The NIKON Thread (Talk About Nikon Stuff here)
Jan 2, 2009 at 1:37 PM Post #2,911 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok /img/forum/go_quote.gif
As you can see, it still makes up enough detail. So either my standard of sharp is much lower than you, or maybe either your object (or you) moved, or you just simply got a bad copy.



I don't know about other people, but I would consider those 100% crops to be on the soft side.

This is what I would consider pretty good for a DX format picture at 100% crop. No sharpening has been done to either.

84721421mo1.jpg


or
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2009/...a3b86542_o.jpg


I also would much rather have my camera set to a sharpness of +2 instead of -2. You can always soften up detail, but to try and sharpen up what is already blurred does not work very good. That's at least what I have found.
 
Jan 2, 2009 at 2:00 PM Post #2,912 of 5,895
Note that I mentioned that I took my previous one handheld at 1/15, but if I stopped it one or two notch (say, f/2 or f/2.8), I would get the same sharpness as your cat picture too (especially if I crank my camera's sharpness). My point was that I was just explaining to Sawyer who said that his 50mm 1.4 was soft at f/2.8 - that really shouldn't happen at all. For me even wide open, sharpness is adequate, although with the tiny bit of focused area, it would make your picture look soft because everything surrounding it is soft.

About in-camera sharpening, (me personally) I don't need everything is sharp sharp sharp in my picture. I choose what I want to sharpen later on from my PC.
 
Jan 2, 2009 at 7:33 PM Post #2,913 of 5,895
can anyone recommend a decent tripod. i need an upgrade from my el cheapo with its loose head. $100 give or take $40. the taller the better. bonus points if it is a tripod/monopod combo. i saw the quantaray qsx 9002 wolf camera but it doesn't have great reviews. thanks.
 
Jan 2, 2009 at 7:38 PM Post #2,914 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by Towert7 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I don't know about other people, but I would consider those 100% crops to be on the soft side.


His focal plane was less than a half an inch, while your cat picture appears to be shot stopped down to 2.8 with a depth of field that reaches from one side of the cat's head to the other. Two different things.

Properly focused and stable, the amount of softness wide open with most modern lenses isn't going to be an issue unless you are cropping down an awful lot.
 
Jan 2, 2009 at 8:52 PM Post #2,915 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif
His focal plane was less than a half an inch, while your cat picture appears to be shot stopped down to 2.8 with a depth of field that reaches from one side of the cat's head to the other. Two different things.


I know this already, and yet I still posted my comment.
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 12:55 AM Post #2,916 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by bigshot /img/forum/go_quote.gif
His focal plane was less than a half an inch, while your cat picture appears to be shot stopped down to 2.8 with a depth of field that reaches from one side of the cat's head to the other. Two different things.

Properly focused and stable, the amount of softness wide open with most modern lenses isn't going to be an issue unless you are cropping down an awful lot.



What he said.
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Jan 3, 2009 at 7:26 AM Post #2,917 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by Hoppergrass /img/forum/go_quote.gif
can anyone recommend a decent tripod. i need an upgrade from my el cheapo with its loose head. $100 give or take $40. the taller the better. bonus points if it is a tripod/monopod combo. i saw the quantaray qsx 9002 wolf camera but it doesn't have great reviews. thanks.


I have a Manfrotto - the 190XPROB. It's decent, has the 'swinging arm' for macro shots, versatile legs that let you have different angles for each leg, and is not too heavy. Their ball heads aren't so great though - with my D300 and 300 f/4 the ballhead doesn't cut it. I was going to get a better head (arca or RRS) but then I joined head-fi and blew my money on this stuff!
 
Jan 3, 2009 at 6:22 PM Post #2,918 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Just for fun shots:

By the way, Olympus was once very formidable in prosumer P&S (especially their C8080 Wide zoom - I am still excited by that one even now) market, but I am not sure which direction they are going now... They are sort of lost and just go along following the market like an old sheep...

PS: If you think what this got anything to do with Nikon thread, well, the pictures were taken by someone who used Nikon before (and still own a few Nikon lenses).



They still seem to have the best stuff out there for P&S ruggedized (underwater, droppable) models.

Be nice if they would give up on the proprietary memory (oddball format, and only their brand is full function)
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 1:24 AM Post #2,919 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by Kicksonrt66 /img/forum/go_quote.gif
They still seem to have the best stuff out there for P&S ruggedized (underwater, droppable) models.

