The TPU Darkroom - Digital SLR and Photography Club

[Aquinus]

That is the best way to be. When you start fretting over how the image looks, you lose a little of your soul.

It's fine to strive for perfection, so long as you understand that you'll never reach it, otherwise it will consume your soul.

Take that picture of the hummingbird. I was camping without my laptop, pulled it off the camera with WiFi on to my phone as a jpeg, and edited it on my little iPhone 11 Pro Max screen. Sometimes you use what you have and you're happy when it's "good enough."

 

[scope54]

memory serves me right, this place is where they shot for The Dark Knight?

Yea, they filmed all over downtown. I love watching that movie and recognizing all the buildings.

 

[Aquinus]

Well hello there, human. I do have to say, the RF 100-400 almost doubles as a macro lens. Not true macro, but at 400mm it's 0.41x which isn't too bad. The fact it's a slow lens means almost nothing since I need to stop it down anyways to widen the DoF. This was at ƒ11 in direct sunlight. I don't like stopping down lower than ƒ11 because of diffraction, but I might be able to get away with ƒ16 without too much loss in quality. Either way, not too shabby. I shot in APS-C mode, so I don't need to scale it down to keep TPU happy. This is the jpeg straight from the camera with no post processing.

 

[abysal]

Very cool photos everyone. I'm slowly making my way through the pages.

Here are some of mine I'd like to share as well.

https://flic.kr/p/2mg2Dpg https://flic.kr/p/2mxxMFr https://flic.kr/p/fhRrc2 https://flic.kr/p/2jH47Po https://flic.kr/p/2o2dE8c

 

[Aquinus]

Very cool photos everyone. I'm slowly making my way through the pages.

Here are some of mine I'd like to share as well.

https://flic.kr/p/2mg2Dpg https://flic.kr/p/2mxxMFr https://flic.kr/p/fhRrc2 https://flic.kr/p/2jH47Po https://flic.kr/p/2o2dE8c

Man would I love to get my hands on an R5. Rumor has it that the R5 m2 is going to have a BSI sensor like the R3. I also need to stop being cheap and just invest in Lightroom.

 

[abysal]

Man would I love to get my hands on an R5. Rumor has it that the R5 m2 is going to have a BSI sensor like the R3. I also need to stop being cheap and just invest in Lightroom.

The biggest game changers for me with my mirrorless cameras was focus points all along the sensor to the edges, and allowing me to quickly focus with my thumb on LCD screen while looking through the EVF. I could frame the scene faster and more accurately how I want it. The R5 does have cheat AF mode with its face, animal and automotive detect, but most of my photography is of fairly still scenes and 90% of the time I'm in single focus point mode.

I don't like the Lightroom Classic subscription model, especially since this is just a hobby. I also use ACDSee which is a one time license fee per version, but I think the Lightroom workflow is faster. Now LR also has the auto background, auto sky, auto subject masking that really speeds up my work, and a really good de-noise function.

 

[Aquinus]

The biggest game changers for me with my mirrorless cameras was focus points all along the sensor to the edges, and allowing me to quickly focus with my thumb on LCD screen while looking through the EVF. I could frame the scene faster and more accurately how I want it. The R5 does have cheat AF mode with its face, animal and automotive detect, but most of my photography is of fairly still scenes and 90% of the time I'm in single focus point mode.

I don't like the Lightroom Classic subscription model, especially since this is just a hobby. I also use ACDSee which is a one time license fee per version, but I think the Lightroom workflow is faster. Now LR also has the auto background, auto sky, auto subject masking that really speeds up my work, and a really good de-noise function.

When I'm shooting with my RP, I'm setup with auto AF, eye tracking turned on, with a manual initial AF spot set (which is a must in my opinion.) I feel that this works best 9 times out of 10. I almost never need to switch out of this mode. If I do, it's to go manual. I've been cheap and just using Apple Photos to handle my library, but Lightroom handles a lot of things _really_ well. I echo your complaints about the subscription model. It's the thing that turns me off the most.

Follow up. I did a thing.

