures without upsetting anyone there by blocking their view or interrupting procedures with loud clicking. I was called this morning at 9.30 by the local paper, to ask if I had any more than those submitted yesterday, so it looks promising to see some images published. More news as it arrives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted November 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 I got 7 pictures in total published. I will send a link to those I know who post here. There were two other photo's in the article (crowd shots taken from a distance) and I can be spotted taking photo's during the event. The G80 has arrived, but I won't be opening it until the end of next week, to ensure there isn't further discount on Black Friday. None is expected, and some retailers have started to claim B/F discounts already with no intimation there might be further discounts. I've been into JL and had a play with their demo kit a few times though. I'm looking forward to using mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacchi Alti Posted November 20, 2017 Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 I used to have a Nikon FE with various lenses when I took slides, but since going over to digital I've succumbed to convenience and size over absolute quality, so I have had a succession of Olympus bridge cameras. I haven't bought Olympus because I necessarily think they are best, but because they've ticked the relevant boxes at the time of purchase. I refuse to buy a camera without an optical viewfinder of some description, as I hate having to rely on a screen, particularly in bright light and particularly as these days my eyes won't focus at short distances without reading glasses, which I would never have on me at the crucial moment! Having said all that, one of my nephews has a Nikon SLR (don't know which model) with all the trimmings, and I was gratified after a family photoshoot to find my pictures were better in quality than his... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted November 20, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2017 (edited) On 20/11/2017 at 10:26 AM, Tacchi Alti said: I used to have a Nikon FE with various lenses when I took slides, I still have two Nikon FE2's. I used them to do all my college work. Quote but since going over to digital I've succumbed to convenience and size over absolute quality, so I have had a succession of Olympus bridge cameras. I haven't bought Olympus because I necessarily think they are best, but because they've ticked the relevant boxes at the time of purchase. I refuse to buy a camera without an optical viewfinder of some description, as I hate having to rely on a screen, particularly in bright light and particularly as these days my eyes won't focus at short distances without reading glasses, which I would never have on me at the crucial moment! Having said all that, one of my nephews has a Nikon SLR (don't know which model) with all the trimmings, and I was gratified after a family photoshoot to find my pictures were better in quality than his... My G5 and newer G80 have dioptre adjusters on their viewfinders that allow me to see the (internal) screen clearly, and acts just like a pentaprism except my view of the image doesn't disappear when I press the shutter. I like this about "mirrorless" cameras. While both these Lumix cameras have fully articulated screens on the back of them, I don't use these unless I'm doing 'selfies', and then only to make sure I'm in the frame. Otherwise, the screen is folded up out of sight. My pocket camera, the Olympus Tough has a rear screen, and I nearly always use that just to check the settings. If I need a close up of something and it allows me to use the camera at arms length, then the screen can be useful, but otherwise, I'm not a fan either. As to "which is better" I (coincidentally) watched a number of comparison video's last night on "Full frame vs APS-C vs 4/3rds". Seems that sensors are pretty much, 'much of a muchness' in terms of general performance and that size allows for harsher cropping. **** Inch for inch they are generally the same. Canon has produced a 50mp image from a full-frame processor that sets it aside from the crowd, and Panasonic now produced a 20mp image form a 4/3rds sensor/processor combo, that also sets it aside. **** Internal processors can change that basic performance, and Canon/Nikon are maybe not as ahead of the game in that field, as Sony and Panasonic. Back in my day, Nikon led the film field in terms of camera performance and features. Pro's bought the Nikon F range. Canon had arguably better lenses, not least because back then, they had their own lens design computer. Times move on, and it would seem electronics for image processing are as important as the camera features and basic performance. My Olympus Tough is a great tool. I've used more than just about any other camera I've owned. Turns on almost instantly. Focuses almost instantly. (Until it was dropped - by me) it was dust and waterproof too. Image quality appears to be good too, given what I paid for it and what it gets used for. DSLR's seem completely unattractive to me due to their bulky size, and I can completely understand why Sony is growing the market it is, as is Panasonic with it's 4/3rds range. (Their GH5 is getting staggeringly good reviews, I expect the G9 to do the same.) Does anyone need an image size greater than 20mp in the great scheme of things, unless for a specialised task? Are accurate skin tones, and colour reproduction as important, or even more important? While some of this can be addressed in "post", time is money. Nice to not have to adjust if it can be avoided.... Especially if you don't own a £2-£300 software editing package. That said, if I were offered a half-priced D500 or a D850, would I buy? Yes of course! Edited November 21, 2017 by FastFreddy2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted November 30, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 30, 2017 Well, the G5 is sold... Got good money for it too. The 'upgrade' has worked out a lot less expensive than I expected. The G80 hasn't left it's box yet .... It was bought as a kit, and came with a 12-60mm lens that's not appalling by any means, but I've decided that lens is going. I've managed so far with just a 20mm f1.7 lens, and I think I'm going to buy a 60mm f2.8 (prime) specifically for portraits. I've never owned a zoom lens, haven't needed one so far. Maybe I won't need to with this camera either.... Maybe with next years camera? