My first attempt(s) using a D70

[Impakt]

Hi all,
I bought a D70 from the forum a couple weeks ago and thought i'd show you all how i went so far.

I am starting to learn how to use the A and S modes properly, some of these shots were taken in auto mode. BTW the first 2 were taken using my P+S Sony DSCP-100S, and they are the best that were taken with it.

My favourites...

1.

2.

3.

8.



The rest...
4. http://members.optusnet.com.au/impakt01/review/r4.jpg
5. http://members.optusnet.com.au/impakt01/review/r5.jpg
6. http://members.optusnet.com.au/impakt01/review/r6.jpg
7. http://members.optusnet.com.au/impakt01/review/r7.jpg
9. http://members.optusnet.com.au/impakt01/review/r9.jpg
10. http://members.optusnet.com.au/impakt01/review/r10.jpg

I'm planning on getting an SB-600 and perhaps a sigma 30/1.4 so i can take some indoor shots of my daughter, then i can post some more photos

Impakt

[Impakt]

any comments? ... anyone?

[sirhc55]

Impakt - a little critique:

r4 - I like the perspective you chose for this shot and the DOF is perfect on the nose

r7 - this is a beautiful shot of your little one but the colour balance is wrong. A curves adjustment will make this pic pop

r6 - just gorgeous if a tad soft - try this in portrait mode for a better composition

Of the four pics shown the last one is per r7 but you have shot in portrait mode which is good

[Impakt]

I edited the initial post so all the numbers are in sync..

Thanks for your input! Unfortunately some photos were taken on a really overcast day so it was hard to get alot of zing in the colour.

[Glen]

Hi Impakt, nice start. On image 8 I would suggest playing with it in whatever post processing program you have, it is a little dark on my monitor but with pp should improve immeasurably

[Impakt]

On cloudy days is pp'ing the photos the best way to brighten them up? Or is it a simple matter of exposing the photos a little more (lower shutter speed, higher iso, quicker lens etc)?

[Mj]

Impakt,

You'll find with DSLR that a little PP is required to get the best out of each image, no matter the conditions. Assuming that your in camera settings are neutral you'll need to boost the contrast and sharpness at the very least.

[sirhc55]

Impakt - I have looked at one of your pics and noticed that the levels adjustment was way out. I sampled on white and this is the result. Please let me know if you wish me to remove the pic.

[Impakt]

Is there any way i can fix the levels adjustment on the dslr, or can it only be done in the pp phase?

[Glen]

Impakt, do a search on 'curves', many people use them. It would also help if you let people know if you shoot Jpg or Raw?

[Murray1006]

Is there any way i can fix the levels adjustment on the dslr, or can it only be done in the pp phase?

Hi Impakt,

There are no level adjustments inside the camera. The picture posted above is underexposed. As you said above this is a function of shutter speed, aperture and ISO. Look at the picture on the LCD screen on the camera, and if it looks a little dark either open up the aperture, slow down the shutter or increase the ISO. If your shutter is getting too low to hand hold and you already have the aperture open, and you don't want to increase the ISO anymore because of the noise, you will need to use a flash to fill in the shadows. The flash will let you keep your shutter speed high and your ISO low.

Sirhc55 did a good job brightening the photo but you can see that during the process some noise has become more visible. You want to limit the amount of post work on the computer by getting the exposure correct with the camera. Most shots from an SLR however will require some work to get right. Mostly sharpening, maybe some colour adjustment and a little exposure adjustment.

I hope you don't mind but I had a quick play with the photo sirhc55 posted. As I mentioned above he has brightened the shot but this has introduced noise. I brightened the shot, adjusted the white balance and finally used a noise filter to remove most of the noise. With the noise filter you loose some detail so the closer you can get to a correct exposure upfront the better the image quality will be when you are finished.



Your photos are good. The first and fourth are my picks. You just need to get the exposure a little closer with the camera and you will have some great photos.

[sirhc55]

Nice job Murray

[wendellt]

hey

welcome

i like the last one the most, it's just a natural capture

but your 1st shot has a great concept
i'm sure you would nail the semi-auto modes soon and excell

[Impakt]

Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback! At the moment im shooting in JPG Basic L, but since i have a 4GB microdrive i might shoot in RAW when i really want to nail the shot.

Anyone have a Sigma 30mm f/1.4? I would love to get an opinion on this glass..

Impakt

[barry]

Murray1006.

What did you use to get rid of the noise.