 

[Aquinus]

Had a nice sunset in my neck of the woods last night, however I was in a part of the state where I don't know of many good places to view the rolling hills of central NH. I took a stab at using LR to post process it. I have to say that I love the masking feature. I have a lot to learn about LR, that's for sure. This has been scaled down to 2048px wide to keep social media happy. I will also say that LR's downscaler is light years beyond Apple Photo's implementation which seems to butcher quality unlike LR.

24mm, ƒ8, ISO 100, with the Canon EOS RP and 24-105 ƒ4. Processed from the CR3 raw.

Additionally, this was me playing around with LR's super resolution AI feature. Seems to do okay to be honest.

 

[Hyderz]

fml... why are the cameras i want are ridiculously expensive....

 

[Aquinus]

fml... why are the cameras i want are ridiculously expensive....

I know that I'd be over the moon with an R5, but honestly if I want something to compliment what I already have, an R7 is probably a better choice and far more reasonable in cost, comparatively speaking. I will give Canon a bit of credit though. They've been rolling a lot more cost effective RF mount bodies lately. While the R100 isn't anything too crazy, it's a great way to start on a mount that has a lot of options to grow in to. Personally, I think my RP is just okay, but I know that regardless of the camera body I get, my lenses are going to come along for the ride.

I'm willing to bet, 9 times out of 10, a photographer will tell you that glass is more important than the camera body. Even if my RP is a bit soft, I know that the 24-105 will kick ass on a newer body. Hell, it already does pretty good on the RP. Sometimes it's not the tool, it's the person using it and what you're doing with it. One of these days when I'm ready, I'd consider monetizing my work. I'm just nowhere near there yet, at least in my opinion, but that would push me into investing in the best hardware.

To be fair, I think Canon's best value to price body is probably the R8. R6 mark 2 internals, just lacking IBIS and a couple bells and whistles for $1,500. Not too shabby. It's essentially a modern RP.

 

[the54thvoid]

I'm considering trading out my gear for a Sony RX10 MkIV. My financial situation has changed (no income) and I'm not really getting use of my current set up. Even after buying the Sony, I'd still have about £1800 back in my pocket.

I'd miss the R7 and RF100-500, but I'm not even an amateur photographer.

I figure the Sony would do well. Not as good, but for what I use it for..... what d'ya all think?

 

[Chomiq]

I'm considering trading out my gear for a Sony RX10 MkIV. My financial situation has changed (no income) and I'm not really getting use of my current set up. Even after buying the Sony, I'd still have about £1800 back in my pocket.

I'd miss the R7 and RF100-500, but I'm not even an amateur photographer.

I figure the Sony would do well. Not as good, but for what I use it for..... what d'ya all think?

Go for it, what's there to lose?

 

[Aquinus]

I'm considering trading out my gear for a Sony RX10 MkIV. My financial situation has changed (no income) and I'm not really getting use of my current set up. Even after buying the Sony, I'd still have about £1800 back in my pocket.

I'd miss the R7 and RF100-500, but I'm not even an amateur photographer.

I figure the Sony would do well. Not as good, but for what I use it for..... what d'ya all think?

I don't know, man. I'd hate to do that, miss it, then be back in a position where you'd want that kind of hardware again should your financial state improve. That RF glass is not cheap and that combo is really nice. Personally, I wouldn't do it unless you really don't want to stick with photography in general or have absolutely no option. I wouldn't switch mounts just to save some money unless it was an absolute last resort because you need the money, but even then, you'll never recoup all of what you paid for it.

It's too bad that I don't have the spare money at this time because I'd love both of the lens and the body.

Speaking of which, I almost needed a new telephoto lens because my RF 100-400 it accidently fell out of my camera bag that I thought was zipped up (it wasn't) and made contact with pavement from about a 1 and 1/2 foot drop. Fortunately, only some scuffing on the plastic. No damage to the glass or internals that I can tell. The lens hood seems to have absorbed most of the impact, but man did my heart skip a beat.

Go for it, what's there to lose?

Money. Nothing would be worse than switching and then wanting to switch back in the future if you wanted to and were in a financial position to do so. Honestly, the hardware isn't going to get less expensive all that quickly. I'd wait until it became necessary because reselling ultimately loses you money. Just my 2¢.

 

[de.das.dude]

#notdslr

drove to see a few waterfalls and drive in the clouds.

