So, I’m thinking of trying to challenge myself in the new year, photographically.
I have a bad tendency to just spray and pray with my shots, and then come back pull just a handful. So I think this coming year I am going to aim to be more selective in my shooting and try and shoot a digital “roll” every couple weeks (excluding the odd event or excursion). I’m planning to stick with a film simulation for each “roll”, and post the whole thing to Flickr or something.
Honestly not sure how well I’ll manage, but would love to try and get better at this photography thing.
Sounds like a fun challenge! I find I kind of swing back and forth between shooting too many, and being too picky about my shots. Finding and staying the sweet spot is hard haha.
Alright, so have been playing around with just shooting Classic Neg and taking straight out of camera. The results are here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmTzyxjK
The snow shots are from today, and I live in central Texas!
I hear ya @Sublimus I got burnt out on photography during 2020. I've taken the least amount of photos in the last 4 months than I have at any point in the last 10 years. I guess doing photography full time and as a hobby really can get to ya after a while. Doesn't help that I took 1300 photos on my backpacking trip and half of them I really loved. Editing those burnt me out pretty good I think, and I only ever share about 1/4th of what I really like. My infrared camera still brings me joy though.
These photos are random from the last few months. I haven't even posted anything I've taken with my "new" XT4. Mostly because I think I burnt out right as I bought it, expensive time to get burnt out hahaha. Hopefully that'll change in the coming months. Think social media is burning me out a bit too.
And after saying everything I said about getting burnt out, I'm realizing that I'm honestly probably taking the amount of photos that's healthy now hahaha
So, we've obviously had some proper snow down here in Central Texas, and thought these to shots were a good look at during and after (about 10 days apart).
You either got really damn close or you have one hell of a telephoto. What lens did you use for that?
Was pretty close. Just a Pentax 55-300 PLM WR @ 300. That and being able to crop in tight for web since not planning on printing.
Still crazy, I rock a 150-600 and can rarely get that kind of clarity even cropped. Does the pentax sensor adjust/move along with it's lenses similar to how it does for astrophotography?
I'm pretty sure the adjusting thing is just with GPS for astrophotography.
I think it might be a combination of:
Pentax finally upgrading to a pulse motor for this lens from the old slow ass screw drive motor, so the focus is pretty damn fast (considering Pentax isn't exactly known for the best AF)
Shooting in burst mode so I can pick the best one.
I have the AA filter turned off (which they claim allows for sharper images, although there's a risk of moire)
I'm looking to get a DSLR with a lens that's capable of doing a little bit of wildlife photography (there are about four birds nests in a tree near my home office window including some blue jays, and a woodpecker nest nearby). I'm not looking to be too serious about it or really develop it as a hobby - basically cell cameras suck for anything more than 10 feet away and I want a solution to that.
Would I likely be better served by a budget current gen camera or an older gently used camera like a Canon 7D? You can scoop the used ones up for not too much.
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OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
I'm looking to get a DSLR with a lens that's capable of doing a little bit of wildlife photography (there are about four birds nests in a tree near my home office window including some blue jays, and a woodpecker nest nearby). I'm not looking to be too serious about it or really develop it as a hobby - basically cell cameras suck for anything more than 10 feet away and I want a solution to that.
Would I likely be better served by a budget current gen camera or an older gently used camera like a Canon 7D? You can scoop the used ones up for not too much.
I'd recommend a gently used older camera + a decent-ish zoom telephoto for your purposes. One caveat: the 75-300mm unstabilized zoom lens that at one point was standard is pretty infamous for being a not good lens. The more recent 70-300mm IS USM and IS II is by my understanding decent. I would recommend a stabilized lens (IS in Canon parlance, VR in Nikon, and all the other manufacturers have their own term for it).
I don't know how far away those birds are, so I can't say if a 70-300 is the right lens for you, but that longer reach is the first thing I'd reach for for any kind of wildlife photography. If that doesn't work out you can likely get the kit 16-55mm zoom which will nicely cover the wider angles for cheap and good enough quality.
edit: I mean, really you could go either way. The budget cameras are really good these days. You just lose the physical knobs and whatnot. The sensors are frequently better than the older cameras, but you may miss out on the features. But if it's not a hobby do you really care about features you won't use anyway?
Thinking about it since you don't intend for this to be a hobby, maybe a budget current-or-last-gen camera is a good choice. You can take advantage of the latest and greatest firmware and keep it on mostly automatic, and pair it with some older but still very good lenses, and you'll be good to go.
edit edit: Canon, Nikon, and I've heard good about Fujifilm and Pentax would all likely be good choices. I hesitate recommending Sony if it's not going to be a hobby since their interface is famously poor, though they frequently have the best sensors on the market.
