dSLR thread

[ddrueding]

An EX has a different center column design for shooting at angles and such.

Ah, I need to read up on that more. Will it be more complex day-to-day? Or will the added features stay out of my way until I need them?

 

[e_dawg]

The trick center column greatly reduces rigidity and stability in any position except for fully retracted, defeating the purpose of a nice tripod unless you do a lot of macro or low-angle shots.

 

[ddrueding]

That answers it for me. No EX it is. Thanks.

 

[e_dawg]

Actually most tripods are significantly less stable when their center columns are extended. I have to think, however, that the EX center column is simply a bit more wobbly when extended than a mountaineer's. But either way, if extending a center column is significantly detrimental to stability, it wouldn't matter whether it is say 30% more wobbly or 40%. You should ideally use any tripod with the center column retracted, IMHO.

 

[e_dawg]

I think LM already mentioned this, but don't forget a leveling base or even a leveling center column (although i don't know how much it affects stability). The legs don't make that much difference IMHO to performance (i.e., $100 either way), so I would say get cheaper legs to fund it, as if you have to set up on an uneven surface, you will really appreciate it.

 

[ddrueding]

I've always used my ballhead to do the leveling?

 

[Tannin]

The trick center column greatly reduces rigidity and stability in any position except for fully retracted, defeating the purpose of a nice tripod unless you do a lot of macro or low-angle shots.

Jumping in without reading the whole thing here, there is another purpose to the centre column: it gives you more height, and sometimes this is vital. I'm talking about substantially greater height than you can ever reasonably expect simply from the legs. This is useful (essential, actually) when you need a higher vantage point to (e.g.) get a decent angle on a bird in a tree, or you are tilting a long lens way up to point at something far over your head (a bird, a Sugar Glider in a tree, the moon - whatever) and you don't want to bend down or kneel.

So I like having the column, and I will accept the stability trade-off for those shots. Obviously, you only extend it where you need to; leave it all the way down the rest of the time.

 

[e_dawg]

Yes, quite true Tannin. A good reminder that it is often more important to get the right shot than to pass up the shot in the pursuit of technical perfection.

 

[e_dawg]

I've always used my ballhead to do the leveling?

But what if you want to do panning as well? I assume you like the BH-1 for its panning feature (since you like to do panos). Are you going to pan a tilted head?

 

[LunarMist]

David needs to go to camera store and check out the support systems. They must have a real store in SF, no?

 

[LunarMist]

But what if you want to do panning as well? I assume you like the BH-1 for its panning feature (since you like to do panos). Are you going to pan a tilted head?

I have a BH-55 with PCL. I've also used the A-S Z1 with the double pan head. The one I purchased may have been defective, because both upper and lower panning were not smooth with off axis weight. I believe the early ones had several quality issues, which were later fixed. I also prefer the conventional main panning knob (e.g., old B1) to the new lever type, which has very little clearance on a tripod with a large platform.

I normally use an older long macro rail (no longer made) for single-row, vertical-for-horizontal pans when lenses without tripod mount are used. I'm not so concerned when the teles are used as parallax is not an issue at distance.

I only carry the full RRS pano set for the occasional multi-row pans. The full set is not ideal for heavier, longer lenses, but is flexible in configuration and breaks down/sets up well. The BH-55 w/PCL is rather heavy (base BH-55+std. clamp is heavy enough as is), so there is a penalty when not panning. It balances fairly well on a 3 series, which is what I use lately, but is a bit top heavy on a 2 series. Since the PCL alleviates the need for the leveling base, it is a decent compromise and can be used on multiple legs.

 

[e_dawg]

David needs to go to camera store and check out the support systems. They must have a real store in SF, no?

I hear Keeble & Shuchat is a good pro shop. Samy's Camera I hear is a good higher volume shop.

 

[ddrueding]

I hear Keeble & Shuchat is a good pro shop.