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted December 10, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2017 Must have spent close to 10 hours running through the menu system on the G80. Not only can't I remember where the options reside, (yet) some of the functions don't make any sense to me. at all "Show shutter effect"? Google is getting a lot of action .... Maybe I need a hardcopy of the manual .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacchi Alti Posted December 11, 2017 Report Share Posted December 11, 2017 19 hours ago, FastFreddy2 said: Must have spent close to 10 hours running through the menu system on the G80. Not only can't I remember where the options reside, (yet) some of the functions don't make any sense to me. at all "Show shutter effect"? Google is getting a lot of action .... Maybe I need a hardcopy of the manual .... Perhaps when you've sorted that out you could use the same manual to help us program our central heating timeswitch... ;-) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted December 11, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 11, 2017 2 hours ago, Tacchi Alti said: Perhaps when you've sorted that out you could use the same manual to help us program our central heating timeswitch... ;-) Please don't hold your breath. On page 71 of the manual, and still no wiser. Other than their idea of "defocusing control" amounts to changing the aperture while in Program mode and using Program Shift after selecting Fn4 and using one of the wheel controls. "Defocusing control" my arse. They also - rather ambiguously - recommend setting the exposure to a "larger aperture value" when the onboard meter says the image will be overexposed. They mean larger number (higher numbers provide smaller aperture), thus lowering the amount of light getting to the sensor; or simply "smaller aperture". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tacchi Alti Posted December 13, 2017 Report Share Posted December 13, 2017 On 11/12/2017 at 12:24 PM, FastFreddy2 said: Please don't hold your breath. On page 71 of the manual, and still no wiser. Other than their idea of "defocusing control" amounts to changing the aperture while in Program mode and using Program Shift after selecting Fn4 and using one of the wheel controls. "Defocusing control" my arse. They also - rather ambiguously - recommend setting the exposure to a "larger aperture value" when the onboard meter says the image will be overexposed. They mean larger number (higher numbers provide smaller aperture), thus lowering the amount of light getting to the sensor; or simply "smaller aperture". Life's a blur with you, then... ;-) Seriously though, why do you need the manual? Is the camera so much different from other SLRs that you need to find out how to use it? I used mainly aperture priority on my SLR - occasionally shutter priority for fast-moving subjects and manual for difficult lighting situations. Mind you, I didn't have a dedicated flash either. I had to work out ISO rating/film speed to get the right aperture... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted December 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted December 13, 2017 (edited) On 13/12/2017 at 10:06 AM, Tacchi Alti said: Life's a blur with you, then... ;-) Seriously though, why do you need the manual? Is the camera so much different from other SLRs that you need to find out how to use it? I used mainly aperture priority on my SLR - occasionally shutter priority for fast-moving subjects and manual for difficult lighting situations. Mind you, I didn't have a dedicated flash either. I had to work out ISO rating/film speed to get the right aperture... Focus stacking? How to programme the Fn buttons for options I want to use, rather than the (near useless) defaults. I'd like to have the two wheels set for the aperture and shutter speed in Program Mode, as I did on the G5: - can't be done though defaults to this in Manual Mode. There was supposed to be a defocus control option, that I thought was done electronically - (the reverse or flip side of focus stacking.) Not so, it's another name for differential focusing using a larger aperture. Somewhere in the video options, is the ability to record in 4k, and keep images seen before the shutter is pressed. It's even possible to select an image from the 4k video or take images at "4k". There are a number of 'creative' in-camera options that allow things like (but not limited to) monochrome/sepia photo's to be produced with no further post work. A landscape option that allows the camera to take 5~10 photos then stitch them together, in-camera There is also an in-camera editor (not got that far) for doing more clever things after the image has been taken. Like you, I am used to using a (film) SLR in AP Mode, tweeking the shutter speeds to get the right exposure. I'm also used to manual focusing despite once owning a Pentax MEF. I'm not unhappy for all the auto stuff, but I don't want to find myself missing a photo because I didn't know to turn on or turn off a Menu option. Watching the video, (for example) I may