***DSLR Thread***

[FlyBoeingJets]

If you're talking about the lens, I paid a little less than that. I've bought two compact cameras, two DSLR bodies, three lenses, and a TON of accessories from them over the last four years, so they cut me a slightly better deal than their advertised price. At any rate, $1619 is a pretty good deal among brick-and-mortar stores (which I prefer over online buying for big purchases). IIRC, Canoga Camera had it for the same price (but didn't have it in stock when I called), and Ritz had it for $1799. It can be had for somewhat less through several places online (B&H for $1590 imported - as in gray market with no US warranty, or $1615 USA warranty), but as I said, I prefer being able to go into a shop that can exchange immediately (or close to it) if there's a problem.

I don't know what they'll charge for the D300. I imagine it'll be around $1800.

[Unfiltered]

Originally Posted by FlyBoeingJets

If you're talking about the lens, I paid a little less than that. I've bought two compact cameras, two DSLR bodies, three lenses, and a TON of accessories from them over the last four years, so they cut me a slightly better deal than their advertised price. At any rate, $1619 is a pretty good deal among brick-and-mortar stores (which I prefer over online buying for big purchases). IIRC, Canoga Camera had it for the same price (but didn't have it in stock when I called), and Ritz had it for $1799. It can be had for somewhat less through several places online (B&H for $1590 imported - as in gray market with no US warranty, or $1615 USA warranty), but as I said, I prefer being able to go into a shop that can exchange immediately (or close to it) if there's a problem.

I don't know what they'll charge for the D300. I imagine it'll be around $1800.

Yeah, I meant the lens. I agree with you about buying things like this via "brick and mortar" stores. (Oh, and EFF B&H and their damned grey market crap!)

When I get my D300, I'm going to try out a few lenses before I buy. I want to get some glass that I'll use a lot, and I'm not afraid of plunking down the cash. I just need to do it smartly.

[FlyBoeingJets]

Well, there is no substitute for quality in terms of lenses. Quality costs money. That's just the way it is.

I think I'm going to be getting my first prime lens here pretty quick. I'm thinking it'll be the 50mm f/1.4 that Nikon puts out. It's supposed to be one of the best lenses they make in terms of sharpness, and that's what i want. What I've got planned for it includes a set of extension tubes for some true macro-type photography.

[ValleyFan]

Me luvs primes. Fast, small, light, cheap, and amazing IQ. Every time I put one on the camera it makes me slightly question my one zoom (but only for a second). That 50mm is going to be a great wide portraiture length on the D200.

It always amazes me how much extension tubes cost considering they are just tubes with nothing in them (yeah yeah, I know, all the contacts and stuff, but still) I haven't tried one yet, if someone gets one or a set I would love to see the result.

[FlyBoeingJets]

I think I'll probably wait on them, giving the list of stuff to my wife for Christmas gift ideas.

But when I do get them, I'll play around with them right away of course. I need a better tripod with a good ball head, and a slide rail. From what I've read, those two items make true macro photography infinitely easier and more rewarding.

[Unfiltered]

For the Nikonians -

What software are you using with your images? Capture NX? Photoshop? iPhoto? All of the above?

I'm interested in hearing your workflows from extraction from your cards, through processing, to a completed, "ready-to-print" image.

Thanks!

Corey

[ValleyFan]

Originally Posted by Unfiltered

For the Nikonians -

What software are you using with your images? Capture NX? Photoshop? iPhoto? All of the above?

I'm interested in hearing your workflows from extraction from your cards, through processing, to a completed, "ready-to-print" image.

Thanks!

Corey

I'm not a Nikonian, but I think for any RAW workflow, Lightroom is simply unbeatable.
The photo importer that comes with it is really nice, allowing you to keyword on import, and custom name files using many different attributes, most importantly to me, custom string (my name), shoot date (YYYYMMDD so it all sorts properly), and original image number. Then once in Lightroom, rating, marking picks and rejects, and further keywording is really easy. You can sort photos by any piece of metadata (date shot, lens used, body used, ISO used, etc.), by folder they are stored in, by keyword, by ranking, by flag (pick or reject), or any combination of the above. You can also "stack" photos, so say you spent half an hour trying to get a shot, and you have 20 OK ones and 1 really good one, you can mark that good one as a pick, then stack all the not so good ones underneath it, so if you need then they are still there, but they are stored out of the way.

