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NeoGAF Camera Equipment Thread | MK II

The past few months I've been keeping an eye on Rokinon 12mm lenses for the Sony A6000. For a while they weren't available on Amazon, and then when the lenses were available they were close to $400. Got tired of waiting so I ventured to ebay in hopes of finding a cheaper used one, and people are just blowing up the prices on auctions that still have 4 days left.

Out of frustration I searched for Samyang 12mm and found them to be cheaper by $50+. I saw a few international sellers that had them for $290 so I pulled the trigger on one. The one I got is shipping from South Korea and the seller has 99.8% positive and more than 10K reviews so I figure I'd be safe.

Does anyone here know what exactly is different between Rokinon and Samyang? Some person on Amazon commented that Rokinon gets more testing on the assembly line. Even places that have them both like B&H the Samyang is cheaper. Then searching google I found that at one point Samyang were more expensive. Who knows. I just hope my lens gets here in one piece.
 
Lasthope106 said:
The past few months I've been keeping an eye on Rokinon 12mm lenses for the Sony A6000. For a while they weren't available on Amazon, and then when the lenses were available they were close to $400. Got tired of waiting so I ventured to ebay in hopes of finding a cheaper used one, and people are just blowing up the prices on auctions that still have 4 days left.

Out of frustration I searched for Samyang 12mm and found them to be cheaper by $50+. I saw a few international sellers that had them for $290 so I pulled the trigger on one. The one I got is shipping from South Korea and the seller has 99.8% positive and more than 10K reviews so I figure I'd be safe.

Does anyone here know what exactly is different between Rokinon and Samyang? Some person on Amazon commented that Rokinon gets more testing on the assembly line. Even places that have them both like B&H the Samyang is cheaper. Then searching google I found that at one point Samyang were more expensive. Who knows. I just hope my lens gets here in one piece.
Click to expand...

One lens says "Rokinon", and the other lens says "Samyang".

That's the difference.
 
Ty4on said:
They didn't have very good shutter damping back then, especially on cheap SLRs. I was pretty conservative with my shutter speeds and surprised when a shot at 50mm and 1/125 (most likely, I find 1/60 too slow and it wasn't that dark) was quite blurry. Stay conservative and you should have a high keeper rate. Take multiple pictures if you're on the edge.
Cheap ISO 400 film is known for being quite grainy. You also have to get used to it being fast by film standards :P
Try to get "raw" scans (like TIFF) and tweak the colors yourself. Makes a big difference in my scans. You could also try more expensive films. Where I live the price difference isn't very big when you factor in the processing and scanning.
Click to expand...

yea, scanner and how the lab calibrate/process has a lot to do with the final color too, not just the film stock. I'm a cheapass so I only shoot with expired film off ebay but I've found the grain on film to be not too bad ( they are more pleasing than digital noise for sure)
 
I found a Tamron 70-300 new for 21€ last week, made for Sony mount ( also says Minolta AF on the lens ). I can't seem to find the adapter ring for my Fuji X-E1. Does one exist ?
 
^IIRC a Sony Minolta lens is an A-mount system and I'm pretty sure there are A-mount to m4/3's adapters available.

Ty4on said:
They didn't have very good shutter damping back then, especially on cheap SLRs. I was pretty conservative with my shutter speeds and surprised when a shot at 50mm and 1/125 (most likely, I find 1/60 too slow and it wasn't that dark) was quite blurry. Stay conservative and you should have a high keeper rate. Take multiple pictures if you're on the edge.
Cheap ISO 400 film is known for being quite grainy. You also have to get used to it being fast by film standards :P
Try to get "raw" scans (like TIFF) and tweak the colors yourself. Makes a big difference in my scans. You could also try more expensive films. Where I live the price difference isn't very big when you factor in the processing and scanning.
Click to expand...

I didn't know about shutter damping... that's interesting!

