The Official Photography Thread - Vol. 3

[dunksrnice]

Nice stuff as always Fong.

 

[7th Chamber]

I'm in the market for a 35mm lens and debating between the 35L and Sigma 35 1.4 Art. Does anyone here have any experience using the Sigma? I've been doing research and it seems that the Sigma gets a lot of love, but I've also read problems with focusing and what not. I appreciate any input. Thanks.

 

[goste187]

I'm in the market for a 35mm lens and debating between the 35L and Sigma 35 1.4 Art. Does anyone here have any experience using the Sigma? I've been doing research and it seems that the Sigma gets a lot of love, but I've also read problems with focusing and what not. I appreciate any input. Thanks.

Don't own either but I do have the Sigma 85 1.4 - No complaints here. Also, I have heard many good things about the upcoming Art line.

My boy also has the 50 1.4 Sigma. Most agree its better than its Nikon/Canon counterparts from reviews I've seen on it.

 

[219elite]

upgraded from the mirrorless NEX to the Canon T3i and got out and played with it this past weekend. perhaps its just me, but the curve from shooting with a mirrorless to a slr is much larger than i anticipated....esp when it came to shutter priority.
example:

 

[goste187]

^ what are the differences that you notice off hand? I once contemplated getting one of those NEX cameras to play with as a side cam.

 

[219elite]

^ what are the differences that you notice off hand? I once contemplated getting one of those NEX cameras to play with as a side cam.

well let me first say this was my first time shooting dynamic movement instead of stationary people/objects. so personally thats the biggest personal hurdle for me. as far as differences, i think theres more you have to do with a slr to get a clean shot than with a mirrorless (my NEX did a lot of thinking for me, even when in manual). i loved my NEX and i think its a great "play around" recreational camera. would be a great side camera, but at the same time i don't think its a replacement for an entry-level slr.

 

[locobaby]

De La Soul.

I have no idea how you got these images to look like this. Meaning very little to no noise with so much in focus with no on camera flash. Also were you manually focusing.

 

[Fong$tarr]

^^^Haha. Way harder than you think. I have that wifi card in my camera and I accidentally unloaded all my photos to my phone and that concert alone, I shot 873 photos and probably came out with like 12 solid ones that I was able to edit. I just shoot a ton in hopes to get a handful that are clear.

And from my experience, it is a combination of things to get the photo that way.

1) Fast lens
2) DSLR with good ISO. Some of these pics were even at ISO6000.
3) Decent lighting at the concert. This actually determines if you need to shoot with a high ISO or not and makes a ton of difference with your shots. This place (Yoshi's) sucks cause there was not spot light and most colors were red and blue making their skin look odd.
4) Editing in photoshop or whatever program cause I always use noise reduction for the background in my photos and sharpen the foreground making it pop more. Also if you lighten your blacks with certain photos, the noise will actually blend as one color.


When I was at the concert, another photographer was next to me with an L lens and a flash. I sort of wonder how his shots turned out but I still like the natural look over the flash one. But a lot of my shots were salvaged cause the OG photos are crap. Even as an FYI, if you see me turn a photo black and white, that means the color was super off. I never post black and whites only if the color version is horrible.

Here are the others that I edited.

 

[la08native]

DE LAAAAA!

Thanks to the few NT fam that have followed me on IG for this give-away I have planned.

I just have to choose the photo and get it printed! Sooooon!...

Peep the Tumblr and all that.

IG @anthonysees93

Couple from some days ago...

 

[goste187]

^^ Hey Fong, just took a look at your photo info on flickr and noticed you shooting at 1/500th sec for the most part. Dunno if you really wanted to freeze them but you could have went down a stop on the shutter speed to cut that 5000 ISO down to 2500. Also did you try any different metering modes?

 

[Fong$tarr]

^^ Hey Fong, just took a look at your photo info on flickr and noticed you shooting at 1/500th sec for the most part. Dunno if you really wanted to freeze them but you could have went down a stop on the shutter speed to cut that 5000 ISO down to 2500. Also did you try any different metering modes?

Didn't even notice that. Your right though.....would have made sense to drop down the ISO and bring up the shutter. Would have helped with some of the grain and freezing better shots. Man.....see. You think you know what you are doing and then you realize why you only got so many good shots. Thanks for the heads up.

LA08NATIVE.....that last shot is crazy. Wish we had freeways like that here.

 

[goste187]

Went out today w/ the tripod.

 

[beardedchefgawd]

i plan on shooting the skyline view of Downtown Los Angeles, any recommendations on what type of lens would be perfect long shooting skylines ?

 

[ecruteakcityboy]

Went out to an old spot me and my friends used to go swimming at and wanted to get a picture on top of a bridge looking out towards the river. We used to cross that bridge like it was no big deal and when I went yesterday I was scared ********. The steel flooring and the creaky wood seemed to be very loose and I was like nope. On top of that I saw a mutilated cat on the bridge I want to go back and grow some balls.

