Sutton Warrior
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Posts posted by Sutton Warrior
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There's also some software for managing images. I'm hoping not to need to use it, as I'm still getting to grips with E7! However, I'll follow the destructions and download it anyway...!
Back soon...
Janet
Might be a good idea, as any instructions will refer to and assume use of the supplied program? . . . Swap over later, no point in complicating the issue? Might of course, be straight forward and fit in with Ev.7, 'like a duck to water' . . . ******** SPLASH!!!!!
SW
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Guess what I've got?
Yes, Andy in the camera shop was true to his word and my new toy was waiting for me at lunchtime! He had all the extras ready for me, including a spare battery, two ultra-violet filters, a circular polarising filter, camera care kit and the camera bag - not only that, it was the very bag I'd been looking at yesterday and discounted as being too expensive!
The battery is now on charge, so it will be a few more hours before I get to play with my new baby!
I was a little bit naughty, and also bought the macro lens, which put me WAY over budget! All in all it's cost just under £750....a massive investment for someone who only took up photography just a couple of months ago! Still, I'm pretty confident that it will give me the tools I need to try and improve....only time will tell!
Thanks again everyone for your input - give yourselves a round of applause
Janet
One waits with baited breath . . . . . . . . . . .
Janet, enjoy, will be great to see the results Its like waiting to see those 'first steps' . . . SW
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I'll take that as an instruction then!
Janet
Re chargable batteries are best Janet . . .
SW
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A past from the 'ePhotozine' site . . . If you want to see it for your self:
http://www.ephotozine.com/topic/t-74115
Compliments of 'ePhotozine' . . .
Nikon, Canon, Sony, Pentax, Leica, Panasonic…or?
Does the Gear You have Really Matter? Or How I learned to just take a “Pitcher…”
Well, I will commence with a simple answer "NO"...Whether it is a Nikon, Sony, Pentax, Canon, Panasonic, Olympus, Samsung or any Medium format camera and digital back out there, it really is of no great consequence which brand you own! You want to know why? Based on a recent survey, 90 percent of all DSLR camera's rarely print their images larger than A4 (8x10") format. In other words and in most cases, a good 5 mega pixel camera with good noise specifications would be more than sufficient to do the job and do it very well.
Now, if what you spend most of your time doing is pixel peeping your images at 100 percent on your screen to see if you can notice any anomaly of any sort, than yes, do go out and purchase a $40,000.00, 50 mega pixel back for your Hasselblad. However, if you do so, you will find that you might notice some interesting phenomena, like high chroma noise issues at anything above 400 iso.
Another interesting problem is that when you go to press, the tram noise or pattern will destroy most of those fine pixels that you observed on the screen, a kind of natural grain producer of sorts.
Of course the quality of the sensor is very important, but I believe that any of the 10 mega pixel plus camera's out there could do an admirable job.
I have watched with bemusement the wars that are ongoing on the forums between this and that brand and usually come away thinking that unless you know why you have purchased a brand and to what purpose, than you might as well close your eyes and do a "eenee, meenee, mynee, mo" exercise to determine your choice.
So, if you have no plans to produce an image larger than 12 x19" and have a limited budget, feel confident that no matter what you buy, it will be overkill for that format.
Just be happy that the technology provided for the photographer today has easily out specified the top end camera that existed just 3 years ago.
Enjoy your toy and go out and play.
Very to the point . . .
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Her you go Janet, from the same site as the E520 review, I have found the Samsung GX10:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Samsung-GX10-5716
SW
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If I could take something like that straight from the camera, I would be highly delighted!
Janet
According to the post, its an E520, focal length 180mm (I presume an Olympus lens), shutter 1/1250s, aperture F6.5 and ISO100. untouched he says . . . As you say Janet, if only . . .
SW
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Yup, only way to see whats really going on when a comparison is shown or is to be made. I didn't have to look hard though on the planes shot...just zoom in a little and there it was.
Steve...
Steve, what you think of the Red Bull Harvard? Don nothing but fit to screen, straight out of the camera according to the photographer?
