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#1: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Neil_Baumgardner, Location: Arlington, VA

Posted: Mon Aug 02, 2010 5:39 pm
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Lesley asked if we could have a "sticky" thread for questions about photography & cameras. This thread can cover such topics as shutter speed, ISO, lighting, constructing camera poles, etc. All the questions & discussions specific to cameras and taking pictures of AFVs (but not the AFVs themselves).

Enjoy!

Neil

#2: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: L.Delsing,

Posted: Tue Aug 03, 2010 9:22 am
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@Neil; thanks!!

I have a Nikon d300 with an AF-S Nikor 18-200 1:3.5-5.6GII ED lens. In the past I used Kodachrome 25, 64 and Fujichrome slides. Very low ISO.

With my digital camera I try to use also very low ISO (with the Nikon I have, it goes from 200 to L 0.3 --> L 0.7 --> L 1.0 (which is the lowest) equivalent of the last 3 I dont know.

I understood that with some modern DSLRs it is possible to use relatively high ISO numbers.

Anyone have experience with photographing green tanks on a gray, cloudy day with high ISO numbers with modern DSLR's?

This because I'am (when everything works out) in the opportunity to photograph some hard targets. But I can not wait for good weather. So the photos have to be good the firtst time.

Thanks in advance,
Lesley

#3: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Pzkpfw-e,

Posted: Mon Aug 09, 2010 3:12 pm
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Slides?
My word, ancient technology!
I moved over to digital years ago, even a pretty basic DSLR will give good results, when combined with a suitable processing programme.
I use an Olympus E400, I use whatever automatic setting looks appropriate and then tweak with Roxio Photosuite.well I did until changing from XP to Vista!

#4: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Massimo_Foti, Location: Lugano, Switzerland

Posted: Sun Aug 15, 2010 2:20 pm
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I use Canon DSLRs, don't be afraid of using higher ISO. Even Canon's entry level DSLRs can do a pretty good job at ISO 800, better models can handle 1600 (EOS 7D) and even 3200 (EOS 5D Mk II) still fine. I imagine it wouldn't be that much different with Nikon.

Is you lens stabilized? Stabilization can be handy on anything apart wide-angle lenses. Good stabilization earn you 2-3 f-stops, allowing you longer exposition times, even if you hand-held. See:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...bilization

For interiors and low-light, faster lenses are important too. Your zoom start at f/3.5, and that's pretty good, but on the longer range it goes down to f/5.6, and that's not great. Do you need the extra range for those targets? Or you can consider a faster lens (f/2.8 would be great), maybe with a more limited range?

Finally, if you use RAW you can correct/increase exposition in post-processing.

Hope it could help

Massimo

#5: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: L.Delsing,

Posted: Mon Aug 16, 2010 8:56 pm
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Yes my lens is stabilised. A friend of my says that you have to switch it off when you use a tripod (correct word?), what do you know about that.

About the ISO values, I tried 800 last week in overcast conditions and it turned out fine!

I looked for this lens but at the moment its a bit over my budget www.nikon-obchod.cz/nl...l4&ID=1825

At the moment I put the settings on my camera on JPEG fine and NEF (the Nikon variant of RAW). At the moment I don't have a program to work with RAW or NEF but I'am looking for Photoshop CS4 or 5 at the moment. For the last variant I'am not sure if the internal memory of my laptop (2 GB) can handle that program.

thanks and regards,
Lesley

#6: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Massimo_Foti, Location: Lugano, Switzerland

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 5:35 am
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Yes, you better turn off the stabilization whenever you use a tripod.

Glad to hear ISO 800 works fine, it's not like in film days anymore Laughing

A f/2.8 70-200 is going to be expensive and very heavy. Think twice before investing in such a beast.

I am using Photoshop CS5 with a Gb RAM laptop, it's still okay, as long as you don't expect to open too many other applications at the very same time.

