What do you carry?

[GeoBigJon]

I am pretty new to photography. I started out with a point and shoot, Canon PowerShot SD850 IS. It is a great little camera, I love the functions and its easy for a beginner. I have a Canon 50D that I bought a couple years ago and use it during deer season. I like to capture our animals and post them on FB for all to share. I also get some shots of our hunters and animals they bag. I am thinking of upgrading my little SD to a G12. My neighbor has a G11 and he loves it. I need a smaller camera than my 50D to carry around daily, the SD does great I just think a new one might do a little better. Any suggestions from some of you seasoned camera pros?

[renodesertfox]

Re: What do you carry?

Nothing is wrong about 18mb p/shot in RAW! Normally, that's what I carry(50d) and a couple of lenses and tripod where-ever we go! Personally, though I like Nikons...just can't afford a new one on retired pension! So for lighter gear it's either my Nikon D80 or D90 plus glass. My bride still loves here Coolpix S1! For memory we use 32gb SD cards. Of course I'm a Photoshop Creative Suite Five dyed-in-the-wool-user and my printer is the antique Cannon i9100. If you want to link your FB page to this one you may, all photos dealing with camping, hunting are permitted! Sometimes though if the scene is worthy of cashing in to make extra pennies, then I'll set-up the Wista Field(4x5) and use that too. Wish I could afford a digital back for the 4x5 but there we're talkin thousands and thousands! Good luck!

[GeoBigJon]

Re: What do you carry?

I have shot in RAW some, I also have Photoshop, just don't really know how to do the post shot work. I am learning but I have a very long way to go. I like to share my photos and JPEG shots are what most of my family can view so I use that most. I know I can convert RAW to JPEG but again thats something that I am a little fuzzy about at this point. I need to find a class somewhere and get the basics down at least I guess.

[renodesertfox]

Re: What do you carry?

Finding a photoshop class is just one way to skin the cat, another is http://www.photoshop.com/. There's a wealth of information and lots of ways to learn simple to complex programs within Photoshop. Check it out when you get a moment or two. If you have questions on how to post photos on this site you can always send me a pm(private message) and I'll respond and walk you through the process. It's not that hard, and once you've done it a couple of times it becomes almost second nature!

[Bigdog57]

Re: What do you carry?

For quick&easy image work like resizing (for websites) and converting from one format to another, I like IrfanView. It's a free download, doesn't have all the features of a true photo editor but has most of what I need. Much easier and more intuitive than PS.
For some things I still even use Paint.

Using PS can sometimes be like using a F1 racer to pick up groceries - just too big and fancy..... :cool:

My film cameras are still the venerable old Pentax K1000s. I have a bunch of lenses for them, and they work fine. Good to learn on, as it's "power-nothing"! You MUST learn to use focus, f-stops, exposure, etc.

For just a nice easy-going 'tourist' session, I have my little Nikon CoolPix 12.0MP camera. Gives me over 1000 images in my pocket - no need to pack the whole big photo-bag.
I love being able to do my own digital 'processing and printing' at home, though sometimes there is just no substitution for real film!

[LITTLEfish]

Re: What do you carry?

When I renewed my contract with verizon I got the Samsung Fascinate, 8mp camera and HD video with auto focus, not as good as a manual focus, however its what I use for normal photographs. I've never spent big money on a camera but I do love to take pictures of places I've been\memories with friends!

[tplife]

Re: What do you carry?

GeoBigJon, I'm a big fan of Canon G-series g-l-a-s-s used in both the Gs and in the Powershot lineup. The G12 is definitely as close to dslr as you're going to get without tossing out extra $ for the name "NIKON" (like in slr-world where an Oly was every bit as good for less $$$). Ignore the MP numbers as anything above 10 MP is going to be heavy with noise in this camera class for most photography. For an in-depth review on Canon's G12 (for this or any other digital camera), take a look at:
http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/ca...hot_g12-review

Good shooting!

[renodesertfox]

Re: What do you carry?

Large mp cameras are only heavy with noise to the novice photographer, for the pro, ex-pro like myself, the larger the megapixel the better and shooting in RAW format is the best and only way to go! Jpegs and compression of images saved and re-saved many times over is for the amateur! Shooting RAW and saving in a non-destructible format is also the best way to go. I have images that I shot over 10 years ago both in Jpeg and RAW...the jpegs are worthless to enlarge greater than an 8x10; whereas the RAW files still produce enlargements over 20x 24" and are still being sold in todays market. "G" series lenses are those lenses that automatically adjust aperture for an individual, there is no manual over-ride. They are built for the amateur as opposed to the pro and I too, have a couple. The G series camera on the other hand might just be exactly what your looking for. Also check out: http://www.wordmagazine.co.uk/conten...-which-massive. Everyone who owns a camera thinks that they are photographers. But there more to photography that just clicking a button unless you're a snap-shooter.

[tplife]

Re: What do you carry?