I like it . . . SW
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I have put this up for all to see, it floats my boat . . . taken from:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Olympus-E520-9360#comments
. . . where there are a few more, but this one is my favourite. A test shot with an Olympus E520, the poster says it is streigh out of the camera . . . I have done nothing other than make it fit the screen'ish, depends on your screen of course.
SW
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They do according to a quick search on google. It appears that depending on camera model you will have a more limited choice of for example Sigma lenses (ergo likely to = more pricey).
Nothing wrong however with the olympus lenses themselves, just pricier than the 3rd party equivalents. (from my experiences with the older non-digital SLR's).
Rob.
Whoops, got that one totaly wrong, could not find a ref on the Sigma site . . . but I did not pick up on 4/3rd
Thanks for putting me streight RobHere we go: http://www.warehouseexpress.com/category/b...gn=Sigma_4-3rds
and this: http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/quicklinks/fourthirds.htm
SW
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Somewhere inbetween the two would be my preference, the first is a little soft, the second, as Rob says a little too "contrasty"...in my book...oversharpened.
Compare the two side by side, zoomed in and you'll notice the thin black and white lines that sharpening leaves on a photo...this is what gives it that edge that Rob mentions and why I think its overdone slightly. Of course, this is my own personal taste and why I seldom use sharpening. As a generalisation I'll employ other processing techniques as opposed to standard sharpening, if the photo gets that far in the first place because if its not sharp OOC..I generally ignore it anyway unless there is no chance of a second go at the photo some other time in which case I will full process it.
Steve...
Yep, see what you mean Steve and probaly agree, it might be a tad over the top, blown up? . . . you pixel peeping Steve?
. . . but the detail is in the picture if required, thats realy the point. SW
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Deleted, ignor me Janet, see posts 39 & 42 . . . had a senior moment
SW
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An interesting review on the Olympus E520:
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/Olympus-E520-9360#comments
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At this lever Janet, cameras come with rechargeable nicad type batteries and a separate charger. I have two batteries for mine, on eBay I paid about a fiver + PP, take care, they are posted cheap and hit you with PP! If they do that dont buy, trying to pull a fast one. I went for an American company, fair price and a reasonable PP.
As far as SD Cards are concerned I've bought from eBay and Amazon, buy a reputable brand, personally mine are 'SanDisk Extreme III' HC (Hi Capacity) 4gb. I also have a couple of the 'Extreme III 2gb' these are 'standard capacity' but 'hi speed' what ever that may mean . . . The 2gb card holds 264 pictures in 'fine/JPEG' mode, the 4gb card is 540 images, thats on my D80, choose 'normal/JPEG' and the figures almost double! Both disks are fast download, thats the main point, fast down load, cheap cards can be slooooow by comparison. There is a table that gives the times but I have no idea where it was??? my memory for such trivia is non existent . . . sorry.
SW
PS, Janet, its not my money, but I would carfully read again the Olympus (for both models) Conclusions page on 'DCR site', especialy the 'Cons' in the 'Pros and Cons' section . . . its your choice . . . ?
Bit more to look at:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=Digita...amp;view=videos
On here, D60 and both Olympus models, + Pentax if you use the Quick Serch
Here you go Janet, read this thread, tells you about 'class type and transfer speeds' on SD cards:
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Well I can see more bricks but it appears to be too high contrasty for my liking personally.
Rob.
It may be me??? I like things to be super sharp, even in my own vision, I drive myself and my optician mad when I go for an eye test. I find it very frustrating some days if my diabetes is playing up and I cant see the fly crawling up the church tower! I'm left cold when a portrait picture is presented and raved over as perfect . . . "but it not sharp" is my knowing response . . .
My main concern was that the picture has the detail available, how one finally presents it is a personal matter . . . me, I like sharp, thats how I perceive it, I dont see any 'high contrast' . . . Just shows how we are all different, Canon have a warm, inviting colour balance, Nikon is cooler, they say more natural? and so on . . . perhaps Pentax edges towards contrasty . . . ?
The final question then, is the original to your liking, rather than my minor tweek?