That's all great info, thanks! I'll probably buy some used gear that I think will be okay, and then if I decide I need to do something else, I'll just resell it.
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OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
I've added some edits. These days the hardware is pretty fuckin' good so it's more a matter of finding what you like the best.
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
edited April 2021
Oh yeah, that looks like a fantastic camera for your purposes. Plus, since it's a micro 4/3s it's going to be nice and portable.
It's got the zoom most likely to be of interest to you, as well as primes down at the low end that will likely be good enough for your purposes. And if they're a bit too inflexible, I bet you can get a used kit lens for relatively cheap.
I think a micro four thirds setup would be great for your needs, @Doc . Plenty of resolution, plus the whole kit is pretty portable. Cheaper lenses as well.
Would not recommend Fuji, solely based on price. Excellent cameras and lenses, and it’s what I use, but pretty damn expensive.
I think a micro four thirds setup would be great for your needs, @Doc . Plenty of resolution, plus the whole kit is pretty portable. Cheaper lenses as well.
Would not recommend Fuji, solely based on price. Excellent cameras and lenses, and it’s what I use, but pretty damn expensive.
The listing is expired, because I picked up that camera!
It's an extremely gently used Olympus OM-D E-M Mk III (lol come on with the name), with 7mm, 17mm, and 40-150mm lenses, 6 batteries, and a couple of other accessories for $600. Great deal, and it'll suit my needs exactly.
I think a micro four thirds setup would be great for your needs, @Doc . Plenty of resolution, plus the whole kit is pretty portable. Cheaper lenses as well.
Would not recommend Fuji, solely based on price. Excellent cameras and lenses, and it’s what I use, but pretty damn expensive.
The listing is expired, because I picked up that camera!
It's an extremely gently used Olympus OM-D E-M Mk III (lol come on with the name), with 7mm, 17mm, and 40-150mm lenses, 6 batteries, and a couple of other accessories for $600. Great deal, and it'll suit my needs exactly.
That’s a great haul, and kind of covers you through a good chunk of the focal range. Good find!
+2
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
As I stare enviously at the Z7 II, I am reminded of what someone said a few days ago elsewhere:
In retrospect it was bold of me to think that my hobby was photography and not cameras
I see you, random person on the internet, and I understand
As I stare enviously at the Z7 II, I am reminded of what someone said a few days ago elsewhere:
In retrospect it was bold of me to think that my hobby was photography and not cameras
I see you, random person on the internet, and I understand
I had to constrain myself by selling out of my Fuji setup, and just going down to an X100V, otherwise I would have just kept buying lenses I wouldn't really use.
I will have a moment this month though, when a lead bonus I am getting from work will have me contemplating the GFX series. I must remain strong and not succumb.
Would love that new GFX system, have to refrain. Been looking into FPV drone stuff, but I've come to realize video editing is not a favorite thing of mine so I may back out of that "hobby"...
House I took a photo of off the side of the road, and I probably should have read the sign before stopping for 5 minutes to take photos "Prayer is the best way to meet the lord. Trespassing is faster." - with an illustration of a gun pointed at the reader. Yikes.
Would you guys mind helping with a DSLR camera recommendation?
Background: In addition to 360 virtual tours, drone work, etc., my wife also makes videos for a Realtor she works with. For the videos she primarily uses an iPhone 12 Pro Max on a DJI gimble and has a DJI Osmo 2.
But she wants to step up the quality of her videos. She's looking for a simple DSLR that will allow her to do quick depth-of-field video shots. She's not interested in learning all the minutiae of a camera, rather hopefully something with a touch screen that allows her to tap what should be in focus and the camera does the rest. She will also get a new gimble for the DSLR.
It's not real estate, but the types of effect in the video she's looking to do are from time stamp 10s - 16s and again from 1:18s - 1:26s (foreground and background are blurry) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08QtsBKAbf8
I don't mean to make it sound like she's looking for an easy out when it comes to a camera being easy to use and mostly automated, but with the market the way it is, homes sometimes sell in a day before she even gets a chance to finish shooting and editing. So it's critical to have something that's got a fast workflow for recording.
Not married to any brand (Canon, Nikon, Sony, whatever). As for budget, not sure what to say. She really just needs whatever entry-level DSLR has automated depth-of-field video...
I can only speak to the cameras (or systems) that I have used, and I would think the Fujifilm X-E4 might be a good option. I never delved too far into the video features of my old X-E2S, but from a size and feature perspective, the newer X-E4 looks pretty great.
