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The Official Camera Equipment Megathread
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mrkgoo said:
I don't have Aperture 3 yet, but with Aperture 2 it imported your entire iPhoto library, but still showed all your iPhoto libraries as their own separate thing, but never any new folders I made in iPhoto. It won't auto import new things from iPhoto into Aperture, you'd need to do it manually. I'm sure they fixed this in Aperture 3.
It should use all the faces data from iPhoto, it'd be shocked if it didn't.
Honeslty though, you'll stop using iPhoto after you use Aperture. The only thing I use iPhoto for is importing my iPhone snaps.
Download the trial, it's free for 30 days so you have plenty of time to figure out if it's worth $200.
Chorazin said:I don't have Aperture 3 yet, but with Aperture 2 it imported your entire iPhoto library, but still showed all your iPhoto libraries as their own separate thing, but never any new folders I made in iPhoto. It won't auto import new things from iPhoto into Aperture, you'd need to do it manually. I'm sure they fixed this in Aperture 3.
It should use all the faces data from iPhoto, it'd be honestly shocked if it didn't.
Honeslty though, you'll stop using iPhoto after you use Aperture. The only thing I use iPhoto for is importing my iPhone snaps.
Download the trial, it's free for 30 days so you have plenty of time to figure out if it's worth $200.
Thanks, yeah, it links the original files, but as a once off.
When you say it uses faces, I know it transfers the info, but I was wondering if it actually transfers the faces database into the aperture library, or if it just 'links' the faces data. Obviously you wouldn't know (it obviously makes a copy into the aperture library if you do a full import, but was wondering about when you just link it).
The reason I ask is because I only have about 30GB of space left on my HD. My iPhoto library is 120GB, so making a new aperture library is out of the question, even on a trial. If it recreates the database, that could be quite large also.
Aperture doesn't import iPhone snaps?
mrkgoo said:
Yike, that is certainly a space issue. You could switch your iPhoto library to a external drive, and import everything into Aperture, but that might not work as part of your work flow.
Sure, Aperture will import my iPhone snaps, but they pretty worthless snaps most of the time, and Aperture takes a long time to load up on my almost three year old MacBook.
Wow, ok, Aperture 3 is really awesome. I had to share this.
This is the original pic I took:
Pretty terrible, as I didn't adjust exposure for the fact that snow tricks your camera into thinking there is more light than there actually is.
I pulled it up in Aperture 3 and used the auto-correct preset, and wow, what a difference!
This is the original pic I took:
Pretty terrible, as I didn't adjust exposure for the fact that snow tricks your camera into thinking there is more light than there actually is.
I pulled it up in Aperture 3 and used the auto-correct preset, and wow, what a difference!
Marty Chinn
Member
My wife just surprised me with a Canon T1i today and I'm looking for a good but compact case to make it easy to carry around. Anyone got any recommendations?
Niiiiice. What's the occasion?Marty Chinn said:
I like the crumpler stuff because they look fun and not so boxy camera-bag looking. The 2 million dollar home will fit your camera a small lens and some extra batteries or memory cards.
I hope hlthis means you'll post in our regular photography threads!
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I love Pentax design and I've been waiting for them to finally get their JPEG processing act together, which it seems they have with this new camera. I might actually get it, even though I'm not huge on SLR (rangefinder kinda guy waiting for the micro 4:3 tech to develop further) because of the price and the red is sexy.lostzenfound said:
Marty Chinn
Member
mrkgoo said:
Well heh the occaision isn't such a happy one. We just went through a personal tragedy and it was her way of thanking me for helping her through it and to express how wonderful she thought I was.
On a more positive note, thanks for the tip. I'll look into it after I finish posting this. Does Amazon carry it? Trying to see if I can take advantage of Prime to get it before the weekend. My friend also recommended I get a Hoya multi-coated uv filter to put on the kit lens to protect it until I get a better lens.
I'll probably start hopping into the photography threads more now too. Might not post right away but I'll be reading to learn as much as I can.
