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GAF Photography 2009 - Q1

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Testing my new macro bellow.

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Closeup of the stem.
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And I got a new flash, one that lets the head swivel 180 degrees to the right and 90 degrees to the left, as well as up 90+. Wireless TTL works great on both of them.

3236624132_f8cea7c220.jpg


I took this with the wireless flashes. I dont have proper diffusers yet, so I built an elaborate maze of white A4 paper to get the lightning as I wanted. Looked pretty crazy. :D
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what bellow did you use? how much?

Futureman said:
Just bought the Sigma 50mm f1.4 off of B&H.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh GOD I can't wait to get it and take some photos.
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nice. check to see if it back/front focus....
 
so_awes said:
what bellow did you use? how much?
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Vivitar T-mount. I got a converter for Minolta AF so it works with my Alpha cameras. Two lenses, Spiratone Anastigmat 1:4.5 150mm and a Spiratone Macro 1:3.5 25mm.


3219636309_c1e38fc343.jpg



I bought it from a guy at pbase.com , it was 220USD including 20USD for shipping.
 
aidan said:
I'm intensely jealous of you, Forsete.

Those shots are fantastic.
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Hey thanks. :)

I love your shots on the other page, especially the one with the car. Nice choice of colours, the old car and the mist gives me the chills. Silent Hill! :D
 
so_awes said:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3464/3227062871_703c73b2e8.jpg [/IMG ]

[IMG]http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3413/3227062739_80a6a315ec.jpg [/IMG ][/QUOTE]
Beautiful Pictures, what kind of lens/camera did you use?
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Forsete said:
Hey thanks. :)

I love your shots on the other page, especially the one with the car. Nice choice of colours, the old car and the mist gives me the chills. Silent Hill! :D
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Thanks!

We had this crazy intense fog roll over the island I live on for several days. There was no bloody way I was going to miss that opportunity. I've been meaning to photograph that truck for a while now (I walk by it a few times a week) and the fog was a perfect backdrop.
 
Kawaii said:
Beautiful Pictures, what kind of lens/camera did you use?
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thanks, dude. i used the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for the macaw pic and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro for the yellow flower pic.
 
so_awes said:
nice. check to see if it back/front focus....
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word. focus is hilariously off pm the one i just got from amazon

black_mamba: keep the india pics coming. i'm insanely jealous
 
Futureman said:
Hmm, so what did you do? Return it to amazon or try to get Sigma to adjust it??

so_awes, any focusing problems with yours?
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i think it has the front focus problem...some time it's really sharp at 1.4 sometimes it's not, pretty weird.

i want to send it back to Sigma and have them fix it but i don't know how to show/prove the problem to them.
 
so_awes said:
i think it has the front focus problem...some time it's really sharp at 1.4 sometimes it's not, pretty weird.

i want to send it back to Sigma and have them fix it but i don't know how to show/prove the problem to them.
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See my post here: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=14492381&postcount=106

For best results, you would have to send in your camera too so they can calibrate the lens to your camera more precisely.
 
Any opinions on the Sigma 55-200 f4.5-5.6 DC? I can get one for pretty cheap (130 Canadian dollars) and it's tempting since I'm feeling like I've outgrown the kit lense that came with my Rebel XT.

I know it's not a top level lense, but is it worth the cost?
 
aidan said:
Any opinions on the Sigma 55-200 f4.5-5.6 DC? I can get one for pretty cheap (130 Canadian dollars) and it's tempting since I'm feeling like I've outgrown the kit lense that came with my Rebel XT.

I know it's not a top level lense, but is it worth the cost?
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Beats me.

I'd get a 50 1.8 for cheap instead if you haven't already.
 
