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GAF Photography Q2 2015

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Does anyone here use a mirrorless camera? How do you like it in comparison to a "normal" DSLR?

I switched to a mirrorless since the fuji xe1 came out. The autofocus back then was pretty subpar to a dslr, but they've really improved it since then. Other than that, I'd say the size is what I really enjoy about it. I used to hate lugging around a DSLR (especially on vacation), but with the mirrorless I'll happily carry it around all day.
 
Does anyone here use a mirrorless camera? How do you like it in comparison to a "normal" DSLR?
I actually started taking photography as a hobby with a mirrorless camera last year, a Sony A6000. I use it both with autofocus and manual lenses.
Recently I had to use a Nikon D5100 for a few days on a trip to Paris and everything seemed so cumbersome too me - the size, the menus, the lack of an EVF (having to review photos on the screen is such a waste of time). The only thing I really liked was the fully articulated screen. I guess I can never switch to a DSLR at this point.
 
Recently I had to use a Nikon D5100 for a few days on a trip to Paris and everything seemed so cumbersome too me - the size, the menus, the lack of an EVF (having to review photos on the screen is such a waste of time). The only thing I really liked was the fully articulated screen. I guess I can never switch to a DSLR at this point.
Granted that it is not always practical, but the through-the-lens (TTL) viewfinder is actually a pretty big advantage for the DSLR's, even if it doesn't appear like it for the masses and casual users. And it's probably the very reason professionals keep swearing by it.

It almost virtually costs no energy to keep going but it is usable accurately (or rather, predictably) in plain daylight unlike most screens. Sure live-view and the like are very interesting, and using the screen instead makes a lot of practical sense when you want to shoot from angles... but it also drains battery really fast. Also, electronic viewfinders are very expensive and they'll never be standard due to that.

Once you really know the camera and get used to photography specifics (meaning you can predict results accurately), you simply use it as if it was an analog camera, configure the settings and shoot, check for the result if you have doubts. And the battery lasts for weeks of hardcore shooting. That's the way to use them, as to be honest, live-view on the Nikon's is actually atrocious.

I don't even know why I have a second battery for my Nikon, as I usually don't rely on the screen, it's articulated and it's usually closed against the body (ie: disabled), when the battery is running out I still manage to take more than a hundred shots, at least. It's good. Mirrorless cameras? (and compact cameras as well) unless you turn off the screen and use them blind as a bat not so much, way more "drainy" and when you're on a trip in Paris... that kinda sucks if you don't own spare batteries.

The Nikon D5100 is also ancient, menus have changed a bit for the better, albeit I agree, all DSLR's menus feel... fragmented (the cameras with WiFi and GPS have them work as add-ons only accessible via menus) and conectivity like transfering your photos via Wifi on Nikon only works on Android, no PC/Mac app. It's kinda ridiculous. And GPS needs a file supplied by Nikon, every month.

They're also not designed for touchscreens at all so new DSLR cameras with them feel like when all smartphones started to have it but their systems (like Nokia's Symbian) clearly weren't designed for it, after messing with cell phones not having "tap to focus" can also feel limiting. But... Focus systems are different on DSLR's and mirrorless, specifically, phase detection versus contrast-based AF.

And they're different. But... Phase detection is known to be better when dealing with low light situations. This is going to get better as sensors are more and more designed for low light, everything will be BSI in a few years for example.

Backtracking though, as cluttered and fragmented as DSLR's menus are, and cheap with the omission of focus peaking and histogram in every model but the fagship, they still have the more professional flexibility and the best JPEG engines going on (but that's because Canon and Nikon are not serious about mirrorless yet). Flexibility though, makes Sony cameras (for instance) often feel quirky and clutered as well, even if yes, they feel fresher.

I always felt this was a good article. Mirrorless is the future, but for the time being a lot of DSLR people will be DSLR people with a few advantages going for it. And more than new mounts established brands should be doing mirrorless for the mounts they have. Like Pentax doing mirrorless compatible with their K-mount (from the 70's) or the better Sony mirrorless not using the new E-mount but the older Sony/Minolta A-mount. They're not huge ass due to that just a little extra lenght that is completly worth it for the lens it can use.
 
I'm still loving film, at some point I'd like to pick up a nice mirrorless but I have a D5000 that I use whenever I want to go about taking a bunch of photos. I remember using a J1 a few summers ago and had a lot of fun using that camera.









