Camera Pros

[Tank]

3 minutes ago, red321 said:

You might want to look at fuji, sony, or olympus mirrorless options if you want interchangeable lenses as well.

can you explain what a mirrorless camera is and why that should be of interest?

and is there a particular model of those listed i should look for?

[red321]

A mirrorless camera....wait for it....wait for....

doesn't have a mirror!

In essence, in a dSRL you look through the viewfinder, which is actually a reflection of what is seen through the lens. A mirror/prism reflects the image and that is what you are seeing.

In a mirrorless camera, there is no mirror. You usually have an electronic viewfinder, or use the liveview on the back of the camera. Both of those are generated by the camera, not seen through the lens. This, in part, allows for a smaller form factor.

http://www.techradar.com/news/photography-video-capture/cameras/mirrorless-vs-dslr-1304910

This article has a good general overview.

What I tell most people now, unless you really plan on getting into high end photography or have already invested in a system (like Canon or Nikon)...take a good long look at mirrorless. You get a smaller camera you are more likely to take with you and the camera and lenses tend to be cheaper. You also tend to get more features for what you spend (once you get outside of the base models...where it seems like entry level dslrs compete pretty good with mirrorless).

Personally I've primarily moved to Fuji. They have a few models and I've seen the xt1 (older model) come down in price. Fuji has great .jpg and film simulation. Very usable camera with lots of dials. Similar to using old film cameras. Olympus has some solid options as well, tends to be less usable - larger learning curve, more menu driven rather than dial driven as compared to Fuji...but I think the autofocus is much better...an area Fuji has struggled with. I would expect folks who do a lot of live action/sports to be drawn more towards Olympus. Sony has some great options as well, though I'm less familiar with them. It really comes down to preference. The Olympus didn't really fit in my hands and I really like how I could control every aspect of the picture using dials and not having to take my eye off the subject...and seeing just how those adjustments impacted my choices in the viewfinder.

 

[red321]

3 hours ago, calscuf said:

So at what point in the life of camera ownership does the camera owner get friends?

When people want a discount

[Tank]

Thanks for all the info, red. 

Ive been looking mostly at Facebook in the community for sale areas (I know, caveat emptor). Right now I'm just keeping my eyes open for what's out there. My daughter has a nice canon, one of the multitude of Eos cameras available, and I've enjoyed using it. There are a surprising amount of them for sale on Facebook but they're still higher than I want to pay. There are the occasional Nikons that show up, too. Do t recall seeing many Olympus or Sony cameras yet.

 I'm not ready to buy but wanted to start getting some info. Appreciate your help.

[red321]

If your daughter has a canon...and lenses...that's probably something to consider. lenses end up costing more than the camera...but can go from camera to camera within a system. 

[AngelsLakersFan]

I find it pretty tough to recommend specific cameras to people because a lot of it has to do with where you are on the learning curve or what type of work you are doing primarily. In general it's important to note that you can get similar results with very different cameras.

For example, I took a picture with my full frame canon 6D, and my sister took a similar picture with her mirrorless, micro four-thirds Olympus OM-10 which is about 1/4th the cost. Tell me if you can see any difference (images were cropped vertically to match)

In most cases you won't be able to tell, except in poor lighting, shooting wide open or potentially in controlled environments. I was rather impressed with the Olympus, and I know people fawn all over red's fuji system. I think I would personally avoid Nikon, and only pick up a Canon body if you really love the form factor.

[gotbeer]

@AngelsLakersFanTop one looks darker.  And a bit crisper.  But overall, I'd be happy with either photo.  

[AngelsLakersFan]

48 minutes ago, gotbeer said:

@AngelsLakersFanTop one looks darker.  And a bit crisper.  But overall, I'd be happy with either photo.  

Top one is the 6D. I tend to shoot pictures like this a little dark so that I can brighten it in editing. The Olympus is right about where you would want it and it really holds its own in situations like this one. You have to start getting really into photography before you start finding the limitations, and even then it is up to you whether or not those limitations are significant.

[red321]

6 hours ago, AngelsLakersFan said:

Top one is the 6D. I tend to shoot pictures like this a little dark so that I can brighten it in editing. The Olympus is right about where you would want it and it really holds its own in situations like this one. You have to start getting really into photography before you start finding the limitations, and even then it is up to you whether or not those limitations are significant.

@AngelsLakersFan

i would suggest you look at doing that the other way. Shoot to the right of the histogram (lighter). Shoot as far to the right as you can without blowing out highlights. Then darken the photo by using the black point. I think you'll get deeper colors and sharper images. If you shoot to the left and then lighten you tend to end up with more noise, especially in the shadows and less definition.

run some tests, do some photos darker and some lighter and then adjust and compare results.  

Do you know how to set black and white points in Lightroom?

 

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 hours ago, red321 said:

@AngelsLakersFan

i would suggest you look at doing that the other way. Shoot to the right of the histogram (lighter). Shoot as far to the right as you can without blowing out highlights. Then darken the photo by using the black point. I think you'll get deeper colors and sharper images. If you shoot to the left and then lighten you tend to end up with more noise, especially in the shadows and less definition.

run some tests, do some photos darker and some lighter and then adjust and compare results.  

Do you know how to set black and white points in Lightroom?

 

That is essentially what I do, I kinda worded it a bit differently for gotbeer. My goal is to not clip the highlights, which results in a picture that is darker than your average person would expect. In the picture above I under exposed it a bit more than I wanted, and just made a quick adjustment before posting it. I notice I tend to do this in really bright light because I lean on the exposure adjustment meter on the top of the camera more than I should.