I actually shot with the film between June of last year up to this month so I was quite surprised to see how crappy it looks coz I'd actually already used up 2 rolls of Superia 400 before and the pictures I got from them were fantastic, but I shot them with my N8008 so maybe the shutter damping and more accurate light meter helped?

dhlt25 said:
yea, scanner and how the lab calibrate/process has a lot to do with the final color too, not just the film stock. I'm a cheapass so I only shoot with expired film off ebay but I've found the grain on film to be not too bad ( they are more pleasing than digital noise for sure)
Click to expand...

How is shooting with expired film? I've still got a roll of Fuji Superia inside my N8008 so I'm thinking of my next roll already and I kinda want to buy a Kodak Portra 400 since I've heard good things about it but I'm shooting film for fun so the cheaper I can go the better lol.

Also I think I might've asked this before, but do y'all have any suggestions of a place that can develop film? Maybe a place that does mailers?

I'd do it myself but last time I developed film I was still a senior in high school 9 years ago haha. So I've totally forgotten the process. But more importantly, it's the scans I'm after. I just have a cheapass HP Printer that prints pretty good but scanning is bleh.

I'm currently using TheDarkroom.com and it's around $15 to develop and get a low-res scan of the entire roll. There's also a couple of local places here in DFW that develops but they don't scan at all and it's fnkcing expensive as hell... developing one roll and 6 prints cost me $40 bucks. And people wonder why nobody does film these days lol. The Darkroom does have some hi-res scans but their website doesn't say if the high-res scans are TIFF files or just uncompressed JPEGS or whatever.
 
Fox1304 said:
I found a Tamron 70-300 new for 21€ last week, made for Sony mount ( also says Minolta AF on the lens ). I can't seem to find the adapter ring for my Fuji X-E1. Does one exist ?
Click to expand...

most mounts have an adapter to XF so you should be okay.
 
I dunno much about shutter/mirror damping in general, but every modern DSLR (or its predecessor) brags a lot about it in their PR materiel. Seems reasonable that old camera (especially when sharpness was less important/noticable) had more shake.

Certain cameras also have a range of shutter speeds where they shake a lot. I know of the Pentax K7, but I don't think it's that rare. Apparently it was all caused by the shutter in the K7.
 
jongkookie said:
^IIRC a Sony Minolta lens is an A-mount system and I'm pretty sure there are A-mount to m4/3's adapters available.



I didn't know about shutter damping... that's interesting!

I actually shot with the film between June of last year up to this month so I was quite surprised to see how crappy it looks coz I'd actually already used up 2 rolls of Superia 400 before and the pictures I got from them were fantastic, but I shot them with my N8008 so maybe the shutter damping and more accurate light meter helped?



How is shooting with expired film? I've still got a roll of Fuji Superia inside my N8008 so I'm thinking of my next roll already and I kinda want to buy a Kodak Portra 400 since I've heard good things about it but I'm shooting film for fun so the cheaper I can go the better lol.

Also I think I might've asked this before, but do y'all have any suggestions of a place that can develop film? Maybe a place that does mailers?

I'd do it myself but last time I developed film I was still a senior in high school 9 years ago haha. So I've totally forgotten the process. But more importantly, it's the scans I'm after. I just have a cheapass HP Printer that prints pretty good but scanning is bleh.

I'm currently using TheDarkroom.com and it's around $15 to develop and get a low-res scan of the entire roll. There's also a couple of local places here in DFW that develops but they don't scan at all and it's fnkcing expensive as hell... developing one roll and 6 prints cost me $40 bucks. And people wonder why nobody does film these days lol. The Darkroom does have some hi-res scans but their website doesn't say if the high-res scans are TIFF files or just uncompressed JPEGS or whatever.
Click to expand...

expired film ain't too bad. Color not as good as a fresh roll of course but still very usable. I process film myself, it's pretty simple once you get used to it. I did it for a few months in college and only picked it up again a few months ago (that's a 5,6 years gap so had to relearn everything). Both color and BW are straight forward and easy to do, first few rolls will prob be not so good but you'll get a hang of it quick.