Oh, they are. When we lived in Palo Alto, they were a mile walk away. The prices, however, were truly outrageous. I've never been raped so hard by someone so happy and helpful to do it. It is also where I spotted my first Tesla Roadster. I did play with the Gitzos when I was there (they do have the full lineup on the floor to play with), but I didn't really know what I was looking for at the time. It may be time for another visit.

 

[Pradeep]

That is my point. If you buy a tool that is not really good enough, you will end up buying the real thing later on. I don't know about that one yet.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/15/canons-eos-1d-eos-1ds-mark-iii-leaking-oil-all-over-your-prec/

Clearly this one ain't worth the $8000. A little more QA on their top of the line would be nice.

 

[LunarMist]

They have been like that for at least a year, and Canon cleans them when serviced. In think the news just became more public. A small oil ring is less noticeable than a black dust speck.

 

[Handruin]

I haven't seen any oil rings (yet) on the 1D, is this only the 1Ds? I have seen one instance of a rather noticeable black spec on the sensor. I took about 500 photos at my sister's wedding before I noticed it in the LCD screen (yes it was that large of a spec). I actually opened up the lens while sitting at the dinner table and lightly dabbed it very carefully with a q-tip to remove it. It was large enough i could see it with my eyes sitting on the sensor (or low-pass filter).

 

[Pradeep]

The only pain I see is that oil is going to smear when using a sensor cleaning brush.

Though many cameras now have some sensor vibration function to shake off shutter debris etc.

 

[Handruin]

From what I've seen the built-in sensor cleaner only does a marginal job. When I take test shots at very high f-stop I can see specs of dust on the sensor. Even the black spec I mentioned didn't fall off when I ran the cleaner several times.

The sensor cleaning kit I own is only meant as a one-swipe per cleaning pad, so in the case of having oil, more than one cleaning stick might be needed. The cleaning solution I have is Methanol-based. I don't know if this helps to cut the oil, but it's quick drying to remove chances of smudging.

 

[udaman]

Oh, they are. When we lived in Palo Alto, they were a mile walk away. The prices, however, were truly outrageous. I've never been raped so hard by someone so happy and helpful to do it. It is also where I spotted my first Tesla Roadster. I did play with the Gitzos when I was there (they do have the full lineup on the floor to play with), but I didn't really know what I was looking for at the time. It may be time for another visit.

You were expecting 5% over cost supermarket pricing, in a prime commercial real estate Palo Alto zipcode, where billionaire Larry Ellison lives, where Stanford Univ is located...you want city college pricing? Hello dd, reality check here

Telsa are boring new sedan or roadster---too expensive, there's the 1st dealership right by me here in LA <sticks tongue out>

http://www.storageforum.net/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=117609

Tesla Motors has found enough time in between suing and getting sued by its suppliers to open its first dealership in Los Angeles, CA today. Located on the corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda boulevards, the $2 million dealership sprawls 10,000 square feet and features poured concrete floors, an exposed ceiling of ductwork and beams, mirrors and potted plants...Clearly modeled on the highly successful Apple Store experiment

Imitation the sincerest form of flattery?...get a Mac

http://www.autoblog.com/2008/05/02/tesla-opens-first-factory-store-in-los-angeles/



@Handy (<twitterific style): methanol is not a strong solvent, but it might help remove very thin films of oil, for something thicker/grungy/stickier>>> residueless electronics parts solvent spray cans would likely work better, but you'd better be sure beforehand they are truly residueless fast evap solvents...assuming you don't want to be 'rapped' by Canon servicing costs

 

[udaman]

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/The-DSLR-IRCC-iPhone-Remote-Camera-Control-11605

Designed to work with Canon EOS DSLRs, the new wireless cable release is designed to be triggered by an iPhone application. From your iPhone you can control settings such as the white balance as well as using it to fire the camera shutter. If you have a camera that supports Live View you can even get a live stream of the camera’s viewfinder on your iPhone.