Forget the filter on the kit lens. One, filters can degrade image quality unless you get a high quality one and, two, the high quality ones are expensive enough that the kit lens is not worth protecting for the cost. Like a good filter is close to $100. Save your money. For that kind of money, you're better off buying a 50mm f/1.8 lens.Marty Chinn said:
Doublecheck the crumpler bag to make sure it's what you want. I'm just going by memory. If you get a larger lens, you'll want to upgrade that bag. It only fits the camera with one lens (no spare). That said, photogeaphers can never have enough different bags.
Forsete
Member
Damn, the Samyang is really impressive. Super impressed by the image quality wide open, very impressed by the sharpness when stepped down.
The subject of my experiment, my cat.
This is stepped down to about 5.6 or 6
100% crop here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4349036373_aa48b571d4_o.jpg
Taken with flash.
This is with 1.4 but with flash, some form of halo effect can be seen, this is probably due to the flash as I havent seen it in non-flash-shots.
Now I am really considering getting the Type M focus screen for the camera as its a little hard to tell where the focus is with the stock screen.
Sony put up a guide on how you replace the focus screen, even I should manage that. :lol
http://support.sony-europe.com/dime...een/FDA_FM1AM.aspx?site=odw_en_GB&m=DSLR-A900
The subject of my experiment, my cat.
This is stepped down to about 5.6 or 6
100% crop here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4349036373_aa48b571d4_o.jpg
Taken with flash.
This is with 1.4 but with flash, some form of halo effect can be seen, this is probably due to the flash as I havent seen it in non-flash-shots.
Now I am really considering getting the Type M focus screen for the camera as its a little hard to tell where the focus is with the stock screen.
Sony put up a guide on how you replace the focus screen, even I should manage that. :lol
http://support.sony-europe.com/dime...een/FDA_FM1AM.aspx?site=odw_en_GB&m=DSLR-A900
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
Like mrkgoo said, forget the filter. The kit lens isn't worth protecting.Marty Chinn said:
Crumpler makes great bags, I have one of the larger ones and really like it. They are a little bit more expensive compared to the other brands, however.
If you want to learn the ins and outs of photography and take great quality pictures while you're at it, get this lens for 100 bucks.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00007E7JU/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Should be one of your first purchases, IMO.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Zyzyxxz said:
Only Manual Focus and an Aperture ring
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
That's why it's so cheap cheap.Zyzyxxz said:
crack crack crack, the egg, into the bowl.
Forsete said:The subject of my experiment, my cat.
This is stepped down to about 5.6 or 6
100% crop here: http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4349036373_aa48b571d4_o.jpg
Taken with flash.
Your cat is amazing
Chorazin said:
I've known about the latitude of RAW for a while. iPhoto is actually pretty competent with RAW handling. The latitude for white balance correction is even greater. JPEG editing is actually pretty good these days, but you can't do what you can with RAW.
A question: will it matter whether I use AdobeRGB or sRGB setting on my camera? I can output whatever colour space, right?
Marty Chinn
Member
So I got the Crumpler 2 million dollar bag and it doesn't fit my camera =( I liked the look and general size of it but it just wouldn't fit the camera well. I gotta return it to Amazon now. Anyone else got any recommendations on a camera bag? What I liked about the Crumpler style was that it didn't scream out that it was a camera bag.
Marty Chinn said:
What do you mean it didn't fit well? I had a 350D with a kit lens (unless the T1i is significantly bigger), and I put it face down into the bag...
Sorry it didn't work out. Crumpler has an entire range. 2 million dollar, 4 million dollar etc... I have a 2 million dollar, and 6 million, I think. If it was too small, consider the larger ones. Depends on what you want out of the bag.
Man, I feel bad for having you go astray. Sorry.
Anyway, I have Aperture now, and I'm on over my head I have no idea what's going on.
Dug up some old Raw files and played with them. I think I'm overcooking...
(I've posted these before, but not from RAW (I did JPEGS from camera).
Man I feel like such a nub. There's so much going on in Aperture. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do, how to organise, how to edit.
It's blazing fast though.
Can someone describe what it's doing conceptually? I have files sitting in projects, albums in those projects (are these like folders? can the same image occupy the project in multiple albums with only one master?).
