| Topic: So: about to be new to SLR digital photography, Tips? Tricks? Suggestions? | < Next Oldest | Next Newest > |
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| Post Number: 31
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High_Sierra_Fan 
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Posted on: Dec. 15 2012, 1:11 pm |
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A four hundred forty seven page user guide!
Why can't I just push the damn button?
#NotInKansasAnymore
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| Post Number: 32
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| Post Number: 33
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 15 2012, 3:49 pm |
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Dynamic range. *That's another attractive feature, for out and about high up I don't get to choose reasonable lighting and unlike Adams I both wouldn't and previously with slides couldn't do the dodge and burn and now even with digital I'm stuck I suppose in preferring the shot be right rather than having to endlessly make the shot right in post processing.
Like and old lab leader once said, just because we can do something doesn't mean we should. I know, hopelessly old fashioned, just take spray and pray those forty shots and create the scene afterwards in software..... 
* What was that for PKL 200 or Velvia/Provia 100F? 8 ish, less?
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| Post Number: 34
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Walkinman
A rainbow
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Posted on: Dec. 15 2012, 4:01 pm |
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HSF - I think Velvia was something like 5-6 stops. But it was, partly, that low dynamic range that heightened contrast and saturated colors
You'l be surprised, I think, at how flat raw files look, initially. They're supposed to. Unlike film, they're designed to include less contrast = more data/info .. you do the processing rather than a chemist.
As for time behind a computer .. I hope you have plenty of RAM.
And if you're gunna "spray and pray those forty shots" with the D800, I hope you have plenty of HD space.
You get the D800 or D800e?
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Guided Alaska backpacking and hiking trips
"What good is a used up world and how can it be worth having?" -- Sting, All This Time.
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| Post Number: 35
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| Post Number: 36
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 15 2012, 4:18 pm |
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(reubenstump @ Dec. 15 2012, 1:10 pm)
QUOTE
(High_Sierra_Fan @ Dec. 15 2012, 1:11 pm)
QUOTE A four hundred forty seven page user guide!
Why can't I just push the damn button?
#NotInKansasAnymore You can, but if that's your goal then you bought the wrong camera. And I hate to break it to you, but Nikon's manuals are notoriously obtuse.
Joke eh?
Won't be the first time I've gone through manuals, not even close (as a research protein biochemist manual reading is pretty much a job requirement) and I was actually delighted to see such rather than the littles I've gotten before. Though granted with film bodies the tools are quite a bit more straightforward.
Humongous composite images are precisely what I won't be doing, I've seen some that were gorgeous portraits of places like Pt. Lobos Reserve (which is what i had in mind when i mentioned that number, some Outdoor Photographer or Nat. Geo. contest a while back) but that sort of art endeavor isn't for me.
The 800. The dpreview nudged me.
ETA. Never liked Velvia, with all due respect to Galen Rowell.... I could admire his prints, always hit Mountain Light when I'm nearby and wonder at those prints, but for myself just not my style. On the order of Adams I guess, my world is neither 10 Zones nor overly saturated color....
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| Post Number: 37
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Walkinman
A rainbow
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Posted on: Dec. 15 2012, 5:28 pm |
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HSF
Like all films - Velvia has it's place and time. I shot Provia and Astia just as often .. wonderful films. But, in the right light, w/ the right subject, Velvia was the bomb. I still don't think alpenglow renders as nicely on digital capture as it does on film.
"Humongous composite images are precisely what I won't be doing"
Well - except that the D800 pretty much does exactly that. - 36mp and all.
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Guided Alaska backpacking and hiking trips
"What good is a used up world and how can it be worth having?" -- Sting, All This Time.
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| Post Number: 38
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 15 2012, 11:40 pm |
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No I'm thinking of those cut and paste efforts where the artist takes snippets from a large series if shots taken over days or weeks or months to construct a vision of the location bring portrayed.
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| Post Number: 39
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| Post Number: 40
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Walkinman
A rainbow
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Posted on: Dec. 16 2012, 1:51 am |
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Oh I know what you meant .. I still am amazed at the quality of the 36mp files I've seen though .. unbelievable.
Cheers
Carl
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Guided Alaska backpacking and hiking trips
"What good is a used up world and how can it be worth having?" -- Sting, All This Time.