The DSLR Remote application is available from the iTunes App Store at an introductory price of $9.99 (The application usually retails at $19.99.)

 

[ddrueding]

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/The-DSLR-IRCC-iPhone-Remote-Camera-Control-11605

The required server software that runs on your Mac or Windows computer will be a free download from the onOne website.

So you still need the camera wired to a computer, and you can then send it to an iPhone? I can do that with RDC already. If it was a piece of hardware that let me control the camera directly from an iPod touch, we'd really be in business. ($200? $350?)

 

[LunarMist]

There is a another ridiculous kludge. Lag time would very likely be an issue, not to mention that iPhone has no tactile buttons? You'd be better off using a proper wireless remote or even a modified PW setup.

 

[LunarMist]

From what I've seen the built-in sensor cleaner only does a marginal job. When I take test shots at very high f-stop I can see specs of dust on the sensor. Even the black spec I mentioned didn't fall off when I ran the cleaner several times.

The sensor cleaning kit I own is only meant as a one-swipe per cleaning pad, so in the case of having oil, more than one cleaning stick might be needed. The cleaning solution I have is Methanol-based. I don't know if this helps to cut the oil, but it's quick drying to remove chances of smudging.

IME, it helps reduce dust about 50%, which is better than nothing.

 

[e_dawg]

Online system rates images by aesthetic quality
http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1242668316.html

An online photo-rating system developed at Penn State is the first publicly available tool for automatically determining the aesthetic value of an image, according to a Penn State researcher involved with the project. [...]

Wang said the system extracts and uses visual aspects such as color saturation, color distribution and photo composition to give any uploaded image a rating from zero to 100. The system learns to associate these aspects with the way humans rate photos based on thousands of previously-rated photographs in online photo-sharing Web sites such as photo.net.

"In its current form, we've seen more than 80 percent consistency between the human and computer ratings," Wang said.

Hardly definitive, but I think it's a useful tool to quickly improve one's images, especially as one is still learning composition and what constitutes a "good" photograph on some level.

Dave, you probably guessed I was thinking of you, as we discussed stuff like composition and why some of your photos are stronger than others earlier in this thread. I think if you upload your pics and see what ratings come back, you will be able to take a nugget or two and accelerate your learning curve. You already are a quick learner and are a great student of anything you wish to pursue. Lots of potential, and I think this can unlock at least a tiny bit of it.

 

[ddrueding]

Online system rates images by aesthetic quality
http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1242668316.html



Hardly definitive, but I think it's a useful tool to quickly improve one's images, especially as one is still learning composition and what constitutes a "good" photograph on some level.

Dave, you probably guessed I was thinking of you, as we discussed stuff like composition and why some of your photos are stronger than others earlier in this thread. I think if you upload your pics and see what ratings come back, you will be able to take a nugget or two and accelerate your learning curve. You already are a quick learner and are a great student of anything you wish to pursue.

Interesting. Of the dozen or so I threw at it, this one scored the highest (80.5), and this one the lowest (46.2). If it said what conformed to expectations and what didn't, it would be more helpful.

Lots of potential....

Now you are sounding like my high school teachers

 

[LunarMist]

Are they the same image? There must be a bug in that software.

 

[ddrueding]

Bah....the bad one was this.

 

[LunarMist]

What should I do with the (huge) MOV files, since I have no HDTV for direct playback? I searched around randomly for some HD to DVD converters, but they don't work well or the IQ sucks. I don't want to buy fancy, expensive video editing software which would rarely be used.

 

[e_dawg]

Interesting. Of the dozen or so I threw at it, this one scored the highest (80.5), and this one the lowest (46.2). If it said what conformed to expectations and what didn't, it would be more helpful.

I know what you mean, but they do specify what the software evaluates in the help section, and if you read the research papers at the bottom of the page, it will give you a lot of (technical) details behind the algorithm.