SW
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Well Janet, I can see why you like the spec., of the K10D camera, but it worries me when I look at a series of sample photos and I think; OK but . . . ? and that was whats been bugging me on the Pentax K10D/Samsung re badge. All that spec., top name and I, the potential customer am left a bit 'flat' . . .
I then look at the Exif, a high percentage were +0.3EV . . .
Far be it from to question the expertise of DCR camera review site??? but there is always a but . . .So, I took a JPEG photo off the sample site and did my standard minimum rework that I do as a norm., if I'm not happy with my own pics:
This is the original:
This is my version with a tiny adjustment made in 'Colour Curves', needs the tiny lift? tried one of the RAW samples as well, similar result . . . Might be me, making it look like a Nikon picture, ho-hum, we may be splitting hairs here?
Link to the samples, see pic 22 for full size original:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/pentaxk10d_samples/
Perhaps one is getting into 'Anorack country' . . .
? However the picture tweek for me puts the Pentax/Samsung (assuming one and the same) into the worth being on the list of possibles? Puerly a humble opinion Janet SW
Has no one got any views on the above??? A published 'Sample' picture, representative of the of the cameras ability? and yet, tweek it a tad (it was minimal) in Ev.7 and you can count the bricks in the wall at the back . . . Am I being irrellevant . . . ?
SW
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. . . . !!! the cost of the lens cover! $600, as much as I want to pay for the lens . . .
SW
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Snatcher, just Googled 'Airshow Photography Tips', plenty came up, this one looks simple to understand, not to much 'anorak' type OTT detail:
http://www.richard-seaman.com/Photography/...hows/index.html
SW
PS See this site: http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=92432
They talk of the need to have a slow shutter for propeller driven craft, other wise the prop is stopped, looks strange, loose sense of motion. I seem to remember reading 125th was about right with an appropriate aperture for the weather?
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Indeed it was Ayjay, but unfortunately I've had to lower my sights a bit, having not taken into account the cost of the lenses.
I was looking at the Olympus E420, but it seems that the E520 is within budget (and available locally) so I will certainly have a look at that.
I'm going to take my time over this one - no impulse buying this time! I need to be sure that what I get is going to suit me and last a long time.
Janet
E520 reviewed:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/OlympusE520/
Great camera, but, its that 'but' again, let down by some fundimental features that are not up to scratch, according to DCR? Read the Conclusions page.
If you look away from the 'water proof' requirement dont forget the D60, a great sample picture page?
SW
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Well Janet, I can see why you like the spec., of the K10D camera, but it worries me when I look at a series of sample photos and I think; OK but . . . ? and that was whats been bugging me on the Pentax K10D/Samsung re badge. All that spec., top name and I, the potential customer am left a bit 'flat' . . .
I then look at the Exif, a high percentage were +0.3EV . . .
Far be it from to question the expertise of DCR camera review site??? but there is always a but . . .So, I took a JPEG photo off the sample site and did my standard minimum rework that I do as a norm., if I'm not happy with my own pics:
This is the original:
This is my version with a tiny adjustment made in 'Colour Curves', needs the tiny lift? tried one of the RAW samples as well, similar result . . . Might be me, making it look like a Nikon picture, ho-hum, we may be splitting hairs here?
Link to the samples, see pic 22 for full size original:
http://www.dpreview.com/gallery/pentaxk10d_samples/
Perhaps one is getting into 'Anorack country' . . .
? However the picture tweek for me puts the Pentax/Samsung (assuming one and the same) into the worth being on the list of possibles? Puerly a humble opinion Janet SW
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Well, I slept on it, and I'm still erring on the side of the Samsung.
I particularly like the way is is resistant to water, as you may remember this was a problem I was trying to overcome a while ago, and I never did resolve it.
I am still very much open to suggestions though!
