Kiwi - GKPE - General Ramblings (2)

Moppie wrote in post #4117891
Hmmm, let me see what I can remember.....

Ok, put in batteries and CF card.
Turn on camera.
Point at Subject and press shutter button.
Wait 5 seconds.
Review results on rear LCD.


Yip, that about sums it up


How different is the A75 to the A80?

Haha nice one

Dunno. Never used the A80. Similar in handling I'd guess.

I just had a look at Steves Digicams, both very similar.
The A80 has 4MP, two custom shooting modes and a flip out LCD. Its also a little bulkier, but I think they both use the same Lens.
The menu system, and most of the options also appear the same.

What mode to you shoot in mostly now?

manipula wrote in post #4117009
Almost all Canon Powershot cameras have a removable ring around the lens, usually removable by pressing in a lttle button near there and rotating the ring. This can then be swapped for the appropreate adapter ring onto which you mount either a 0.7x or 2x converter. They work well but aren't the cheapest of things.

yeah I know about the adapter rings and tele / wide lenses - I'm no stranger to photography. And reasonably well versed on the A75. Couldn't justify shelling out $$$$ on a couple of tiddly little lenses when that money could go toward a DSLR. Hell even a 2nd hand 20D with a kit lens would kick this from here to Timbuktu.

I've done a shoot today. I'm not a happy boy. Arranged an all day informal thing at her home due to restraints caused by the move coming up. Boyfriend was there, then her friend arrived with her kid, then the little cat decided to start eating my camera bag and flash lead. To be fair to her she was lovely and gave out great hospitality, and I was made to feel very welcome. But she lacked confidence in front of camera and there was little way of bringing that out all day. I'm not convinced I'm going to like any of the shots.

A good model doesn't need to be attractive, they need to have charisma.

Buggery. Oh well, we all have our bad days. And she'll get more confidence in herself as she goes on. You'll be right.

Cheers, Shane.

Moppie wrote in post #4118002
I just had a look at Steves Digicams, both very similar.
The A80 has 4MP, two custom shooting modes and a flip out LCD. Its also a little bulkier, but I think they both use the same Lens.
The menu system, and most of the options also appear the same.

What mode to you shoot in mostly now?

Yeah flip out LCD would be handy sometimes. My shooting flips between M, AV and TV depending on the mood I'm in. I try to keep it manual most of the time. Still toying with the idea of the likes of the G series or a s3 / s5IS, we'll see.

weka2000 wrote in post #4117724
Well not much of a outdoors day. Wind blowing like crazy. Time to reorganise my studio to maxamise the room.

Im so over shooting with sheet backdrops. 1hr to clean up a photo due to crinkles..... oh well its all about learning.

We have all come a long way.

If you iron them and then hang them - would they still be crinkly?

We're off to shoot a wedding today - wonderful weather for it hehe

low orbit wrote in post #4118027
Yeah flip out LCD would be handy sometimes. My shooting flips between M, AV and TV depending on the mood I'm in. I try to keep it manual most of the time. Still toying with the idea of the likes of the G series or a s3 / s5IS, we'll see.

I miss the flip out LCD the most when using the 30D.
IMO the viewfinder is only useful for tracking things that are moving.
I much prefer still shooting with an LCD, as I can get more comfortable behind the camera, especially shooting landscapes, products etc, anything on a tripod.


Anyway, I got the best results out of the A80 useing ISO 50-100. Manual exposure, with the spot meter and single focus point.
Evaluative metering is a waste of time, unpredictable and annoying.
Using the single focus point speeds up the focus, and there the DOF is great enough using focus recompose is never a problem.
By shooting manual you can separate exposure from focus, and the meter on the LCD is so easy to follow I found I could set exposure manually about as fast as the camera could automatically.

ISO 200 was used only in really bad light, and if was dark enough for ISO 400 I would put the camera away.

I would use P mode, with the flash on for snap shots at parties, but that was about it. Never used Av, TV, or any of the scenic modes.
And I have no idea what AUTO does?


I though about getting add on lenses, or upgrading to an S or G series.
But they really are not that different from the A series.
although a G series with RAW is IMO pretty similar to the old range finder cameras in terms of functionality, so could be useful if you have a shooting style that can work with a less complex system.


If you do want to buy an accessory, then a cheap manual flash unit, and an optical trigger can be fun.
You can set the A75 flash to manual, and use it to trip the manual flash off camera.
The apature range on the A75 should cover the range of the most manual flash units, and of course because it dosn't have a shutter you can increase the "shutter" speed if you get problems with over exposure from the flash.
If you can find an old flash unit with Auto Thyristor then even better.

I have a couple I grabbed from Trademe for between $1 and $20.

lil_miss wrote in post #4118083
If you iron them and then hang them - would they still be crinkly?

We're off to shoot a wedding today - wonderful weather for it hehe

The model moves around and props get moved around dosnt take tong to recrinkle.

Moppie wrote in post #4118121
...and of course because it dosn't have a shutter you can increase the "shutter" speed if you get problems with over exposure from the flash.