And masters - these are like the originals, which I assume never get touched (how could they if they're raw, right?), and edits you make are over the top of it, but not baked in...When I export as jpegs, that's when it gets baked in, but jpegs are exported out of aperture? Man, so confused.
A small part of me wants to go running to the comfort of iPhoto...
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
It doesn't matter. It only matters if you're shooting JPEG in camera.mrkgoo said:
@marty: sorry the 2 mill crumpler doesn't fit. I thought it would, too.
Rentahamster said:
Well, I understand the colourspace deal, but I was wondering if I set it to Adobe RGB in my camera whether that would make the JPEGS I out put from Aperture to carry AdobeRGB tag.
I keep thinking about what RAW would do for my photography on a day to day basis, besides take up my hard drive 5 times faster and spend more time messing about with images. I look at my photos that I have taken in RAW and I usually adjust them so little anyway...
mrkgoo said:
Man, slow down! You don't need to learn Aperture all in a few days. I've been using it since I got my D40 a few years ago and I still don't know all the ins and outs. You'll get it eventually!
Your pics look awesome, the don't look unnatural in anyway, whatever you're going looks good to me!
As for the organization, Aperture is just like iTunes in that, organizationally speaking, it's just a big ol' database front end. You can organize them any way you want, it really doesn't matter at all.
Remember, your original picture NEVER, EVER gets altered by Aperture. You can do whatever you want to it and erase all the changes in an instant if you like. Once it's exported as a jpeg THAT version is locked in. You can go back and make any changes you like to the original for as long as you want.
Just go out and snap a whole bunch of fresh pics and then play with them in Aperture, have a great time just fucking around, and know that nothing is unfix-able!
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
mrkgoo said:
RAW is wonderful for those who are meticulous (almost to ruin). I tend to tweak a single image for a good five minutes, first in the RAW converter (which is Digital Professional Pro, Canons proprietary converter) and then downsizing and a curve adjustment in Photoshop (in 16bit mode). Within the RAW converter, I usually choose a picture style (Portrait, Landscape, Faithful etc) that applies a certain curve. Then I mess with contrast, highlight and shadow levels. Finally sharpness.
Aperture/Lightroom is more streamlined, obviously, but everything I would do above still applies.
Another reason I love shooting RAW is for archival purposes. I usually develop and convert my image and save that converted image with the RAW file in my HDD. If I'm ever compelled to print the images, large, I can redevelop the image for print without worrying about having to deal with the limitations of JPEG (over RAW).
On overcooking, it all comes down to preference. I tend to gravitate towards a punchier image, very contrasty and pushing the limits between crushing shadows or blowing highlights. To me overcooking is when you push an image so far that you've created solid blacks in a properly exposed subjects just to create an extreme contrast. Some people gravitate towards a softer rendition so my style would probably be considered overcooking. It all comes down to taste and developing your own processing fingerprint.
Marty Chinn
Member
mrkgoo said:What do you mean it didn't fit well? I had a 350D with a kit lens (unless the T1i is significantly bigger), and I put it face down into the bag...
Sorry it didn't work out. Crumpler has an entire range. 2 million dollar, 4 million dollar etc... I have a 2 million dollar, and 6 million, I think. If it was too small, consider the larger ones. Depends on what you want out of the bag.
Man, I feel bad for having you go astray. Sorry.
No worries, it was a good suggestion. I'm wondering how big he 4 million is. I wanted something that was about the size of what I got and it was nice that it didn't look like a camera bag but it's just disappointing that it didn't pan out exactly right.
The camera's height seems to be an issue which makes it a tight push to get it inside. You can sorta force it in but then it becomes hard to pull out and it stretches it so that the cover flap doesn't close properly.
Heh what sorta sucks is I could have avoided this had I paid any attention to the user reviews on Amazon which I usually don't. I saw this review just today:
I wish there was some place I could go check out a 3 million and 4 million so I don't just buy and hope that it fits right.
Chorazin said:
BlueTsunami said:
Thanks for the input. I have a bigger problem now though. Aperture refuses to import my iPhoto library. It starts, but then crashes, leaving a mess of an Aperture Library that I have to delete.
