Photographer's thread

[rice_classic]

Originally Posted by m3bassman

I recently added the Canon 10-18STM to my collection of glass. I would highly recommend it for landscapes. having played with it and the 10-22, i feel the $300 price tag for the 10-18 really is a bargain. shot these two shots this last week with the new lens.

I agree about the kit lens (nice pics btw!), it sure has it's limitations but with some love in post you can negate a lot of that. I'd like to replace my kit lens with the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 constant.


Unrelated photo: T3i w/ plastic fantastic





edit: I've recently been turned onto the Sony products and with an adapter you can canon lenses (or lenses for canon bodies) with the Sony A7 bodies. I've been wanting new glass but I think I'm going to save up and get a full-frame mirrorless A7s or A7 MKII. Their ability to shoot in low light at astronomical ISO's is simply incredible.

[m3bassman]

Originally Posted by Yellow_Jacket

That's awesome that you ran into the motortrend group! Were their folks pretty cool to chat with? My dad and I were in Yellowstone and we drove up to that point from the Yellowstone side so it could be the Joseph highway.

Good to know that the tinge is from the glass, guess you do get something more for the crazy price difference. I can get rid of most of it with lightroom but have to be selective so you don't lose the blue for the sky/water/other blues. Also, I recently did pick up a canon 10-18 and it's a sweet lens. Though learning how to use ultra wide angle lens is an interesting learning process.

I know we are getting a bit off topic... but im guessing you left the park from the Northeast Entrance, through cook city and took the highway to redlodge? Thats how it sounds at least. The Chief Joseph highway would have taken you more east towards Powell. That is a great road too. I always fill my memory cards up in that area, it is incredible. Oh and the motortrend dude wasnt happy since i hadnt heard of his show lol It was the Epic Drives episode from Montana in case you are interested.

I should back up, are you also shooting RAW? It is my understanding that lightroom uses Adobe Camera Raw to edit just like PS does. I use PS CC and there are tools to correct the defects that not invasive on the overall image.

congrats on the new lens! The biggest challenge is managing that barrel distortion!

Originally Posted by rice_classic

I agree about the kit lens (nice pics btw!), it sure has it's limitations but with some love in post you can negate a lot of that. I'd like to replace my kit lens with the Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 constant.


Unrelated photo: T3i w/ plastic fantastic





edit: I've recently been turned onto the Sony products and with an adapter you can canon lenses (or lenses for canon bodies) with the Sony A7 bodies. I've been wanting new glass but I think I'm going to save up and get a full-frame mirrorless A7s or A7 MKII. Their ability to shoot in low light at astronomical ISO's is simply incredible.

once you learn how it behaves to certain light and situations, it is much easier to shoot and edit to optimize your image.

if you ever get the chance to shoot Canon L glass, you will understand the gap in price between them, and the cheap lenses. L glass and a full frame, thats living the dream right there.

[funwheeldrive]

Where do you guys get your prints? I heard cvs and Wal-Mart arnt great in terms of photo quality.

[Yellow_Jacket]

Originally Posted by m3bassman

I know we are getting a bit off topic... but im guessing you left the park from the Northeast Entrance, through cook city and took the highway to redlodge? Thats how it sounds at least. The Chief Joseph highway would have taken you more east towards Powell. That is a great road too. I always fill my memory cards up in that area, it is incredible. Oh and the motortrend dude wasnt happy since i hadnt heard of his show lol It was the Epic Drives episode from Montana in case you are interested.

I should back up, are you also shooting RAW? It is my understanding that lightroom uses Adobe Camera Raw to edit just like PS does. I use PS CC and there are tools to correct the defects that not invasive on the overall image.

congrats on the new lens! The biggest challenge is managing that barrel distortion!




once you learn how it behaves to certain light and situations, it is much easier to shoot and edit to optimize your image.

if you ever get the chance to shoot Canon L glass, you will understand the gap in price between them, and the cheap lenses. L glass and a full frame, thats living the dream right there.

Yeah, I shoot in RAW only for a year or so now. I like it since it gives me more control for post processing. Yeah, barrel distortion can be a pain at 10mm. Just can't have too many scene close and on the sides of the shot.
Attached a shot that I took with the 10-18mm at Denali. Not too bad of barrel distortion.

