The Official Photography Thread - Vol. 3

elderwatsondiggs · Sep 12, 2018

tokes99 said:
i'm sure both will be very capable cameras and if it was a few years ago when mirrorless cameras were less capable they'd be hailed as successes, and i definitely temper my criticism with the fact that both canon's & nikon's cameras aren't out...but i feel like the problem IS that it is so obvious that neither canon or nikon had made these cameras to be their top of the line cameras...

while the 'super 35' format is common, the cropping in on the image is wild inconvenient because it essentially changes the focal length (and the depth of field as well as low light ability) of any given lens, somewhat defeating the advantages of bigger sensors; to my knowledge those other cameras are natively 'super 35'...one of the reasons many people even began to rock with video on dslrs was that the og canon 5d had such a unique look because it basically used the whole sensor, now there are a whole new crop of shooters that are likely using sonys for that unique look when they could be shooting canon...

Bro, at the end of the day Super 35 is the cinema gold standard. Videographers don’t look at camera sensors in the same way. I guess as a hybrid guy I understand or can appreciate the dichotomy better.

Fong$tarr · Sep 12, 2018

It seems the super 35 can just be used for different things. A lot of the issues that I am reading online with the crop factor with the Canon R is with vlogging. I know wide angle lenses can be adapted but the bokeh and other such things won't look as nice. If you are shooting wildlife, than the crop factor is fine and can work.

elderwatsondiggs · Sep 12, 2018

A7iii shoots 4K vid using the entire full frame. Irregardless of the manufacturer it’s a truly remarkable camera. Canon’s Dual Pixel AF is nice, however Sony’s Contrast and PDAF Hybrid AF on the A9 and A7iii is just as spectacular.

The difference is that Canon has to be careful not to cannibalize their DSLR offerings so it seems they held back on their first FF mirrorless. Sony didn’t have that problem (nobody cared about their faux-DSLR A Mount cameras which were basically Minolta’s old mount), so they made their FF Mirrorless their flagships.

BTW, videographers and cinematographers don’t consider Super 35 to be a crop factor lens. That is basically their FF. That’s a photog-centric way of looking at it. There’s a lot of confusion about that so I made sure I did my research and understood the terminology and nomenclature.

iamdef · Sep 12, 2018

keko jones said:
For me lens are more important and you dont need to grow into them. Simple get the best lens possible and it will help your skills and output more than just a camera. From sharpness to color/contrast to stuff like bokeh.

The more I research lenses the more I understand why this logic makes sense. It's one of the main reasons I decided to hold onto my current cam instead of trying to move up in body. At this point I'm internally debating on either a good telephoto or a good wide angle to add to my current limited but working range

tokes99 · Sep 12, 2018

elderwatsondiggs said:
A7iii shoots 4K vid using the entire full frame. Irregardless of the manufacturer it’s a truly remarkable camera. Canon’s Dual Pixel AF is nice, however Sony’s Contrast and PDAF Hybrid AF on the A9 and A7iii is just as spectacular.

The difference is that Canon has to be careful not to cannibalize their DSLR offerings so it seems they held back on their first FF mirrorless. Sony didn’t have that problem (nobody cared about their faux-DSLR A Mount cameras which were basically Minolta’s old mount), so they made their FF Mirrorless their flagships.

BTW, videographers and cinematographers don’t consider Super 35 to be a crop factor lens. That is basically their FF. That’s a photog-centric way of looking at it. There’s a lot of confusion about that so I made sure I did my research and understood the terminology and nomenclature.

all i'm saying is that video from 'full frame' 35mm cameras is a unique look that many people (even some ciniematographer/videographers) want, even if only situationally...and it would be one thing if the 4k crop factor on the canon cameras was actually a super 35 crop but it is actually even larger and it isn't like sony doesn't also have a a dedicated video camera business (like their fs5/7) that their a7 line could cannibalize but i think sony smartly understands the fact/reality is these are different consumers...it sucks that canon continues to kinda cripple their consumer cameras to protect their cinema business

keko jones · Sep 12, 2018

There are still people that want a great camera (DSLR) just for their intended purpose of taking pictures and nothing more.

However, the new regime wants a camera that does it all. Actually, I think they want a camera that do superb video and give little, to no importance to still images. They don't want to spend the kind of money cinematography camera cost and hence, they end up with DSLR that will do great videos for a fraction of the cost.

Why spend 6-9K??

Bottom line, there are lanes for everything .....

budget DSLR for beginners that are not sure what they want to do

midlevel DSLR Canon xD and xxD Nikon Dxxx Sony A7x and so on

pro bodies that are twice or three times as much as midlevel

And Cinema Cams .....

People are just to consumed and believe their **** and more often than not, those same people are looking at videos and pictures in tablets and phones and you can hear them saying, my iPhone is good enough ...

not sure where I was going .... oh well. LOL

keko jones · Sep 12, 2018

Fong$tarr said:
It's all good in the hood fellas. All this convo here is gravy so no need to take things to that level. This thread continues to be one of the few things I check so hate to make it look like the other posts in the general forum.

I just came back from Portland and Washington over the weekend and just saw a ton of waterfalls. Got to really use my 10 stop ND filter but it sort of backfired on me as it was too dark in a lot of situations. I ended up shooting 30 second exposures at like f/2.8 at times. So not all of it was tack sharp but still not bad either.

These are dope ....

Was you using ND, and/or ND gradient? That balance in the 1st picture is insane, love it.

