Cameras and Photography

[steve(thelil)]

Translation: I stole it.

I don't know what you mean. Picasa is free photo editing/photo storage software, unlike Photoshop.

[Ron Thorne]

I use the free Google Picasa software.

OK. I was merely curious.

I'm interested in seeing some unaltered images from your new four thirds camera, too. Taken any macro shots yet?

[steve(thelil)]

OK. I was merely curious.

I'm interested in seeing some unaltered images from your new four thirds camera, too. Taken any macro shots yet?

Ron: These are totally unedited.



.



For what it's worth, i would do some subtle photo editing to these, even though i wouldn't make them look purposely "stylized" like the prior group.

[Ron Thorne]

Very nice, Steve. Looks like you're having fun with your new tool. That's what it's all about, man.

I do some occasional, very minor tweaking, mostly in shadows & highlights when necessary. That's usually occasioned by lighting problems, often backlighting. Sometimes a shot that looks totally blown out can be salvaged, too. It's amazing, really.

Another neat, free piece of software is IrfanView. Here's a link to their home page if you'd like to check it out.

http://www.irfanview.com/

[jesus marion joseph]

Crappy cell phone pic:

[Ron Thorne]

Not crappy to my eyes, John. Nice.

[jesus marion joseph]

Thanks Ron. Took that with my new Blackberry. Chip and I walk by that pond pretty often.

[ran]

I got this dog who likes to dive for balls.(( I know I could have phrased that better )) I was wondering if any of you have had any experiences with water proof cameras and if you could provide any advise. I've done some reading across the net but I'm completely ignorant so it's all french to me.

[BFrank]

I got this dog who likes to dive for balls.(( I know I could have phrased that better )) I was wondering if any of you have had any experiences with water proof cameras and if you could provide any advise. I've done some reading across the net but I'm completely ignorant so it's all french to me.

No experience, but dpreview.com is pretty good with reviews and advice.
Here's a search for: waterproof cameras.

[bruce massey]

Since I popped in and attempted to use Torneys advice about a tripod I thought I'd leave a few images from last years safari.

Valley Of Fire





Arches


Antelope Canyon



Grand Canyon


Going down for a month Sept-Oct. Southern Utah, Northern AZ.

[Ron Thorne]

Outstanding images, Bruce! So, what tripod did you wind up with? What software are you using, if any? I forgot which camera you wound up with.

Hey, how about our Nunaka Valley Junior League Girls, eh?

[bruce massey]

Thorney-

I bought a Nikon D 50 about three years ago and have had a wonderful time with it. It came with 28-80 & 70-300 Nikon lenses. I purchased a nice little Nikkor 18-55 for that last trip and it did great. I would like to get a 12mm for landscapes and of course a big lens would be great for eagles. I am going to be is Coyote Buttes for their annual releasing of the condors which is quite exciting plus I have permits for 4 days in South Coyote Buttes. They only allow 20 people a day to enter and I really worked at getting these permits. The time here will be wild since driving is crazy(4 WD, high clearance and airing down tires is a must) and still people get stuck so I'll buy a shovel in Vegas. I will be there a couple more days at White Pocket which doesn't require a permit.

I tried to buy your suggested Silk U8000 but everyone was OOS'd. Tried for the U 9000 and the one place that had it wanted $68.00 for shipping! I found this to be the scam as I went for the F 740..finally found one for $40 + $11 shipping.

Bought a beautiful Lowe Pro Trekker 400 for the price of a 300. I will be doing some good hiking and need hydration and food. Got an ipad so I can check my daily results. Changing lenses can allow crap to settle on my mirrors.

I have a Mac and upgraded to Aperture about 4 months ago when the price came down.

And last but not least Big Congrats to your girls. That is something so very special.

Oh...I am minutes away from becoming a Grandpa.

Out of the booze business and back in jail as a maintenance man. Love it!

My first big adventure with m Nikon was Katmai.