 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
Alright, got my Ebay cam (EOS 1000D) and ran into the first problem. If I take a pic with any regular non- or semiautomatic mode at somewhat full daylight inside, I get this:

y4supga.png


Now if I use full automatic mode, or turn on flash, I get this:

DhFVzD3.png


Can I somehow turn down the flash? This seems super weird and I wonder if the thing is actually broken. Overexposure is one thing, but the flash seems just super super bright on everything.

Also it didn't come with the regular IS lense but a different one >:/
 
Took some pictures of my Dahlias in my backyard. I need to work on focus a little more, but I'm pretty proud of how they turned out (particularly the second one).

20150529_173334_zps5s1t7gqq.jpg


20150529_173410_zpssbhmiz7f.jpg
 
Now if I use full automatic mode, or turn on flash, I get this:

DhFVzD3.png
First things first, go to page 114.

Reset that motherfucker.


You could also recalibrate the white balance configuration and check, but you might as well start with a clean state.
Overexposure is one thing, but the flash seems just super super bright on everything.
normal for inbuilt flashes.

You can diffuse it, diy style too, with a sheet of paper, for instance.

Still, you should avoid flash as much as you can
Also it didn't come with the regular IS lense but a different one >:/
Which one?

If it's an IS lens it's good. 50 or 35mm f/1.8?
 

yukinon

Member
Hiya guys

long time no post

17415276323_fdf2bdf9fc_c.jpg

★rocker in the woods // https://www.flickr.com/photos/kashiyuka/17415276323/in/dateposted/
^ got to play with a friend's EF 85mm f/1.2L II. It was great. sharp focus even at f/1.2


17655148413_d5b4929b9a_c.jpg

sunrise 峠 // https://www.flickr.com/photos/kashiyuka/17655148413/in/dateposted/
^ at the base of stunt tower. the relay tower itself is guarded by private security now. so now, I'm unable to take an epic photo like i did last year. :(

no regrets though. very glad I managed to get a shot at the very top of stunt tower, around the same time, last year:
14715212045_8cef414e4b_c.jpg

realized world // https://www.flickr.com/photos/kashiyuka/14715212045/in/dateposted/
above the clouds!

17653344194_7e060819ac_c.jpg

lost in the hollywood hills // https://www.flickr.com/photos/kashiyuka/17653344194/in/photostream/

17791604504_c21b8542be_c.jpg

hollywood nights // https://www.flickr.com/photos/kashiyuka/17791604504/in/dateposted/
 

grmlin

Member
Anyone has a XT-10 already? A friend of me will buy one. If it's as good as a XT-1 buy it, it's awesome :)


@chuunibyou: the 85mm 1.2 is one hell of a lens. I never actually bought one, because it's really expensive and I had a 135mm f2 already... but used sometimes the one of a friend.
 
I'm considering going mirrorless, is this the time? Fujifilm XT-10 is a worthy one?

Now would be a good a time as any if you're interested in them. Fuji has come a long way since the X-E1/X-Pro1. They're also pretty good about supporting the camera for quite a while with new firmware updates and adding features from new cameras into the older ones.

Anyone has a XT-10 already? A friend of me will buy one. If it's as good as a XT-1 buy it, it's awesome :)

I think it comes out later this month. X-T1 should get the new firmware update around the same time, too.
 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
First things first, go to page 114.

Reset that motherfucker.


You could also recalibrate the white balance configuration and check, but you might as well start with a clean state.normal for inbuilt flashes.

You can diffuse it, diy style too, with a sheet of paper, for instance.

Still, you should avoid flash as much as you canWhich one?

If it's an IS lens it's good. 50 or 35mm f/1.8?

Tried resetting, but it didn't really change anything :) In fact I think I took those pics after resetting.

It's not an IS lens, it's some 38-76mm 0,58m lens, AF but no IS.
 
Tried resetting, but it didn't really change anything :) In fact I think I took those pics after resetting.

It's not an IS lens, it's some 38-76mm 0,58m lens, AF but no IS.
Huh. Those lens are BAAAAAAAAAD. And old.

And they might be the reason you get overexposed results in auto. do you have any friends with canon DSLR's? ask them for a lens of theirs just so you can't test.

If it's not that, settings or white balance... Then it has to be the light meter sensor... it could be dirty, but I don't fathom you servicing that.
 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
Huh. Those lens are BAAAAAAAAAD. And old.

And they might be the reason you get overexposed results in auto. do you have any friends with canon DSLR's? ask them for a lens of theirs just so you can't test.

If it's not that, settings or white balance... Then it has to be the light meter sensor, it could be dirty, but I don't fathom you servicing that.

