PF Photography Thread

Andre

Yes email is okay. Also a possibility is installing a dropbox, which makes it easy to share files. Here are some of mine in full size:

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22026080/IMG_9916.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22026080/IMG_2379hdn.JPG
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/22026080/ver...27_vlinder.jpg

Ms Music

Thank you for the info, I will look into that.

I found my exact lens, so now you know what the similarities and differences are between our two lenses.

http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/50-50...x-dg-hsm-sigma

And an Olympus E500 body.

Andre

Ah yes the "Bigma". A well known lens.

The older version you indicate is without optical stabilisation, which helps prevent motion blur. Moreover with the E500, a four thirds sensor, which is half the size of the original SLR film. This means that the lens and body combination has an effective focus of 1000mm. In the old days we had a simple algoritm that for preventing motion blur, you needed a shutter speed equal or better than the effective focus, so that would be 1/1000 sec. With the current lens quality, personally I find that even optimistic. This means that hand held, you should not go below 1/1000 sec. But obviously a tripod is almost inevitable. With those speeds you're likely ending up with maximum apertures, which is not a good idea with the long sigma's as mentioned before.

Also look how touching the camera, even on tripod, already leads to vibrations, you could image that this would also translate into motion blur, even on the tripod, so remote or timer control is highly advisable, to have these vibrations dampen out first.

So all in all pretty tough to control that Bigma beast.

Ms Music

Ahhhhhh, THAT explains it all. So is the best advice to sell it? ;) Or would it work with a newer and faster camera?

Andre

Always quite a responsibility to give advice, but I think I would sell it, but indeed an alternative would be to get a sensor stabilized (micro) four thirds camera that should be compatible with the lens. This is a real gem. At least that would solve the shutter speed problem, if it works of course. But would you have fun carrying so much weight around all day?

Another option would be to get a super zoom bridge camera.

Ms Music

I like how the cresting wave BARELY catch the color of the setting sun.

Honestly, I don't give up easy, so I will probably keep it until I buy a better camera. But I decided a while back I wouldn't do that until I actually could use it somewhat. And yes, it is a heavy beast to carry around, it is named Mongo for a reason.

Andre

Meanwhile, I'm looking for a title for this picture; 'drama on a rose leaf'? 'Ladykiller'?

Borek

Lunch?

dlgoff

Take That

Andy Resnick

An embarrassment of riches in the night sky lately- a spectacular pass of the space station last night:



If I push the exposure, the rest of the structure may be (vaguely) seen:



800/5.6, ISO 400, 1/1250s exposure. There was a comedy of errors this time- the sky was cloudy, and I was distracting myself by trying to get a good exposure reading off of Saturn- the ISS was 5 stops brighter, so by getting a 'good' exposure from Saturn, I could dial in the ISS setting easily. I wasn't checking the time and...

All of a sudden, this *blindingly bright* thing comes barreling out of he clouds, almost directly overhead. I had set my tripod to be able to look directly up (like this: http://www.richardpeters.co.uk/blog/...6/vertical.jpg), which is hazardous since I have to step over a leg to pan the lens around.

So I swing the lens around and soon realize that I still have the camera set to 'mirror lockup'- this is *bad* since the ISS moves so fast. I push what I thought was the right button, but soon found myself in camera menu hell. I get that fixed and realize that my tripod is pointed in the wrong direction, so I have to pick the whole thing up and rotate it this way and that. Meanwhile the ISS is panning directly overhead, looking amazing- there was a moment where it seemed to actually slow down and stop moving.

The next chance is on the 9th, under similar conditions....

Andy Resnick

Another fantastic ISS flyover- this time I was much better prepared:



I'll post a timelapse when I get a chance to process all the images... time to go back out, M101 is sitting pretty....

dlgoff

Thank you for sharing these images (/w explanations). And the M51-Whirlpool Galaxy images too.

Andre

Another shot at the water site with the new toy. Grebes. This is probably why they are my favorite.



Parent grebe about to drop a little fish into the beak of the youngster(cropped).




100% crop

Andy Resnick

Thanks! The timelapse is a 'keeper': 800/5.6, ISO 500, 1/1250s exposures



As the ISS comes overhead (the first 2 rows), the 4 large solar panels are clearly indicated separate from the central bright blob (likely the thermal control panels), and as it recedes (the bottom 2 rows) the smaller structure (Zvezda power platform) separated from the main structure can (barely) be seen as well.

Most excellent shot!

Andy Resnick

It finally happened- my shutter failed. I estimate it lasted 60k actuations, which is on the low side of average for that camera. The camera is currently en route to a repair shop, hopefully the camera will be back and ready for action in 2 or 3 weeks. Meanwhile, my new lens is still on backorder, with an estimated delivery date in mid-late July.....

LadyStardust

My friendly kindly posed for me in this one:







My apartment!







Meet Gandalf, my kitty and boss

Topher925

60K sounds rather low for the shutter to be failing. Is it still under warranty?

Nice shots Ladystardust. What kind of gear did you use for those shots.