I would reccomend to try some software for RAW post-processing asap. Photoshop CS5 is expensive, both Photoshop Elements and Lightroom are excellent alternatives, much cheaper too, download the free, 30 days trials and see by yourself:
www.adobe.com/products...shopelwin/
www.adobe.com/products...lightroom/

DxO is worth a try too (30 days free trial):
www.dxo.com/intl/photo

Massimo

#7: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Michel_Krauss, Location: Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 10:00 pm
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I almost feel out of date with my Canon 350D and non-stabilized 55-200 1:4-5.6

However I'm still happy with it Mr. Green

Michel

#8: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Massimo_Foti, Location: Lugano, Switzerland

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 4:36 am
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- Michel_Krauss

I almost feel out of date with my Canon 350D and non-stabilized 55-200 1:4-5.6

Is 55-200 your only lens, or you have the 18-55 too?

Massimo

#9: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Massimo_Foti, Location: Lugano, Switzerland

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:13 am
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- L.Delsing

At the moment I don't have a program to work with RAW or NEF but I'am looking for Photoshop CS4 or 5 at the moment.

Have you tried ViewNX 2?
www.nikon.com/about/ne...nx2_03.htm

Massimo

Last edited by Massimo_Foti on Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:46 am; edited 1 time in total

#10: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: L.Delsing,

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:44 am
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Thanks Massimo, I downloaded it and going to try it out!

Regard,
Lesley

#11: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: L.Delsing,

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:19 am
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I dowloaded it, but it is terrible slow on my computer...

#12: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Massimo_Foti, Location: Lugano, Switzerland

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 10:42 am
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I am posting a bunch of links that could be useful:

Phozo.net
photo.net/
An indipendent site, very large and trustworthy. Its forum is pretty good.
A bunch of generic articles on equipoment are really worth reading but aren't necessarely up to date (many recent product may be missing). Check the "Our Most Popular Photography Equipment Articles" on this page:
photo.net/equipment/

The-Digital-Picture.com
www.the-digital-picture.com/
Mostly focused on Canon products, slowly expanding to Nikon as well. Excellent reviews and up to date news section

Photozone.de (it's in english!)
images.photozone.de/
Very accurate reviews, even if they aren't able to cover everything that's on the market

Digital Photography Review
www.dpreview.com/
Maybe the best source for news, offers reviews as well

Fredmiranda.com
www.fredmiranda.com/re.../index.php
These are end-user reviews, just like the ones you can read on Amazon. So take them with a grain of salt. They can be handy because you can hear a large amount of people

Lensrentals.com
www.lensrentals.com/
People living in the USA can easly rent equipment online, and this company has a solid reputation. There are twon reasons for renting:
1) You wannt to try something for a few days before investing big bucks on it
2) There is an expensive piece of equipment that you need only once in a while
The founder also offers some supercool, down-to-earth, articles that I always enjoy reading:
www.lensrentals.com/news

Hope it could help

Massimo

#13: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Michel_Krauss, Location: Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 5:00 pm
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- Massimo_Foti

Is 55-200 your only lens, or you have the 18-55 too?

Massimo

Have the 18-55 also, that was the standard lens supplied with the camera

I bought the 55-200 because the "reach" of the basic lens was not always good enough at the longer distances
You don't need it for museums, however it is handy for the outside events and stuff like that

Michel

#14: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Massimo_Foti, Location: Lugano, Switzerland

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:55 pm
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Yes, for museums something up to 70-100 mm is all you need. The 55-200 was a good choice for that kind of needs. It's decent value for money.

The original 18-55 supplied with the 350D was quite poor instead, later on Canon released an upgraded version, called 18-55 IS (note the "IS" part). It's more or less as cheap as the one you have, but much better.You may look around and see if you can find a second-hand copy. Since it's sold as part of the kits (camera+lens) many people have no use for it and sell it brand new at bargain prices. You may find a copy in mint conditions at 100-150 EUR, or even less.

Massimo

#15: Re: Photography/Camera Discussions & Tips Author: Michel_Krauss, Location: Zuid-Holland, The Netherlands

Posted: Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:34 pm
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Good to know, worth checking out

I could find one that's called "Canon EF-S 18-55mm F/3.5-5.6 II" and there is also one called the same however without the "II" at the end

So I think you mean the "II" type, that is for sale for about 55 EUR

Michel

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