Photography thread

Discussion in 'Anything Goes' started by Lint, Jan 10, 2016.

  1. Gator

    Gator Insider

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    Samuel, that is a reasonable price for that boat tour. Did you go into the cave that opens up to a big lagoon with a small island in the middle? I think its the first photo on the site you posted. A lot of locals will sea kayak there and get married on that island. Jumping off the cliffs there is fun too, you can go as high as you dare. My friend has a small catamaran boat that turns on a dime and took us in a bunch of cave. Some we had to time with the waves to get into and out of, crazy stuff. The beaches just north of where you left for the trip are really nice. Barking Sands beach is my favorite on that side, not a lot of people.
     
  2. Samuel

    Samuel Member

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    Hey Gator, yes we went into that lagoon, it was pretty cool and I can see people wanting to get married there - we had to stay on the boat lol. I think local (friend, guide, etc) is definitely the way to go - no wait, no hurry, go where you want, leave when you want, go to places you normally can't get to (or have to jump through a bunch of hoops) - they said Honopu Arch/Beach is like that. Next time we go, I think we'll do a little more stopping and exploring (e.g. drove all the way to Ha Ena, only took a peek in one cave near there and then drove back). It was raining something good so we didn't go to the beach there.

    Re: the Sony compact you linked, how would you bang for buck compare that to a Canon GX7 Mark II - is it that good that you would jump brands (since you shoot with 5D's already)?

    All, I'm a rank amateur - my normal combo is a Canon T3i and a Tamron 16-300mm and I have a Canon S110 when I'm feeling lazy and just want to carry something small. The T3i overall is probably a better camera than I am a photographer but I've been running into inconsistencies that have been nagging me and I'm thinking about upgrading to a Canon 80D. I primarily shoot day time or well lit indoors, P or Sport modes w/ auto focus and sometimes full Auto. I'm thinking about going to the 80D because I've been running into nagging inconsistencies - sometimes things will be in focus and sometimes a little fuzzy. This will happen when shooting under the same conditions with the same camera settings from button press to button press. It even happens when taking a group photo, indoors, well-lit, using a 10 second delay and then 10 shot burst, on a tripod. The bummer is that upon cursory review, the picture looks fine but when I get home and zoom, it sucks. I have to now zoom in each time I review to make sure it's crisp - and I don't think I should have to do that, even with my T3i. I'm hoping the 80D will give me more consistency and peace of mind. I'm also thinking about pairing the 80D with a Tamron Sp 150-600mm G2 (model A022) OR the new Tamron 18-400mm... Btw, I've had the 16-300 for many years and this sometimes not in focus problem seems to be only relatively recent... Thoughts please, thanks.
     
  3. 01ragtop

    01ragtop Member

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    I'd be curious to know what settings the camera is applying when you notice the unacceptable focus. Is the shutter speed to low? On the long end of 16-300mm focal length, you could need a pretty high shutter speed for hand held shots.

    If the aperture is wide open, the depth of field may not have been deep enough to get a group of people in focus.

    What focus mode did you use? Does the T3i have auto focus continuous/servo or just single shot? Do you use back button focus or half press shutter to focus? I switched to back button focus about a year ago, and I wish I had made the switch sooner.

    Just some thoughts. I'm no pro though, and don't shoot Canon so there may be something specific to the T3i that I am missing.
     
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  4. John O

    John O New Member

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    I prefer to photograph motorcycles, so here's one from the Honda museum at Motegi speedway:

    2142sharp web.jpg
     
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  5. Lint

    Lint Member

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  6. Gator

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    Samuel your focus problems can be a bunch of different things. Can you choose different focus patterns and methods with that camera? Check that out and see what its set on. I'm not a fan of very wide focal length zoom lenses, they are usually slow (widest aperture is in the 4-5.6 range) and most ramp the aperture up as you zoom in. The faster the lens you have the brighter the image you see, the sharper the focus can be on where you want it. Your focus problem might be that the lens being slow and focusing at such a high aperture it is searching a lot for focus. Especially a WIDE focal length where at a higher aperture it gets very hard to find a razor sharp focus as most everything looks in focus until you zoom in on the computer and see that it is not. As mentioned shutter speed is important, a good rule of thumb with hand held is to match the focal length to the shutter speed. So if your shooting at 200 mm you need a bare minimum of 1/250 of a second shutter speed and that is if you are steady of hand and have a nice smooth press on the shutter release.If your wide say 28mm the minimum shutter would be 1/30th. Spend money on good glass, I can't emphasis that enough.
    The Canon GX7 Mark II is a fantastic little camera. I actually had our marketing dept buy 3 of them. They are bad ass for such a small camera with a very fast sharp lens. The big downfall for me is that it does not have a viewfinder of any sort, it uses a very nice LCD screen like most of the small cameras. If that does not bother you that is a good deal, but I shoot much better with a viewfinder, even if it is a EVF type.
    As far as buying another brand that is not really a big deal, I do use Canons Digital Pro program a lot as i can manipulate a large number of images quickly but there are great programs for the other brands too. I mostly shoot RAW format and occasionally Raw and JPEG at the same time.
    The little Sony has a fast sharp lens with the EVF, rear screen, RAW files, flip up flash, outstanding hi res video and about every new fangled feature there is. And its a lot smaller than my cell phone.
    Look into better glass if you stick with a DLSR system. I use 4 lenses for most everything. Canon 24-70mm f 2.8, 70-200 f2.8, 90mm perspective control lens (that thing is crazy sharp), and a 180 Micro f2.8 thats great for close ups without having to work with bellows or extension tubes. I have longer and wider glass for when I need it but really the 2 zooms do most of the work. They are very sharp at all focal lengths with modest amounts of distortion at wide angles and if that is ever a problem Photoshop has presets for distortion correction specifically for those lenses.
    Keep at it, it takes a bit of digging and a lot of shooting to get it like you want and everyone is different. Poke around on that DP Review site, there is a lot there.
     
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  7. Samuel

    Samuel Member

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    Ragtop and Gator thanks for your feedback and advice! I'm gonna have to look up what you guys said and get back to you... lol!

    Here's an example of what I'm talking about - picture a generic room about 40'x60', indoors, well-lit. I group about 24 or so people against one long side wall in two rows, one kneeling in front and the other standing directly behind. I put my T3i on a tripod and switch it from Auto to P (so I can control the flash) and no other adjustments (yes, focus points/types of focus is adjustable but I usually leave it standard or default). Camera is about 20-25' away from the group, little to no zoom on the lens. I set the controls to 10 second delay with 10 shot burst and use half press to focus (I don't know how to use a back button focus?). Then I full press click, let go, and let it run. 2nd round, no changes made except for the addition of 4-6 more people to the group, front and back. Same everything. 1st set of shots end up a little fuzzy. 2nd set of shots are crisp. If it was always bad (fuzzy), then I'd be forced to figure out a solution. But it's not always bad, it's sometimes bad so I'm lazily kind of just living with it... lol You guys are for sure right that I need to figure out how all the settings work and adjust them as needed - I've just been too busy and/or lazy, as the case may be, to do things the right way... lol Gator, you mentioned good glass - I think I should probably switch the Tamron out with the original kit Canon lenses and see if that changes anything under the same conditions... One issue is that I don't shoot daily or even weekly - it's more like monthly or every couple of months, whenever some kind of special event or get together or something like that comes up. Couple that with my advancing case of CRS and that becomes a problem... lol Thanks for the info on the Sony too!
     
  8. Gator

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    My bet it is the combination of slow glass not working well with the selected focus pattern.

    Guys tend to be bad about RTFM. (Read the fucking manual). lol
     
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  9. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    NOT ME!
     
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  10. 01ragtop

    01ragtop Member

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    From a recent wedding I shot.
    [​IMG]
     
  11. 34468 Randy

    34468 Randy Secret Insider

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    Are you still on speaking terms with the guy? JK. Nice shot though.
     
  12. JimFife777

    JimFife777 New Member

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    A few from my first visit to NYC
    Convention center where I went for work
    ConventionCenter.jpg

    Chrysler Bldg
    ChryslerBldg.jpg

    One of so many from Empire State Bldg
    EmpireStateBldgPan.jpg

    Central Park, walking with the Mrs
    CentralPark.jpg

    Couple from Rockefeller Center
    RockerfellerDeck2.jpg
    RockerfellerDeckPan.jpg
     
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  13. 01ragtop

    01ragtop Member

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    Great stuff.
     
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  14. Gator

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  15. Gator

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    Leslie Reflection.jpg
     
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  16. Gator

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    IMG_0608.jpg This was shot after dark, not completely dark but the long exposure (can't remember but probably 10 seconds or more) makes it look near daylight except you can see stars.
     
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  17. Gator

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    Last edited: Nov 22, 2017
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  18. 01ragtop

    01ragtop Member

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    Took some pics of my daughter this weekend.
    [​IMG]
     
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  19. Lint

    Lint Member

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    My wife wants details on lighting, backdrop etc on this photo. It's really nice!
     
  20. Gator

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    Might be the Christmas lights she is playing with stuck through a black backdrop and shot with a longer focal length and wide aperture.
     
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