But to save you from having to read all that stuff, I'll get you started. The software is basically checking for the fundamentals of composition, including the presence of a prominent subject, tonal contrast (light vs dark), saturated colours, colour contrast (complementary colours like orange vs blue), selective focus (shallow DoF), use of rule of thirds for placing the subject, and clear presence of geometric elements and shapes like curves and triangles.

This is textbook compositional theory and this is why I recommended you take a look at it. I suggested that you take a course earlier, but honestly, this is faster, easier to learn, and more motivating.

If you take a look at your Audi pic, it has most if not all those elements of composition. If you look at your Rocky Hills pic, like some of your other HDR landscape pics, it doesn't have enough tonal contrast or colour contrast, and there are too many elements trying to compete for attention. By trying to "get it all in" -- both in terms of amount of scenery and tonal range -- , the image loses its effect. Less is more; simplicity = clarity.

Now you are sounding like my high school teachers

Yeah, sorry about that

 

[e_dawg]

But remember not to get too caught up in trying to appease the black box. It does get fooled, rating good pics poorly and mediocre pics highly. For example, the following pic I submitted was rated 97.3. Is it a good pic? Yes. But does it merit a top rating? Not really.

http://scpublicgallery.smugmug.com/photos/408535202_toMmC-XL.jpg

 

[LunarMist]

Will that robot be able to distingush the subtleties of human emotion, the slight differences in timing and positions of all the players that separate a great sports action photo from a medioacre one, or the context of various elements of a scene? I don't think so.

So now we will have the McPhoto reviewer. High rankings will be bestowed on bland, boring, safe images that fit a popular algorithm. Yuck.

 

[ddrueding]

Will that robot be able to distingush the subtleties of human emotion, the slight differences in timing and positions of all the players that separate a great sports action photo from a medioacre one, or the context of various elements of a scene? I don't think so.

So now we will have the McPhoto reviewer. High rankings will be bestowed on bland, boring, safe images that fit a popular algorithm. Yuck.

And cute photos of puppies will beat out well composed shots on flickr and elsewhere. That is one of the reasons I shoot for me and not for others; too much frustration dealing with the masses.

 

[e_dawg]

Will that robot be able to distingush the subtleties of human emotion, the slight differences in timing and positions of all the players that separate a great sports action photo from a medioacre one, or the context of various elements of a scene? I don't think so.

Naturally, LM. But no, the software does not purport to be able to do that either. It is, IMHO, a pattern detector for "the rules of composition", which form the technical basis of what consitutes a good photograph. As you suggest, it does not take artistic vision or creativity, timing, and the significance of the content into account.

So now we will have the McPhoto reviewer. High rankings will be bestowed on bland, boring, safe images that fit a popular algorithm. Yuck.

I don't think it is all doom and gloom. I think it is a great tool for exploring and teaching the basics of composition to budding photographers. No book or guide has ever been able to teach someone how to produce work of artistic brilliance or importance, and no software is going to come along and change all that. But OTOH, this is the first utility I am aware of that can check one's photos for the presence of the basic compositional elements and give instant feedback to facilitate learning. The goal is to teach someone the technical principles of composition; as always, the rest is up to them. And in that context, I think this program should be considered a welcome achievement.

 

[udaman]

lol, if you can't manual focus/zoom & can't record HD video, where's the artistic control? Utterly and completely useless, just like an iPhone/iTouch :dunno:

http://www.imaging-resource.com/NEWS/1242964777.html

Supported camera bodies include the consumer-oriented Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT, XTi, XS and XSi, the mid-range EOS 20D, 30D, 40D, 50D, 5D, and 5D Mark II, the professional EOS-1D Mark II, Mark IIn, and Mark III, and finally the EOS-1Ds Mark II and Mark III. Remote live view is supported on the Rebel XSi, the EOS 40D, 50D, and 5D Mark II, the EOS-1Ds Mark III, and the EOS-1D Mark III. Currently, the Canon EOS Rebel T1i is not supported by Canon's SDK, and hence is likewise not supported by onOne's app.