Futureman said:
Hmm, so what did you do? Return it to amazon or try to get Sigma to adjust it??
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it's headed back today. unfortunately while i had the test chart set up i tested some other stuff and realized that my body is probably off as well. it's been out of warranty for about 3 trillion years so i'm a little bummed about that.

remember to rack out your lens to both focus scale extremes when you test and do several trials at each aperture/distance with mirror up mode and cable release or self timer. make sure you have the measurement target at 45 degrees to the focus plane. a solid tripod (which i don't have) really makes things easier.

there's also this lensalign thing for 80$ (ungodly expensive) that makes things significantly more accurate and easier.

speaking of my body being out of calibration -- at some point you may have to just give up and accept looser mechanical tolerances than you'd like. there's a reason AF lenses still have focus rings...

ps, oh, last thing: color temperature of the light on the focus target can actually affect the accuracy of phase detection AF. i blasted my target with a full spectrum lamp, but i have no idea whether that actually helped or not. i've been tending to check for consistent focus instead of absolute accuracy -- this may or may not be right, but inconsistent focus seems to point more to lens miscalibration (in an AFS/HSM lens) or binding than miscalibration in the body (phase detection unit or lens mount)

to rant a little bit more about AF, i honestly can't wait until consumer slrs are all evils and AF is 100% contrast detect and accuracy is a non-issue. phase detect AF is an interesting hack from a bygone era at this point.
 
aidan said:
Any opinions on the Sigma 55-200 f4.5-5.6 DC? I can get one for pretty cheap (130 Canadian dollars) and it's tempting since I'm feeling like I've outgrown the kit lense that came with my Rebel XT.

I know it's not a top level lense, but is it worth the cost?
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doesn't canon make a kittish 55-200mm IS (comparable to the nikon 55-200 VR)?
 
Loving the new 85 1.2

Just need to get out and take more pictures. Here are some snapshots from my first 24 hours with it. All straight out of camera and wide open at 1.2

463090683_eyXtd-M.jpg


464068697_74cCQ-M.jpg


465662962_izLo8-M.jpg


465662969_7BTS6-M.jpg


465662960_kEbQK-M.jpg
 
aidan said:
Any opinions on the Sigma 55-200 f4.5-5.6 DC? I can get one for pretty cheap (130 Canadian dollars) and it's tempting since I'm feeling like I've outgrown the kit lense that came with my Rebel XT.

I know it's not a top level lense, but is it worth the cost?
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I'd only buy it if you have to have a zoom and there was a return policy.

OTOH, if there's anyone on this board that can take a crap lens and make it sing, it'd be you.
 
Cool pics!

I love renting stuff. I might give lensrentals a try. I normally use borrowlenses. Every few months they offer a free week with a 10day+ rental. I checked out the 16-35 2.8 for 17 days for about $90 shipped and insured. Turns out I don't like ultra-wide as much as I thought and I'm glad I didn't just buy it. :lol
 
Zeth said:
465662960_kEbQK-M.jpg
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This is really cool. Too bad your buddy's not drinking better beer!

Grimlock said:
I'd only buy it if you have to have a zoom and there was a return policy.

OTOH, if there's anyone on this board that can take a crap lens and make it sing, it'd be you.
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You give me too much credit, man.

About the lens, that's more or less what I wanted/expected to hear. I'll take a pass.
 
Just got my bulb blower and used it to clean dust off of my camera's sensor. So far, so good. It seems to have done the trick. Thanks for the help, guys!
 
mrkgoo said:
My current assignment entry (Theme: Unusual point of view).
3184503820_2fb5ac2775_o.jpg


It's something I've been meaning to take for a while, an image after M.C. Escher.


Assigment rejects (for now). Click to embiggen.



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These are from Willamette Hall, University of Oregon. Hey fellow Duck!! :D
 
Shinobix said:
Do you recommend a Canon EOS Rebel XS for a beginner like myself? Or should I save some more for a EOS Digital Rebel XTi EF-S?

Thanks!
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Beginners should get a cheap SLR body and a good lens. By the time you get used to an SLR and start to crave more functionality out of your camera, enough time will have passed that better bodies will have been released/current bodies will have dropped in price.

IMO, that's better than getting a camera that's too advanced from the get go. It's just a big waste. Bodies depreciate in value fast. Lenses don't.
 
Shinobix said:
Do you recommend a Canon EOS Rebel XS for a beginner like myself? Or should I save some more for a EOS Digital Rebel XTi EF-S?

Thanks!
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What Renthamster said. I would just get the less expensive one of the two. You'll begin to find out that your selection of lenses will effect your style of shooting more than the body itself ever will.
 
I love the processing but some would probably comment that it looks a bit strong (unless those are film?). The first shot of the ball is fantastic, love the angle of light you caught that's really brings out the texture of the sidewalk.