Life is good.

[ran]

No experience, but dpreview.com is pretty good with reviews and advice.
Here's a search for: waterproof cameras.

Thank you for the links. The problem I'm having is due to the fact that I don't know a thing about this. So when I go to various links and what have you , I'm not versed well enough to know what's real and what's bullshit. It's overwhelming sometimes. Thank you again.

[bruce massey]

My eldest gave birth last night. She allowed me to take a few pictures of her, Papa and the babe. She would be so pissed at the initial results since a young lady doesn't care that she has just performed a miracle, she is concerned with how she looks. Aperture cleared up her skin, eliminated unwanted lines and made her look great despite the fact that she still won't be happy. As a good father, she will never see the originals. Aperture is great.

[Ron Thorne]

Congratulations to you and all concerned, Bruce! The only thing that eclipses being a proud father is being a proud grandfather, too. Like you, I'm both.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

I have a question for all you real photographers who own real cameras. I recently purchased a Panasonic Lumix small "point and shoot" camera. It's exactly what I was looking for to take on vacation since our old camera crapped out.

Anyway, I like the camera. It's compact and takes great snapshots. It has a Leica lens so I think that's a plus. However, I noticed after taking probably a thousand or so pictures two black smudge-like marks appeared on the LED screen all of a sudden. Joanne took a shot of me and it was fine. The very next photo I took the smudges appeared. They're very prominent if the background is sky or light.

At first I thought the lens was dirty but cleaning the lens did not help. Then I went online and learned that sometimes this is a problem with digital SLR cameras. Apparently it can happen during lens changes when dust get inside the body of the camera and ends up on the lens sensor. I understand all that but since my little camera is sealed I'm wondering how the hell dust got inside. From what I understand, with the big cameras one can actually clean the lens sensor. Not so with sealed cameras. Looks like I'm going to have to return the camera and hopefully get a replacement. It's a shame because the camera takes great photos. The camera even has a "retouch" feature which seems to lighten the smudges but it doesn't get rid of them completely. I would prefer that they weren't there in the first place.

Do any of you camera guys have any comments about this? I'm sure you must have heard of this problem, no?

[steve(thelil)]

In case anyone is looking for a great buy on a point and shoot, Woot has the Kodak Z5120 16MP Camera w/26X Optical Zoom for $119.99 all day today (unless they sell out). With tax and $5 shipping it comes out to about $135. It lists for $249.95 and a normally good price for it would be about $180.

I spent too much time this morning researching it and it seems like a great deal. People are generally very impressed with 26X zoom!, the build quality and the quality of the photos. It's also the very last camera Kodak put on the market and could conceivably be collectible at some point in time.

I ended up not buying one because I just don't need a new point and shoot. I recently bought my first (mostly) serious camera, a Panasonic micro four thirds camera and I have an old point and shoot. One part of my brain tells me I should carry a good point and shoot with me when I don't feel like lugging a camera with detachable lenses around (even though it's the smallest camera available with changeable lenses), but another part reminds me that I never bring my current point and shoot with me.

[BFrank]

Jimmy - I don't know what the problem is, but if you can return it, I would do that.

Steve - I'm always on the lookout for new "enthusiast" point-and-shoots. For most shooting, the newer models create extremely good images without the hassle of lugging around an SLR and all the annoying accessories. I spent my whole life with a heavy camera bag (in the film years), and am very happy not doing that now.

[Ron Thorne]

Jimmy, returning the camera under warranty may be your only smart option, ultimately.

What model Panasonic did you buy? We have two Panasonic Lumix cameras, one of which (Patti's) is likely like yours. They build very nice, robust cameras.

Have you downloaded any photos to a laptop or other source? If so, do you see the "smudges" there, too?

