Canon VS Nikon what are some of you guys using? photos are freaking hell a SHARP 3D
Jay25
Registered Users Posts: 70 Big grins
Im really sorry to bother some of you guys. I know theres alot of Pros on this site. Im looking at alot of photos on this site and Im not sure if these are Nikon high end cameras being used? Are most of the guys on this site using Nikons? I got Canon gear with L Lenses. All my lenses are L lenses. Not sure if smug mug is a great site to upload high quality photos or maybe photo bucket is making my work look like poooooooooo compared to alot of photos I see:scratch :cry
Someone shed some light on this PLEASE? I need an honest opinion please? The more photos I see the less Im loving my stuff. It looks good in my monitor. Maybe I need to open a Smug mug account, I m pretty confused at the moment. This is alot of money in gear to resell. Im using a Canon 5D MII.
Someone shed some light on this PLEASE? I need an honest opinion please? The more photos I see the less Im loving my stuff. It looks good in my monitor. Maybe I need to open a Smug mug account, I m pretty confused at the moment. This is alot of money in gear to resell. Im using a Canon 5D MII.
0
Comments
You will find people here are caring and encouraging photographers first (at all levels), and the vast majority are NOT snobs or primadonnas like you find on other sites. This is an excellent community where you can ask anything, get answers, and not feel stupid about it. Encouragement and helpfulness is found most everywhere here.
And, again IMHO, Smugmug is VERY professional and makes a lot of other sites look amateuish. They listen, they assist you, and they are very personalized.
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est.
Hey, welcome to Dgrin
I appreciate all input guys! Really, I truly appreciate it. What I was trying to say is that some of the photos being uploaded are rediculously out of control. I mean they are AWESOME
Bottom line is I dont know the level of knowledge some of these gents-ladies have. Im pretty much humbled to see alot of the work on this site.
Im a auto technician. By no means do I consider myself a pro when it comes to photography. Im computer literate quite a bit.
Want to say to you three Guys thanks for everything God Bless but I had to raise my hand because Im in total shock to see the work people post here.
WOW!!!!!!!
But back to the subject, will smug mug preserve the work or display photos better then any other site? Sorry for the dumb question but photobucket just is not cutting it
If you just want to backup, you should get an external hard drive and backup there. You could also use an online backup like
These are just my opinions though, and there are a lot of ways to get the same things done.
I think you may have fallen into the classic trap - thinking that equipment alone determines resulting product. It certainly does not.
While a good set of equipment will certainly enable a skilled photographer to take better pics than he could with poor equipment, a good set of equipment will NOT compensate for a lack of skill.
Nikon vs Canon is entirely a matter of opinion. Thinking that you might get better pics with Nikon gear than with Canon gear is a mistake; both brands are excellent, and both have comparable camera bodies and lenses.
Since you already have excellent equipment - better in many ways than some of the photogs here whom you may be agog over - there is no need for you to trade in your gear for another brand if you want to improve your pics. Instead, you should improve your skill with the gear you already have.
Think of it this way - the average Joe is not going to rebuild a carborator any better with a set of $20,000 Snap-On ratchets than he would with a $20 set of no-name WalMart ratchets, is he? No. He's going to rebuild the carborator better if he learns how the carborator works, and the best techniques for disassembly, part replacement and cleaning, and re-assembly.
Photography is the same. Getting better equipment won't do a thing for you if you don't have the skill to get the most out of it. Because you're already shooting with excellent gear, I highly doubt that any inadequacy in your pics is the fault of the gear - or that any inadequacy in your pics would be eliminated by buying new gear.
If you don't like the way your pics look, then you should study up on composition, exposure, and focus, and practice, practice, practice to improve your own techniques and your familiarity with your equipment. As Kahn Nonian Singh once said, "Improve a mechanical device, and you may double productivity. But improve man, and you gain a thousand fold."
Remember - the camera doesn't take pictures, YOU take pictures. The camera is just a tool you use to do it.
********************************************
As to SmugMug vs Photobucket, I like SmugMug's features better, but I don't belive that Photobucket is altering your pics when you upload them. If they're pixelated, out of focus, blurry, etc., they were that way before you uploaded them. This could be caused by any number of things, from a defective camera to incorrect settings when you shot the pic to too much JPG compression in post-processing. To diagnose the problem, we need to A) see the pics, and
It's free to find out. Just open a Smugmug trial account and see what your own photos look like on Smugmug compared with Photobucket. If you don't see the difference, it costs you nothing.
Personally, I'm delighted with Smugmug.
