Sony A7x lounge

Pretty in Pink...spring is finally in full bloom up here in Canada. A7r2 and Leica 90 Summicron 90 APO.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Uzrr​dH

xpfloyd wrote in post #18353842
Last couple from Chester Cathedral

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Tukb​u7 Chester Cathedral by xpfloyd, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Uzhk​rR Chester Cathedral by xpfloyd, on Flickr

Really nice shots! I took the CV 12 on my trip to England last week and I found it extremely helpful for shots like these. difficult to get XYZ in perfect alignment though especially in a crowded catherdral. I was in Bath and the Abbey there is really beautiful but so crowded.

London's Royal Albert Hall, CV 12.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Uuxt​Hk

This is nicely done!

Miranda1 wrote in post #18354342
Pretty in Pink...spring is finally in full bloom up here in Canada. A7r2 and Leica 90 Summicron 90 APO.

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Uzrr​dH Spring has Arrived by Jose Raposo, on Flickr

Anyone using capture one? Seems like Sony is partnered up with the creator (phase one?) Would it be wishful thinking that using this RAW editor might result in more natural colors, particularly skin tones and blue skies? Maybe I'm crazy. Just thinking about options. Seems like I'm still spending a whole lot of time tweaking sliders in LR.
Thx

idsurfer wrote in post #18354393
Anyone using capture one? Seems like Sony is partnered up with the creator (phase one?) Would it be wishful thinking that using this RAW editor might result in more natural colors, particularly skin tones and blue skies? Maybe I'm crazy. Just thinking about options. Seems like I'm still spending a whole lot of time tweaking sliders in LR.
Thx

I've been using it and the switch from Lightroom experience was like switching from Canon to Sony... Huge learning curve, but I do like the colors better for people and landscapes. The software is pretty neat once you adapt.

Thx for the input. I think I'll give it a trial. I'm just now recovering from the shock of the transition to Sony so I'll take it slow and try and remain calm!

idsurfer wrote in post #18354393
Anyone using capture one? Seems like Sony is partnered up with the creator (phase one?) Would it be wishful thinking that using this RAW editor might result in more natural colors, particularly skin tones and blue skies? Maybe I'm crazy. Just thinking about options. Seems like I'm still spending a whole lot of time tweaking sliders in LR.
Thx

Charlie wrote in post #18354400
I've been using it and the switch from Lightroom experience was like switching from Canon to Sony... Huge learning curve, but I do like the colors better for people and landscapes. The software is pretty neat once you adapt.

I have compared my edits from both and didnt see a big difference. I find Capture One to be much more complex. I have the free version on my Surface tablet and have considered a full switch but have not gone through with it. Probably largely due to the learning curve.

My experience of capture 1 is that the files look better before anything is adjusted but my final image was hard to tell apart from my Lightroom edit. The main issue for me was that I use Lightrooms catalogue and my workflow is based around that so I just stuck with Lightroom in the end

TRhoads wrote in post #18354410
I have compared my edits from both and didnt see a big difference. I find Capture One to be much more complex. I have the free version on my Surface tablet and have considered a full switch but have not gone through with it. Probably largely due to the learning curve.

xpfloyd wrote in post #18354440
My experience of capture 1 is that the files look better before anything is adjusted but my final image was hard to tell apart from my Lightroom edit. The main issue for me was that I use Lightrooms catalogue and my workflow is based around that so I just stuck with Lightroom in the end

Thanks for the input folks. I might tinker with the free version a bit and see for myself. I will admit I'm not interested in anything overly complex that requires a lot of effort to learn. If overwhelming and not seeing much difference I'll likely scrap it.
Thanks!

xpfloyd wrote in post #18354440
My experience of capture 1 is that the files look better before anything is adjusted but my final image was hard to tell apart from my Lightroom edit. The main issue for me was that I use Lightrooms catalogue and my workflow is based around that so I just stuck with Lightroom in the end

This is my experience as well, on import, it certainly looks better, final output may be a wash. The techie in me thinks that c1 may be better in the long run if I put the effort to transition. Really love the layers, recipe, and ability to do skin tones. It will take some time to learn for sure.

Charlie wrote in post #18354504
This is my experience as well, on import, it certainly looks better, final output may be a wash. The techie in me thinks that c1 may be better in the long run if I put the effort to transition. Really love the layers, recipe, and ability to do skin tones. It will take some time to learn for sure.

