The photography thread

ThePrettyDamned

goldtop said:

stickyfiddle said:

I use LR CC. It's very good for processing, but the real bonus comes from the mobile workflow. I important almost 100% via ipad, then sort/reject before importing to LR. Then when I do import everything is there in the cloud for heavier edits on the laptop or simple stuff & sharing on my phone. I also love using the Pencil to edit, which is ipad only, obviously. 

If you're not using it on mobile then I definitely wouldn't go for the subscription; this, Netflix and iCloud storage are literally the only monthly software payments I have. LR 6 might still be a good bet, especially if you can find a discount code online. 

There are other things like Affinity and CaptureOne that are meant to be excellent.

Excellent - thanks. Affirms my PoV on subscription (in effect, occasional photo hobbyists are subsidising everyday photo pros).

Affinity looks like good value - almost like a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop. I will check out some reviews and YT tutorials.

100 percent agree with all of this. 

I love you capture one, and to be honest I don't need Lightroom anymore because of it. However, I can't lose photoshop, it's just too damn good. 

I mostly just tweak in capture one, then finish for print in photoshop. Sometimes I use more advanced stuff for colour processing as well.

I'd like to go all in on capture one, but I'm not sure I'm ready yet. However  the mobile part is the best - if you shoot nikon, you can process raw files from your phone! Sadly, fuji won't transfer RAF files to mobile so I'm stuck editing jpegs but it is useful for when you want to share a picture. My computer is used less than it was, that's for sure! 

stickyfiddle

ThePrettyDamned said:

goldtop said:

stickyfiddle said:

I use LR CC. It's very good for processing, but the real bonus comes from the mobile workflow. I important almost 100% via ipad, then sort/reject before importing to LR. Then when I do import everything is there in the cloud for heavier edits on the laptop or simple stuff & sharing on my phone. I also love using the Pencil to edit, which is ipad only, obviously. 

If you're not using it on mobile then I definitely wouldn't go for the subscription; this, Netflix and iCloud storage are literally the only monthly software payments I have. LR 6 might still be a good bet, especially if you can find a discount code online. 

There are other things like Affinity and CaptureOne that are meant to be excellent.

Excellent - thanks. Affirms my PoV on subscription (in effect, occasional photo hobbyists are subsidising everyday photo pros).

Affinity looks like good value - almost like a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop. I will check out some reviews and YT tutorials.

100 percent agree with all of this. 

I love you capture one, and to be honest I don't need Lightroom anymore because of it. However, I can't lose photoshop, it's just too damn good. 

I mostly just tweak in capture one, then finish for print in photoshop. Sometimes I use more advanced stuff for colour processing as well.

I'd like to go all in on capture one, but I'm not sure I'm ready yet. However  the mobile part is the best - if you shoot nikon, you can process raw files from your phone! Sadly, fuji won't transfer RAF files to mobile so I'm stuck editing jpegs but it is useful for when you want to share a picture. My computer is used less than it was, that's for sure! 

Can you get an SD Card reader for your phone? I keep one in my ipad case all the time

ThePrettyDamned

stickyfiddle said:

ThePrettyDamned said:

goldtop said:

stickyfiddle said:

I use LR CC. It's very good for processing, but the real bonus comes from the mobile workflow. I important almost 100% via ipad, then sort/reject before importing to LR. Then when I do import everything is there in the cloud for heavier edits on the laptop or simple stuff & sharing on my phone. I also love using the Pencil to edit, which is ipad only, obviously. 

If you're not using it on mobile then I definitely wouldn't go for the subscription; this, Netflix and iCloud storage are literally the only monthly software payments I have. LR 6 might still be a good bet, especially if you can find a discount code online. 

There are other things like Affinity and CaptureOne that are meant to be excellent.

Excellent - thanks. Affirms my PoV on subscription (in effect, occasional photo hobbyists are subsidising everyday photo pros).

Affinity looks like good value - almost like a combination of Lightroom and Photoshop. I will check out some reviews and YT tutorials.

100 percent agree with all of this. 

I love you capture one, and to be honest I don't need Lightroom anymore because of it. However, I can't lose photoshop, it's just too damn good. 

I mostly just tweak in capture one, then finish for print in photoshop. Sometimes I use more advanced stuff for colour processing as well.

I'd like to go all in on capture one, but I'm not sure I'm ready yet. However  the mobile part is the best - if you shoot nikon, you can process raw files from your phone! Sadly, fuji won't transfer RAF files to mobile so I'm stuck editing jpegs but it is useful for when you want to share a picture. My computer is used less than it was, that's for sure! 

Can you get an SD Card reader for your phone? I keep one in my ipad case all the time

Ooo I never considered that...

Although to be fair, if I'm editing for Instagram I don't need a raw file, fuji jpegs are pretty good and it's usually just minor curves, colour balance and radial/brush filters. All of which jpegs are fine with - it's big changes in contrast, colour and shadow recovery where jpegs really fall apart. 

Grumpyrocker

If you shoot Fuji you can now get a free version of Capture One. It's cut down - but ideal when paired with something like Affinity Photo.