Be nice if they would give up on the proprietary memory (oddball format, and only their brand is full function)



Some of the very recent Olympus P&S cameras have begun to accept microSD cards in addition to xD cards. But as the Olympus cameras are currently not microSDHC-compatible, the maximum supported memory capacity of the Olympus cameras when used with microSD cards is only 2GB.
 
Jan 4, 2009 at 4:24 AM Post #2,920 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by Eagle_Driver /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Some of the very recent Olympus P&S cameras have begun to accept microSD cards in addition to xD cards. But as the Olympus cameras are currently not microSDHC-compatible, the maximum supported memory capacity of the Olympus cameras when used with microSD cards is only 2GB.


I only buy 2GB cards anyway. Any bigger, and you're risking too many photos IMHO. Imagine losing 6GB of your last vacation because the card breaks!
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And I use the 2GB on my D80 shooting RAW. Most P&S will fit more photos on a card then I do. Something to think about at least. I initially looked into getting larger cards, but decided more smaller cards was better then 1 large one. I have 4 2GB cards in my bag. That's ~700 pictures. Plenty for me so far.

Edit: oh ya, and the smaller cards are cheaper! Can probly get 2 2GB SD cards for less than the price of a 4GB card
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I got a sale at Staples, 3 2GB SD cards for $40. That was in August. Probly cheaper now.
 
Jan 6, 2009 at 2:37 PM Post #2,923 of 5,895
I used to like 4GB as that's a great size to backup to DVDs but now that my raw files at 25MB each and I can shoot video, 16GB is more reasonable.

Hoppergrass, what kind of weight are you supporting on the tripod. The way I see it, to have more stablility, you shouldn't have too many sections nor use the center rail that much. But, getting taller requires using more of the center rail or having more leg sections though. You should just checkout bhphotovideo.com and read the specs of various tripods to figure out it's heights.

I use the carbon fiber version of this one but this is in your budget.
Bogen / Manfrotto | 190XB Tripod Legs (Black) | 190XB | B&H

It might not go high but I'm sure it's solid.
 
Jan 7, 2009 at 9:49 AM Post #2,924 of 5,895
Anyone uses Gordy's camera straps? I just bought a string wrist strap from him. Looks good and affordable too. I've been trying to find a proper leather wrist strap but couldn't find it anywhere. I could get some from eBay but I am not sure if it's a real leather or not. He sort of reminds me of Headphile of headphones. There's also one from Luigi from Leicatime but damn looking at the price, I know why it's called "LEICA"time. But it's indeed really nice though. I guess if you can afford a Leica, you can also afford to buy accessories from him.
 
Jan 7, 2009 at 3:46 PM Post #2,925 of 5,895
Quote:

Originally Posted by Iron_Dreamer /img/forum/go_quote.gif
I also like 4GB, it usually fills up just as the D200's battery takes a dump as well.


Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok /img/forum/go_quote.gif
For me I think the sweet spot is 4GB. 8GB or 16GB is way to expensive.


4GB is a pretty good size for me too but I also carry 8GB for convenience. I shoot 12.3MP 12-bit lossless compressed RAW, and an 8GB card will hold close to 600-700 of them depending on the images. The D300's battery will last perhaps another 300 shots. That has been my most recent experience on holiday. We travelled with two D300 and interestingly, my camera with which I primarily used an AF-D 50/1.4 and 35/2 outlasted my dad's by a couple hundred photos, which primarily had the AF-S/VR 18-200 attached to it. I also used a SB-80DX and SB-800. Of course, this wasn't a controlled experiment so there could've been numerous variables which would inevitably lead to bias.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dj_mocok /img/forum/go_quote.gif
Anyone uses Gordy's camera straps? I just bought a string wrist strap from him. Looks good and affordable too. I've been trying to find a proper leather wrist strap but couldn't find it anywhere. I could get some from eBay but I am not sure if it's a real leather or not. He sort of reminds me of Headphile of headphones. There's also one from Luigi from Leicatime but damn looking at the price, I know why it's called "LEICA"time. But it's indeed really nice though. I guess if you can afford a Leica, you can also afford to buy accessories from him.


Wow thanks for that. I wasn't aware of Gordy's. Leicatime straps look pretty nice too, but yeah, a tad pricey. Then again, the Nikon wide straps are fairly pricey too at around ~$40-50 a pop. I would consider the wide strap a necessity if you have any camera D200/300/700 or bigger and you use a midrange zoom lens +/- SB600/800/900/MB-D10. I use one even when I only have a prime attached. It's a bit of a hassle to wrap around your wrist if you're the sort of person who does so.
 

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