Photography related discussions

[mike c]

The lens came a few days ago and she really likes it, unfortunately the camera died two days after. She was getting ready to take a shot and the LCD screen started to flicker and displayed half numbers then the camera turned off. The clock battery was replaced and we checked to make sure the other battery was fully charged and it wouldn't turn back on, eventually it turned back on but after a single shot it did the same thing.

We are taking it to a repair shop for an estimate, but have a feeling this it is upgrade time. She is looking at the T1i.

the t1i's replacement should be announced on feb 2010. so you should i either wait for the new one, or wait for the t1i's price to drop.

 

[MidnightSensi]

What's the best way to shoot a home theater?

I realize that is a general question, and it is application dependant, but any guidance?

I have a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a 580EX flash, a 24-150mm 1:4 Canon zoom lense and a 50mm 1:1.4 Canon static lense. I'm just starting to learn to use it, but really the most difficult thing for me to shoot is my home theater.

Check out here for the last pictures I took. Those are all taken without a flash.

My lighting is LED, and its sort of soft in person, but on camera it looks funky and really spot-like. If I use a flash, the light washes away. Then there is the projection screen, which gets really funky with a flash (at least the way I'm using it).

I can open up natural lighting and take pictures during the day, but I feel like a theater should look moody and dark.

Any advice?

 

[mike c]

What's the best way to shoot a home theater?

I realize that is a general question, and it is application dependant, but any guidance?

I have a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a 580EX flash, a 24-150mm 1:4 Canon zoom lense and a 50mm 1:1.4 Canon static lense. I'm just starting to learn to use it, but really the most difficult thing for me to shoot is my home theater.

Check out here for the last pictures I took. Those are all taken without a flash.

My lighting is LED, and its sort of soft in person, but on camera it looks funky and really spot-like. If I use a flash, the light washes away. Then there is the projection screen, which gets really funky with a flash (at least the way I'm using it).

I can open up natural lighting and take pictures during the day, but I feel like a theater should look moody and dark.

Any advice?

nice set of gear!

try a tripod so you can shoot in low light, if there's a camera that can shoot well in ambient lighting, it's the 5D2

 

[MidnightSensi]

nice set of gear!

try a tripod so you can shoot in low light, if there's a camera that can shoot well in ambient lighting, it's the 5D2

Thanks! Yeah, its a cool camera, although a bit over my head.

So long exposure on a tripod without a flash?

 

[highfigh]

What's the best way to shoot a home theater?

I realize that is a general question, and it is application dependant, but any guidance?

I have a Canon EOS 5D Mark II, a 580EX flash, a 24-150mm 1:4 Canon zoom lense and a 50mm 1:1.4 Canon static lense. I'm just starting to learn to use it, but really the most difficult thing for me to shoot is my home theater.

Check out here for the last pictures I took. Those are all taken without a flash.

My lighting is LED, and its sort of soft in person, but on camera it looks funky and really spot-like. If I use a flash, the light washes away. Then there is the projection screen, which gets really funky with a flash (at least the way I'm using it).

I can open up natural lighting and take pictures during the day, but I feel like a theater should look moody and dark.

Any advice?

Always use a tripod and if your camera can "auto-bracket' the exposure, you can choose the best shot. Longer exposures will make it more saturated and the tripod keeps it sharp. If you want, set it to Auto, aperture priority.

The best advice I can give- just shoot a bunch of photos and try different settings. If it's digital, it costs nothing but time and even then, you're learning the camera's characteristics.

 

[mike c]

what he said

 

[Hi Ho]

I am by no means a photo geek. I don't know much about photography. I did just buy a new camera though. It's nothing fancy compared to much of the gear being shown off in this thread but it is perfect for me.

I have been playing with my Panasonic ZS3 for a few days now. I've been having some fun with the auto bracket settings. Here are some shots from around the neighborhood. For some reason Photobucket re sized them and cut the resolution way down.

Those photos were taken with a tripod and I used Picturenaut to combine the three images taken with the auto bracket feature. I really like that HDR look. The widest panorama shot was composed of eight shots taken at full 12x telephoto and stitched together using Microsoft ICE. There are a couple alignment flaws.