Do the basic RAW development - shadow/highlight recovery in C1, then send the TIFF to Affinity Photo. A really great combo.

ThePrettyDamned

Oh god, I might be about to do something mad.

I've suddenly had pangs of wanting to photograph birds - with the fuji system, this is very expensive... 

So, I have been thinking about what I typically use on fuji and on previous systems and how much by filtering images, and doing some maths. I'm looking at keepers only...

- 71 percent of my shots are at 35mm equivalent 
- 20 percent were at 135mm equivalent 
- 6 percent at 85mm equivalent (I'm including the 75mm equivs in that) 
- the rest are wider or telephoto, based on very low quality lenses seldom used. 

That doesn't surprise me at all. It also provides a challenge - I need a 35mm equivalent more than any other. I use this for street, portrait, landscape and generally everything. By far my favourite has been the fuji 23mm 1.4.

75/85 equiv is nice for short portraits - anything that's not a tight head shot (where it distorts things a bit much). It also makes a great landscape lens. The best I've used was the 85mm 1.4 sigma ex DG HSM on a full frame camera, or the Nikon 50mm 1.8 on crop. The fuji 50mm is a much better lens, but it should be at twice the cost!

Then there is other stuff. I don't get on with really wide stuff in general, but I did try the rokinon 12mm on the fuji and holy crap I love it enough to want to buy one.

But super tele? Fuji doesn't have much. I have heard the 100-400 is good but it's very expensive, even used. I've used a vintage 200mm lens for landscapes on it and love the perspective you get (so much so I actually look for completely different things in landscapes) but it's mostly too short. 

So that leaves me looking at other systems. I'm most familiar with nikon and they have the wonderful 200-500mm 5.6 zoom which would be perfect on a D7200 - plenty of reach, dynamic range for days and amazingly sharp images. 

However, they don't have a 35mm equivalent that's well matched. And it's ugly - small thing, but I seem to get much better street shots with the fuji.

So, I'm considering going for something totally different - possibly:

- D7200 with 200-500 + fuji x100/ricoh gr/micro 4/3 and 17mm lens

- D7200 with 200-500 + fuji xe-2 with 23mm 1.4

- other? Canon 7d + lens (don't know Canon gear) + compact of some kind (fuji x100)  

The part that makes parting with fuji so hard is the look, feel and that 23mm lens. I really would hate to part with it - but I don't want to spend loads of money on a whim.

Are there any wildlife/tele landscape types out there with advice? 

Jimbro66

My equivalent setup:

Pentax K3 with 150-450 (with/without 1.4x converter) + Fuji X-E3 with 23mm

Covers the bases nicely

TTBZ

How about getting a Metabones or Viltrox (cheaper) Nikon/Canon to FX mount adapter and opening up a whole world of lens possibilities?

I know native is generally better but loads of people use the Metabones speedbooster with their Panasonics for example and seem to get great results. The lack of affordable native lenses is what's putting me off getting an XT3 though, but the image from that camera looks incredible bar some weird looking choppiness I've noticed on the 120p footage.

ThePrettyDamned

TTBZ said:

How about getting a Metabones or Viltrox (cheaper) Nikon/Canon to FX mount adapter and opening up a whole world of lens possibilities?

I know native is generally better but loads of people use the Metabones speedbooster with their Panasonics for example and seem to get great results. The lack of affordable native lenses is what's putting me off getting an XT3 though, but the image from that camera looks incredible bar some weird looking choppiness I've noticed on the 120p footage.

Just for af performance really - I'm absolutely beginner level with wildlife so I feel it would be best to have the gear on "easy mode". 

Wolfetone

Just got back into my old hobby of photography...

Wolfetone

...and another from my holiday last week.

Jimbro66

Wolfetone said:

...and another from my holiday last week.

That's a corker!

Wolfetone

Jimbro66 said:

Wolfetone said:

...and another from my holiday last week.

That's a corker!

It was taken with £165 (s/h) worth of Lumix GX1. You don't need top gear to get good photos.

Wolfetone

Here's another....

RaymondLin

Can I offer a minor criticism?

Not the photo but the frame.  I am on the camp that less distraction the better, signature is fine but a frame is distracting because people don't do it so when you see one, it's the first thing and the last thing you see.

My observations is that frames are put in my most beginners, a phase that you grow out of. I did too.

Wolfetone

This is another...

Wolfetone

I took this on my smartphone...

stickyfiddle

Am I the only one who can’t see @Wolfetone ‘s photos?

Jimbro66

stickyfiddle said:

Am I the only one who can’t see @Wolfetone ‘s photos?

Strangely I could see them on my Android mobile yesterday but not on my iPad this morning.

BigLicks67

I've inherited a Sony A200 from the mrs and want to add a telephoto lens ( fairly cheaply) so is it true I can use an old Minolta lens and if so what should I be looking for? Thanks in advance.

Wolfetone

Jimbro66 said:

stickyfiddle said:

Am I the only one who can’t see @Wolfetone ‘s photos?

Strangely I could see them on my Android mobile yesterday but not on my iPad this morning.

I'll see if I can upload to Photobucket. They're on Google photos at the moment.