Next up is the developing area of Lightroom, where you can tweak around with exposure as a whole, or different ranges (Lights, highlight recovery, shadows, fill light), contrast, saturation, and a nifty one called clarity (I think, I'm not sitting in front of it) which gives the image a little extra punch by increasing only local contrast. You can play with curves (it has a nice option where you have a tool where you can just click on a value you want to change and drag up and down), sharpening (which has a really nice masking feature, so you can sharpen just edges, not say the pores on someones face), Hue, saturation, balance, as well as camera calibration. This one is key because say you REALLY like the way Capture One is developing your photos, and you just aren't getting the same punch from Lightroom. Well, just shoot a ColorChecker chart, and develop in Capture One, then open the result in Lightroom and with the color picker, you can see the values of each square. You now import the raw version of that file into Lightroom and change the camera calibration until you get the same values, an now you have a profile that will develop with the same flavor as your favorite RAW developer. Lightroom also has a really nice B + W converter which has the same tool as curves where you can click on a value and drag up and down to change its saturation in the B+W conversion. You can also do split toning on B+W (see here, these have some split toning in them)

Lightroom also has a Print and Web tab. The print tab I have used a few times, but really not enough to comment, and I have never used the web tab, as my web software does all the image ingestion for me.

One of the things I have been really using is some of the export options. One of the nice ones is an Edit in Photoshop (you just right click on the image), it converts the image to jpg (or whatever you choose) opens it in Photoshop, you do whatever heavy editing you need to do, then save and close in Photoshop, and when you return to lightroom, you see your Photoshop edit, and stacked underneath your edit is the original file. Really sexy. You can also make custom export settings, some of the precanned ones include send to email, burn full size to disk, etc. but you can always make your own (including where it is stored).

The one negative thing I will say about it is it isn't super snappy in terms of speed. It isn't slow, but you notice you click on a collapsed item, it takes a half second or so to expand. My machine is a little old, but Photoshop seems a little snappier.

[FlyBoeingJets]

Originally Posted by Unfiltered

For the Nikonians -

What software are you using with your images? Capture NX? Photoshop? iPhoto? All of the above?

I'm interested in hearing your workflows from extraction from your cards, through processing, to a completed, "ready-to-print" image.

Thanks!

Corey

I shoot RAW and process in Lightroom.

As for my workflow, it's a freakin' mess. I'm reading up on it and trying to streamline things. If you want some good examples of workflows in Lightroom, check out Ken Milburn's stuff from O'Reilly Digital Media:

First of a three-part article by Ken Milburn.
Part 2
Part 3

[nocturn]

Wow.
This thread has taken on a life of its own. Cool.

Glenn, I never got to see the observatory series you posted. Is it still being hosted somewhere?

Here a few random shot I've taken over tha past 6 months. Only the bluebird shot had been processed. I coppered the backround making the natural blue "pop" a little more.

Enjoy:
















Looking at the last shot, its amazing how much red and purple light is reflected by the muddy river water. Overpowers any blue reflection. Pretty cool.

[nocturn]

Hey Mike, That little girl is what Mrs Nocturn and I made when you and Mrs Rat were in Makakilo...Time flies eh brah?

[Unfiltered]

Originally Posted by nocturn

Gorgeous, nocturn!

[nocturn]

Originally Posted by Unfiltered

Gorgeous, nocturn!

Thats actually my desktop backround...thanks...

[FlyBoeingJets]

I hate you, Nocturn.

Seriously. Your pics are too good.

My observatory series is still up on my Flickr site.

[nocturn]

Thanks Glenn.

And to answer your question about sharpen/vibrance, I dont use it. In fact, all but the Blue Bird pic were shot in 100% manual. I do however go into Auto when shooting birds. They are just too fast to go manual. Although the Goose was manual...but then again, it is a goose.

All were shot in Jpeg. I just cant find time to process any RAW images. Heck, yesterday was the first time I read this thread in like 5 months.

I have 4 2gig SD cards full of stuff I havent had time to look at.

I think a big plus for me is that Virginia has a ton of natural beauty to be looked at. A good portion of it is right outside my backyard with the Appomattox River and all. Water attracts and makes for awesome subject matter.

[FlyBoeingJets]

Yay! Mine!