As for scanner, I use a canon 9000F mark 2 flat bed and silverfast. It's took me a long time tweaking with the canon software before I decided to buy silverfast and the $50 bucks was worth it. Scanning with silverfast give much sharper result for me, I can get about 6 Megapix for 135 film and 25 for 6x6 120 film from this scanner. I've only got back into film recently so not a lot of pics yet but here're a few I have on flickr. These are all expired film process and scan by me

IMG_20170115_0015 by thai tran, on Flickr

Image 9 (2) by thai tran, on Flickr

Image 1 (4) by thai tran, on Flickr

Image 1 (3)asd by thai tran, on Flickr

This one is actually crossed process slide film. The color band is water streak from me not drying the film properly :(

asD by thai tran, on Flickr
 
Hey everyone!

Was wondering if someone here could help me out. Today I went out to take some pictures, I shoot in JPG+RAW. When I got back home to import them on my mac. It shows the jpg file but when I switch to the RAW file inside photos I get a plain black image. This only happens when I shoot in JPG+RAW.

Hope someone can help me out. Thanks in advance
 
Kaimu said:
Hey everyone!

Was wondering if someone here could help me out. Today I went out to take some pictures, I shoot in JPG+RAW. When I got back home to import them on my mac. It shows the jpg file but when I switch to the RAW file inside photos I get a plain black image. This only happens when I shoot in JPG+RAW.

Hope someone can help me out. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
What program are you using to open the raw files? Maybe try something else?

Or perhaps try taking a test shot only in raw to see if something is weird with t camera itself.
 
Kaimu said:
Hey everyone!

Was wondering if someone here could help me out. Today I went out to take some pictures, I shoot in JPG+RAW. When I got back home to import them on my mac. It shows the jpg file but when I switch to the RAW file inside photos I get a plain black image. This only happens when I shoot in JPG+RAW.

Hope someone can help me out. Thanks in advance
Click to expand...
Can the program even run the raw files from the camera? Some editing programs are really picky with what they take in. You able to turn the raws into a DNG file?
 
opticalmace said:
What program are you using to open the raw files? Maybe try something else?

Or perhaps try taking a test shot only in raw to see if something is weird with t camera itself.
Click to expand...

I'm using Photos from MacOS for my pictures but in photoshop or lightroom they won't open/import at all. In RAW only mode I don't have the issue.
 
Kaimu said:
I'm using Photos from MacOS for my pictures but in photoshop or lightroom they won't open/import at all. In RAW only mode I don't have the issue.
Click to expand...
What kind of camera are you using? If it's having this problem with NEF and CR2 files I don't know what to tell you cause I've never had this problem.
 
Once again, thank you for the lens recommendations.

The Sigma 30mm prime lens arrived yesterday and let's just say the 16-50mm lens has been put away and I don't think it will be used anytime soon.

Now, any recommendations for carrying/storage?
 
NoRéN;229225215 said:
Once again, thank you for the lens recommendations.

The Sigma 30mm prime lens arrived yesterday and let's just say the 16-50mm lens has been put away and I don't think it will be used anytime soon.

Now, any recommendations for carrying/storage?
Click to expand...

If you're talking about the e-mount Sigma, I bought mine in this bundle and have been enjoying the bag it came with very much.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01D0JN7GQ/?tag=neogaf0e-20

You can find it as a stand alone on Amazon easy enough.
 
Flo_Evans said:
Grrrr. Fucking eBay.

Got a pretty good price on a 35mm f2 ai lens but the seller isn't shipping.
Click to expand...

eBay is such a minefield of junk camera equipment and inaccurate descriptions. about 40% of my multitude of purchases this year have been returned. glad to say 100% of my sales are a-okay as I strive for accuracy when describing condition.
 