I owned an X-H1 for a while, which is a heftier beast and only now available used, but it was the video focused Fuji with in body stabilization, before the X-T4 was released, and it was brilliant for video (and everything else). If you can find a good one with the battery grip (my local camera store always has a couple used) and a good lens for it (the 18-55 ‘kit’ lens maybe), it’s a really good option for cheap (they go for about $800 for body only).
If you have more money to spend, the X-T4 is a good option too. Fuji is likely to release and X-H2 sometime in the near future as well.
All I mentioned have touch screens, and while the X-E4 is not as video focused as the others I mentioned (no IBIS), it has largely the same video features but is much smaller, which may be attractive to your wife.
EDIT: Here’s a link to the DPReview review of the camera:
Thanks for the tips! I'll check those out! Even though she'll use a gimbal with it, IBIS is probably still a good thing to have, I imagine.
Do you know what's the process of setting up depth-of-field, or bokeh pics/video? I ask because I have a really old Canon DSLR and it's so complicated and convoluted that I never ever use it. Is it a simple setting on today's modern cameras?
So, I went down a well of watching DPReview videos last night after I posted that, and particularly Jordan and Chris’ ones, and they have said a lot of good things about the X-S10 as a good entry level video camera. Bigger than the X-E4, but still small, has IBIS and the latest sensor.
So, DoF is controlled by aperture, and On Fuji lenses, most of them have aperture control rings directly on the lenses (al the XF lenses, not the XC lenses). So that means you don’t have to hunt for it in the settings, you just turn the ring on the lens. I tend to shoot aperture priority (everything auto except aperture) and that’s because I am most concerned with getting the DoF I want.
Once I get settled on my computer, and am on some mindless work call, I’ll chuck you a few of the videos I watched via DM.
Do you know what's the process of setting up depth-of-field, or bokeh pics/video? I ask because I have a really old Canon DSLR and it's so complicated and convoluted that I never ever use it. Is it a simple setting on today's modern cameras?
On any camera it should just be a matter of saying "select 'control aperture' mode and make the aperture as small as possible".
(I have olympus cameras, there it's 'turn the left wheel to "A"', then 'turn the top right wheel anticlockwise' and that's it, and I would be very surprised if it's any more complicated on other brands)
+2
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
edited June 2021
Finally got a few photos I thought were worth sharing and not simply snapshots of interest only to me.
I need to simplify my workflow--editing is more of a pain than I want to deal with most of the time.
OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
edited July 2021
Has anybody sold equipment back to e.g. KEH, Adorama, etc? I have gear that I'm no longer using and would like to get some money for it, but don't want to go through the scam concerns/time inevestment of Ebay.
If the price is too low I may as well just hold onto it.
The prices I’ve from KEH seem pretty fair, and generally better than my local shop ( though I still sell to them because I like the convenience). I can’t say how fair they are with their grading though, but have heard good things.
Your composition is great, and I particularly like the first two and last two.
Thanks! Sunsets make everything better
* Airplane sunset: Z7 ii + 24-200mm Z lens @ 200mm, f/6.3, 1/2500s, ISO 1800
* Power lines sunset: Z7 ii + 24-200mm Z lens @ 200mm, f/9, 1/200s, ISO 400
* Insects: Z7 ii + 24-200mm Z lens @ 200mm, most around f/8 to f/11, around 1/400s, varying ISOs
* Ball flower, address numbers, leaves on gravel, worm-eaten apple: Z50 + 105mm VR f/2.8 G F-mount macro lens, most around f/8-f/11, 1/200-1/640s, varying ISOs.
* Falling water: Z50 + 50-250mm Z DX lens @ 200mm, f/5.6, 1/4000s, ISO 500
* Sunset dock: Z50 + 50-250mm Z DX lens @ 50mm, f/6.3, 1/800s, ISO 720
* Mt. Shasta: Z50 + 50-250mm Z DX lens @ 250mm, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 125
Orca on
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OrcaAlso known as EspressosaurusWrexRegistered Userregular
edited August 2021
FYI if you want to get that same shot of Shasta yourself, there's a lookout on i5 south near Siskiyou. If you're headed northbound, it's worth turning around for. I happened to come across it while driving southbound and was lucky enough it was right around sunset. The lookout itself rises above the highway a little bit, enough that it falls away beneath you so you can focus on the long plain and then mountains in the distance.
Absolutely gorgeous, and a perfect place to stretch your legs and marvel at the view. There's several other impressive mountains nearby--it's a great lookout.