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| Post Number: 41
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reubenstump
Los Cuernos
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Posted on: Dec. 16 2012, 8:15 am |
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HSF - hopefully the manual will make more sense to you than most. Nikon's just not very good at explaining things clearly. My math degree helps me understand them, but my ADD has me flipping back and forth between sections too often. 
Carl - Someone I know referred to working with D800 images as "gumby" - so plastic and flexible that's it's almost impossible to ruin one. And others have gotten 2 or 3 perfectly good 8x10 prints from non-intersecting areas of the same image.
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| Post Number: 42
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Walkinman
A rainbow
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Posted on: Dec. 16 2012, 2:47 pm |
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Reuben - for sure. I can make fine 8x10 prints from.my old D70 images ..... all 6mp of it. I'd imagine a D800 could produce 4 or 5 no problem .....likely quite a few more.
Cheered
Carl
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Guided Alaska backpacking and hiking trips
"What good is a used up world and how can it be worth having?" -- Sting, All This Time.
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| Post Number: 43
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Arizona
Valhalla, I am coming
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Posted on: Dec. 16 2012, 3:58 pm |
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(Walkinman @ Dec. 15 2012, 9:01 am)
QUOTE You'l be surprised, I think, at how flat raw files look, initially. They're supposed to. Unlike film, they're designed to include less contrast = more data/info .. you do the processing rather than a chemist.
yes they look flat (for more information) and soft (because of the AA filter) so you can decide how much contrast, where that contrast should be and how much to sharpen. If you let the camera shoot jpeg, it will auto process to its own guess.
I came from film like a lot of you have and each kind had a unique look. I like images that look more natural and not the overblown processing that some do these days. I have dabbled in stacking several exposures but came right back to one exposure. With the dynamic range HSF is going to have, that will be very easy and one exposure will be all you need.
Once you learn a good workflow, it is good sailing.
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| Post Number: 44
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| Post Number: 45
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| Post Number: 46
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 16 2012, 9:49 pm |
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Got a 6 day trip to Manhattan (Lower this time) between Christmas and New Years, so, no pressure right? (Going to see the ex-Mrs. Cruise in her new comedy plus the usual heavy museum crawling, haven't been to the Frick or Guggenheim in a while). Heck it's far saner than a two week Sierra with a brand new camera.... or when a good friend went for a month to Europe with, I swear, her new camera packed still in the box.....
And as long as I stay away from B&H as I leave Penn Station all will be well....
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| Post Number: 47
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swimswithtrout
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Posted on: Dec. 16 2012, 10:30 pm |
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Color me jealous
I've been eying the "e" version for awhile.
My best advise... Invest in a fast 8-12 TB RAID server to store your images and then have at least 16GB RAM and a Intel Core i7-3930K, 6 core processor for your workstation.
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Want to see The Wind River Range in widescreen 1080p ?
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| Post Number: 48
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 16 2012, 10:45 pm |
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I held out way longer than was sane I admit. But it looks like I was rewarded.
All the architecture I shoot kept me way from the E, the color fringing would get to me, but it looks like a great choice for landscapes and such.
I'm a prett tough culler so we'll see what my storage needs become.
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| Post Number: 49
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High_Sierra_Fan
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Posted on: Dec. 17 2012, 10:32 pm |
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(High_Sierra_Fan @ Dec. 14 2012, 11:51 am)
QUOTE
(Walkinman @ Dec. 14 2012, 10:52 am)
QUOTE HSF - $200.00 off the D800 at bhphoto. And a deal on the D600, too. Thanks! Mine arrived this morning from an order placed Wednesday so I contacted customer service to see what they can do. Other than the addition of the remote (nice for tripod work) nothing leapt out but the price cut at least would be nice. We'll see. They'll probably be aware of their 30 day return policy so....
So B&H responded and they have a 30 day "price drop" policy so they'll refund the difference and ship the additional accessories that comply with their current offer. Can never have too many batteries eh? and the remote will be useful. No quibbling just a straightforward backup of their stuff.
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| Post Number: 50
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Walkinman
A rainbow
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Posted on: Dec. 17 2012, 11:08 pm |
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Awesome. Good news for you! Enjoy it.
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Guided Alaska backpacking and hiking trips
"What good is a used up world and how can it be worth having?" -- Sting, All This Time.
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| Post Number: 51
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Adirondackiteer
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Posted on: Dec. 23 2012, 12:46 am |
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Lots of great info here, I'm new to dSLR too, had mine since summer but havent used it for hardly anything yet. And still learning thats for sure.
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