Barry

[Greg B]

Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback! At the moment im shooting in JPG Basic L,

Shooting in JPG is OK, but you definitely want to use the best quality - not basic. The three quality levels determine the amount of JPG compression, the more compression (as in basic) the smaller the file, but you will lose quality.

Shooting in RAW gives you more post shot control, but there is more mucking about too. JPG is good for getting used to the camera (and beyond that, we have members who do excellent work shooting jpegs), but I strongly suggest you go for the best quality.

[gstark]

Look at the picture on the LCD screen on the camera, and if it looks a little dark either open up the aperture, slow down the shutter or increase the ISO.

Actually, in and of itself, this can be somewhat misleading, because you can adjust the brightness of the LCD on the camera, and the image may appear to be ok, when in fact it's signifivantly under- or over-exposed.

Rather than just look at the image by itself, you need to learn how to use the histogram display, and try to get part of it right; that will give you a far better idea of how your exposure settings are working for you.

[Impakt]

What shape of historgram should i be aiming for? Or does it differ with the type of photo taken?

[gstark]

Hi all,
Thanks for the feedback! At the moment im shooting in JPG Basic L, but since i have a 4GB microdrive i might shoot in RAW when i really want to nail the shot.

Anyone have a Sigma 30mm f/1.4? I would love to get an opinion on this glass..

Lose the microdrive. They're way too slow. For not too many bucks you'll pick up a 1G CF card that will be way faster.

Consider buying the Nikkor 50mm 1.8. Much better value.

[Impakt]

i was thinking that maybe the 50mm is too long for my intended purpose, which is taking shots of my daughter indoors..

[gstark]

What shape of historgram should i be aiming for? Or does it differ with the type of photo taken?

It differs with the type of photo that you're taking, but you're aiming to get the curve towards the middle.

A subject that's darkish though will tend towards the left; one that's lighter towards the right. Use your commonsense, and avoid everything at one end or the other.

Also, have a look at the two images that Chris and Murray have posted. First of all, consider whether your monitor is calibrated; mine is, so I'm speaking with a small element of authority here but I'm looking at two (and only two) aspects of these two versions of your image - colour balance, and the noise reduction vs sharpness discussion.

Looking at the colour first of all, Chris's changes have this nailed. I suspect that his colour is spot on, whereas Murray's strikes me as bing slightly off. Look at the white stripe on the pink sweater, and look especially at that part of the white strip on the little girl's shoulder. Consider whetehr, in Murray's version, that is a true representation of what that whie should really look like.

My guess is that it's not.

Let's continue looking at that sweater, in and around the same general area. Look at the detail in Chris's image - the detail of the knitting can easily be seen. That detail has been lost in Murray's version, because of the noise reduction he's applied.

I'm not commenting on whether that's good or bad, just observing that it's occurred, and also stating that this is an outcome of noise reduction.

You need to decide which of those outcomes you might prefer - detail and noise, or less detail with less noise.

But if you're buying glass that can resolve the detail, why would you then decide that you no longer want to see that detail?

But the bottim line comes back to one simple fact: if you can nail the exposure in the first instance, then the noise won't even become an issue.

[gstark]

i was thinking that maybe the 50mm is too long for my intended purpose, which is taking shots of my daughter indoors..

What lens/s are you currently using?

If you want something shorter than 50, look at the Nikkor 24/28/35 primes ...

[Impakt]

Currently only have a 28-200 3.5-5.6 Nikon lens...

I had the pleasure of playing with a variety of lenses on the weekend, and found the Nikon 28mm f/1.4 was by far the best lens to take indoor snaps with (much better than the f/2.8 ones i played with), and was thinking that the Sigma is the closest i can get to it without spending thousands (knowing that the 28mm f/1.4 is a bloody unreal lens in itself).

[Greg B]

What shape of historgram should i be aiming for? Or does it differ with the type of photo taken?

The histogram is a graph. On the x axis (the horizontal axis) are values from the very darkest point in the photograph on the left to the very lighest on the right.

The vertical lines represent the number of pixels in your photograph which have the value on the horizontal axis.

If your photo has absolute black, the leftmost point will be zero, and if it has pure white, the rightmost point will be (let's say) 255.

If you have a big line on the right or the left edge, it means you have featureless black or blown hightlights (white)

If you have similar height lines more or less all the way across, it means that there are equal numbers of pixels for every level of brightness which will probably mean low contrast.

This Article, is an interesting tutorial on histograms and may be of interest.

[Murray1006]

Murray1006.

What did you use to get rid of the noise.

Barry

I just used the noise removal tool that comes with Paint Shop Pro X. It does a pretty good job with the standard settings but it can perform even better when you start to tinker with it.