Yeah I figured the one expensive thing I bought on Ebay would be fucked :D

Guess I'll search for a new lens first, don't have any friends with a DSLR, so I gotta buy one, probably the kit IS lens. How would I go check the light meter sensor or clean it, if possible? Or would I visit a shop for that?
 
Guess I'll search for a new lens first, don't have any friends with a DSLR, so I gotta buy one, probably the kit IS lens.
Unless you get them dirt cheap I wouldn't bother with kit lens, they're a waste of your money in the long run. In most cases they're effectively there just so you can make a decision wether you like pancake lens (18 mm and under), or prime lens in 35 or 50mm flavours, and combine all of them in a summer days "vacation" stranded with one lens situation.

They're not very sharp, are slow focusing, tend to take flat pictures (no bokeh) and are not very good in low-light situations.

50mm_vs_18_55mm_3.jpg


The less megapixels you have to work with the more "soft" imagery will bite.


Look for a Canon EF 50mm f/1.8. they're probably the most common lens after the kit ones, and are very respectable. It's also a valuable part that you'll keep when you upgrade the body one day. And said body you upgrade to will bring kit lens, which if you've matured enough you'll largely ignore.

Before zoom kit lens became the norm, most cameras came with 50mm "kit" prime lens, so it's a very classical choice, old photographers will be used to that focal distance. The lenght most similar with human focal distance being 43mm, 50mm means a slight zoom-in, 35mm meaning slight zoom-out.

Regardless, if you want to go through with that, know what you're buying.

Hint: you want IS, IS II or IS STM. Do not buy the III model, it lacks IS [Image Stabilization] so low-light performance and moving subjects will fare even worse.[/QUOTE]
How would I go check the light meter sensor or clean it, if possible? Or would I visit a shop for that?
Probably a store, at least for diagnostic:

ZCUTSIDE.JPG


I'm not sure if it's a fault it's worth paying for it to be fixed seeing the camera works just fine in manual mode.
 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
Thank you very much for the insight. Since I kinda want to be able to zoom at least a bit and probably need an image stabilizer for being a noob, I'll probably shoot for an IS II now, but surely not over 50-70 eurobucks at most - it's not like I need it right now this evening, so I'll wait for a good offer on Ebay for that. Or am I missing something here with the 50mm one?

I might visit a photo store just to let the guy check the camera to be sure if it's busted or not, the flash is super bright on non-auto modes as well, just to be clear.

Man I'm kinda bummed out. Thought I made a great deal, turns out I probably really just fell for a super indescriptive and probably completely intentional bait auction. Eh.
 
Thank you very much for the insight. Since I kinda want to be able to zoom at least a bit and probably need an image stabilizer for being a noob, I'll probably shoot for an IS II now, but surely not over 50-70 eurobucks at most - it's not like I need it right now this evening, so I'll wait for a good offer on Ebay for that.
Internally, IS or IS II are the same, no changes in the motor or anything so both should be good, shoot for the cheapest. just avoid the III model and the ones prior to those.

Or rather, make sure IS is written on the lens body.
Or am I missing something here with the 50mm one?
Not really, 50mm will be fixed length and... as with anything fixed it's not optimal for everything, since it zooms in a little it's certainly not "versatile" for indoor shooting, but neither are the standard kit lens, for different reasons.

First things first though, those lens you have are very old, and meant for 35mm "sensor/window size". 35mm being designated "Full Frame". Your camera though, is not full frame, it is APS-C and this means when using bigger lens a 1,6x crop is going to be experienced. This means those old 38-76mm are not that length but in reality, ~60-120mm lens for that camera. Minimum zoom setting is the closest you'll get to 50mm; providing the newer ones are adjusted for that - that is (otherwise, 50mm=80mm). Anywho, what you have now is certainly a bad choice for versatile use.

EDIT: Canon 50mm are not adjusted for APS-C to this day. So it is 80mm equivalent, bummer.


Kit lens let in very little light, this is defined by the f stop:

fstop.jpg


Image Stabilization by it's turn allow the shutter to be open longer without irreversibly blurring the image (or blurring as much), just so more light gets in with usable results, but the rest of the work will still be done through using a higher iso.


This is a sensible comparison, in low light situations. f/1.8 versus f/5 in that case, matching ISO's.

Sadly, Canon offers a very cheap 50mm f/1.8 lens, but they don't offer anything 35mm under 500 euros, which is bollocks.
I might visit a photo store just to let the guy check the camera to be sure if it's busted or not, the flash is super bright on non-auto modes as well, just to be clear.
I would do that, yes.
Man I'm kinda bummed out. Thought I made a great deal, turns out I probably really just fell for a super indescriptive and probably completely intentional bait auction. Eh.
I know, those lens were never sold with that camera, they're 1995 lens or so.