This was a 30 second exposure of my driveway (with some junk piled in it ) with just a small amount of light coming from the porch light through the window.



The camera also takes some excellent HD video which is one of the reasons I bought this particular model.

This is a very short and boring video of my at doing nothing.

<object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8943500&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=8943500&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;show_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p>Panasonic ZS3 Test Video from Someone Something on Vimeo.</p>

 

[Sheep]

Always use a tripod and if your camera can "auto-bracket' the exposure, you can choose the best shot. Longer exposures will make it more saturated and the tripod keeps it sharp. If you want, set it to Auto, aperture priority.

The best advice I can give- just shoot a bunch of photos and try different settings. If it's digital, it costs nothing but time and even then, you're learning the camera's characteristics.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I feel I need to chime in here. You have a Canon Speedlight... just bounce the ****er. Stop down your lens to around F8, and you'll have a super sharp photo.

SheepStar

 

[GO-NAD!]

Just curious guys - is there a market for film cameras these days? I have a Ricoh KR-10, a Tamron 28mm and a Vivitar 75-300mm zoom. Certainly not high-end equipment, but it ain't a Kodak 110 instamatic either. The stuff has been in a closet for many years. I was wondering if anyone can/would use this stuff, or should I just chuck it all. It seems like an awful waste to throw it out though...

 

[mike c]

due to limited funds ... only one of these can be afforded in the near future:

70-200 f4 IS
-this will complete my long end
-zoom range is more useful

100L IS
-i like the minimum focusing distance
-i want to try the longer than 85mm focal length for portraiture

this will be for an FF camera.

[i tried the 85mm on my crop to simulate the 135 AOV, i think it's too long for me, but of course, one day i'll prolly be getting it anyway]

[i'm not entirely convinced on the f4 IS vs. f2.8 IS myself, if i go 2.8 IS, this purchase will be pushed for a year]

help! opinions please! my brother is currently in the US, and my window to buy is closing fast.

 

[droht]

Mike, you are not expecting sympathy because of your "lack of funds"' are you?

I like primes myself. Just added the 85mm f/1.8 to my T1i. Very happy with it for portraits so far, and for lower light action where I don't need more length. If I were you I'd be very tempted to go with the 100. While the 70-200/4 gets rave reviews I'd be thinking about the 2.8 just like you are. You can snag a used non-IS 2.8 for a relative bargain to hold you over, then re-sell and upgrade when you are ready.

 

[mike c]

Mike, you are not expecting sympathy because of your "lack of funds"' are you?

I like primes myself. Just added the 85mm f/1.8 to my T1i. Very happy with it for portraits so far, and for lower light action where I don't need more length. If I were you I'd be very tempted to go with the 100. While the 70-200/4 gets rave reviews I'd be thinking about the 2.8 just like you are. You can snag a used non-IS 2.8 for a relative bargain to hold you over, then re-sell and upgrade when you are ready.

i can't handle the non-IS lenses ... i sold my 24-70 2.8 because my hands shake too much.

85 on t1i is like a 135mm angle of view, you don't find it too long?

if i had the money, i'd go for all the lenses in my list NOW!

70-200 f2.8 IS II
100 macro L
135 L
17-40 L as UWA
and maybe a 100-400 (if i got this one, i can live with the f4 IS 70-200)

 

[droht]

The 85 on the crop body is funny. I guess I know it is too long for lots of stuff, so I don't try to use it except when it makes sense. Can't beat it to do portraits of the kids. I use the 50mm/1.8 as well, and I try to make that work as an all purpose lens. But it is still too long quite often. I just refuse to recognize that limitation for some reason.

Next purchase for me is probably the Sigma 30mm/1.4. Or save a bit and go for the 17-55, though I wonder if that lens is really appropriate for the T1i.