It's happening to others too. Should've know better than to try and go for X.0 release
Marty Chinn said:
That's weird. I would've thought the 350D and 500D were similar dimensions (I just looked it seems the 500D is like 1-3 mm larger 0 wouldn't think that'd make a difference). Now that you've seeded doubt in my mind, I wonder if I didn't actually have another size one.... oh man, maybe I really did lead you astray. Sorry again.
I do know they recently changed their line of bags design, so maybe the design changed enough, and they shifted the names around...
Speaking of bags, I upgraded from a small one-camera with kit lens bag from Lowepro to a Lowepro Slingshot 200 today. Wow, is this nice. A lot smaller than expected, and it holds my D40 with 18-55 kit lens, 55-200mm lens, the 35mm 1.8 lens, SB-400 flash, plus all my cables and cards, with room for more lenses. And comfy as heck to strap on!
mrkgoo said:Thanks for the input. I have a bigger problem now though. Aperture refuses to import my iPhoto library. It starts, but then crashes, leaving a mess of an Aperture Library that I have to delete.
It's happening to others too. Should've know better than to try and go for X.0 release
.
I figured out the cause of this serious issue. Aperture will crash (for me) if I try to import my iPhoto library while running in 64-bit mode. To prevent, obviously, run in 32-bit mode.
Does anyone do a lot of black & white photography? I'm really interested in doing that. Especially making everything in life look like a Film Noir! Which is different than regular black & white pictures I suppose? (darker as far as I know)
How does this work in the digital work? I take it for granted that you always take your pictures in color to edit afterwards? Actually, is it more about Photoshop than the camera itself? If so, could I start with a regular camera or does an SLR still make a lot of difference? I barely have any money left, that's kind of a problem. Though Photoshop is important here, I could already start by practicing my editing skills.
Anyway, I should also tell I'm most interested in photographing architecture.
How does this work in the digital work? I take it for granted that you always take your pictures in color to edit afterwards? Actually, is it more about Photoshop than the camera itself? If so, could I start with a regular camera or does an SLR still make a lot of difference? I barely have any money left, that's kind of a problem. Though Photoshop is important here, I could already start by practicing my editing skills.
Anyway, I should also tell I'm most interested in photographing architecture.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Stabbie said:
When shooting Black and White there is still a feeling that Film has qualities over Digital. I believe its due to latitude of light range, grain and general rendition of film over digital.
When it comes to shooting Digital, it really comes down to how you process it in software. I personally use a plugin for Photoshop (Nik's Silver Effex Pro), costs some money though. Here are some Black and White samples I've taken recently that I converted with that Plugin...
*Click for larger
I find that adding a bit of grain really adds to the character of images. Nostalgic or dreamlike qualities. Though a super clean Black and White photograph is preferred sometimes.
BlueTsunami said:
That looks really good. Though I always say Photoshop, I use GIMP (but not a lot of people know it so I just say Photoshop). But I would say it's no good to start with the best. I somehow like working with something slightly limited and getting the best results possible. It's the best way to master editing skills imo.
What should I look for in an SLR camera for this purpose? I really don't have more than $200 to spend in the coming months, so a Canon 300D and Nikon D60 seem like the only options so far.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Stabbie said:
Either one should be fine, I actually shot the above images with a Canon 350D (which is just a generation above the 300D). With the 300D, you'll definitely be getting a barebones SLR (no bells and whistles, it'll be a bit low on the framerate and possibly other things), but it'll obviously still take photographs which is all that matters in the end.
Stabbie said:
I'm sure GIMP will be adequate (as long as it has a Channel Mixer so that you can mess with what channels are brought out in your B&W image, you'll be good). There are probably some good plugins for it too. I recommend looking for a dedicated Black and White plugin that's specifically tailored towards B&W photographs.
Thanks for the advice!
I'll look for a plug-in. So far, this is what I'm capable of with GIMP:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2hft8o1.jpg
This is from a color picture I looked up on Google.
I like this style, definately want to get better at it.
