|
|
Post by Deleted on May 20, 2011 19:05:36 GMT 12
Nice photos Beagle
PhotoScape is a free photo managment programe .... I like the resizing factility that it has, it has lots of other good tools as well
Keep up with the great photos
|
|
|
|
Post by mileater on May 20, 2011 20:24:10 GMT 12
Time to start exploring aperture priority mode and controlling the "film" speed to keep that thing under control  ISO 280 for the top one and 400 for the next. If you use auto, the beast will tend to go for high ISO and high shutter speed. Not a bad thing but it will tend towards "noisy" (grainy) pix - you lose the advantage of that nice sensor and decent lens combination. Shutter speeds were 1/2000 sec for the top one and 1/1600 sec for the next one. At least you have no worries about camera shake while using a relatively long lens. Is this a 70 - 300 zoom or  Pix are good and no criticism intended... just some constructive advice to help keep the quality of your images in line with the equipment you now own (very jealous, too ) Cheers, Allan |
|
|
|
Post by fwx on May 20, 2011 21:37:09 GMT 12
Nice photos beagle, look great to me! Exposures look spot on. Are you pleased? How are you finding the lens autofocus? Like Allan says, no substitute for playing around with the settings and seeing what it can do - isn't digital great? You can blast away all day long ...
|
|
|
|
Post by beagle on May 20, 2011 22:12:48 GMT 12
I WANT A LONGER LENS
but I have to walk before I can run
Most things have been on auto.
have had the dial to sports mode with lens on auto. right/wrong
reading the book, somethings will take me 1/2 an hour to adjust to get right before i shoot.
is it just with full auto that the release button is 1/2 then full as i have been doing just a full release at times.
|
|
|
|
Post by ErrolC on May 20, 2011 22:34:53 GMT 12
I WANT A LONGER LENS but I have to walk before I can run Most things have been on auto. have had the dial to sports mode with lens on auto. right/wrong reading the book, somethings will take me 1/2 an hour to adjust to get right before i shoot. is it just with full auto that the release button is 1/2 then full as i have been doing just a full release at times. The sooner you take it off auto (to S or A mode), the faster you will learn (although Auto could be handy to save distractions while you are playing with the focus settings). Having it on sports mode is why those couple of shots you posted had fast shutter speed at the expense of a higher ISO. Great if you want to capture a kid kicking a ball, but not the best compromise for most aviation photography. |
|
|
|
Post by Deleted on May 21, 2011 7:18:04 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by mileater on May 21, 2011 10:15:52 GMT 12
Good advice Ralph. Ken Rockwell doesn't pull any punches in his reviews - if he likes something he will say so, and why. If he doesn't like something.. well... you get the picture. In general, he liked the 3100 but he is a Nikon fan anyway, so what's not to like??? Moving to a DSLR or advanced P&S/Bridge Camera that allows full control over speed, focus methods, exposure methods, aperture and shutter speed etc. bring with them a raft load of possibilities - most to allow you to screw up an otherwise good picture The auto features these cameras have are pretty good and will produce a decent photograph in terms of exposure control but will not let you be too creative or allow you to adapt to a "scene" that is just a little out of the scope of the pre-set programme. For that, you must learn how to use the "manual" methods of setting up the camera for what you want - and that takes a lot of time and a lot of experimenting with settings before you will begin to get the results that you are really happy with. Be prepared to spend a bit of time "in the darkroom" (photoshop or whatever your choice of editing software) as well - the result of some careful post-processing will amaze you and turn a good picture into a stunner but the basis must be there to start with. Have fun playing with your new camera Beags, don't be disappointed if the images are not what you expect right away but do have a look and see why the image wasn't quite as you envisioned and make a correction. By the way, with the resolution of your camera's sensor, you have the ability to crop an image and still retain very good detail... this is far cheaper than going for a longer lens Cheers, Allan |
|
|
|
Post by beagle on May 22, 2011 17:14:33 GMT 12
Looking at maybe doing a night class course if any are run by local high schools
|
|
|
|
Post by mileater on May 23, 2011 9:54:40 GMT 12
Good luck on your quest. If all else fails, there would appear to be a number of experienced and very capable camera users on this forum, so don't be afraid to ask questions.
Perhaps a thread could be started which covers the basics with particular attention to taking photographs of aircraft, models, dioramas, museum displays and so on?
