The *Official Photography Thread*

Flickr is amazing to upload with

 

Those look good, man! If I had one suggestion it would be to bring the exposure up a hair on the deer and down a hair on the sky so they don't look gray-ish.

How close was that deer before he spotted ya?

 

I was actually thinking the same after I really looked at both of them. And well we feed them almost every day so they're pretty tame. A couple of them we can almost walk up to and they won't run. I just wanted her to look up at me. lol

 

Just installed Photomatix, so this is my first successful attempt at an HDR. I have no idea what I'm doing, so input will be appreciated. I did figure out how to get the camera to take three consecutive shots in different exposures lol. Any tips for using the program? I am totally new to editing besides using the auto adjustments on free programs like paint.net.

Edit: Just realized the 3 images are referred to as bracketing from the above post which make a lot more since on Photomatix.

 

Looks good man!

Just keep playing with it

 

I've never had any problem removing a filter from the lens, but I've had trouble getting a CP off of a UV.

Bought a pair of filter wrenches

I've noticed that pickings for the 86mm lens is pretty slim, may have to go square with that if I decide to build a set for that.
Other than that, I've got two 52mm Nikons and a 62mm Tamron.
Can't find any adapter combination to take a 62 down to 52, and I'm pretty sure the Nikon hoods won't go on with a 62mm ring mounted.

Not too concerned with vignetting... none of my lenses reveal any at full wide with the OEM hoods attached... but ya, I can see it being an issue with a UV, CP, and a couple of NDs stacked up.

Balancing whether to blow the budget with B&W quality, or settle for the better multicoated Hoya.

 

Fun little size comparison



D7100 & 35mm f/1.8, X-T1 & 35mm f/1.4, OM-D E-M10 & 45mm f/1.8 (same size as new 25mm f/1.8) All 50mm equivalents:



Just something to consider for anyone just getting into photography and don't necessarily need the good continuous AF tracking of a DSLR for quick moving subjects such as sports and wildlife photography.



This thread has really taken off lately. Lots of good photos, discussion, learning and everything. Good variety of skills represented as well. Pretty awesome!

 

B&W, or square

 

HDR

Is that a function of the camera, or are you using a tripod to take 3 or more identical shots and combining them in post?

My 3100 supposedly has HDR capability, but so far the only way I've used it is to lighten some indoor shots against a bright window where I couldn't use a flash.
Is the intent to use the camera to produce multiple images from one shot and combine them in post?
The menu option is "D-Lighting" and allows me to save a duplicate image one stop (I assume) higher and lower than the original.

Example....

I can't find the originals, but I'm pretty sure the darker one (f8, 1/1000) is untouched, and the better one (f5.6 1/125) was adjusted in the camera before I downloaded.

 

I thought the D7100 was a full frame? It's cropped? Maybe I'm confusing it with one of the Dxxx.

 

Nope, it's their flagship when it comes to Crop Sensor but not full frame.

Four digits, (D7000), are APS-C
Three digits, (D700), are FF. perhaps that is the camera you were thinking of?

 

Put my dads 50mm 1.4 on tonight. DOF is sick.

but..its super old and WAY soft. too soft. not sure id use it even for video.

 

The 35 on the Fuji is a 1.4 and their 85mm equivalent is actually a f/1.2 (56mm f/1.2).


1.4 on APS-C is equivalent to 2.1 on FF, all things being equal
1.2 will give equal DOF as a 1.8 on FF. I really don't see a need for more shallow DOF than that, personally. At least not for non-professionals who don't shoot portraits for a living.



EDIT: I totally read your post wrong. After re-reading all of what I said is not really relevant ha sorry.

 

haha all good man. I know its not true 1.4...i am very aware of how a cropped sensor works

On top of that, my adapter ads another 1.5x. So really its much bigger. But still appears better then my f1.8 50mm.

But i probably won't use it much. Super soft and old and its manual focus so a bit harder to shoot in general for a majority of the stuff i shoot.

 

Yup, I know you have the whole cropped sensor DOF down but I know a lot of people come here to read and learn too. Wasn't being condescending ha my bad.

Sometimes lenses just have character and it's not all about IQ. I really like that 50mm E lens I got on the old film camera I picked up and honestly the IQ sucks, but it's a lot of fun and I like the look I get between the film and that lens.

Also, if I hadn't read your post entirely wrong I never would have explained all that ha I'm a derp. It's late and I can't sleep. But I left it in case someone didn't know that sensor size affect DOF, just in case.

Well, off to try and sleep again. I have to be up in less than 6 hours . . . lame.

 

its all good man.

This lens is from the 80s and probably kinda abused and not used much. Its way softer then my other FD lens i have tried.

Still cool though.

 

B+W are great filters. The Hoya isn't bad either.

HDR is a combination of some number of frames that capture the dynamic range of a scene. Most people shoot between 3 and 7 frames. This requires you to lock the camera in position. So a tripod, Gorilla Pod, or maybe even a beanbag pod will work.

The Nikon D3100 does not have automatic exposure bracketing or an HDR feature. AEB makes shooting the images easier but it is not required. You can shoot three images in AV mode that are 0, +1, and -1 exposure compensation. Or you can can shoot more frames if needed. Basically, you need to cover everything from the very dark to the very bright.

If you are creating the HDR from a single frame, you'd process it for 0, +1, and -1 as well (as I described above).

In camera HDR is usually software applied to three different exposures in camera-probably not the best as in some cases, the intermediate files are deleted leaving only the HDR file.

 

More questions from me. I've been researching buying myself a camera. I bought the gf a canon 100D. I want something a little more highend. I've red up on the 70d and 7d. I guess is prefer to stay with canon unless I found an amazing deal on the Nikon 7100.

Any advice?

 

not always the case... I would just look for the DX or FX.
As the D300s and others were Crops.

 

I would get the 70D unless you can find a 7D on the cheap. It uses SD cards like your gf's 100D so you won't need to buy new memory cards, has basically the same autofocus as the 7D (and better than the 7D for video), and has some weather sealing to boot. The only weird thing for me about the 70D is the flip-out articulating touch screen, but you may find that you like it. Best thing for you to do is to stop in a camera or electronics shop and play with one. If they also have a 7D then you can compare the two and see which one feels better in your hands and is more intuitive to use.