Costco is actually a great place to print photos up to their max size which isn't that big. You can return any photos that you don't like no question asked. Good price and good quality.

[AznKirby]

You can use lens correction for peripheral distortions in lightroom

[m3bassman]

Originally Posted by funwheeldrive

Where do you guys get your prints? I heard cvs and Wal-Mart arnt great in terms of photo quality.

i use a local camera store, not a big name place. they take more pride in creating prints in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Yellow_Jacket

Yeah, I shoot in RAW only for a year or so now. I like it since it gives me more control for post processing. Yeah, barrel distortion can be a pain at 10mm. Just can't have too many scene close and on the sides of the shot.
Attached a shot that I took with the 10-18mm at Denali. Not too bad of barrel distortion.

Costco is actually a great place to print photos up to their max size which isn't that big. You can return any photos that you don't like no question asked. Good price and good quality.

i find that manmade objects show the barrel distortion more than natural landscapes. straight lines and geometric shapes show it.

beautiful spot in denali. do you know what aperture you shot that at? ive found that at wide open the images are soft everywhere but dead center. Shooting at F10 has improved the sharpness with that lens.

[Yellow_Jacket]

Originally Posted by m3bassman

i use a local camera store, not a big name place. they take more pride in creating prints in my opinion.


i find that manmade objects show the barrel distortion more than natural landscapes. straight lines and geometric shapes show it.

beautiful spot in denali. do you know what aperture you shot that at? ive found that at wide open the images are soft everywhere but dead center. Shooting at F10 has improved the sharpness with that lens.

I usually stay with F8. Read somewhere that F8 is a good aperture for "infinite" focus. I'll give F10 a shot in the future and see how that goes. Thanks for the suggestion!

[Liselotte]

[funwheeldrive]

Hey guys, I don't mean to clutter up the thread with noob questions, but I'm kind of stuck. I've pretty much decided on a Pentax K50 camera for my first DSLR. I have the option to either buy the body, or buy the kit with the standard lenses.

With Lenses $525
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Pentax-Digital-18-55mm-f3-5-5-6-50-200mm/dp/B00DBPK97K/ref=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1417996779&sr =1-2&keywords=pentax+k50"]Amazon.com : Pentax K-50 16MP Digital SLR Camera Kit with DA L 18-55mm WR f3.5-5.6 and 50-200mm WR Lenses (White) : Electronics[/ame]



Body Only $365
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DBPKAB0/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=10QIR 738SV7EU&coliid=I1RCYA2O7HV2Y5&psc=1"]Amazon.com : Pentax K-50 16MP Digital SLR Camera with 3-Inch LCD - Body Only (Red) : Camera & Photo[/ame]



I'm still reading up on lenses, but it sounds like the lenses from a kit aren't the greatest. As a beginner, would I be better off buying the body only and one really good lens? Or will the supplied lenses in the kit be more than enough for me? Any help would be great. Thanks a lot!

[m3bassman]

As a starting point the kit lens is an inexpensive options. All the photos of mine on this page minus the duck blind were with the kit lens. A bigger factor that will help your photography is to practice, read, learn and experiment.the nice gear helps but if you cannot frame a subject in an appealing way, manage the light, or try new things, no lens in the world will give you great photos.

[m3bassman]

To add, there are several fantastic resources online. Personally i study/studied this site:

http://www.digitalbirdphotography.com/contents.html

Yes it is biased towards bird photography that i dable in, BUT the information is good for photography in general. it covers a lot of great topics in great detail but easy to understand. It helped me for my photography as a whole as well as with the feathered type.
Bald Eagle by bspringli photography, on Flickr
IMG_6250 by bspringli photography, on Flickr

[rice_classic]

On my crop sensor, I like the functional range of the kit lens (18-55) but lens is soft and it's just not fast enough. If I was buying my T3i all over again, I'd just buy the body and get the Sigma17-50 f2.8 as my "kit" lens.

I think full-frame lifestyle is in my future if/when Sony releases a the next version of the A7s.

[PoltART]

Another edit I did last night.

[AznKirby]

^ Making steelies look good one picture at a time.