I hate doing long exposures in nature, because I find the find ****ing with the vegetation, but you nailed these. LOVE IT

BTW, the post is crazy .... HDR?

elderwatsondiggs · Sep 12, 2018

keko jones said:
There are still people that want a great camera (DSLR) just for their intended purpose of taking pictures and nothing more.

However, the new regime wants a camera that does it all, actually, I think they want a camera that do super video and can give little to no importance of still. However, they don't want to spend the kind of money those cinematography camera cost and hence, they end up with DSLR that will do great videos for a fraction of the cost.

Why spend 6-9K??

Bottom line, there are lanes for everything .....

budget DSLR for beginners that are not sure what they want to do

midlevel DSLR Canon xD and xxD Nikon Dxxx Sonny A7x and so on

and pro bodies that are twice or three times as much as midlevel

Plus Cinema Cams and so on .....

People are just to consume and believe their **** and more often than not, a lot of people are looking at videos and pictures in tablets and phones and you can hear them saying, my iPhone is good enough ...

not sure where I was going .... oh well. LOL

Actually your post isn’t rambling Keko. You’re absolutely correct. I agree.

Fong$tarr · Sep 12, 2018

keko jones said:
These are dope ....

Was you using ND, and/or ND gradient? That balance in the 1st picture is insane, love it.

I hate doing long exposures in nature, because I find the find ****ing with the vegetation, but you nailed these. LOVE IT

BTW, the post is crazy .... HDR?

Thanks dude. I am using a circular polarizer to try and cut essentially cut reflection but it doesn't always work and then I have the big 10 stop ND filter which I think is the darkest you can get. The reason why I got the 10 stop is cause I am never that guy that only goes to shoot photos at dawn or dusk so might as well get something I can use in the sun. But I would probably want to invest in a 4 stop ND just for darker environments like these waterfalls. The 10stop was just way too dark.

And a lot of the photos are stacked images again. I bracketed 3 exposures and used each for different purposes whether the exposure in the sky, water, dark areas, etc. The images aren't totally sharp though since I shot at like f/2.8 or a little more closed but it was what I could work with at the time.

keko jones · Sep 12, 2018

Fong$tarr said:
Thanks dude. I am using a circular polarizer to try and cut essentially cut reflection but it doesn't always work and then I have the big 10 stop ND filter which I think is the darkest you can get. The reason why I got the 10 stop is cause I am never that guy that only goes to shoot photos at dawn or dusk so might as well get something I can use in the sun. But I would probably want to invest in a 4 stop ND just for darker environments like these waterfalls. The 10stop was just way too dark.

And a lot of the photos are stacked images again. I bracketed 3 exposures and used each for different purposes whether the exposure in the sky, water, dark areas, etc. The images aren't totally sharp though since I shot at like f/2.8 or a little more closed but it was what I could work with at the time.

I know we went over this, when you say stack, do you mean you merge them into HDR in post or you use parts of each image and make them into one.

Fong$tarr · Sep 12, 2018

keko jones said:
I know we went over this, when you say stack, do you mean you merge them into HDR in post or you use parts of each image and make them into one.

I mean it's kind of used for both HDR and even just using parts if the image to make one. I just find stacking images cleaner rather than just editing on one RAW file. Also when you stack images, you can just take the best of one photo and blend in with another to get either a better sky, better light, etc.

This is essentially is the blending that I try to do. The waterfalls aren't the best example of it but at night shooting pics with color, it's the best way to get a clean photo.

keko jones · Sep 12, 2018

Fong$tarr said:
I mean it's kind of used for both HDR and even just using parts if the image to make one. I just find stacking images cleaner rather than just editing on one RAW file. Also when you stack images, you can just take the best of one photo and blend in with another to get either a better sky, better light, etc.

This is essentially is the blending that I try to do. The waterfalls aren't the best example of it but at night shooting pics with color, it's the best way to get a clean photo.

I know what you mean, I find that if you have a great single RAW, properly expose and not clipping, you can do a crazy edit, but when the shadows are way to under or highlights over, you're ****ed.

I might try to do something different next time. I just do not like to spend hours in photoshop editing. I'm lazy.

keko jones · Sep 12, 2018

My body ready ....

elderwatsondiggs · Sep 12, 2018

My Real Estate clients go GaGa over HDR. I'm customer-centric, I do what they want cause they're paying me, doesn't matter what I feel about it. Anyway I exposure bracket 5 photos and ingest them into Lightroom then go to work. Once you develop a workflow it doesn't take long at all. Even better when you have a beefy workstation. iMac Pro cuts through it like a hot knife through butter.

yanky · Sep 12, 2018

iamdef said:
I plan on using the Turo app. Kinda like Airbnb but for cars.
Do you use flash?

Nah all natural sunlight. I don't own a flash lol

fapmasterjr · Sep 13, 2018

iPhone X | Arcosanti, AZ

elderwatsondiggs · Sep 14, 2018

Got tired of being in backorder limbo with the a7iii, so I switched the order this morning to get the a7Riii. My media packages are truly hybrid consisting of photo and video so I look forward to the Pixel Shift feature which basically gives you an image with 4 times the native 42MP resolution. And no fanboy. Sony isn’t the only OEM with that feature.

Sony was smart with the A7iii though. It’s arguably better than the more expensive a7Riii in a few areas yet it sells for sub $2000.

I might start posting my good pictures soon lol.