Janet
Morning Janet, I agree with Steve, even on the 1-2% issue, they bounce backwards and forwards month by month, year by year, however I think (bias, what bias
) Nikon has the high ground, just, at the moment . . . Next month who knows, but essentially they are the two brands that give 'no tears' universal ad on choice.Just had a quick look at a couple of other review, I picked up, the Samsung is not compatible with the off camera flash of the Pentax, noted you wanted this as an option? I also picked up that the JPEG compression was very high, detracting from the potential image quality, requiring the use of RAW to extract full potential, this is the case with all DSLRs of course but Cliff Smith seems to think it is especially acute on the Gx10? You know my view on JPEG-RAW, 'keep it simple stupid' is my way.
http://www.trustedreviews.com/digital-came...amsung-GX-10/p4
The Samsung/Pentax appears to be heavy . . . something like + 120grs (4ozs) may not be an issue, some would consider it an advantage?
The issue of damp/wet . . . I remember a review, I think it was the D80 on the DCR site????? Test pictures had to be in the wet, not a sealed camera, they reported no problems, again an issue of individual requirements, how often will it be used in the wet or 'how wet is wet'?
Sigma do a selection for lenses for Pentax:
http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/lenses/index_pentax.htm
The issue may be avaliability of the retailers shelf?
SW
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Thanks for the replies guys!
However, the D90 is a little over budget! Although I could if I wanted to, there is no way I could justify paying that amount of money.
I ought to have said, I'm looking at a maximum budget of around £500.
I've just watched a video on the Sony a700, which looks rather tasty, but again after doing a bit of Googling, it seems that it is again over budget. I thought I could afford it, until I realised the price I'd seen was for the body only...!!!
I've been totally dim whilst reading the reviews, and not noticed that the prices I'd seen were only for the camera body only...!!! To be honest, I've really only been daydreaming, until this week when I learned I had a small inheritance to play with.I'll be buying it from my local camera shop, as I have found their service to be absolutely impeccable. I've just been on their website and found two that I particularly like the look of - neither of which is either Nikon or Canon, but both are within my budget.
The first one is a SAMSUNG DSLR GX10 SMART KIT and the second is an OLYMPUS E-420 TWIN KIT.
Anybody any thoughts?
Janet
Hear are a coupe of reviews, one for the Olympus you mentioned, the other for a Nikon D60 which you may not have considered? The body is motor less, but personally I dont find this a problem, there are plenty of good third party and brand lenses available and these are coming onto the SH market now, its just 'old' lenses that would be a problem. I have . . . Hazel has
. . . a D40X which I use, the D60 is the re vamped and re badged and re marketed D40X. Considerably less than £400 will get a body and kit lens, as a usable camera, I find its sibling superb. Especially read the 'Conclusion' pages on these reviews, and look at the picture sample pages, I think you can see the points raised?http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/olympuse420/
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/NikonD60/
As far as the Samsung you mention, I think they have something to do with Pentax? Anyone confirm?
SW
PS, Canon contender: 400d with kit lense about £460, Same applies to this one, especialy read the 'Conclusion' and view 'Samples'.
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Ive been working up to today for a few weeks, first session coarse fishing since 1995 . . . Here is my swim, classic lily pad, disused gravel pit, all the junk around the seat, and I recon I travel light, you can imagine what the 'tackle tart' a few pegs up looked like . . .
Same swim from a more faltering angle . . . Now would I have even considered misleading you . . .
Bought the maggots, half a pint of mixed please . . . felt so strange after 19 years, almost like going into the chemist the first time for *****
Hump every thing out of the car, fight the combination lock to get in. The swim turns out to be 10ft deep!! I like float fishing . . . 19 years ago not a problem, now mind the trees and lilies. All fingers and thumbs. Nearly 20 years Sea fishing handling '15lb rope', 6ozs of lead and a broom stick, hear I am, line like spiders silk, weights that look moore at home on a chemist scales and me with pork sausages for fingers . . . 
Thats what the first hour of set up felt like . . .Slowly it came back, the timing of the cast, when to strike, as I imagined the little devils playing chicken with my bait. Tiddlers were the order of the day to start with, double red maggot and an 18 hook = 3 inches of roach and perch. I had (Hazel had) bunged in a tin of sweetcorn, magic, 3 inches grew to 8 or 9 . . . remember that one for supper tonight . . .
