PF Photography Thread

Andy Resnick

Bleargh! some of these look like $hit on my Mac. If you'll pardon the following, so I can compare them across my monitors, hopefully I'll get some insight about what is going on.

sourlemon

andy, the beach looks so blue!!! where did you go? Lovely picture. Cute baby.

Andy Resnick

We spent a glorious week in the North Carolina Outer Banks (Hattaras, specifically)- we were there last week, and have been following Irene with some concern. It's weird to think about what is going on there right now....

The girl is my youngest (4 y.o.)- she ain't no baby- she's mad that you said that, but you got redemption points for 'cute' :)

Andre

Nice work Andy,

Some of mine (not really holiday, but anyway)







Playing with bokeh:







And for the cuteness factor, the daughter of a niece:


(in available light with ISO 3200 - see EXIF)

Furthermore, currently the last 7 pictures in my album here are all from the last three weeks on my mission in France

Andy Resnick

I like the little sunglare spot in #5- it's dead center, was that intentional?

Andre

Thanks Andy, yes it was intentional, I moved around to get the bokeh of the tree in the back ground in the most favorite position for maximum contrast, while keeping an eye of the sunglare in the fresh rain drops.

A few more










The tree last year:



http://www.dpreview.com/galleries/97.../photos/935820

Topher925

Nothing compared to what you guys have posted but these are some shots from last nights stargazing session. First one is a low mag shot of the Pleiades and Jupiter coming up over the horizon. Second is just a close up of the Pleiades.





I'm really starting to outgrow my FZ-40. The short exposure times and lack of removable lens is really starting to limit what I can do. Any recommendations on a DSLR that works well in low light conditions that doesn't cost a fortune?

Andy Resnick

Those images are extremely reasonable!

I can't comment about the various camera bodies, but in general you want a lens with the largest aperture (low f/#) you can afford: for example the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 is a very reasonable lens, while the f/1.2 is more expensive and the Leica f/0.95 version is outta sight.

Larger apertures let you use both shorter acquisition times and lower ISO settings-short acquisition times are important with longer focal lengths. Even a 2s exposure using my 85mm is long enough to show star trails, and I'm forced to use < 1/10s with my 400mm.

Andre

You may want to do some comparisons here:

http://www.dpreview.com/products/compare/cameras

I would consider the Canon 600D, the Nikon D5100 and the Sony SLT A55

Here live size crops of a studio test comparing ISO 3200 shots (jpg):




Todays selection of some 250+ frames for the photo challenge bottled water

Andre

Fun with glass nuggets

Topher925

I really like the Nikon D5100, but it doesn't have as many software options as the Canon 600D. They both seem to have good and reasonably priced lenses. I won't be buying one until after I pass my qualifiers this fall, so are there any new models coming to market soon? I don't want to have buyers remorse 2 months after I buy a camera.

Andre

Well the Sony SLT A65 has absolutely amazing specs but a detailed review is not yet available. Discussions mention disappointing hi ISO performance sometimes, which may be biased, but with the fixed translucent mirror technology there will be loss of light to the sensor and the relative small size of the individual pixels increases noise problems.

No known announcements of new Canons and Nikons, which is a bit overdue for Canon, especially the high end models (EOS1D and 5D) but they were affected by the Fukushima disaster. But if you wait for a newer model, chances are that you keep waiting forever.

Andy Resnick

Optics is awesome. Being an experimental scientist means playing = learning:

Andre

Nice Andy, Camera obscura?

Some glass fragments about 2-3mm in size, with the flash behind it.

Gad

Wow, fabulous Andre. Love it.

Andre

Thanks, drizzle, here is the original if you like to add it to your wallpaper collection, or maybe make a big print of it.

Notice that I cropped the lower right corner and then mirrored it vertically to get the composition I liked the best.

I_am_learning

My eye. :) (Selfshot)