The *Official Photography Thread*

So I did get that poor mans Leica and I have to say that I'm not all that impressed, I have only played with it for a short while but it is pretty soft, especially above 200mm. Ultimately it is a pretty cheap unit and I'm comparing it to flagship Nikon stuff so I may just never be happy with it, I'll play with it some more but I may just flip it as it was a bargain. If I can get enough out of it I may have enough $$$ to try a Sony RX10 iii.

 

Getting a Shining vibe for some reason

 

For those that shoot at 400mm or more do you keep SS 1:1 or up it a bit more?

 

Depends. Motorsports, might wanna introduce motion blur. Same with BIF. I have always had better luck on a gimbal (like wimberly) tripod head so I don’t introduce the wrong kinda of motion.

BTW, practice to find what SS works.

 

It depends. Most of the time I’m at 400mm or above I’m shooting birds/wildlife and the shutter speed is often 1000-2500fps. Rule of thumb I learned was 1:1.5 shutter speed for longer focal lengths but I’ve gone lower than 1:1 on occasion and the world hasn’t ended.

 

I’ve never shot more than 200mm so some of it may be technique, but I think this 25-400 lens is soft at the long end.

I have a Z70-200 2.8 and a 2x tc, I’ll have a play with that, if I’m getting soft images with that then it’s my technique and I need to dedicate some time to practice with a longer lens.

With my work I never use more than 200mm and my clients aren’t usually moving too quickly so 1:1 works well, however now with these 50mp sensors you have to definitely get your technique dialled in.


I’ll continue with setting the new camera up and see if I can get it to work better. I feel like it’s front focusing but I’m pretty sure there is no adjustment on this thing.
I’ll also have play on a tripod tomorrow and test the lens at every 25mm or so to check for accuracy.

 

The tripod will help. But I would look at focus settings and focus points. If you shoot f2 and are focused on something just a few feet in front or behind your subject, you’ll be oof. That is especially true with the TC.
There are also switches on the lens for setting focus—up close or farther away.

Download a DOF calculator to give you an idea of what should be in focus.

Good luck.

 

Here are a few pics taken with an iPhone during my travels around New York.
The last one is a fella who had just done heroin across from the governor's office on third ave.

 

One of my favorite photos I’ve taken. Canadian Wagon Bridge in Canadian, Texas. Taken with my old Pentax K100D.

 

Depending on light I can get great shots at 1/60, always handheld.
With VR and tools like Topaz the shots are rarely so messed up I can't use them.

Of course I prefer 1000-4000 but I don't control the light out in the field...

 

Here's some randoms...

 

Here's a few from my Redwood experience...

 

Last few… I promise

 

Yeah I played with the tripod and it’s still somewhat soft at the long end. I think with this type of superzoom (25-400) there are some big trade offs in terms of image quality/convenience.

It is what it is but I would probably be better off using one of my old bodies and picking up a Nikon 18-200mm. IQ would be significantly better than this Leica/Panny and I could quite happily crop into 400mm from the raw.

EDIT: Just remembered I recently sold my only DX Nikon

 

Here's a few of my truck that I like. I don't have many actual shots on TW, just raw pictures I've snapped. Both of these were shot on my iPhone 13 pro.

 

Try before you buy: lensrentals.com

I was shooting with a

$849 Nikon D3500 W/ AF-P DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Black

Nikon D3500 and rented the D7200 along with the Sigma 100-400 and the Tamron 100-400.
The Sigma produced better images and the D7200 only had like 2,000 on the shutter count. Bought the D7200 and
the Sigma for a very reasonable price.

It's a good place to try out new gear before throwing down.

 

Uploaded a few shots from my phone.


BMW M5CS. Snapped this yesterday on my phone.


Lake Superior sunset, also shot on iPhone.


My coworker's WRX. This one was shot on my Nikon D90 with either a Sigma 30mm or Nikon 50mm. Can't remember which one.

I find that I use my phone way more often to take pictures. It's way more convenient and I really don't have to compromise. At this point the sensor technology on my phone has surpassed both of my "professional" cameras.

 

It's a good starting point but many times you'll want to be a bit higher to make sure your image is tack sharp. Nikon has a beautiful newer version of the 300m F4. I can shoot that handheld all day long and in bright light it's a great lens.

You have to be prepared for the weather. As soon as it gets dimmer or rainy, you have to change how you shoot to make sure you're still getting good results.

You might say, well I'll just jack my ISO up, well yeah, you can, but you have to keep in mind the noise, how big are you going with the photo if printing? How far away will it be viewed? Always keep in mind the post process and final usage.