Thinking about upgrading my d3300 for a d750, are these cameras worth it? It seems it hasn't been upgraded since 2014?? Should I wait it out?? I'm not trying to go past 2k for the just the body
 
motherxwolf said:
Thinking about upgrading my d3300 for a d750, are these cameras worth it? It seems it hasn't been upgraded since 2014?? Should I wait it out?? I'm not trying to go past 2k for the just the body
Click to expand...

I would go d500.

It depends on what type of photography you do though, do you want more speed or wider angles and shallower dof?
 
Finally had a moment to try the X-E1 on a walk today.
I can understand why many people online claim that Fuji gear gets them to just love taking pictures. There's something satisfying about the way it feels, operates, and results.
I'm loving the sharpness, and the film simulation bracketing. I'll have to be wary of the Samyang 12mm though, it seems in focus many times without really being in it.
I think all those are taken with the pancake 27mm. Sharp little cookie this one. Really light.

aUWips0h.jpg

liJqZdsh.jpg

N3fYig9h.jpg

KnOvB5Lh.jpg

fKk16dvh.jpg

vGn1eSnh.jpg
 
I like those. If I grab a mirrorless, Fuji is still nearly the top choice.

I picked up a Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L IS II...amazing lens. Though everyone looks at me suspiciously...even more so than usual!
 
thesoapster said:
I like those. If I grab a mirrorless, Fuji is still nearly the top choice.

I picked up a Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L IS II...amazing lens. Though everyone looks at me suspiciously...even more so than usual!
Click to expand...
2.8 70-200's are big, it's hard not to notice them. I'm contemplating getting a Sigma 24-105 F4 for street photography cause it's at least collapsible and not as big of a lens.
 
thesoapster said:
I like those. If I grab a mirrorless, Fuji is still nearly the top choice.

I picked up a Canon 70-200mm F/2.8L IS II...amazing lens. Though everyone looks at me suspiciously...even more so than usual!
Click to expand...

my favorite lens and the only thing that made me sad when i switched from canon to fuji
 
RuGalz said:
Ya the focus peaking is often off with this one, the distance scale on the lens too. You have to kind of get used to it.
Click to expand...
The focus peaking isn't a fault of the lens so much as it is a flaw in how the contrast detect based focus peaking works.

Since with wide angles, the out of focus areas are "less" out of focus, the focus peaking has trouble telling what is or isn't in focus. You'll want to use the focus magnifier.
 
H3XAntiStyle said:
The focus peaking isn't a fault of the lens so much as it is a flaw in how the contrast detect based focus peaking works.

Since with wide angles, the out of focus areas are "less" out of focus, the focus peaking has trouble telling what is or isn't in focus. You'll want to use the focus magnifier.
Click to expand...

Yes I'm aware. Haven't dug into the reasons but the Fuji is off much more than my Pentax DSLR in Live view mode at similar focal length; it's like it's not taking input focal length into consideration or something. I can't rely on magnifier if I need to shoot something quickly so with distance scale being off on the lens too I really just have to remember what works.
 
RuGalz said:
Yes I'm aware. Haven't dug into the reasons but the Fuji is off much more than my Pentax DSLR in Live view mode at similar focal length; it's like it's not taking input focal length into consideration or something. I can't rely on magnifier if I need to shoot something quickly so with distance scale being off on the lens too I really just have to remember what works.
Click to expand...

Uh, it doesn't take focal length into account at all, nor would that change anything. At all.

Focus peaking is done purely based on the image that the sensor is receiving. Focal length wouldn't affect that in the slightest.

On your Fuji, the peaking could be set to be more "sensitive", so that less contrast on the sensor is required to trigger the peaking. On Sony cameras (don't have a Fuji so don't know) you can change this sensitivity to account for that, so that you get less "false positive" focus peaking.