Confused Moppie. Teach me please. If the A series don't have a shutter, then by changing the shutter speed what are you altering in terms of mechanics to control light? If it's the duration the sensor records the light for, then surely you're still at the mercy of the fact that the average flashgun fires for something rediculous like 1/250,000th of a second or whatever it is. (In fact isn't that actually how full flashguns control their varying power output by lengthening and shortening their flash exposure time?) If it's the fact that the shutter speed control on the camera controls only the sensor's sensitivity then doesn't that allow all manner of playing about with the camera, and also introduce many issues to do with sensor design and stuff such as noise etc?

Why dont you aim for a DSLR??

There are choca block full of DSLR's for sale on trademe. umm yay i might have a model to photograph lined up. She asked if i could photograph her last night

manipula wrote in post #4118180
Confused Moppie. Teach me please. If the A series don't have a shutter, then by changing the shutter speed what are you altering in terms of mechanics to control light?

I'm not confused, but evidently you are

The vast majority of compact cameras only have an apature.
To control exposure time they simply control how long the sensor is powered up for. Its one of the reasons for the delay, the sensor has to be powered down from its low out put live view mode, then fully powered up to capture mode, then off again, and back to low power live view mode.
(Note that Fuji have over come this problem, and claim a shutter delay of .01 sec, faster than any DSLR).

When shooting with lights, and a camera with a shutter you have to worry about your sync speed.
Most flash lights have a duration of around 1/500th to 1/100th of a second.
Depending on the shutter design it is quite common to have one or more of the curtains still traveling across the sensor/film during the flash exposure if the shutter speed is to high. For most EOS DSLR's its 1/250 (I think 1/200th for the 300D).
By using the slower shutter speed you guarantee the sensor/film will be fully exposed for the duration of the flashes exposure.

Since most compacts don't have a shutter to get in the way, you have a new way of controlling the light reaching the sensor from the flash unit.
By using a shutter speed faster than the flashes exposure time, you limit how much of the flashes light reaches the sensor.
Basically the sensor is turned on and off before the flash has out put all of its light.
If you have access to a compact with manual exposure and flash control, and an optically trigger flash, then I suggest you have a play, its how I found out about the phenomenon.

Moppie wrote in post #4118224
I'm not confused, but evidently you are.

Hence the...

manipula wrote in post #4118180
Confused Moppie. Teach me please.

:p

That's quite clever that. I'd not ever bothered to or thought about the mechanics of how a compact works tbh. That method of operation does open up a few possibilities for playing about though.

manipula wrote in post #4118251
That's quite clever that. I'd not ever bothered to or thought about the mechanics of how a compact works tbh. That method of operation does open up a few possibilities for playing about though.

Yip, the simple fact is DSLR technology is VERY out dated.
We are driving quad cam, twin turbo, variable valve timing, direct fuel injected, hybrid powered cars riding on live axles and leaf springs with wooden wheels.

Moppie wrote in post #4118281
Yip, the simple fact is DSLR technology is VERY out dated.
We are driving quad cam, twin turbo, variable valve timing, direct fuel injected, hybrid powered cars riding on live axles and leaf springs with wooden wheels.

LOL, that's a good analogy. I think following technical stuff can be misleading at times. It's all well getting nerdy about tech specs and the like but it doesn't very often make you a better photographer. Pleased to see in this case that technology gives you a few tools that if you so wished you can exploit in your work. Can't grumble at that.

dgcorner wrote in post #4117788
With all the wind blowing I'm tempted to try shooting nature in motion - I read about it in Outdoor Photographer. Now I just need an ND filter. I knew that I should have bought that together with the grads...

ive got a set of nd filters... but they only fit my little kit lenses
so now i have to re-buy them all for 77mm

Mediation wrote in post #4117948

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Is there too much going on in the frame?? What is wrong with this photo. Be as harsh as you want. Just really gutted how i could not portray the motorbikes in a row properly. I should have used F2.8 and focused on the first bike. Perhaps do a nice bokeh. Meh... (1/80sec , F11 , 33mm)

ok the shot is too confusing mainly because it has no 'point' - the bikes are chopped in half, so we can't focus on them, and the background is too busy - are we meant to be looking at the bike mirrors? or the trees? or the buildings? or the person walking? which leads me back to the bike mirrors again...?

if someone asked me to describe the photo and say what it was a picture of, i would have a hard time deciding, would probably end up saying um well its a pretty ordinary street scene with a bunch of motorbikes in a jumbled heap falling out of the front of the frame.

try a different angle of view - head/chest height is a boring way to see the world because thats how we always see it - dont be afraid to lie down in the gutter or climb on the roof of your car to chop all the unwanted elements out of the frame and have the photo say what you wanted it to say

i think you can do better than this - remember your tea mug photo?
less is more.

Hey folks - how 'bout that wind!

I'm messing about with a dual monitor set up at home, now. My only accomplishment, all weekend, hah.