What is your current lens line up Mike?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I'd say go with telephoto if you don't have yet anything above 150mm.
There are lots of times you just can't come close enought to object, like classified military object j/k
I'm only amateur photographer and have very humble equip - Nikon D40 18-55 DX (kit) and 55-200 DX VR (cheap ones)
On good day I can score pretty decent shot, DxOptics Pro help a lot.
I have old pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/BoredSysAdmin/DayInMay?feat=directlink

 

[mike c]

The 85 on the crop body is funny. I guess I know it is too long for lots of stuff, so I don't try to use it except when it makes sense. Can't beat it to do portraits of the kids. I use the 50mm/1.8 as well, and I try to make that work as an all purpose lens. But it is still too long quite often. I just refuse to recognize that limitation for some reason.

Next purchase for me is probably the Sigma 30mm/1.4. Or save a bit and go for the 17-55, though I wonder if that lens is really appropriate for the T1i.

What is your current lens line up Mike?

my current lineup is the tamron 17-50 2.8 VC (cheap version of the 17-55)
a canon 35 1.4L (this one is good for an all around lens on crop)
a canon 50 1.8 (plastic fantastic)
a canon 85 1.8 (super bang for the buck lens IMO)

when i bought my tamron, my subconcious kept telling me never to buy third party again ... if you can afford it, go for the 35 1.4 than the sigma 30 1.4.

the 17-55 would be perfect for your t1i. unless you want better primes or telephoto, i'm sure it will never come off your camera.

I'd say go with telephoto if you don't have yet anything above 150mm.
There are lots of times you just can't come close enought to object, like classified military object j/k
I'm only amateur photographer and have very humble equip - Nikon D40 18-55 DX (kit) and 55-200 DX VR (cheap ones)
On good day I can score pretty decent shot, DxOptics Pro help a lot.
I have old pics here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/BoredSysAdmin/DayInMay?feat=directlink

well, i could buy the 100 macro L and a cheap telephoto ... the 55-250 is like 200-300 bucks. the 70-300 is like 400 bucks used. but they're of course slow for indoor use.

what's a dxoptics?

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

what's a dxoptics?

http://www.dxo.com/us/photo/dxo_optics_pro
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/dxo/optics-pro.htm

I use it as my main RAW processor/converter - the huge plus, besides some smart Apreture/WB correction algorithms, is Lens corrections.
These guys basically took sh1t load of glass and measured them all in controlled environment for every f-stop and every zoom level. The results are pretty evident, especially on my cheap lens

p.s: Why do you need to use telephoto indoor ?

 

[mike c]

http://www.dxo.com/us/photo/dxo_optics_pro
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/dxo/optics-pro.htm

I use it as my main RAW processor/converter - the huge plus, besides some smart Apreture/WB correction algorithms, is Lens corrections.
These guys basically took sh1t load of glass and measured them all in controlled environment for every f-stop and every zoom level. The results are pretty evident, especially on my cheap lens

p.s: Why do you need to use telephoto indoor ?

well actually, i only need the 70-135 of the telephoto indoors [and maybe some rare indoor kid graduation or performance stuff] and i've been waiting for a telephoto to get a moonshot for some time now ... did you know there have been TWO blue moons this 2010? i missed them both because i only have an 85mm as my longest FL.

 

[jeffsg4mac]

Here are a couple of my favorite shots. All taken with a first Gen digital rebel except were noted. Scanned photo's were with a nikon N2002 and Tamron 70-300ED lens on Fuji Reala. I lost a ton of digital photo's some time back due to hard drive failure and my stupidity of not having them backed up. I lost a lot of fantastic shots Because of school I have not had any time to go out.

http://web.me.com/jeffrey8mm/Jeffs_Page/Pictures/Pages/My_Favorites.html

 

[Sheep]

i can't handle the non-IS lenses ... i sold my 24-70 2.8 because my hands shake too much.

Less lenses, more skill. I can shoot 1/20th without VR easy.

SheepStar

 

[droht]

The 55-250 is a serious bargain for the price. Definitely lacks speed for lower light stuff, but it performs way out of it's class. I think the 18-55IS kit lens does a nice job as well. These cheap lenses are so good that Canon has made it tough to justify spending $500 - 600 to "upgrade" the kit zooms. Feels like you need to drop four figures on the 17-55 or 70-200 to really feel like you will get a lot of improvement.

I really do keep thinking about the 17-55, but then I think "damn, I can buy two nice primes for that money and still get change back". Makes it tough.