Posts
I have a bad tendency to just spray and pray with my shots, and then come back pull just a handful. So I think this coming year I am going to aim to be more selective in my shooting and try and shoot a digital “roll” every couple weeks (excluding the odd event or excursion). I’m planning to stick with a film simulation for each “roll”, and post the whole thing to Flickr or something.
Honestly not sure how well I’ll manage, but would love to try and get better at this photography thing.
The snow shots are from today, and I live in central Texas!
by Kenneth Hughes, on Flickr
These photos are random from the last few months. I haven't even posted anything I've taken with my "new" XT4. Mostly because I think I burnt out right as I bought it, expensive time to get burnt out hahaha. Hopefully that'll change in the coming months. Think social media is burning me out a bit too.
TLDR: here's some photos.
Fave hawk pic I think I've ever grabbed.
love the motion in these three
Some IR:
And after saying everything I said about getting burnt out, I'm realizing that I'm honestly probably taking the amount of photos that's healthy now hahaha
My Portfolio Site
Was pretty close. Just a Pentax 55-300 PLM WR @ 300. That and being able to crop in tight for web since not planning on printing.
Still crazy, I rock a 150-600 and can rarely get that kind of clarity even cropped. Does the pentax sensor adjust/move along with it's lenses similar to how it does for astrophotography?
My Portfolio Site
I think it might be a combination of:
Pentax finally upgrading to a pulse motor for this lens from the old slow ass screw drive motor, so the focus is pretty damn fast (considering Pentax isn't exactly known for the best AF)
Shooting in burst mode so I can pick the best one.
I have the AA filter turned off (which they claim allows for sharper images, although there's a risk of moire)
A very conservative use of sharpen AI.
Would I likely be better served by a budget current gen camera or an older gently used camera like a Canon 7D? You can scoop the used ones up for not too much.
I'd recommend a gently used older camera + a decent-ish zoom telephoto for your purposes. One caveat: the 75-300mm unstabilized zoom lens that at one point was standard is pretty infamous for being a not good lens. The more recent 70-300mm IS USM and IS II is by my understanding decent. I would recommend a stabilized lens (IS in Canon parlance, VR in Nikon, and all the other manufacturers have their own term for it).
I don't know how far away those birds are, so I can't say if a 70-300 is the right lens for you, but that longer reach is the first thing I'd reach for for any kind of wildlife photography. If that doesn't work out you can likely get the kit 16-55mm zoom which will nicely cover the wider angles for cheap and good enough quality.
edit: I mean, really you could go either way. The budget cameras are really good these days. You just lose the physical knobs and whatnot. The sensors are frequently better than the older cameras, but you may miss out on the features. But if it's not a hobby do you really care about features you won't use anyway?
Thinking about it since you don't intend for this to be a hobby, maybe a budget current-or-last-gen camera is a good choice. You can take advantage of the latest and greatest firmware and keep it on mostly automatic, and pair it with some older but still very good lenses, and you'll be good to go.
edit edit: Canon, Nikon, and I've heard good about Fujifilm and Pentax would all likely be good choices. I hesitate recommending Sony if it's not going to be a hobby since their interface is famously poor, though they frequently have the best sensors on the market.
https://seattle.craigslist.org/kit/pho/d/poulsbo-olympus-om-e-m10-mark-iii-with/7297424560.html
It's got the zoom most likely to be of interest to you, as well as primes down at the low end that will likely be good enough for your purposes. And if they're a bit too inflexible, I bet you can get a used kit lens for relatively cheap.
Would not recommend Fuji, solely based on price. Excellent cameras and lenses, and it’s what I use, but pretty damn expensive.
The listing is expired, because I picked up that camera!
It's an extremely gently used Olympus OM-D E-M Mk III (lol come on with the name), with 7mm, 17mm, and 40-150mm lenses, 6 batteries, and a couple of other accessories for $600. Great deal, and it'll suit my needs exactly.
That’s a great haul, and kind of covers you through a good chunk of the focal range. Good find!
I see you, random person on the internet, and I understand
I had to constrain myself by selling out of my Fuji setup, and just going down to an X100V, otherwise I would have just kept buying lenses I wouldn't really use.
I will have a moment this month though, when a lead bonus I am getting from work will have me contemplating the GFX series. I must remain strong and not succumb.
House I took a photo of off the side of the road, and I probably should have read the sign before stopping for 5 minutes to take photos "Prayer is the best way to meet the lord. Trespassing is faster." - with an illustration of a gun pointed at the reader. Yikes.
