[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

congrats, Dave! That's a great article... excellent photos too!

Thanks Chewy.

I really do love my Induro tripod. You can see in the blog that it's very substantial. Most here know that I hand hold 99+% of my super-telephoto shots, but when I need a tripod, this one fills the bill.

I use it for many landscape scenic shots, most night shots and when I need to hold the big lens in ready position for long periods.

Dave

[druu]

Originally Posted by dcstep

Speaking of the moon, oh wait that's another thread (it fits better here) Induro featured me on their Induro'Blog at:

http://blog.indurogear.com/how-to-ph...ing-your-mind/

great article, grats on piece!

[druu]

Just installed Lightroom 5, the new radial filter option is burning/dodging made LAZY. love it lol.

[dcstep]

My Siggy 15mm/f2.8 diagonal fisheye arrives today.

[druu]

gotta love it when new toys are coming.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

It's a whole new format, but there is an EF lens adaptor you can purchase separately, that will allow you to attach any EF lens to it. Can you imagine hooking up the tiny M body to Dave's 500mm behemoth?

After consulting the depths of the internet it seems that most people in my position are purchasing Sony NEX bodies. I checked online and there are hundreds of mount adapter rings for it...so I guess a NEX 6 is in my future.

[druu]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

After consulting the depths of the internet it seems that most people in my position are purchasing Sony NEX bodies. I checked online and there are hundreds of mount adapter rings for it...so I guess a NEX 6 is in my future.

might want to give this a try too.

http://www.fdtoef.com/

i think these guys were the first to make an FD 50mm 1.2 L converted for the EF mount. MF sure, but still cool in concept.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by druu

might want to give this a try too.

http://www.fdtoef.com/

i think these guys were the first to make an FD 50mm 1.2 L converted for the EF mount. MF sure, but still cool in concept.

All FD lenses are manual focus - Canon switched to the EF mount in the 80s to solve the engineering challenge of autofocus.


So MF is kinda expected :P


Honestly - im just looking for an easy solution. Also, I like the idea of a smaller body for vacation still and whatnot, but I cant let go of my manual shot controls. So it works.

[druu]

I was tempted to do it for some of my FD glass (i have the 17mm f4, and 50 f/1.4). But couldn't justify it. Surprisingly enough i've never changed the battery on my A-1 and the electronic stuff in the viewfinder still works after all this time haha.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by druu

I was tempted to do it for some of my FD glass (i have the 17mm f4, and 50 f/1.4). But couldn't justify it. Surprisingly enough i've never changed the battery on my A-1 and the electronic stuff in the viewfinder still works after all this time haha.

Honestly, $550 (Sony has great student discounts) for a NEX 6 is much cheaper than rebuying most of this glass. I would use it mostly for the long telephotos. My longest EF mount lens is my 70-200 L - compare that to my father's 500 and 800mm lenses and the 2x telephoto extension tube. Adding in the Sony 1.5 crop factor. Thats a very nice thing to have.

Maybe ill be able to try that moonshot


So im looking at it like I would a cheap lens purchase, honestly. It makes the price much easier to justify.

[Chewy734]

Well, it appears I will be moving to the frozen metropolis (or so I like to call Minneapolis), in around a month or so. It should be a nice change (assuming I can live through the winters), but I'm sure I'll miss Cleveland. I honestly cannot believe I've lived here for half my life now, so this city will always remain a special place for me.

Additionally, I hope that my new job will allow me time to continue my hobbies, especially photography. I'm sure Minnesota and the surrounding areas will provide me ample opportunities to experience unique landscapes, explore new activities, meet new people, etc. I'm looking forward to the big changes about to come, but at the same time I'm quite nervous about it all.

[Itsed65]

Moving is always exciting to me. Spending 21 years in the Air Force I would get bored after a few years in 1 location. Good luck!

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

After consulting the depths of the internet it seems that most people in my position are purchasing Sony NEX bodies. I checked online and there are hundreds of mount adapter rings for it...so I guess a NEX 6 is in my future.

I just received mine yesterday. I haven't played with it much, but so far I am impressed. I have ordered one of the MetaBones adapters for my canon lenses which I should get on Monday.

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

I just received mine yesterday. I haven't played with it much, but so far I am impressed. I have ordered one of the MetaBones adapters for my canon lenses which I should get on Monday.