 

[tokes99]

upgraded from the mirrorless NEX to the Canon T3i and got out and played with it this past weekend. perhaps its just me, but the curve from shooting with a mirrorless to a slr is much larger than i anticipated....esp when it came to shutter priority.
example:

you had an nex-F3 right? yea i could totally see that being a challenge, especially because in some ways the nex is more capable than that canon, why the T3i?

^ what are the differences that you notice off hand? I once contemplated getting one of those NEX cameras to play with as a side cam.

well let me first say this was my first time shooting dynamic movement instead of stationary people/objects. so personally thats the biggest personal hurdle for me. as far as differences, i think theres more you have to do with a slr to get a clean shot than with a mirrorless (my NEX did a lot of thinking for me, even when in manual). i loved my NEX and i think its a great "play around" recreational camera. would be a great side camera, but at the same time i don't think its a replacement for an entry-level slr.

i think generally the nexs' are closer to point & shoots because they are pretty menu driven & lack some of functionality of their bigger dslr siblings, but from an image quality standpoint, they pretty much on par (if not a bit better) with entry level dslrs...the thing that you lose coming from a dslr are less dedicated external controls (viewfinder & dials) & less AF compatible lenses that are inexpensive...(though there are plenty of great manual lenses that can be mounted through adapters!)

the sony system isn't the most intuitive, maybe even especially for those coming from (d)slrs, but for myself (and i would think most people in the market for entry level dslrs) it just didn't make sense to buy a big bulky dslr, unfortunately it seems like most people associate size with picture quality...



this one is from one of my "toy lenses, its a 35mm 1.7 cctv manual lens it isn't crazy sharp but it is fun challenging trying to try & get focus wide open

i plan on shooting the skyline view of Downtown Los Angeles, any recommendations on what type of lens would be perfect long shooting skylines ?

probably something on the wider side? below 35mm? though i guess it would depend on how far away you'd be...

 

[mjbetch]

I'm in the market for a 35mm lens and debating between the 35L and Sigma 35 1.4 Art. Does anyone here have any experience using the Sigma? I've been doing research and it seems that the Sigma gets a lot of love, but I've also read problems with focusing and what not. I appreciate any input. Thanks.

One word... Price.

The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 Art is an amazing lens. I didn't get to use it on a full frame camera, but when I had it on my crop, it was great. For the quality you get with the price you pay compared to the L glass, Sigma for sure. There's a reason why everyone is raving about this lens. It's simply an amazing lens for the price. Only downside I would say, is that it's not weather sealed. But that's a non-issue for most.

 

[7th Chamber]

mjbetch

Thanks for the response. I assumed all the rave reviews were for a reason; however, the ones I see about focusing issues and what not make me a little hesitant. I've read about the USB Dock which updates firmware and allows you to adjust the lens to your liking. I think I'll pull the trigger on it. All I hear is that the Sigma is the best and sharpest 35mm out.

 

[219elite]

@tokes99

yea, the NEX F3 was what i started with. and i agree with you about the image quality being on par with dslr images. sony did a great job on these and I'm not sure if they are as appreciated as they should by parts on the photog community. as far as the "upgrade", i wanted to get a dslr so i could learn more and make a lil money on the side doing shots for friends and family. from my research, canon lenses are usually more inexpensive than nikon plus i found canon to be a lil more user friendly and i got a clutch deal on the t3i plus kit lens for only $200

 

[Fong$tarr]

^^^^^^^^Damn......$200! That is an insane deal. I wanted to sell my D90 but think I'd get the same price for it plus it is used. I guess I should just keep it as a back up.

Anyone know of any sites that sell DSLR parts for a Nikon? I need to replace like the rubber sides that hide the USB inputs.

 

[djaward]

This questions has probably been answered in this thread

BUT UM,

What programs do you guys use to edit your photos? Non expensive please.


I use iPhoto on my MAC and its ok but want to get deeper into editing.

 

[Fong$tarr]

Photo software is never expensive as long as you know where to get it.

But people use at most Lightroom or Photoshop. I am not even sure what else is out there.

 

[HankHill]

There is the Aperture software. Maybe just for Mac though. I use LR when edit a lot of photos and Photoshop when doing one-offs

 

[fraij da 5 11]

Bro's, I want to get into doing some Astrophotography!

Not trying to do anything wild just yet... Cant really spend 400+ on telescope and rig for just a noob side project but I'm gonna take some wide field shots for now (clouds permitting) and maybe try to snag a telescope off craigslist and then get some planetary/galactic images. 

 

[benzilla427]

+1 for Lightroom. I actually just got into using it a couple weeks back. I used to mess around with Photoshop in high school but I don't really need that sort of manipulation right now. Maybe down the line I'll download it again.

 

[goste187]

+1 for Lightroom