The last shot is lovely too. The way you worked in the street sign and post as far as composition is great.
 
it has come to my attention that some of you have wildly inaccurate monitors.

in particular, i have two screens, both calibrated with an i1. one of them (an imac built-in) has a nuclear backlight that i can't turn down for various reasons. the other is actually pretty accurate, and has really nice black levels. i've been noticing multiple pictures in the various threads that have way more than intended detail sitting at black.. or so i thought, until i moved the window over to the monitor with the nuclear backlight.

so, as we discussed before, really accurate color is hard. gamma, luckily, isn't too bad, and one can get pretty close by hand. something to try:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

in addition to gamma, i've noticed a lot of the cheaper laptop TNs have really nasty color casts (my lenovo has a natural blue point, not a white point). in that case, you may be able to find a "calibrated" profile for your monitor made by someone else. heck, if you have a 20" aluminum imac, i can give you mine. won't be perfect, but is usually an improvement.
 
fart said:
it has come to my attention that some of you have wildly inaccurate monitors.

in particular, i have two screens, both calibrated with an i1. one of them (an imac built-in) has a nuclear backlight that i can't turn down for various reasons. the other is actually pretty accurate, and has really nice black levels. i've been noticing multiple pictures in the various threads that have way more than intended detail sitting at black.. or so i thought, until i moved the window over to the monitor with the nuclear backlight.

so, as we discussed before, really accurate color is hard. gamma, luckily, isn't too bad, and one can get pretty close by hand. something to try:

http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

in addition to gamma, i've noticed a lot of the cheaper laptop TNs have really nasty color casts (my lenovo has a natural blue point, not a white point). in that case, you may be able to find a "calibrated" profile for your monitor made by someone else. heck, if you have a 20" aluminum imac, i can give you mine. won't be perfect, but is usually an improvement.
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Fart, I have an older white 20" iMac, the last one that came out before the aluminum revisions. Would the profile work with mine?

In particular, my post above of the cat... Too dark? It looks borderline a little too dark on my monitor, but I like it. Though I definitely thought as I posted it that it probably looks too dark on some monitors.

edit: I just edited the photo and made it a little brighter.
 
Zeth said:
Loving the new 85 1.2

Just need to get out and take more pictures. Here are some snapshots from my first 24 hours with it. All straight out of camera and wide open at 1.2
465662962_izLo8-M.jpg
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Only pic of your GF we get? Fail... :P

So many great photos in here, I'm almost too shy to post these...

IMG_1388.jpg


IMG_1408.jpg


IMG_1380.jpg
 
aidan said:
This is really cool. One suggestion, though, is to watch the crooked horizon. Nothing a little straightening of the photo won't fix.
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Ahh, thanks.

I really wanted to catch 'em early in the morning hanging out in that tree.

There's maybe a few more males, but it's covered in all white females. Looks crazy, and would make a good photo (I think).

We've got a few more cold mornings left around here so maybe I'll get a chance to share.
 
I got this M42 to Minolta AF adaptor, because todays lenses are so damn expensive thanks to the shitty Yen, but old used M42 lenses are dirt cheap. I thought I'd give it a try.

A Chinon 135mm f2.8 arrived yesterday. Its all manual (of course), a bit fun having an all manual camera again.

Sorry for the distorted colours, my flash was bouncing of a reddish coloured wall. :D v

M42 has screw threads, not bayonet fitting. That itself feels a little odd, screwing on lenses.
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The adaptor is very simple. This one (Massa) I'm not 100% happy with, there is slight play between the adaptor and the camera which is annoying. I'm looking for a new one, perhaps with a AF confirm chip.
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Now taking pictures is a little different. If your taking a photo at f8, the lens is always stepped down to f8, so it can become very dark in the OVF. Optimal lighting conditions required. ;)

Just a quick shot from yesterday.
3254313728_63fc73ef29.jpg

Bigger: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3048/3254313728_9830d88747_o.jpg

Not half bad for a 70 dollar lens.
 
Hi folks. Right now I´m looking for a lens above 55 mm (maybe from 55 - 250 mm) for my Canon EOS 1000 D with a good price-performance ratio. Has anyone some good recommendations?
 
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