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 hours ago, red321 said:

@AngelsLakersFan

i would suggest you look at doing that the other way. Shoot to the right of the histogram (lighter). Shoot as far to the right as you can without blowing out highlights. Then darken the photo by using the black point. I think you'll get deeper colors and sharper images. If you shoot to the left and then lighten you tend to end up with more noise, especially in the shadows and less definition.

run some tests, do some photos darker and some lighter and then adjust and compare results.  

Do you know how to set black and white points in Lightroom?

 

I like to have fun with the exposure and clarity adjustments in Lightroom...

[gotbeer]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/stunning-images-capture-ufo-clouds-slideshow-wp-171137052/photo-p-stunning-kamchatka-peninsula-russia-photo-090037659.html

 

[Tank]

3 hours ago, gotbeer said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/stunning-images-capture-ufo-clouds-slideshow-wp-171137052/photo-p-stunning-kamchatka-peninsula-russia-photo-090037659.html

 

About half of those pics are just interesting looking clouds. Heck,  Pictures 12 and 14 don't even have a single cloud anywhere in the frame.

[ten ocho recon scout]

6 hours ago, gotbeer said:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/stunning-images-capture-ufo-clouds-slideshow-wp-171137052/photo-p-stunning-kamchatka-peninsula-russia-photo-090037659.html

 

Amazing!

[Blarg]

On 8/2/2017 at 9:15 PM, ten ocho recon scout said:

Who knows (answering for red). But the pro cameras can get super duper expensive.

Over the last year or so i met and became friends with a couple of pro photographers. At first i was blown away by how much they paid for their stuff, and how much they travel. But then they explained how they get to write it off, because photography is their job. 

It would obviously take a ton of photos being sold to pay off a 55K camera. But, maybe you get lucky, and somebody buys a few of your prints for a lot of money.

I recently checked out Peter Lik's gallery. One of the guys i know is an aquaintance of his, and has his shop in the same complex. This guy peter lik ( not a porn star) recently sold one of his pictures for 6 million dollars! And honestly...i dont see it. My buddy shot the same place, very similar pictures. I have no clue why some obviously rich person paid 6 mill for a photo literally hundreds of others have shot.

My buddy and i talked about it...whoever bought it could have bought a flight, flown to this place in a helicopter, ate lobster for days and days at the same place for far less than buying that picture.

Because this particular picture the owner had his pants down and that was not his wife.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Anyone know how to clean dust out of a camera? My camera has travelled the country and world the last few years, including some out in the boondocks places. Now im getting spots on my pictures.

It seems easy, get a little device to blow air across the sensor, but i dont want to scratch anything

[Tank]

2 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Anyone know how to clean dust out of a camera? My camera has travelled the country and world the last few years, including some out in the boondocks places. Now im getting spots on my pictures.

It seems easy, get a little device to blow air across the sensor, but i dont want to scratch anything

dude, just hose it off,

https://www.google.com/search?q=lady+washes+car+inside+and+out&oq=lady+washes+out+car+&aqs=chrome.3.69i57j0l3.9680j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[red321]

9 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

Anyone know how to clean dust out of a camera? My camera has travelled the country and world the last few years, including some out in the boondocks places. Now im getting spots on my pictures.

It seems easy, get a little device to blow air across the sensor, but i dont want to scratch anything

@ten ocho recon scoutWhat brand?

if its canon their factory service center does it I Irvine. Or you can take it to a place like Samy’s  don’t know the cost  

You can get a rocket air blower. It’s hand held, remove the lens and put camera in cleaning mode if it has it which lifts the mirror. Use the air blower. Don’t use compressed air. The chemical can spray. There are kits to swab the sensor but I’ve never tried them.

 

 

 

[Docwaukee]

I tried manually cleaning my sensor once.  Was in Kauai and brought my kit but there wasn't a local camera shop that would do it.   I made it worse.  It was an exercise in massive frustration.  

I would recommend having someone else do it.  

[ten ocho recon scout]

2 hours ago, Dochalo said:

I tried manually cleaning my sensor once.  Was in Kauai and brought my kit but there wasn't a local camera shop that would do it.   I made it worse.  It was an exercise in massive frustration.  

I would recommend having someone else do it.  

Thats what im afraid of...

[ten ocho recon scout]

3 hours ago, red321 said:

@ten ocho recon scoutWhat brand?

if its canon their factory service center does it I Irvine. Or you can take it to a place like Samy’s  don’t know the cost  

You can get a rocket air blower. It’s hand held, remove the lens and put camera in cleaning mode if it has it which lifts the mirror. Use the air blower. Don’t use compressed air. The chemical can spray. There are kits to swab the sensor but I’ve never tried them.

 

 

 

Sony a6000

I bought one of those rocket blowers today, should arrive tomorrow. Are they pretty idiot proof, like i wont ruin it?

[red321]

Almost idiot proof.

read this  

https://briansmith.com/5-simple-steps-camera-sensor-cleaning/

Remove lens. Dont know if Sony has a cleaning mode. Don’t put the blower up against the sensor. Make sure it isn’t wet or dusty. Blow it a few times before using it on camera to get any dust out of it.  Turn the camera upside down so anything that is blown off sensor falls out. 

[ten ocho recon scout]

Thanks @red321, it arrived this morning. Ill give it a shot.

[ten ocho recon scout]

Just now, calscuf said:

Does this have anything to do with the lingerie you just bought me?

No. Thats in the "what have you watched lately" thread. Or maybe the toilet seat pissing one.

[Tank]

7 hours ago, ten ocho recon scout said:

No. Thats in the "what have you watched lately" thread. Or maybe the toilet seat pissing one.

@calscuf, you planning to run for POTUS some day?