My Portfolio Site
Background: In addition to 360 virtual tours, drone work, etc., my wife also makes videos for a Realtor she works with. For the videos she primarily uses an iPhone 12 Pro Max on a DJI gimble and has a DJI Osmo 2.
But she wants to step up the quality of her videos. She's looking for a simple DSLR that will allow her to do quick depth-of-field video shots. She's not interested in learning all the minutiae of a camera, rather hopefully something with a touch screen that allows her to tap what should be in focus and the camera does the rest. She will also get a new gimble for the DSLR.
It's not real estate, but the types of effect in the video she's looking to do are from time stamp 10s - 16s and again from 1:18s - 1:26s (foreground and background are blurry)
I don't mean to make it sound like she's looking for an easy out when it comes to a camera being easy to use and mostly automated, but with the market the way it is, homes sometimes sell in a day before she even gets a chance to finish shooting and editing. So it's critical to have something that's got a fast workflow for recording.
Not married to any brand (Canon, Nikon, Sony, whatever). As for budget, not sure what to say. She really just needs whatever entry-level DSLR has automated depth-of-field video...
Thanks for your help!
Watch my music videos
I owned an X-H1 for a while, which is a heftier beast and only now available used, but it was the video focused Fuji with in body stabilization, before the X-T4 was released, and it was brilliant for video (and everything else). If you can find a good one with the battery grip (my local camera store always has a couple used) and a good lens for it (the 18-55 ‘kit’ lens maybe), it’s a really good option for cheap (they go for about $800 for body only).
If you have more money to spend, the X-T4 is a good option too. Fuji is likely to release and X-H2 sometime in the near future as well.
All I mentioned have touch screens, and while the X-E4 is not as video focused as the others I mentioned (no IBIS), it has largely the same video features but is much smaller, which may be attractive to your wife.
EDIT: Here’s a link to the DPReview review of the camera:
https://m.dpreview.com/reviews/fujifilm-x-e4-review-small-size-big-image-quality
It also mentions the X-S10 as an option as well, and like the X-T4 and X-H1, it has IBIS.
Thanks for the tips! I'll check those out! Even though she'll use a gimbal with it, IBIS is probably still a good thing to have, I imagine.
Do you know what's the process of setting up depth-of-field, or bokeh pics/video? I ask because I have a really old Canon DSLR and it's so complicated and convoluted that I never ever use it. Is it a simple setting on today's modern cameras?
Watch my music videos
So, DoF is controlled by aperture, and On Fuji lenses, most of them have aperture control rings directly on the lenses (al the XF lenses, not the XC lenses). So that means you don’t have to hunt for it in the settings, you just turn the ring on the lens. I tend to shoot aperture priority (everything auto except aperture) and that’s because I am most concerned with getting the DoF I want.
Once I get settled on my computer, and am on some mindless work call, I’ll chuck you a few of the videos I watched via DM.
On any camera it should just be a matter of saying "select 'control aperture' mode and make the aperture as small as possible".
(I have olympus cameras, there it's 'turn the left wheel to "A"', then 'turn the top right wheel anticlockwise' and that's it, and I would be very surprised if it's any more complicated on other brands)
I need to simplify my workflow--editing is more of a pain than I want to deal with most of the time.
If the price is too low I may as well just hold onto it.
Mostly just about straight out of the camera + cropping + brightness and profile adjust. No masking, healing brush, or any of that fun stuff.
Your composition is great, and I particularly like the first two and last two.
Thanks! Sunsets make everything better
* Airplane sunset: Z7 ii + 24-200mm Z lens @ 200mm, f/6.3, 1/2500s, ISO 1800
* Power lines sunset: Z7 ii + 24-200mm Z lens @ 200mm, f/9, 1/200s, ISO 400
* Insects: Z7 ii + 24-200mm Z lens @ 200mm, most around f/8 to f/11, around 1/400s, varying ISOs
* Ball flower, address numbers, leaves on gravel, worm-eaten apple: Z50 + 105mm VR f/2.8 G F-mount macro lens, most around f/8-f/11, 1/200-1/640s, varying ISOs.
* Falling water: Z50 + 50-250mm Z DX lens @ 200mm, f/5.6, 1/4000s, ISO 500
* Sunset dock: Z50 + 50-250mm Z DX lens @ 50mm, f/6.3, 1/800s, ISO 720
* Mt. Shasta: Z50 + 50-250mm Z DX lens @ 250mm, f/8, 1/160s, ISO 125
Absolutely gorgeous, and a perfect place to stretch your legs and marvel at the view. There's several other impressive mountains nearby--it's a great lookout.