have discovered the "4k" picture option is via a dial, not a Menu option... The G5 I owned barely got used in the 3 or 4 years I owned it. That isn't going to be true of the G80. I have a provisional opportunity to submit 12 images for a calendar. I won't get a penny from it, but it all helps get work further down the line. Knowing how to take advantage of a bit of equipment that is much smarter than me, seems like a prudent thing to do. P.S. I mentioned I owned the G5 for 3 or 4 years .... Looks like (having reviewed some of the older posts here) it was longer, although I doubt I gave it more than 2 weeks work over its entire life. I also commented some time after the G5 purchase when the G6 was announced, I didn't need the WiFi. Ignorant at that time, that there is a Lumix app for controlling the camera remotely. Something I have very much needed over the past year while trying to take photos of me wearing heels. A much better solution than pre-focussing and using self timers. Not yet installed the app on my phone, but it's on my "To Do" list. It's odd looking back, how I've moved from a pretty poor quality 'dumb' phone, to a carry everywhere 'Tough' camera, a smart phone with 8mpxl camera, and a 'clever' system camera that can be controlled remotely. Have we all moved on? Given how many images these can produce (and the Olympus has produced thousands), its not hard to believe a claim I heard toward the end of last year: "With so many people owning camera phones, it was expected that during the next year, more photo's would be taken than in the entire history of photography" The para-phrase doesn't look to be completely accurate, nor the date reference (I may have heard it more recently than when the original was published.) But the message is sound. As the linked article explains; we as consumers used to take pictures only at special events, like birthdays, weddings and holidays. Now we take and share photo's all the time. Even people who had never used a film camera before, will take photo's using their phones, Mrs Freddy being a point in case. The snow picture shown the other day in the 'Last Minute Meeting' thread, not one of mine, but one of Mrs Freddy's care of her Motorola phone. She has a good eye for an image and I hope to get her using my camera sometime in the future..... Edited December 14, 2017 by FastFreddy2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FastFreddy2 Posted January 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 I've been trying to record Christmas lights with my camera. Sounds simple? Last night I spent the better part of 40 minutes sat outside a pretty and colourful display (at midnight) trying to record what my eye could see using my camera. Just not possible .... The G80 has a number of special functions. These are like 'in camera' editors that alter the image to produce predetermined looks. An obvious one would be monochrome, one that removes all trace of colour from the recorded image. It can be further modified (in camera) by making the image high contrast with fewer grey mid tomes, or make it grainy, like an older film image. It can also make it look like a sepia image, more usually associated with photographs that have turned a pretty shade of light brown over time. A couple of these options (there are over 20 in all) are tilted toward colourful lights and night time photography. None of them produced suitable results, and it rather looks like the sensor in the camera doesn't like red and green LED type illumination. When I photographed a string of red/green/blue lights, I got an image that looked like a string of blue and white lights. Defocussing the image improved that when I switched to fully manual mode, and extended the exposure which wasn't possible using presets. I'm sure there is a well known cause, with an equally well known solution. I just don't know it yet. I've also spent some time "studying" the digital technology. Finding out about "DSLR's" vs mirrorless, and sensor sizes. I've also found out that thinking photography used to be a fairly expensive pastime with film and processing being costly (though I used to do my own processing and enlarging), the costs of digital equipment far outweighs the savings made from the absence of consumables (film). Realistic pricing for moderate quality cameras ranges from £800 to £2500. Lenses, not far behind. And almost every camera I've watched a review of on You Tube, has some sort of Achilles heel. Be that the focus detection system (Panasonic), battery life and lack of lenses (Sony) price, lack of lenses and camera features (Canon) and that's just the mirrorless. Not that I need worry about all that yet. I'm still a long way off working out how to use a £600 camera at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shyheels Posted January 4, 2018 Report Share Posted January 4, 2018 Lenses are the one constant for me in the constantly evolving world of digital. Probably because I have spent a lot of money and bought myself a set of Zeiss primes - they are beautifully made of steel and glass, nothing plastic, and their resolution generally outperforms even my pro DSLRs. They are timeless classics - but, obviously, quite expensive. Since they are manual focus, there are no autofocus issues to worry about. I am increasingly much less concerned about advances in digital technology. My Canon 5d3 is more than sufficient - overkill in act - to meet any needs in professional magazine or on-line work, even if one is blowing up fairly large for advertisements, 22MB is plenty. So much of what is being added on now is purely to fuel a costly (but profitable!) mass addiction to constant upgrades and improvements, solutions found for problems that don't exist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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