Mind posting up a link and an eventual review? There seem to be thousands of these adapters on the market. So I dont know which to get

[Itsed65]

Originally Posted by BrokenVert

Mind posting up a link and an eventual review? There seem to be thousands of these adapters on the market. So I dont know which to get

This is the one I ordered from B&H

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/266...-speed-booster

[BrokenVert]

Originally Posted by Itsed65

This is the one I ordered from B&H

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/266...-speed-booster

Thats EF to sony E mount. I need an FD to sony E mount. Tjat piece looks great though.

[Weebl]

I really didn't need to know about what the Metabones does....
It's witchcraft as said in the article.
Now I have to look at the Sony and see if I need something like that. I'd like to see what the 300 looks like on the Sony.
Thanks, I never thought about the Sony!

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by dcstep

My Siggy 15mm/f2.8 diagonal fisheye arrives today.

I love it.

It's the EF mount Sigma 15mm f/2.8 EX DG diagonal fisheye. It's got a 180 degree field of view and at f/16 it'll focus from 4-feet to infinity. It's sharp and the build quality is right their with Canon's version, which I tried and motivated me to buy my own. The Canon is no longer made and the used prices have gone through the roof lately. i paid $609, including shipping and no tax through B&H.

I use DxO Optics Pro 8.2 for my Raw conversion and it includes a module for this lens and my bodies. DxO will correct for the typical fisheye distortion and automatically convert to rectilinear or any point in between via a slider.

Here's a corrected picture with lots of straight lines:

Untitled by dcstep, on Flickr

Here's the same picture uncorrected:

Untitled by dcstep, on Flickr

Here's a corrected picture of a column in the Denver International Airport. I simply walked up to the column, made sure both the top and bottom were included (and not my feet) and pressed the shutter. (You've got to leave a little extra room for the DxO crop):


Big Tent Peg by dcstep, on Flickr

Here's a landscape, showing a nice starburst shooting into the sun:

Starburst by dcstep, on Flickr

This is a serious lens with real usefulness. Unless you really like curvy lines (some people really do) then you'll want a software to defish your pictures. I defish about 80%. I don't really have an eye for curved straight lines.

Dave

[BMW F22]

Can someone explain to me what it means to expose for the shadow and expose for the highlights?

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by BMW E90

Can someone explain to me what it means to expose for the shadow and expose for the highlights?

You can adjust the exposure in your camera body to make the entire scene brighter. That makes the highlights blown out, but the shadows become properly exposed (you can see the detail in the shadows).

Exposing for the highlights is the opposite... the shadows become darker because you are adjusting the exposure such that the highlights in your scene are not blown out, but properly exposed (you can see the detail in the highlights).

As an example, think of a dark barn with the sun behind it (and a few clouds in the sky). If you expose for the barn in front of you (shadows), then the sky gets blown out, but you can see the dark barn door very well. If you expose for the sky (highlights), then you can see all the detailed clouds, but the barn itself looks black (like a silhouette).

If you want to properly expose for both the highlights (sky) and the shadows (barn), you can do one of two things:

1. Expose for the barn in one photo, and expose for the sky in another photo, then merge the two images in Photoshop.
2. Shoot in high-dynamic-range (HDR) mode ranging multiple exposures, and reconstruct the image using Photoshop or Photomatix Pro.

[BMW F22]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

You can adjust the exposure in your camera body to make the entire scene brighter. That makes the highlights blown out, but the shadows become properly exposed (you can see the detail in the shadows).

Exposing for the highlights is the opposite... the shadows become darker because you are adjusting the exposure such that the highlights in your scene are not blown out, but properly exposed (you can see the detail in the highlights)...

Thank you for that! I had an idea of what each was but wasn't clear on the details which you've explained very well. I'm wondering, is there a way to expose some middle ground to keep both the sky and the barn in details without taking multiple images?

[Chewy734]

Originally Posted by BMW E90

Thank you for that! I had an idea of what each was but wasn't clear on the details which you've explained very well. I'm wondering, is there a way to expose some middle ground to keep both the sky and the barn in details without taking multiple images?

You're welcome. Sure, for example, you can take an exposure reading for the sky, and one for the barn, and then choose something in the middle. That's essentially what the camera might be doing in auto mode. What happens there is you don't get good exposure for either the barn or the sky, but you can see both somewhat. It all depends on what you want. If you have a nice sunset, I would expose for the sky. If the barn is your focus, I would adjust exposure towards the shadows more.