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Ron, it's a model DMC-SZ02. I think it's a discontinued model but that's neither here nor there. And yes, you can definitely see the smudges after downloading. The photos I took before the smudges appeared are fine. Any photos that have smudges on the camera's screen also have smudges on the downloaded photos. I'll try to download one of the discrepant photos when I get a chance. So what you guys are saying is that you've never heard of this phenomenon?

[Ron Thorne]

Ron, it's a model DMC-SZ02. I think it's a discontinued model but that's neither here nor there. And yes, you can definitely see the smudges after downloading. The photos I took before the smudges appeared are fine. Any photos that have smudges on the camera's screen also have smudges on the downloaded photos. I'll try to download one of the discrepant photos when I get a chance. So what you guys are saying is that you've never heard of this phenomenon?

I haven't heard of any such problem before, Jimmy. I'll be interested to see an example of before and after images. I'll see what I can discern, and send them along to my sons, who are light years ahead of me in this regard.

I bought Patti her compact Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 a couple of years ago, which has performed flawlessly. That was after a few years of me enjoying my Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18, a completely different camera. They certainly have their limitations, but are tremendous tools, overall.


Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS7 (Patti's camera)


Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ18 (My camera)

I'm in the market for another camera, because I'm growing antsy for something even more like an SLR in performance. I'm torn between some micro 4/3 cameras, especially those from Olympus and other options.

[BFrank]

Some newer ones I have my eyes on these days:
Nikon COOLPIX P7700
Sony DSC-RX100
Canon G1
... and those Oly micro 4/3s that Ron talked about. I'm trying to avoid interchangeable lenses if possible, though.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Ron and Brooks, here's a link to a photography forum that discusses the problem of the black spots. The very first post shows an example of the spots. In the affected photos I took the spots look just like the example.

http://forums.photographyreview.com/...ots-13388.html

[Ron Thorne]

This is a very puzzling problem, Jimmy. Did the spots suddenly appear from one moment or day to the next? Any dramatic environmental changes or events just prior to noticing these spots? Was the camera dropped or bumped into an object?

The Photography Review Forum members are discussing DSLRs where the camera body and lenses are two separate pieces, unlike your point & shoot Panasonic Lumix, which is one piece and sealed. A DSLR body and inner workings is much more vulnerable to dust and damage because it's open to the elements each time you make a lens change.

If dust has somehow made its way into your body and landed on the sensor, or if your sensor has been damaged in some manner, your camera must be returned. I know of no way for the consumer to safely open your type of camera and deal with this issue.

Bummer! Especially so because you're on vacation.

Sorry that I couldn't offer more positive comments, buddy.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Yes, Ron, you're right. That problem usually surfaces with SLRs that can accommodate different lenses which would explain how dust can get into the body of the camera. How dust got into my sealed camera is beyond me.

To answer your other question, no, the camera wasn't dropped or bumped. And the spots showed up all of a sudden. Joanne took a snapshot of me against a light background and a few minutes later I took a snapshot of here in similar lighting conditions. The photo she took of me was fine. The photo I took of her was the first time the spots were visible. All photos prior to that are fine. And all photos after that with a very light background show the spots. Photos in darker situations are fine. Btw, I also found out that occasionally these spots appear on cellphone cameras which are also sealed. Since we took many shots very close to the water I suspect that moisture somehow found its way into the camera and corrupted the lens sensor. I noticed the problem while we taking shots at the pier in Huntington Beach.

Anyway, I plan to return the camera and go from there. Thanks for your input.

[Pete C]

One man's dust is another man's opportunity.

[Ron Thorne]

You're welcome, Jimmy. I hope that you'll be able to resolve your warranty claim smoothly and quickly.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

One man's dust is another man's opportunity.

Ah, Confucius was very wise indeed.

[BFrank]

Anyway, I plan to return the camera and go from there. Thanks for your input.

This seems like the best way to solve it.

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Actually, since the retailer I purchased the camera from has a very liberal return policy I'm going to try that route first. If they refuse I'll just have to contact the manufacturer.