Most liked posts in thread: Photography

Great idea!
Maybe one of you shutterbugs could write an article with tips about photographing cars.
My car pictures always suck, and I could use some advice.

 

With the instant feedback that you can get with a digital camera it doesn't take as long to master a camera. Take a lot of pictures, you will develop an eye for what you like & don't like. It takes time to develop a photographer's eye.

Shoot a lot & enjoy!

 

EXIF data FTW.....

Sure beats the days when I carried a note pad to write exposure info down when I shot film.

 

I don't use one. And, since I mostly shoot cars, I have little reason to use one. They are a challenge on three-dimensuonal shiny objects. You get one surface to look good, and another one looks bad. I find that between carefully positioning a car and a bit of photoshop, I can get better results.

Polarizers are, I believe, more useful for landscape and nature photography. I rarely do that kind of photography, so I'll let somebody else handle that topic.

CD

 

I always have one in the camera bag. It's not used all the time, but on occasion it does the trick.

For you folks buying & using filters make sure to buy high quality ones. No sense using a nice sharp lens & then slapping a piece of cheap glass on it. Unless you want to lose sharpness.

 

To me it is. Make sure to buy from a reputable seller. There are many fakes sold on fleaBay.

 

Oh the nice local brick & mortar stores. I sure miss them. Here on my part of the globe they are as dead as a dodo. We have a couple, but they don't carry much inventory & don't have the knowledgeable staff of the old places that are gone.

Filters are like oil. You'll never get an agreement on what is best & why.

As to where I buy now, most of my camera gear was bought used. When a new camera comes out which is often in this digital age folks sell the old. You can get great cameras for bargain prices if you are willing to hunt them down.

That's enough rambling for now.

 

I bought a Sony mirrorless about a month ago. An a6500 -- and a few lenses. Lots of firmware issues. They are being addressed a step at a time. I still use my D4 and Nikon lenses as my primary camera for work. The Sony is good enough for a backup, or to use in really tight places where my D4 just can't fit -- things like photographing engine stampings on a classic car.

The biggest issue I have with the Sony is batteries. I can shoot a few thousand frames on my D4 on a single battery. I only get a few hundred frames from on battery on the Sony.

CD

 

The DSLR is not even close to dead, IMO. At this point in time, I have not found a mirrorless that I would replace my D4 with -- even though I bought one for about 2,500 bucks with lenses, batteries and cards. It is my backup and special purpose camera. It isn't ready for primetime.

Even the Sony A7III isn't something I would consider to replace my D4. That is especially true considering the issues I've had with the firmware on my a6500.

And, like you, I like the traditional SLR viewfinder. I am more comfortable framing a composition with that, and my D4 has a built in diopter that can be adjusted to work with my personal eyesight.

I am actually pretty open to new technology, and am somewhat of an "early-adopter." But, as of right now, I'm going to stick to my DSLR as my moneymaker camera.

CD

 

I'll throw in to the filter convo a tad late. I always had a skylight filter on all my lenses not for the effect but primarily to protect the lens. A ding on a 5 dollar (they were back then) filter was a lot cheaper to get rid of than on a 300+ dollar lens.

 

I agree. If I am doing a studio photoshoot, in very controlled conditions, I can take my UV filter off. On the other end of the scale, when I'm shooting a race, and dust is everywhere, and I'm changing lenses too often to mess with lens caps, I wouldn't think of shooting without a good UV filter.

BTW, the rear element of any lens is the most Important element. A speck of dust on a filter in front of your lens will have an effect, but that same spec of dust on the rear element will have a MUCH bigger effect.

So, change your lenses quickly, and keep the rear element of your lens spotless. Same goes for your sensor on a digital camera. Change your lenses quickly, in as close to a dust-free environment as possible, and put a body cap on your camera body ANY time your camera does not have a lens on it.

CD

 

I have always used filters as a layer of protection as you do CD. I have killed 3 filters over the years. Although the 3 lens they were on survived impacts that would have smashed the front lens element.

A lens cloth, blower & Zeiss wipes are always in the bag. The wipes also work great for my bifocals.

Rainman I'm not sure I understand you. You want to put 2 filters on your lens? I never stack filters.