I moved to C1 from LR 6 first try was with the free version for Sony RAWs. I have to admit this first try was a disaster due to my hash and bash approach I ended up with triple copies of my images in the C1 catalogue - this was due to creating a C1 catalogue with my images inside that catalogue which I managed to replicate several times. I backed off in disgust blaming the software when I was the dummy.
I then bought DXO Optics Pro and Viewpoint (the latter being excellent by the way) but fell out with them over colour rendition though their noise reduction / clarity out of the traps was excellent BUT colour (in particular Greens and Yellows) fell short of what I was seeing (and I think/hope what I was taking with my Sony A7R2).
The reason for even exploring C1 (besides it being free for Sony) was an abiding distaste of Adobe ACR all through my Canon RAW processing I was totally underwhelmed with the start position LR gave me by that I mean bland and hazy as if clingfilm had been applied. I've since looked at UTube videos which takes your ACR rendered images to another level and clearly can be done with presets BUT then there is the Adobe subscription model - though I bought LR standalone with no subscription.

However, I came back again to C1. This time I imported my raws into a directory on my hard drive not actually into the Catalog so only one instance existed (some folks might prefer to use named sessions) but I have one catalog which manages the images but just what I do to them they are not inside the catalogue.

Intent on doing this second evaluation properly I bought the beginners guide which at the time was entitled "Capture One Pro 9" authored by Sascha Erni published by Rocky Nook. Reading and working through image manipulation, I started to find my way.

Lesson learnt - You can't half do Capture One, you have to immerse yourself in it starting as a beginner and growing into it. I occasionally go back to LR 6.9 (paid for it so will keep it up to date other than that I don't know why) because it feels so alien to me now.
Apologies for being verbose and no slight intended to those who love Adobe ACR and LR - I still round trip from C1 to CS6 and back (but usually not for layers as I can do modest layer adjustments in C1) and also I bought the whole C1 functionality as I wanted to be able to revisit all those Canon CR2's I have and discover what I had been missing.

This

So I've been trying to rationalize my gear lately (does that process ever stop?) particularly around what I'm using for paid work....In that view the RX1RII is the most impractical piece of gear to own. Realistically I could sell that and buy a second a7rII + FE 35 1.4 in the used market. I'm also thinking about the a9 as a very solid tool....its more than I want to spend but the RX1RII could finance most of that cost.

But the RX1RII is actually a capable little cam. Battery life aside, its actually really capable for paid work and it gets more use for events and portrait sessions than I really expected it to. I also have a certain love for this little camera....lots of fun to shoot with, easy to carry around when out with the family, and IQ really allows me to turn ordinary snap-shots into much more than that. Plus eye focus works really well when shooting my kids doing their thing. Very accurate, and really simplifies the compositional process when I'm running and gunning with the family

A couple of the shots from this wknd with the RX1RII:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UBKG​8z

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UBKB​H2

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UBKY​dF

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/TzHT​5F

mystik610 wrote in post #18354791
So I've been trying to rationalize my gear lately (does that process ever stop?) particularly around what I'm using for paid work....In that view the RX1RII is the most impractical piece of gear to own. Realistically I could sell that and buy a second a7rII + FE 35 1.4 in the used market. I'm also thinking about the a9 as a very solid tool....its more than I want to spend but the RX1RII could finance most of that cost.

But the RX1RII is actually a capable little cam. Battery life aside, its actually really capable for paid work and it gets more use for events and portrait sessions than I really expected it to. I also have a certain love for this little camera....lots of fun to shoot with, easy to carry around when out with the family, and IQ really allows me to turn ordinary snap-shots into much more than that. Plus eye focus works really well when shooting my kids doing their thing. Very accurate, and really simplifies the compositional process when I'm running and gunning with the family

A couple of the shots from this wknd with the RX1RII:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UBKG​8z _DSC9712 by Carlo Alcala, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UBKB​H2 _DSC9772 by Carlo Alcala, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/UBKY​dF _DSC9754 by Carlo Alcala, on Flickr

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/TzHT​5F _DSC9761 by Carlo Alcala, on Flickr

With the price increases on the rx1rii could you actually sell it at zero loss now? If I was you I would as it's probably the only chance you will get to do that at no loss. As much as I would absolutely LOVE an rx1rii it's a crazy high price for a P&S , albeit an awesome 42mp P&S. A second a7rii and a 35 1.4 makes more sense to me for what I see as your uses or even an a9 in addition to your a7rii if you can swing it.

Man it's easy spending other people's money . I wish my own lens and camera choices were as simple to me