I'll look for a plug-in. So far, this is what I'm capable of with GIMP:
http://i45.tinypic.com/2hft8o1.jpg
This is from a color picture I looked up on Google.
I like this style, definately want to get better at it.
Squirrel Killer
Member
FYI, Stabbie, GIMP's channel mixer is under Colors | Components | Channel Mixer. Not so sure about B&W specific plug-ins (I don't get into many plug-ins,) but the plug-in registry would be the place to start looking.BlueTsunami said:
any of you use hardware monitor calibration? got any recommendations.
I'm looking at this one. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JLO31M/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Sad though, I went to Houston camera exchange and this exact one was $250+tax. And some people wonder why camera shops are closing.
I'm looking at this one. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000JLO31M/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Sad though, I went to Houston camera exchange and this exact one was $250+tax. And some people wonder why camera shops are closing.
captive said:
I use a Spyder2. It's pretty crappy. It kind of does the job, but there is pretty poor support, NO updates (still in PPC binary), and super expensive.
I was in New Zealand at the time and there are literally no options for this kind of thing available. It cost me over NZ$300 for something that should only have cost $100. But that's NZ for electronics, and for something so niche.
So why did I get it? I was obsessed with ensuring my monitor was accurate. It does a good job with gamma, and colour, but it makes greys with a pink tinge. Your eyes get used to it, but of course, grey is a predominant colour in Mac os x.
I tried some demo software from ColorEyes Pro, and it did an AWESOME job with the same hardware, so I know the hardware's good. Except Colour Eyes costs about $200 or something. It's not worth that much to me (not to mention they screwed up in Snow Leopard, making profiles that screws with screen captures and stuff).
I've heard good things about the X-rite stuff, but look into the Color Munky as well, it's a newer product.
In the end, though, unless you are a paid to do this, you will probably regret the purchase, even though you do need it. It's an expensive thing. I both regret and don't regret it. It's important to profile your monitor, but I think it's just too expensive.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
Its probably a hoax but I'll post it anyways....
Supposedly there's going to be a Noktor lens released for Micro 4/3rds. This lens is a 50mm f/0.95 lens. Extremely fast (some of you may know of the fast Canon 50mm or the Noctilux from Leica that goes for $10,000). Here's a link to the rumor page
http://43rumors.com/ft5-hot-new-noktor-hyperprime-lens-50mm-f0-95-for-microfourthirds/
Supposedly there's going to be a Noktor lens released for Micro 4/3rds. This lens is a 50mm f/0.95 lens. Extremely fast (some of you may know of the fast Canon 50mm or the Noctilux from Leica that goes for $10,000). Here's a link to the rumor page
http://43rumors.com/ft5-hot-new-noktor-hyperprime-lens-50mm-f0-95-for-microfourthirds/
Rentahamster
Rodent Whores
That one works pretty well. I don't think Win7 driver support is official yet since they don't have it up on their site, but if you tell Windows to go online and find it for you automatically, it will.captive said:
It is a bit pricey though, and you could probably get away with a cheaper Spyder for about a hundred bucks less. Unless you have two monitors, since the regular Spyder doesn't have multi monitor support unless you jump through a bunch of hoops.
mrkgoo said:
I do too many prints for myself, friends and family to not get it calibrated. Color is pretty much dead on but i cant get luminescence right. Its really hard to get sunsets and sunrises just right.
@rentahmaster, i do have dual monitors.
BlueTsunami
there is joy in sucking dick
scorcho said:
The Sigma, Tokina and Canon super wide zooms are all supposed to be good so I would say you got a good lens. Here's a link to a thread with samples for this lens....
http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=143064
And yep, the crop factor would make it a 20-40mm zoom lens, which is still pretty wide for these cameras.
Yeah, I definitely recommend silver efex pro to get some good film-like bw.BlueTsunami said:
You'll get some amazing deals on really good quality stuff on ebay. (contax, zeiss) But of course, it's MF so I wouldn't recommend it with small, dim viewfinders.zhenming said:manual focus lens bokeh is sooooo nice...
Some people use split screens like Katz Eyes but I'd rather not modify my camera..
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