Once approved for sale in the iTunes App Store by Apple, onOne's DSLR Remote will be sold at an introductory price of around $10 - an easy impulse buy. Regular pricing will be in the region of $20. For those who don't want the full feature-set, a special version which can only trigger the shutter remotely will be offered for just $2.

Shooters using other brands, take heart. onOne hasn't forgotten you, noting in their blog entry that presuming all goes well with their initial app, they are considering an equivalent Nikon-compatible release in the future. Owners of Olympus, Pentax and Sony cameras are suggested to voice their desires for an equivalent version via the onOne blog.

So, I take it dd's already paypal'd ?

 

[Tannin]

Bahhh.... The so-called rules of composition do NOT form the technical basis of what makes a good photograph. Ability to communicate is what makes a good photograph. First, last, and always. There is nothing else. All other factors are relevant only insofar as they serve this primary purpose. As it happens, pictures that do communicate effectively often also comply with the so-called rules of composition, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule, it's little more than a correlation.

McPhoto is to great photography as the Microsoft Word grammar checker is to great poetry.

 

[LunarMist]

What should I do with the (huge) MOV files, since I have no HDTV for direct playback? I searched around randomly for some HD to DVD converters, but they don't work well or the IQ sucks. I don't want to buy fancy, expensive video editing software which would rarely be used.

Any ideas on this problem? I may just shoot a bit now and figure out how to work with the files 2010-2011. I don't plan to keep the body very long.

 

[e_dawg]

Bahhh.... The so-called rules of composition do NOT form the technical basis of what makes a good photograph. Ability to communicate is what makes a good photograph. First, last, and always. There is nothing else. All other factors are relevant only insofar as they serve this primary purpose. As it happens, pictures that do communicate effectively often also comply with the so-called rules of composition, but this is not a hard-and-fast rule, it's little more than a correlation.

McPhoto is to great photography as the Microsoft Word grammar checker is to great poetry.

Yes, I agree, but let's not forget that one needs to learn how to walk before they can run. You can't write great poetry unless you already have a good command of the language.

Being a former teacher, you are no doubt familiar with the learning process... one popular model includes 4 phases of learning:

1. Unconscious Incompetence (you don't know what you don't know)

2. Conscious Incompetence (you know that there's a lot of stuff you don't know... yet)

3. Conscious Competence (you know what you are supposed to do, what rules to follow, etc. but you have to think about all the steps, rules, and how to do things before or while you're doing them)

4. Unconscious Competence (you have attained a level of mastery that you don't need to think about the various steps, rules, and options on how to do things... you just do it effortlessly, and are freed up to focus on the creative aspects not having to think about the mechanics and the process)

I would say that you are thinking of phase 4 -- where one has achieved a level of mastery whereby they don't really think about all the silly little mechanical details and rules they learned along the way -- but are overlooking the time spent paying ones' dues in phase 3. One does need to go through the checklists, rules, follow the process, practice the mechanics, etc. before one can just focus on creating and communicating.

The McPhoto app was just a tool I suggested would be useful to Dave to help him go from phase 2 to phase 3 more quickly. That is all. Use it as a learning tool for a specific phase, not to solve the world's photography problems.

 

[ddrueding]

I'm in Tahoe, shooting a wedding today. I was invited as a guest, and they asked when I got here "you did bring your camera, right?". I thought, sure, no problem, they wand some candids after the pro leaves. Nope. No pro, just me. Happy to do it, just hoping I don't screw it up too badly.

I know the pictures I'm supposed to take, and I'll be able to figure out where to take them when I get to the site, and I even brought my 430EX for fill, but I'm not sure how I'll do under pressure

 

[Stereodude]

Wow, that's pretty crappy... Ambushed at a wedding without a pro.

 

[LunarMist]

That's just awful. I refuse to photograph anything at events these days, or even bring more than a P/S. Everybody expects that you enjoy hauling around equipment and shooting for free. Sheesh.