Cheers,
Allan
|
|
|
|
Post by fwx on May 23, 2011 13:48:07 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by beagle on May 23, 2011 15:31:46 GMT 12
you don't want to pick my brain.....
|
|
|
|
Post by mileater on May 23, 2011 15:37:33 GMT 12
You are welcome to what's left of mine... But always happy to help out if I can. Cheers, Allan |
|
|
|
Post by mileater on May 23, 2011 16:05:54 GMT 12
fwx, thanks for pointing out those articles, they are a good primer.
There are tons (tonnes?) of sites that deal with photography techniques with both camera and editing software and I have read a boat-load of them. The problem is that you have to wade through an awful lot of (often) technical stuff to find the wee gem that you need. Others are too general and don't cover the detail that you may need in order to understand a point. Self-teaching can often become a real chore and it leads to loss of enthusiam for the subject and the world loses a potentially brilliant photographer so I encourage folks to do their own reading but if they need something explained ... then ASK. Places like this, where there is a great deal of collective wisdom and knowledge, are a great place to ask.
I am no expert (I was, once, but then I had kids) but I have been in the game since the early - mid 60's and even earned my daily bread by taking and processing photos (before I saw the light). Now, with digital cameras, Photoshop (or whatever) I am just as much in the dark as most others. I just have a good background in the basics and can probably load bulk 35mm film into cassettes, in the dark, faster than most LOL.
I am happy to try to answer any and all questions if I am able.
Cheers,
Allan
|
|
|
|
Post by fwx on May 23, 2011 22:07:35 GMT 12
beagle, if yours and mine were side by side, believe me, I would pick your brain every time ....
|
|
|
|
Post by htbrst on May 25, 2011 10:44:49 GMT 12
|
|
|
|
Post by beagle on May 25, 2011 10:51:01 GMT 12
yeah right....
cheers mate, will look
|
|
|
|
Post by beagle on May 25, 2011 10:57:25 GMT 12
wow yeah some good prices on spare battery and filter kit etc. mmmm
when is my birthday. bugger camera was birthday present for next 3 years. guess I will have to wait.
Does amazon ship things here to NZ
|
|
|
|
Post by beagle on May 29, 2011 19:52:37 GMT 12
nice crisp morning today so on firsst break nipped out, but the evil people, I think of NZ post had put up a new fence so i could not park in my usual spot but got these anyway. Taken on auto so probably still not the best.   |
|
|
|
Post by mileater on May 30, 2011 10:26:01 GMT 12
Are those images straight out of the camera? How much cropping of the image to get these pix Beags? They are certainly coming along but the image quality displayed here is, to me, a little disappointing. I see that you are at full zoom on the 55-200 lens and at f5.6, so you are probably getting almost all that the lens can give. It may be slightly sharper at f4 but I'm not sure. Have you done any post-processing? The images may respond to a bit of sharpening in the Nikon software they gave you. Try using Unsharp Mask (USM) with radius set to 1.0 and try various sharpen settings to see how they respond. It might help to clean up the fuzzies a bit without detracting from the photo. Keep plugging away Cheers, Allan |
|
|
|
Post by beagle on May 30, 2011 17:52:01 GMT 12
Are those images straight out of the camera? How much cropping of the image to get these pix Beags? They are certainly coming along but the image quality displayed here is, to me, a little disappointing. I see that you are at full zoom on the 55-200 lens and at f5.6, so you are probably getting almost all that the lens can give. It may be slightly sharper at f4 but I'm not sure. Have you done any post-processing? The images may respond to a bit of sharpening in the Nikon software they gave you. Try using Unsharp Mask (USM) with radius set to 1.0 and try various sharpen settings to see how they respond. It might help to clean up the fuzzies a bit without detracting from the photo. Keep plugging away Cheers, Allan how do you know what setting I have used for those photos. yeah cropped it a bit. tried some manual setting this arvo, just got to download them yet. |
|
ISO 280 for the top one and 400 for the next. If you use auto, the beast will tend to go for high ISO and high shutter speed. Not a bad thing but it will tend towards "noisy" (grainy) pix - you lose the advantage of that nice sensor and decent lens combination. Shutter speeds were 1/2000 sec for the top one and 1/1600 sec for the next one. At least you have no worries about camera shake while using a relatively long lens. Is this a 70 - 300 zoom or 
;D 