[M_Six]

Originally Posted by The1

did you already order the T1i?

I had that before, and i found everything overexposed with it. And yes, you'll want that other program for it's ability to take out noise.

if you haven't picked up the T1i, i would recommend giving the T2i a second look before you commit.

If you're with the T1i, just make sure you always use your choices of white balance, I found the auto white balance left pictures looking pretty flat. Also, if you have the choice, trade the standard 18-55mm IS that comes with it ASAP, most lenses out there will be sharper on that body. That lense works well on the XS and XSI, but not the T1i or above cameras. Just too many pixels in too small an area for the lens to optimize for.

Hope this helps. You should be able to get about 50$ on trade with the lens hopefully if you are looking to change it up.

The video is a very nice feature on that camera though

I'm on a pretty tight budget and Amazon had a good deal on the T1i kit and a second lens. Plus I had $75 in gift certificates, so I got the T1i with the kit lens, a 16GB SD card, and the EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS for $650 out of pocket. The T2i was $800 for the kit. I'm already looking at the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM for a better lens. Not too pricey.

I'm sure I'll move beyond the low end lenses soon, but since I'm moving up from a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, I figure I'll be happy with the new setup for a while yet. I've tried the DxO trial, but with the FZ18 pics it really wasn't a good test. I'll get the trial software again once I have the Canon.

Just out of curiosity, what would you recommend as a trade-up for the kit lens?

EDIT: Disregard that last question. I just saw your other post. I'll look into that lens.

[The1]

Originally Posted by M_Six

I'm on a pretty tight budget and Amazon had a good deal on the T1i kit and a second lens. Plus I had $75 in gift certificates, so I got the T1i with the kit lens, a 16GB SD card, and the EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS for $650 out of pocket. The T2i was $800 for the kit. I'm already looking at the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM for a better lens. Not too pricey.

I'm sure I'll move beyond the low end lenses soon, but since I'm moving up from a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, I figure I'll be happy with the new setup for a while yet. I've tried the DxO trial, but with the FZ18 pics it really wasn't a good test. I'll get the trial software again once I have the Canon.

Just out of curiosity, what would you recommend as a trade-up for the kit lens?

I'll PM you so we don't take up this entire thread.

[mikeokimster]

Taken last Friday straight from the camera, no post-processing.

D7000 17-55mm f/2.8 121s F/16 ISO 100

[The1]

Originally Posted by mikeokimster

Taken last Friday.

D7000 17-55mm f/2.8 121s F/16 ISO 100

really clean shot!

how long was that exposure? I have yet to do a good one of these shots. I can be pretty lazy and impatient though.



Never mind.... I looked at your post again and saw 121 seconds

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by mikeokimster

Taken last Friday straight from the camera, no post-processing.

D7000 17-55mm f/2.8 121s F/16 ISO 100

Pics like this should be contest winners because they show serious skill at photography rather than post-processing. I'm not dissing post-processing (I do a ton of it myself), but if you can pull an image like this straight from the camera, you obviously know what you're doing. Very nice shot.

[Year's_End]

Took this out behind my house around 1:30am right before the eclipse.

[Chewy734]

Dave, I checked out DxO Optics Pro's website. I see they have a Mac version as well as a Lightroom plug-in; however, I use Aperture. How do you use DxO Optics Pro in your workflow, and how would you suggest I use it in mine (assuming I want to stick with Aperture and not switch to Lightroom)?

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

Dave, I checked out DxO Optics Pro's website. I see they have a Mac version as well as a Lightroom plug-in; however, I use Aperture. How do you use DxO Optics Pro in your workflow, and how would you suggest I use it in mine (assuming I want to stick with Aperture and not switch to Lightroom)?

Chewy, Optics Pro is my first step and only step for 99% of my images. For HDR I make tiffs and combine them in PS, but DxO is coming out with an HDR engine that I'll try as soon as it comes out. I make ALL my global adjustments in DxO and use PS when I need masking or layers or need some pixel-level adjustments. Since I shoot realistic mostly, then I seldom need PS.

I set levels, rotate, crop, denoise and sharpen, all in DxO.

I don't know what kind of files Aperture can work with. I assume that it can work with tif, dng and jpeg, all of which DxO will save to. So, you'd do your RAW conversion and global adjusting in DxO in batch mode, then instruct it to save to a file format that Aperture can read. Then in aperture you'd do any layers, masks or pixel-level adjustments that you need.

For images that I don't plan to adjust in PS, I save directly to jpeg with DxO.

Dave

[- Paul -]

The HDR option is already in dxo.

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by - Paul -

The HDR option is already in dxo.

The single-shot HDR options are there, but they're adding a multi-shot HDR plugin or function in January, I believe.

The single-shot HDR works pretty well, but if you're dealing with + or - 4EV, then no miricle can save a single exposure.

[Chewy734]

Dave, thanks for the explanation... it's a bit more clear now.

How does DxO handle large libraries? In other words, how does it organize and store libraries of photos? Is it similar to LR (in regards to file structure, etc)?

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by Chewy734

...

How does DxO handle large libraries? In other words, how does it organize and store libraries of photos? Is it similar to LR (in regards to file structure, etc)?

I suppose that's why there's the LR interface. I don't use that.

I'm a Windows user and have a Photo Folder. I retain my RAW files in folders named by date, so images taken today would be in Folder "12/21/2010". The processed files have a "DxO" suffix and are typically filed in subject Folders named to indicate subject or place, so they'll be named like "Monticello", "Alaska Cruise", "Cherry Creek State Park 2010", "Rocky Mountain National Park", etc. The Search function is pretty powerful in Windows, so I can easily find the RAW file from a couple of years ago, if I want to reprocess it. I'll probably reprocess some of my better high-ISO images that'll be improved by this latest version of DxO.

Right now my image files are over 700GB and growing fast. I've got two, 2GB external hard drives for primary usage and offsite (at my office) backup. They're by LaCie and are Firewire 800 so that I can move tons of files quickly. USB hard drives suck when you're dealing with GBs.

Dave

[dcstep]

Beach at the Bonzai Pipeline by dcstep, on Flickr

[The1]

^^^ I kinda wanna be there right now to forget about my recent dealings with dinan....

[dcstep]

Originally Posted by The1

^^^ I kinda wanna be there right now to forget about my recent dealings with dinan....

What brought that on???

Have you got a link to the sad story?

My Dinan stuff is all pretty conservative, but you've got me worried.

[The1]

it's just some ordering stuff where the pictures on the site are a bit misleading. I ended up with most of what i expected, but not everything i expected. It's nobodys fault, so it's not worth a thread. Just lost time. Technically, i got everything i was supposed to get, just not what was expected. So we'll see what the restocking fee is for one of my many parts, and then i'll have to order more specifically from somewhere else.

I'm just told the dealership i ordered off of to please inform dinan that some of their images and wording are misleading so that they don't have to go through that again.

[remmib]

I was messing around in the snow today a shot this, and this turned out pretty weird/cool I think. Christmas tree light in the background.

[M_Six]

Boxed Cat

[remmib]

Not shot today, but did the edit today.

[khaye1]

here's one for the day

[gary88]

[M_Six]

^^^^^^VERY nice shot.

Where is that, btw?