 

[Aquinus]

#notdslr
View attachment 313131

drove to see a few waterfalls and drive in the clouds.

Mirrorless or phone? I'm guessing phone because the DoF is as wide as it gets. Also say hello to Lady Liberty. Fitting for the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, I'd say. The family and I were in NYC this previous weekend.

 

[de.das.dude]

Mirrorless or phone? I'm guessing phone because the DoF is as wide as it gets. Also say hello to Lady Liberty. Fitting for the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, I'd say. The family and I were in NYC this previous weekend.
View attachment 313161

yeh phone. S22

 

[Aquinus]

yeh phone. S22

When I need a camera, my iPhone 11 Pro Max isn't bad. It's not a replacement for my mirrorless, but sometimes the best camera is the one you have on you.

 

[de.das.dude]

When I need a camera, my iPhone 11 Pro Max isn't bad. It's not a replacement for my mirrorless, but sometimes the best camera is the one you have on you.

honestly for social media stuff the s22 cam i have is pretty good damn good. Specially with the software post process thats sprinkled in.

here's pic of ya boi. Sorry for being a bit scruffy. i was feeling lazy.




and the video on this phone... damn fucking awesome!

 

[the54thvoid]

You go on holiday, trek through woods, search for life....

and it appears in your back garden.

I was watching the birds around the feeder (and the pigeons) when they all took flight. At the same time, I noticed a rapid shadow in my periphery. Looked down to see this. It moved so fast I didn't see it land. It was just there. The little sparrow under it's talons is absolutely flattened. Nature. Ouch. It's the second picture I've managed to take of birds of prey using my garden as a canteen.

Picture shot through utility room window. Bird is about 8 feet away.

 

[Hyderz]

You go on holiday, trek through woods, search for life....

and it appears in your back garden.


View attachment 313488

I was watching the birds around the feeder (and the pigeons) when they all took flight. At the same time, I noticed a rapid shadow in my periphery. Looked down to see this. It moved so fast I didn't see it land. It was just there. The little sparrow under it's talons is absolutely flattened. Nature. Ouch. It's the second picture I've managed to take of birds of prey using my garden as a canteen.

Picture shot through utility room window. Bird is about 8 feet away.

im not good with animals is that a falcon?

 

[the54thvoid]

Eurasian Sparrowhawk. So, a small raptor.

 

[Aquinus]

You go on holiday, trek through woods, search for life....

and it appears in your back garden.


View attachment 313488

I was watching the birds around the feeder (and the pigeons) when they all took flight. At the same time, I noticed a rapid shadow in my periphery. Looked down to see this. It moved so fast I didn't see it land. It was just there. The little sparrow under it's talons is absolutely flattened. Nature. Ouch. It's the second picture I've managed to take of birds of prey using my garden as a canteen.

Picture shot through utility room window. Bird is about 8 feet away.

You know that you're going to miss that combo if you sell it. Speaking of birds, I'm pretty sure that this is an invasive Eurasian Starling when I was in NYC. I haven't processed the image at all. Also unlike many of my other bird pictures, this was with the 24-105 because it was already on the camera body and the bird didn't seem to care that I was right next to it.

 

[Space Lynx]

Are there any good point and shoot auto type cameras that beat say something like an iphone 15 pro max and s23 ultra phone camera? I don't want to go hardcore like you guys, but I want something that at least beats a phone and doesn't require much skill. I used to have a nice little $140 Canon I used in 2010 when traveling, but I dropped and broke that many years ago.

 

[KrazyT]

Yes, basically every camera when light goes out, even the cheapest ones.
If you only take photo on shiny days, stay with a phone, it's easier.
If you want to make more stuff, night / dark photos, macro, birds, get a camera
No need a fancy one, a cheap DSLR second hand with do great !

 

[Space Lynx]

I'm looking for specific recommendations and/or links. (USA)

Yes, I want something better than a phone because bird watching is a thing I do (I don't want super high quality bird pictures like posted here), but just better than my phone. I don't want to have to meet with settings, I want to leave it on auto and just point and shoot.

I am doing lot of nature related stuff, and while my camera phone is fine, I have had several situations where I wished I had a proper zoom.