The session was not memorable on fish size, it brought back floods of memories, good and bad, for which I was not prepared . . .
Generally I had a good session, I'd forgotten how filthy and smelly one can get . . . liberally coated in ground bait, fish slime, maggot juice and maze powder . . . wind blowing into face! The biggest 'stop in tracks' was my lack of dexterity, gossamer line, tiny hooks, shot no bigger than a grain of rice, this is a guy who has designed and built model aircraft for forty years, made a living shuffling printers type and generally accepted the inheritance of family digit dexterity.Getting old, and mangling my right hand in a boating accident 5 years ago may have something to do with the short comings?
This is one of about a dozen roach of around this size that fell to sweetcorn, no keep net, poped him in the landing net for the picture:
Next time, its going to be two rods, feeder and float . . . need to replace the line on my ledger reel, and move up a cople of pegs to a slightly shallower swim, looking for a tench or one of the 50 carp stocked this last week!!!
SW
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Got to agree with SW on this one, I recently switched to a Nikon D90 and I can't praise it highly enough. IMHO for the money there is nothing to touch it. The video on it is not the greatest but if I want video I use my Canon compact.
The colours on the Nikons straight out of the camera are to me better than on the Canons, but that is just my personal opinion.
SW said about the D5000 and it is a good camera but it does not have an internal motor that the D90 does. This means that the D90 can meter and auto focus with older Nikon lens but the D5000 can't.
Before I got the D90 I had a Sony a700 and that is another great camera. It has the advantage of not only using Sony lens plus the 3rd. party lens such as Sigma etc. but it can use the excellent Minolta lens that can be had quite cheaply and they are very good quality. I only parted with my a700 cos I am an old Nikon guy at heart and got such a good deal on the D90.
Having said all the above I would love to swap my D90 for a D300 if I could afford it and SWMBO would allow it.
Whoops, glad you picked me up on the D5000's lack of motor DelJ, could cause some to be less than happy, sorry for that error. The word is, that although the D300 does have a slightly higher 'pro spec.,', the D90 (ignoring the Video
) does do well . . . seen arguments for and aginst, but for the likes of me, all I want is that 3" rear screen, magic, then again, the twidling 2.75 screen on the D5000 is a real plus . . . 
. . . ????? The D90 I think? when I'm alowed . . . SW
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However, I'd appreciate your comments about the next step up...I realise that buying a better camera won't necessarily help me take better photographs, but at least I'll have the tools to use once I learn more.
Janet
Janet,
From my point of view and I'm semi biased, the simple fact is, Nikon have the edge . . . just . . . with the D300, D90 and new D5000, however the edge, if my reading is correct, is such a fine line of 1 or 2%. Its more down to, budget, the feel in your hands, particular ways you prefer a function to work, and what badge you want to present to the world . . .
The colour presentation IMHO out of camera is important, Canon tend to a warm brown'ish tinge, Nikon go towards the natural cooler blue'ish hue. I have spent a lot of time tickling the out of camera picture from my D80. The CMOS sensor equipped curent Nikon's as listed above, are closer to the Canon out of camera, maybe its because Canon use CMOS . . .
But Nikon have a different software approach to noise, which is there big 'trumpet blowing plus' at the moment, compared with the opposition, all depends if you wish to use hi ISO settings?Having, got to grips with my D80 recently, my bias says it does all I want, I'm using the Nikon 18-200VR to stunning affect IMHO recently.
Semi biased . . . ? I use Canon compacts, great cameras while they are working, they have cost me a few hundred in repair bills over the past 3 years!! So I dont have a very good opinion of the reliability of compacts in the brand, no experience of Canon DSLR reliability?
Pays your money, takes your choice . . . But that swiveling rear screen on the D5000 is a big draw . . . ? otherwise it is a D90.
SW
CANON v NIKON
in Photography
Posted
Thats impresive for the 'first steps' Janet, the camera is doing its thing just fine
enjoy your weekend.
SW