Members Mediterranean Posted January 14, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 14, 2012 Beautiful photos...and structures I don't know much about film, but it would really suck if the resulting photo quality depended on the photo developing skills of the technician. If this is true, I'd develop my own photos, but I'm not sure about the cost of setting up one's own photo lab at home. Not only that, you have to scan the photos once they are developed. That will only add more artifacts into them, unfortunately. Although resolution cannot be improved once a photo is shot/processed, I suggest you scan them at the highest resolution your scanner can allow. Then shrink them down to whatever size is allowed in the websites/fora where they'll be posted. Photo-editing software can help reduce noise from grainy photographs to a certain extent, but nothing beats the quality of the original. I personally try to take the best shot I can from the start so that I don't have to do a single thing to it in Photoshop [other than adding things like credits, "framing" the photo, etc]. No matter how invisible to the eye, something always gets lost in post-processing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Acid Hazard Posted January 14, 2012 Members Share Posted January 14, 2012 Developing your own color film isn't really an option. Its pricey and the chemicals are rather horrendous =o] However, developing your own B&W is ideal, since B&W film was made with the idea it would be developed at home. And its easy. These were all edited slightly in PS. Mostly just an added level adjustment layer add some contrast. Not a lot though. Though a few needed some black levels added in due to being a bit under exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bruto Posted January 15, 2012 Members Share Posted January 15, 2012 Originally Posted by Acid Hazard I've recently gotten into photography. Bought an old Pentax MX SLR and have gone through 2 rolls. Here's a few of the newest ones. I'm still learning... My first SLR was a Pentax MX. These are excellent photos! I love the color. I have more than a few film cameras - SLRs, rangefinders, point and shoots, etc - not sure how many as a matter of fact. I've just loaded my Canon AF35ML with a roll of film. Plan to go out and shoot it tomorrow. This early auto focus shoots great pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Acid Hazard Posted January 15, 2012 Members Share Posted January 15, 2012 I just picked up a Pentax K100DS DSLR this afternoon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted January 15, 2012 Members Share Posted January 15, 2012 Developing your own color film isn't really an option. Its pricey and the chemicals are rather horrendous =o] However, developing your own B&W is ideal, since B&W film was made with the idea it would be developed at home. That's interesting. I've known a few people who developed their own and always just assumed they did B&W because it looks cool and moody, lol guess I was probably wrong. Well yesterday I cycled up the Leeds-Liverpool canal from Armley Mills to Bingley Five Rise Locks, nice early morning with a heavy frost still down that covered everything in spakles in the sunshine... and forgot my bloody camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted January 20, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 20, 2012 A couple of homemade commercials lol. White backgrounds are extremely difficult to obtain. I will build my own "white box" and buy some good lights The "behind the scenes" of the first commercial. The most low-tech setup you've ever seen, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Acid Hazard Posted January 20, 2012 Members Share Posted January 20, 2012 What you need under those glasses is some creative lighting using your iPad =o] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Gribs Posted January 20, 2012 Members Share Posted January 20, 2012 I just mess around with a Canon Rebel xTi. It is pretty much an entry level DSLR, but it does what I need it to do just fine (family and ebay photos mostly). My wife has a Panasonic LX7 that I bought her for her birthday year before last. For a little point-and-shoot thing it takes phenomenally good pictures. I did my research and got her what I thought was the best value in point-and-shoots at the time.Are we allowed to discuss video cameras here? I am in the market for a nice HD video camera for family videos and also for stuff like making demos of modules and whatnot. I think it would be fun to try that. Does anyone have any input for that? I am considering the Canon VIXIA G10, but I wonder if it might be overkill for what I want to do. Does anyone have any input on what the best value (price/performance) for a consumer-grade HD video camera? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members KingVidiot Posted January 20, 2012 Members Share Posted January 20, 2012 I have a Vixia HF200, and for the money and size it's a great little camera. I also got the underwater housing for it, so I can take it scuba diving when I have a chance. My only beef so far is the lack of an actual focus ring (I'm old school) and the need to be farther from a subject to shoot "macro" than I would like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted January 21, 2012 Members Share Posted January 21, 2012 I am quite the worst photographer, but we've had some great sunsets lately so I figured that if I carried my camera for a week or two I might just happen to be in a handy place when they occurred. And they are quite hard to go wrong with. Just done on a bog standard telephoto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted January 21, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 21, 2012 Nice photos PC. Good composition.They're a little blurry and grainy. Get a tripod and keep it in your car, like I do. For action [catching something that's happening quickly], a tripod doesn't solve the problem since it takes time [valuable time] to set it up and take the shot. But for sceneries such as the ones you photographed, a tripod is a must! [no shakiness].For the noise [graininess], play with the ISO [the lower the better]. What kind of camera is it? If you're not familiar with ISO and other important features, I can help you use them. You have to take advantage of what the camera has to offer as far as features. Get the most out of it. You'll be surprised at how much more improvement the quality of your photos will have, and it's actually very easy.I am still learning too, and I have yet to produce the "perfect" photo. It's never exactly how I want it to be. But sometimes those unexpected results are interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted January 21, 2012 Members Share Posted January 21, 2012 I'm using a Nikon Coolpix S225.Perhaps you can tell me what is causing the banding effect in the first pic? It's not unpleasant but wasn;t there in the actual scene, just as the camera automatically adjusts to the light level, the colour of the sunset splits up into bands of yellow, orange and red like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bernard Posted January 21, 2012 Members Share Posted January 21, 2012 Originally Posted by Purity_Control I'm using a Nikon Coolpix S225. Perhaps you can tell me what is causing the banding effect in the first pic? It's not unpleasant but wasn;t there in the actual scene, just as the camera automatically adjusts to the light level, the colour of the sunset splits up into bands of yellow, orange and red like that. The bit depth per colour channel is probably low. The light response is non linear, so in shadow, albeit this is colour shadow, you get less gradation and so banding can occur. Plus then you have to consider how the camera is processing the RAW data, if straight to in camera JPEG, the JPEG engine may not be that powerful and add to the effect... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted January 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 I agree with Bernard in that that kind of artifact [banding] is caused by low bit depth, but I'm not sure that's what I'm seeing in the photo. It looks natural to me. Maybe it's just a coincidence/optical illusion because there are several layers of clouds [not just one] with the light producing different intensities of a warm color as it hits each layer. Plus I checked the exif of the photo [image data embedded into the image file when the photo is taken] and it says it's 24 bit. If you didn't do anything to the image [like mess with the bit depth in Photoshop or the camera's own editing software, etc], it's unlikely that's banding. This is what banding [called posterization technically] looks like. 24 bit on the left, 8 bit on the right. Look how homogenous and distinct the bands on the right are. The ones on your photo are not homogenous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kooki_sf Posted January 22, 2012 Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 Originally Posted by Mediterranean White backgrounds are extremely difficult to obtain. learn to use a 3 way color corrector and it is pretty easy actually. its not much different from using a nice multiband compressor in the end... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kooki_sf Posted January 22, 2012 Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 Originally Posted by Gribs Does anyone have any input on what the best value (price/performance) for a consumer-grade HD video camera? yes. I work in video land these days. forget cam-corders completely. the best value these days is in the DSLRs. as for what to buy it comes down to how long you expect your takes to be. if you need >10 mins a take at full hd (1080p) , go with the panasonic lumix gh2, otherwise the canon t2i or t3i are cheaper and will do the same thing ( and can film up to half an hour on 720p, but limit to about 10 mins per take on 1080p). the benefit to the DSLRs is the lenses. and they take awesome photos too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Purity_Control Posted January 22, 2012 Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 Plus I checked the exif of the photo [image data embedded into the image file when the photo is taken] and it says it's 24 bit. If you didn't do anything to the image [like mess with the bit depth in Photoshop or the camera's own editing software, etc], it's unlikely that's banding. I mean that it was a slow graduation in the original scene, the bands were not there to actually look at, and only appear as the camera adjusts to the (relatively dark) light level. Light source: Dildoes? Were you checking if I read all the way through that specification? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bernard Posted January 22, 2012 Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 There is a nice article done by Adobe that explains banding in digital cameras.Typically SLR's have 12 bits per channel of colour. The latest (flagship) SLR camera's have 14 and some MFB's claim 16 although some are padding the last two bits.Some cheaper cams have 10 or less bits per channel. In low light like the photo from Purity, it is possible very few gradations of light sensitivity are possible (once again the adobe article will explain)....The sensor on that camera is also tiny so the pixels are at there limit in low light...Canon have just shook the point and shoot world with a sensor slightly bigger than 4 thirds. That will be a camera I may consider in the future as sensor size is also very important... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bernard Posted January 22, 2012 Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 ISO 800 on such a small sensor is usualy hiddeous... Check camera reports.. try to use a slow shutter speed (with human tripod as in shooting technique) and a lower ISO if the camera allows ISO control... Some of those are full auto everything...Nikons recent small P&S usually have awful JPEG engines as before... If the camera offers RAW shooting that will allow better post edit... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Acid Hazard Posted January 22, 2012 Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 Here's a few more i did last night on my way home from work. All using a Pentax K100DS. This one was using the stock DA 18-55mm Lens. ISO 400 Chinar 28mm Wide Angle Lens. ISO 800 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted January 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 It you didn't mention the make and model of your camera, I would have sworn you used a film camera. The colors are awesome ["analog" look], especially on the first two photos.And lol@ "Cock on duty" on the first image.That's one of the wonderful things about taking photos, especially using digital cameras. You get home and go through the bazillions of pics you took and you *will* discover something interesting/unusual/unexpected in at least one of them, something you haven't realized was there at the time of the shooting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted January 22, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 Originally Posted by kooki_sf learn to use a 3 way color corrector and it is pretty easy actually. its not much different from using a nice multiband compressor in the end... How? I use Sony Vegas. When I play with color correction in it, it fixes something and messes up something else. So I try to avoid using it [or at least use it the least possible]. The photo/video must be the best it can possibly be in the first place: when it is recorded. Lighting is very important. Next time I will use the whitest background and the whitest lights I can find. Is there a specific kind of light bulb that would be best suited for photography/videography? what's a good wattage? Originally Posted by Purity_Control I mean that it was a slow graduation in the original scene, the bands were not there to actually look at, and only appear as the camera adjusts to the (relatively dark) light level. Light source: Dildoes? Were you checking if I read all the way through that specification? I understand what you're saying PC, but I'm personally still not convinced it's posterizing/banding. It could be some kind of other artifact. A pro will have to look at it. This British-based website is one of the best I've seen. Their Nikon talk forum: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1007 I am glad you caught the "light source" thing on that attachment. It means you pay attention and are observant! Suggestion: never use the automatic mode when taking photos unless you have to! For example: 800 ISO is horrendous [like Bernard said]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bernard Posted January 22, 2012 Members Share Posted January 22, 2012 Med you'll love this (from a point and shot not a DSLR or interchangable lens type):http://www.usa.canon.com/app/images/...l_sample_2.JPG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mediterranean Posted January 23, 2012 Author Members Share Posted January 23, 2012 Originally Posted by Bernard Med you'll love this (from a point and shot not a DSLR or interchangable lens type): http://www.usa.canon.com/app/images/...l_sample_2.JPG That is simply incredible. Shot with a non-dSLR camera, damn! According to your link, it's the Canon PowerShot G1X. and it looks like it just came out. And I am glad camera manufacturers are starting to use more and more CMOS sensors instead of CCD sensors in non-SLR digital cameras! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMNU7RQWUL4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Bernard Posted January 23, 2012 Members Share Posted January 23, 2012 You can see here how close you get to banding even on a great sensor like that one:http://www.usa.canon.com/app/images/...l_sample_1.JPGCanon have said they rate the sensor better than the EOS7D (and other with 18MP sensors). TBH I was never a fan of the out of those. This one looks acceptable for a P&S...And yes it is very new and not cheap but nothing like it in the point and shoot world...The equivalent DSLR, Flash and Zoom would not be so practical. I really think it is going to bridge the gap for many who would not want to cart around a bigger rig... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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