Please note my post: Ignore the MP numbers as anything above 10 MP is going to be heavy with noise in this camera class for most photography.
These are point-and-shoot AF cameras, not DSLRs. This class of camera user is not concerned with setting white balance or buying noise-reducing software. Noise is graininess. The simplest way to explain the reason going above 10MP and high ISO settings will result in excessive noise is that compact digital cameras with their small sensors may have the same number of pixels as their expensive DSLR counterparts, but the pixels are packed into 1/4th or less room. Less light reaches each pixel than in a larger sensor, such as in a DSLR, which leads to higher noise. A compact camera shooting at ISO 200 may have the same amount of noise as a DSLR at ISO 800. Those expensive DSLRs will have noise as well as the ISO selections are jacked up. The takeaway here is if you're not laying out $1200 or more for a quality full-size DSLR, choosing compact digital cameras featuring 12-18 MP on the theory of getting high-resolution shots is hogwash. You cannot have it both ways! As far as RAW, there are a couple of good reasons why you don't want to shoot in that mode! All cameras shoot in RAW and convert to Jpeg or other modes, but you'll need to buy several more storage cards or sticks to use it due to the enormous size of RAW data! More importantly, RAW data requires dedicated software to read, and if you use Photoshop or Adobe RAW and purchase a new camera, you'll quickly discover that THEY DON'T UPDATE THE OLDER SOFTWARE versions to read the files from newer camers!!! You end up having to buy the software all over again! :eek:

[Bigdog57]

Re: What do you carry?

RDF, you are so right! I see so many pics taken with no regard for bracketing or cropping, no regard for what's behind the item of interest, and no regard for lighting. I did do some studying early on, read several good books on the subject and practiced the techniques. Even with my lil digital, I try to craft a decent image up front, which reduces the amount of editing to do later. I'm no 'pro', but I do well enough for my use.
I have found that JPEG is 'noisy', and develops a weird 'pixelization halo' effect on many pics. I have lately gotten to using PNG format - makes it easier to do global filling and other operations on some images. Earlier I liked GIF format, but the current "MicroSloth PAINT" treats GIFs differently than the old version did. I work with a lot of 'cartoon-type' images, and JPEG just don't cut it! :rolleyes:

[tplife]

Re: What do you carry?

BD, like you I have a big Press Kit bag at home full of Olympus OM2n-MD 35 MM gear and lenses (1.4fs 55mm, 1.8 fs 25mm, 2.4 fs. 70-210 zoom) including a 100-meter flash rig, besides our Canon G- and Powershot Cameras. I suggest you borrow or rent a DSLR and shoot the same shot with both your small camera and the DSLR at the same ISO setting in the same lighting in Jpeg mode. Download both shots and zoom into the same areas of both shots. Whoa! Where did all the noise go? It's not magic, it's all in the amount of photons collected in the sensor. You'll get no noise in jpeg with a larger sensor, or conversely, by lowering the ISO setting or increasing the lighting to remove noise from your small compact digicam. RDF is in the scenic-shot biz, so it would be goofy to not shoot in RAW since that's the best way to have the most control and least loss in post-processing for white balance, exposure control, saturation, sharpness, etc. with the least amount of loss vs. Jpeg. But that's for stills, don't even think about burst shooting, you'll fill up an 8 Gb card faster than you can say, "watch the birdie!" :cool:

[renodesertfox]

Re: What do you carry?

TP....well put, well explained! Couldn't said better myself!

Big Dawg....Gimp is another great free program and I use that as well on some projects! I'm reviewing your Infanview and it's alright! Even Picasa has it's good points. It really doesn't matter what camera, what program, or what format a person uses, so long as it pleases the the person using, whatever. A good photograph is looked at often, seldom looked into! Thanks GBJ for startin this dialogue!

[Bigdog57]

Re: What do you carry?

RDF, I tried GIMP on a prior computer, but just couldn't get it to run right. Likely the 'puter just wasn't up to the task. I may try GIMP again.
But, we each do develop our favorite applications, just like our camping methods!

[pootats]

Re: What do you carry?

I use a Sony A100 dslr w/a Minolta 28-105 lens. I don't get fancy with photoshop (can't afford it anyway) or other programs. The only converting I do is either with Windows or Corel and it's usually for brightness & exposure.

[UAE_Camp]

Re: What do you carry?

nice discussion... I really value the moments, especially when going outhere, cause not many people willing to go and enjoy some new/fresh environment into "nowhere" far from their home, thats why I want to keep those moments longer with a photo, not just a photo but a good one, where myself or other people can feel those moments through those photos...

I use Canon DSLR and some lenses that meet my need for capturing those great moments. I process them with Photoshop, normal activity will be just by one hit for the action to bring the proper exposure, more contrast and enjoyable colors. For some landscape, I process them manually.

I also have Canon point & shot camera, the quality is enough for daylight photo, even my Nokia N8 will capture a great photo during daylight. But when its getting dark, the DSLR camera quality is not replace-able.