EDIT: I do know that one huge annoyance with the way that Focus Peaking works on Sony cameras is that it's based entirely on the image being shown on the EVF or screen. As in, it's sampling that 1080~p ish EVF image for contrast, which at longer focal lengths where being out of focus causes a much more exxagerated difference, works fine, but for wide angles the loss of sharpness is lost between those pixels on the screen, so the focus peaking algorithm looks at it and says "yup that's sharp", but using focus magnifier, it won't trip it because now the loss of sharpness is "visible" to the EVF.
If they fixed that one thing (or showed the PDAF points as a focus confirm), I'd be 100% happy with focus peaking.
 
Hey everyone. I'm looking at buying a camera. Total rookie here...this is new territory for my gf and I but we are both very interested in picking this up as a hobby. I've asked around and it seems that the people that I spoke to were either on Canon or Nikon. So with that and my light research (not really knowing what exactly I was looking for) I saw the Nikon D5600. Caught my eye simply because it's new and looks like it has recent tech in it. Probably wrong! But well I'm posting here to see if you guys have any recommendations.

From the OP:
1. What is your budget budget?
$1,000 max

2. Main purpose of the camera?
Take scenery shots. We like to take road trips, see nice sights.. "we should buy a camera" comes up often.. It would be nice to take some nice pictures to keep for memories.

3. What form factor is most appealing to you?
No particular preference.

4. Will you be investing in the camera? (buying more stuff for it later)
I'm open to the idea once I get the hang of it.

5. Any cameras you've used before or liked?
Not really. I owned a Canon Powershot about 7-8 years ago that was about $350.. I rarely used it back then. The main thing I remember about it was that it had a nice zoom haha.

I would like to dig deep and really mess around with the manual settings. Learn what works best for each shot. Thanks!
 
Ballistik said:
Hey everyone. I'm looking at buying a camera. Total rookie here...this is new territory for my gf and I but we are both very interested in picking this up as a hobby. I've asked around and it seems that the people that I spoke to were either on Canon or Nikon. So with that and my light research (not really knowing what exactly I was looking for) I saw the Nikon D5600. Caught my eye simply because it's new and looks like it has recent tech in it. Probably wrong! But well I'm posting here to see if you guys have any recommendations.

From the OP:
1. What is your budget budget?
$1,000 max

2. Main purpose of the camera?
Take scenery shots. We like to take road trips, see nice sights.. "we should buy a camera" comes up often.. It would be nice to take some nice pictures to keep for memories.

3. What form factor is most appealing to you?
No particular preference.

4. Will you be investing in the camera? (buying more stuff for it later)
I'm open to the idea once I get the hang of it.

5. Any cameras you've used before or liked?
Not really. I owned a Canon Powershot about 7-8 years ago that was about $350.. I rarely used it back then. The main thing I remember about it was that it had a nice zoom haha.

I would like to dig deep and really mess around with the manual settings. Learn what works best for each shot. Thanks!
Click to expand...

You'll get plenty of responses but my two cents. Get an XT-10 used and the 18-55mm lens. Solid start and intro into more advanced photography. But really, almost anything anyone recommends will do the job.
 
Ballistik said:
Hey everyone. I'm looking at buying a camera. Total rookie here...this is new territory for my gf and I but we are both very interested in picking this up as a hobby. I've asked around and it seems that the people that I spoke to were either on Canon or Nikon. So with that and my light research (not really knowing what exactly I was looking for) I saw the Nikon D5600. Caught my eye simply because it's new and looks like it has recent tech in it. Probably wrong! But well I'm posting here to see if you guys have any recommendations.

From the OP:
1. What is your budget budget?
$1,000 max

2. Main purpose of the camera?
Take scenery shots. We like to take road trips, see nice sights.. "we should buy a camera" comes up often.. It would be nice to take some nice pictures to keep for memories.

3. What form factor is most appealing to you?
No particular preference.

4. Will you be investing in the camera? (buying more stuff for it later)
I'm open to the idea once I get the hang of it.

5. Any cameras you've used before or liked?
Not really. I owned a Canon Powershot about 7-8 years ago that was about $350.. I rarely used it back then. The main thing I remember about it was that it had a nice zoom haha.