Tickled Pixels
Tickled Pixels Blog: "A walk in Gamla stan, the old town of Stockholm"
Since you're a car guy I'll answer your question with a question.
"I'm driving a Porsche and other guys at the track are driving Skylines. How come they're faster? And why is the guy driving the 25 year old AE86 kicking the crap out of all of us including my brand new 911 GT3 RS?"
Just like a $150k car doesn't turn a novice driver into a pro, $10k in bodies and glass won't magically create breathtaking photos. Just like racing is a seamless dance between gas, brake, clutch, shifting, weight transfer, and steering input the same can be said for lighting, focus, zoom, focal length, aperture, and shutter speed.
Every condition warrants a different style and considering how advanced DSLRs have gotten (especially at the price/feature point of the 5D) arguing Canon vs. Nikon is no different than arguing Ford vs. Chevy at the strip or Subaru vs. Mitsu in rally. A skilled driver can squeeze magic out of any car they hop into and skilled photographers can squeeze magic out of any camera they pick up.
The 3D pop you're describing is more than likely a combination of pure skill (regardless of camera) combined with SmugMug's sharpening (an option on upload to make images more vivid and pop when viewing on screen).
First off, I don't think you can find a better site than this to help you, but your questions seem to imply questions within questions with the answers covering several book.
You will be hard pressed to find the help you can get here anywhere else.
You do however need to put in some work.
Think about what your unhappy about. Post images that display this. Make sure you provide exif data and any other pertinent info.
Try to break out your questions so that individual issues can be dealt with one at a time, if possible.
Sam
Toss a bunch of dSLR prints taken with Nikons and Canons (or even Sony, Pentax, et cetera for that matter), on a table top ... and you will not be able to accurately stack them in piles by manufacturer.
Photography is all about learning ... the more experience you obtain .. the better your skill level becomes (hopefully). The greater the skill the better your images will look. (So, while images from flagship cameras may look more impressive than images from lesser models ... the differences are due to experience and skill levels not equipment). Generally, better equipment allows the skilled photographer to capture exceptional images easier and more consistently then with lesser equipment.
Gary
Unsharp at any Speed
I probably embarassed myself but bottom line is that I will admit Im not a pro and Im not perfect. Im in the beginner stage all over again. I will practice and start paying close attention to my settings.
I will keep you guys posted
Jaime
Get out and shoot more. Especially if you've invested in L glass. Some of the photos you see represented here are the best of the best out of thousands of shots.
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
Jay25.......both Nikon and Canon make good camera and lenses......Sigma makes good lenses and I have heard that both tamron and tokina do also.......
The reason that you see these freaking sharp as hell photos could bvery possibley do to more than just the camera and lens......correct and proper exposure first and then the adjustment made in post processing and possibley the fact that some of those photos have been processsed as HDR's........could account for the sharp as hell 3D effect you have seen.......
Thanks for that response, that explains that 3D effect
I went out yesterday and today. Just doing small shots here and there. F stop is very important to get more of the photo into focus. I totally forgot about that. Then reading a bunch of out of focus Mark IIs. I saw that. That was an issue because I was using 2.8 F stop.
I bumped up my F stops and things are looking a bit better! Im going to try that HDR. I read that in the Lightroom 2 book.
if you guys want to critique, Im all for it. If your not honest I wont learn either!
Why not put HDR and other more advanced techniques on hold for a short while? Work on basic photo skills. Then learn about RAW and basic image processing.
When you post include the exif data and indicate what you concerned about.
A quick look at your images (as beginning practice shots) I would say the composition on first one isn't the best but it does demonstrate how a narrow DOF can steer the viewer to your subject.
The second one of the dog seems soft and out of focus. One reason we need the exif data.
Sam
ditto on the post processing. what you don't see on here very often is the before/after of the photos. while everyone keeps mentioning improving your skills with the camera, they should also be mentioning post processing skills as well. of course, some straight out of camera shots are amazing, but i am willing to bet that more often than not, the post processing (adding contrast, sharpening, curves tweaking, etc) is putting these shots over the edge for you.
.02
I'm also a big fan of depth and sharpness, wihc is what I assume you are referring to as the "3D" look.
There are some basic technical aspects to getting this look that aren't that hard to master- basically you need a pretty decent f-stop (8-10 at least) for depth of field, and a shutter speed fast enough to freeze motion effectively. I like to shoot up around 1/500th, at the least.
Doing this is easy- doing it well is where it gets difficult. Basically, to my mind, it boils down to two things; keeping your shooting platform stable, and getting good light.