He clearly did away with the bits and pieces he didn't want.
 

Switch Back 9

a lot of my threads involve me fucking up somehow. Perhaps I'm a moron?
Hey guys,

I'm heading to Iceland in a few days and I want to get some sweet long-exposure shots of waterfalls and such. I have a Canon Rebel XSi, but I'm having a bit of trouble taking these shots during the day and I need some help because they keep turning out completely white.

So it's a cloudy day in mid-afternoon for the record.

My exposure time is 1-5", and my F-stop is cranked between f22-29. My ISO is at 100-200, WB is at 5200K. I can shoot indoors no problem, but when trying to shoot outside my light meter won't move from as far right as it can go and the pics are super over exposed.

What am I doing wrong here?

Is the exposure time too long and unnecessary for what I'm after?

I've turned it down to 1/6- and they're still mega over exposed :(

EDIT: Also, any tips or advice on shooting natural environments would be greatly appreciated.
 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
Ordered the 50mm now since it's marked down on Amazon, I'll let you know how that turns out.
 

brerwolfe

Member
My exposure time is 1-5", and my F-stop is cranked between f22-29. My ISO is at 100-200, WB is at 5200K. I can shoot indoors no problem, but when trying to shoot outside my light meter won't move from as far right as it can go and the pics are super over exposed.

What am I doing wrong here?
And your dial is in manual mode?
 

dhlt25

Member
Hey guys,

I'm heading to Iceland in a few days and I want to get some sweet long-exposure shots of waterfalls and such. I have a Canon Rebel XSi, but I'm having a bit of trouble taking these shots during the day and I need some help because they keep turning out completely white.

So it's a cloudy day in mid-afternoon for the record.

My exposure time is 1-5", and my F-stop is cranked between f22-29. My ISO is at 100-200, WB is at 5200K. I can shoot indoors no problem, but when trying to shoot outside my light meter won't move from as far right as it can go and the pics are super over exposed.

What am I doing wrong here?

Is the exposure time too long and unnecessary for what I'm after?

I've turned it down to 1/6- and they're still mega over exposed :(

EDIT: Also, any tips or advice on shooting natural environments would be greatly appreciated.

what is your meter saying the shutter speed should be in aperture priority mode? I think 1/6 might still be too much for day time. you might want to invest in an ND filter
 

jokkir

Member
I guess I'll double post since this is a second series of photos. These are some from the street photography workshop I went to:

2015-06-06 10.23.53 1 by Carl Sim, on Flickr

2015-06-06 10.01.51 1 by Carl Sim, on Flickr

2015-06-06 10.01.48 1 by Carl Sim, on Flickr

2015-06-06 10.23.55 1 by Carl Sim, on Flickr

2015-06-06 09.48.10 2 by Carl Sim, on Flickr

2015-06-06 10.23.57 1 by Carl Sim, on Flickr

2015-06-06 10.23.51 1 by Carl Sim, on Flickr

Sorry for the ton of photos. First time trying to ask people fort their photos and I didn't know how they'd react. Really hesitant at first then asked what it was for but they eventually let me take their photo. It was a nice surprise.

Overall, I have no idea what I'm doing for street photography lol
 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
18611888981_4201b2bc1d_c.jpg


Semi-decent pic with the old lens I talked about earlier. New lens (50mm fixed) arrived today and shooting stuff with it was actually fun :) We'll see how that goes.
 

brerwolfe

Member
Another try... It's damn hard to photoshop.
You keep posting these, and I think they're mostly pretty good, but I'd love to see what you have to go through to get the image. I have a hard time appreciating these specific images without seeing the "before" image.
 
You keep posting these, and I think they're mostly pretty good, but I'd love to see what you have to go through to get the image. I have a hard time appreciating these specific images without seeing the "before" image.

Sure thing! Here are the setup shots for the last 2. I have 2 suction cups with clamps that hold on to 3 separate pipes that are held together by couplers, then I try to edit them and the reflections out as best I can. You can see on the Lexus where all the editing for the boom is since I was having trouble doing a clean job. Someone on another board just pointed me to another direction on how to edit it easier and cleaner, so I'm looking forward to trying that next.

The Houston heat sucks during the day, so I try to go take them early in the evening. It usually ends up starting to get dark after I set up the rig if I'm by myself.



 
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