I would like to dig deep and really mess around with the manual settings. Learn what works best for each shot. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I prefer Nikon and Canon because of the ecosystem of accessories and used gear around the market already. Usually in situations like yours, I recommend a used consumer grade DSLR and a 35mm or 50mm f1.8 prime lens. You might need something a little wider, though, for other scenery shots, but for the most part, the wide end of the kit lens should be adequate.
 
First time ever I'm somewhat considering a Lecia.

The new M10 just really calls to me. I had the "privilege" to borrow an M9 for a week many years ago for a weekend, and it was great. Really forces you to take care in each shot and not just rely on a bunch of electronics and assists as you hold down the shutter button to then pick your favorite from 100 burst shots later. However, all the things Leica has added over the years just didn't make any sense to me, as it just dilutes that "pure" shooting experience they're supposed to be known for.

The M10 is distilled. Streamlined. It's a focused, intentional machine for absorbing a shot as you take it, with no extra gimmicks. No crazy menus, no unnecessary video or weight or buttons. And from first impressions, a great image processor in the Maestro II and spectacular sharpness with the standard M-faire.

I don't think I'll ever do it. As much as I romance that kind of shooting - it wouldn't really work for me. I primarily shoot as I travel and hike - needing quick auto focus and helpful tools like an articulating screen or big viewfinder. The X-T1 I use now is great, and I'll probably snag the X-T2 before my next big trip - and that's more than enough camera/MP/sensor for me. And if my Fuji gets stolen or I accidentally drop it down a hill, that SUCKS. A lot. But not enough for me to baby it and not use it. I wouldn't feel comfortable swinging a $6K body around my shoulder up a 14er.

However, I just really, really like what I'm seeing in the M10. If I thought I could afford more than just one lens, maybe I'd go for it - but just the 28 summilux and the body you're looking at ~$10K. Nah, nope, no sir ee - there's way too much I need to justify that.

But again... it does call.
 
Skel1ingt0n said:
First time ever I'm somewhat considering a Lecia.

The new M10 just really calls to me. I had the "privilege" to borrow an M9 for a week many years ago for a weekend, and it was great. Really forces you to take care in each shot and not just rely on a bunch of electronics and assists as you hold down the shutter button to then pick your favorite from 100 burst shots later. However, all the things Leica has added over the years just didn't make any sense to me, as it just dilutes that "pure" shooting experience they're supposed to be known for.

The M10 is distilled. Streamlined. It's a focused, intentional machine for absorbing a shot as you take it, with no extra gimmicks. No crazy menus, no unnecessary video or weight or buttons. And from first impressions, a great image processor in the Maestro II and spectacular sharpness with the standard M-faire.

I don't think I'll ever do it. As much as I romance that kind of shooting - it wouldn't really work for me. I primarily shoot as I travel and hike - needing quick auto focus and helpful tools like an articulating screen or big viewfinder. The X-T1 I use now is great, and I'll probably snag the X-T2 before my next big trip - and that's more than enough camera/MP/sensor for me. And if my Fuji gets stolen or I accidentally drop it down a hill, that SUCKS. A lot. But not enough for me to baby it and not use it. I wouldn't feel comfortable swinging a $6K body around my shoulder up a 14er.

However, I just really, really like what I'm seeing in the M10. If I thought I could afford more than just one lens, maybe I'd go for it - but just the 28 summilux and the body you're looking at ~$10K. Nah, nope, no sir ee - there's way too much I need to justify that.

But again... it does call.
Click to expand...

look for an M8 and get a 35mm 3.5 Summaron. Cheaper and will satisfy that urge.
 
xkramz said:
to battery grip or not to battery grip..that is the question...
Click to expand...

What camera, again?

On my XT-1? No battery grip. I like it as light and small as possible. But I'll get the grip on the XT-2 because of the longer 4K shooting and better burst.
 
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