1. Platform Stability
By "platform" I mean whatever surface it is you are shooting from, your hands or (preferably, if possible) a monopod or tripod. A lot of shakiness comes from bad grip if you are handholding, which is probably how most of us shoot. Look through here for some tutorials on how to hold your camera to minimize shake, and the relationship between focal length and shutter speed. Anything you can do to improve this helps dramatically. Also, since you have shelled out some decent cash already for good glass, don't skimp on the tripod and head. Seriously, a convoy moves at the speed of it's slowest ship, so get a carbon fiber tripod and a good ball head system. It should cost less than an L lens, and do you more good.
2. Light
This is the key. Stop thinking so much about your gear and start looking at the light around you. This is what will make or break your photo.
You need to be looking for "strong" light. You need mildly diffused light, not totally diffused, like on a day where the sky is completely bone white, bucause this won't get you the contrast you need. BTW, playing with contrast post processing is great, but nothing beats natural contrast and detail that the light in situ can provide. You don't want "harsh" light, you need something that is just right. I guess the whole process can be summed up thus:
Look at the light enough, and you will feel when it is right.
This one for example- I shot it with the kit lens on the 20D, at f8 and 1/800. Yet it looks pretty good, in my opinion.
Light in the morning and in the evening has nice tones. These are, to my mind, the best time to shoot landscapes.
Other points besides the main 2
3. Volume
This means taking a lot of photos. A lot. The only thing that will get you to shooting good photos is shooting crap photos. Taking a lot of photos will help you to leanr to see light properly. It will also provide you with a lot of photos, some of which will be good. Volume is a critical element of taking good photos, as photos (outside the studio at least) rely to a great degree on luck. A lot of people will say otherwise, but it simply isn't true. Even Henri Cartier Breson, the arch snob that he was, was discovered after his death to have used the high volume method. His methodology has been described as "1) Take a Lot of pictures. 2) Take more pictures.
3) Only show people the good ones"
That's not a bad plan. And it doesn't mean he was a bad photographer.
4. Don't throw data away
You should always shoot in RAW. No exceptions. Every time you process a photo you lose information, this can include sharpness and depth. Make the decisions about this yourself, rather than letting the camera do automatic processing. Many a bad shot can be saved, or at the elast made interesting, if taken in RAW.
5. Watch the edges of your frame
You're focused on whatever your subject is. So, normally, is the viewer of your image. But make sure you don't have trash poking in from the adge of the frame. It's easier to forget than you might think. If you can't avoid it, make sure it is croppable.
The photo below is a good example. The light is awesome (early pre-dawn, the dawn falls, it doesn't rise, and the top of the sky is starting to get light while the city is still in night). However, I wish I had paid attention to the flag on the bridge. Mostly I clone it out, but if it was complete, then it wouldhave been great.
6. Get a polarizer
Digital makes most filters redundant, put the effects of neutral density, and particularly polarizers, cannot be replicated digitally. Your polarizer should be your best friend. The fact that it steals light makes huntign good light all the more important. Even a boring shot can look interesting with a dramatic sky.
This shot sucks. But what a sky!
I will get you guys the info on the shots sorry
Great bunch we have here
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
I have to agree with you John. One of the reasons I hang out at this site and have basically quite visiting the others is because people here are actually helpful. Strange how odd that is.
Truer words were never spoken. I may have to have that one engraved on the side of my camera. Or at least print it out and stick it inside my camera bag. Maybe a t-shirt...
Thanks for pointing that line out... WoW I like it.
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
I just wish we had more active members.
Other Gear: Olympus E-PL1, Pan 20 1.7, Fuji 3D Camera, Lensbaby 2.0, Tamron 28-75 2.8, Alien Bees lighting, CyberSyncs, Domke, HONL, FlipIt.
~ Gear Pictures
Not to side track this thread, but I really like that bridge shot!
Sam
Thanks man. I posted a shot of a model on Coney Island in the post, but for some reason it won't show. Let's see if it works here:
This is a 20D, with the 18-55 kit lens. I think what makes it pop is, as I mentioned earlier, the light quality.
Jay never feel like you can't post......critique is a great teacher......yep there have been a few that post great critiques like: Why the H3** did you ever post that it is crap......but that only happens once in a very great while and hopefully a mod gets it deleted before the one needing critique sees it..........
The Refinery would be a good place for posting for critique or anyone of the other forums and ask for a crit.
Hope to see more of your work....
IMHO ......the birdshot is decent except for the crop....but I like close up tight photos of wildlife
The dog.....only thing I do not like is his inattentiveness......again that is just me......
and my typing sucks big tyme......................