abigail05 said:

these 2 were shot at 200mm, I would LOVE a 300mm or even a 500mm! but those things can be huge
http://imaging.nikon.com/..._001_l.jpg

why can't they name bodies in a logical way?!?!

JerseyKRS said:

yes!!! like the bigger the number the higher end it is

ZombieKitten said:

oh?

Cuddles said:

yeah, a guy threw himself out of a moving car and died, it was awful

ZombieKitten said:

Yep, it'd make sense to have the tens, say D40, D60, D80, D90 etc. for budget DSLRs, then more enthusiast level at the hundreds, then semi-pro and pro as the thousands. Really high end stuff always seems to be back down in the single digits though.

ZombieKitten said:

I have that bog standard 55-200 but I wish I had even your 18-200.

My technique, in Fauxie technical speak, use a zoom lens, stand further back and zoom in, instead of getting closer to the subject. Simple!



I also sometimes blur the entire photo in Capture NX then remove what I want left in focus as it was, as I did with this image. I wanted the focus on the noodle lady amidst all the clutter around her.



.
[Edited 12/2/09 15:45pm]

Fauxie said:

yup! abigail05 can only zoom to 70mm though, but same effect can be achieved with the 50mm open wide to 1.8

your depth of field is tiny, so anything in front or behind what you focus on will be blurred:

ZombieKitten said:

The second one is pretty extreme.

I hate the horrible noise I so often get in my images' blurred areas, so I sometimes just selectively add a little extra blur to make that go away. High-pass will sharpen up a face nicely too, with all the features of the face meaning you wouldn't really notice the added noise. I need a better camera. All I'm ever doing is work-arounds and fixes for stuff like noise, vignetting, and I always have to correct the blue-ish tone and have my images err on the side of warmth.

Fauxie said:

have you been through every setting in your menus?

http://www.kenrockwell.co...on/d40.htm
first thing I usually do when I get a new camera is go through his recommendations for all the settings, your image coolness may be a default setting you haven't changed yet?
Look at this noise!

in nikon capture, do you have a vignetting compensation slider? (the plug-in for photoshop does)

Noise Ninja kicks digital noise's ass.

I also have now started to use DxO Optics Pro, it automatically compensates for your specific body and lens. It will fix vignetting, lighting, etc. It really is fantastic software.





I want to go shooting with both of you's two.

JerseyKRS said:

that would be cool!

I don't have any noise problems any more with the D700
with my other cameras it was shocking and I always tried fixing with noise ninja, sometimes with OK results

ZombieKitten said:

that's the one downfall of the Alpha. High ISO is noisy. But I chose to go with it because I like the Image Stabilization in the body instead of the lenses. Also, they're cheaper, but the Zeiss and G lenses are as good as any top of the line Nikkor or Canon glass.

Sony has new backlit sensor tech. making its way to the pro market, it's supposed to set a new level for lack of high ISO noise.

JerseyKRS said:

sounds interesting

ZombieKitten said:

Yep, I'm pretty good at getting the most of the cameras I have after I've had them a while (I've even found ways to make our Lumix take halfway decent pictures ) but I don't have that vignetting compensation thingamebob. I'll look into it. I've plenty of Nik plug-ins for PS, is that a Nik one also? In Capture you can just do a colour control point, stick it on a part where there's vignetting and it'll pretty much isolate those pesky outlines. Then you just desaturate, mess with the levels, contrast etc. to make it look better. It can take more than one control point though, sometimes requiring you to erase the applied changes where you don't want them or the opposite, just spot adding them where you do want them. It's doable, but takes time.

JerseyKRS said:

I have Neat Image Pro 6.0 and it used to work very well on my old PC, but a few months ago on my current one I noticed something had changed and I was getting that 'banding' effect or whatever they call it. Someone told me I'd just done too aggressive noise removal but I knew the program well and wasn't doing anything different to in the past. Very frustrating! Now I do no noise removal on my images, as such, but do use selective blur in places instead. The noise really fucks with my ability to get photos accepted on good stock sites.

p.s. Think I'll, um, 'get' that DxO Optics Pro program.

.
[Edited 12/2/09 17:45pm]

Fauxie said:

yes, Nikon Camera Raw plug-in

ZombieKitten said:

I suddenly realised yesterday I haven't been shooting RAW. I didn't when I first got my camera because my computer was so crap that Nikon Capture would lag and freeze for minutes at a time working with RAW. Since I got the new computer I just didn't think about it. How big an advantage do you think it is to pp in RAW before converting to jpeg only at the end? If I remember rightly the annoying thing about the D40x and probably other low-end Nikons is that there's no option to shoot RAW + highest quality jpeg, only RAW + some god-awful poor quality jpeg. I'd always like a good jpeg as backup in case my computer fucked up with the RAW (yeah, still paranoid from the old computer )

Check this out, iso 12800 in low-light.

http://jeffascough.typepa...dding.html

Fauxie said:

awesome!!!

I always shoot raw, if I make mistakes with exposure, I have a second chance at it - you just have so much more data (in bit-depth) to adjust before you throw it all away to make a JPEG. I would never go back just to JPEG.

Fauxie said:

Pretty much, a bit cheaper then the D60, but with the same features
more or less. Nikon is discontinuing their D40, and now the 3000 is
the lowest entry for DSLR with them..And I'll have to try out that
Capture NX you were referring to..

Fauxie said:

wow love ur photos amazing.

Fauxie said:

You guys should start a weekly digital photography class thread. I would read it.

Suggestion for the 1st class. What the hell are all the settings on my camera?

Mars23 said:

what make is it?

ZombieKitten said:

Canon T1i

Fauxie said:

OMG, finally another NX2 addict, yay!! I absolutely love it and the Nik Color Efex Pro software, which uses the selective controls too. I also have the other Nik products, Silver Efex (which is an AWESOME black & white processor), Dfine (noise reducer) and their Sharpener. But, I have to use PS to use those other products, which is a pain in the ass. Hopefully they'll make them NX2 compatible someday soon.

I have a D60 and love it, but am dreaming of one of the newer models too.

A fairly affordable macro lens that I have for my D60 is the Sigma 70-300 which is $209 new at Amazon. It doesn't have VR, but does autofocus on the D40s & D60s.

I bought most of my equipment refurb'd, with warranties, from Adorama & B&H - the body, the Sigma and both kit lenses. The only new one I bought was the 50mm, 1.8, manual focus ($125). Since this was my learning camera, I figured it was a good way to get started and be able to have a few lenses.

The first picture is great and it's funny because I just cleaned my snake's house today and took some pics using the 300mm lens. I used a tripod, was on shutter priority, 1s, which gave a f5.6 aperture, ISO 100 with ambient light only.




[Edited 12/2/09 23:19pm]

Fauxie said:

the only time I've shot JPEG on the body itself was yesterday when I was setting up a custom profile for Noise Ninja. RAW for everything else. The camera just applies too much of it's own processing for JPEG capture for my taste.

ZombieKitten said:

did we get any good shots?

ZombieKitten said:

thanks for breaking it down for me, it's easier than I thought

perhaps I should look into a 18-200...

Mars23 said:

http://www.kenrockwell.co....htm#usage

read through this, I find Ken Rockwell guides very helpful!