On the receipt: Dismantle faulty camera as required. Clean CCD Sensor, shutter and mirror box housing, mirror and sub mirror, view finder, fresnell and prism assembly.
Test image clarity and adjust back focus.
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On the receipt: Dismantle faulty camera as required. Clean CCD Sensor, shutter and mirror box housing, mirror and sub mirror, view finder, fresnell and prism assembly.
Test image clarity and adjust back focus.
Hmmm, right ..................guess the important thing is they were able to fix it. Expensive?
It was around $250.
Using the sports setting as with my previous pics, pre accidental shock, you can see, the pics are still noisy and soft. So I am up for another camera. Had to try though.
The Musk Lorikeet was 30 metres away. Shutter 1/2000 F6.3. Iso on auto. After a bit of cropping and adjustment to light, clarity and colour. It was windy and overcast. Still a soft focus, even with the focal point at the centre of the lens.
Mudnut, I believe you are using the same lens as me aren't you? (Sigma150-600) Have you set it up with the Sigma software? Looks to me like the focus is a bit out, plus the lack of light has resulted in a higher ISO giving some grain?
This pic, was taken at a similar distance & quite heavily cropped. Nothing else done to it other than cropping. F6.3 1/640sec (leaning against a post to help steady myself) . ISO 100 (enough light at 1/640) Taken at full extension of the lens (600mm). Not suggesting it's anything but a pretty ordinary pic, but just to show that you should be able get things a bit less soft. Or do you think your camera focus is still a bit off since the repair?
Male Red Winged Parrot
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Where did you get the sigma software, Cuppa. Has it caused any problems with you computer, or lens. I also have to buy the usb dock. I am very wary of downloading off the the interwebs.
Looking back through my pics (post dropping the camera), I found this quick snap, Sports mode. That came out almost perfect. It seems I am at fault. Also as an update on the above pic. I found I had knocked the Focus range switch and the image stabilizer switch to the on position while the camera was on the tripod. Duh!
Nice. Yes when you have setting on the lens as well as on the camera it can be hard to be fluent enough to get things right at the time of the shot. Regular practice is needed if like me you have periods when the camera only gets infrequent use, it's a whole learning curve again. The software downloads & are worthwhile. I'd love to be able to explain how, but I'm due for a re-learning curve after a relative camera hiatus of a number of months! Essentially though it does allow you to adjust settings to better suit your own style. Yep you'll need the USB dock, I don't think it's that expensive, but cant remember that for definite either.Bought it at the same time as the lens. Need to play around with the lens for a while & then make changes one at a time - trial & error style to see what you like.
https://www.sigma-global.com/en/down...imization-pro/
Cheers, Cuppa. That's done. Now to get the dock and also find the lens user manual.
I took over 50 pics on all different settings, to get this one snap. Unstabilised 75-300mm lens on auto scene recognition.
I had a lot of trouble getting the camera to give a sharp focus on any setting. I even wiped all the settings I changed, back to factory default.
Musk Lorikeet on WA Flowering Gum.
That must be so frustrating! I'd have liked to see a stabilised shot of that too. How much has been cropped? What does 'auto scene' do in terms of settings (should be on the photo info)
I don't know what the problem is but summat's not right. You know from that last bird pic you posted that the camera can do better than this. The focus is not that far off, but looking around the entire photo none of it is crisp.
How about taking a few shots from just a short distance, of anything with clean straight lines, furniture, windows or something, well lit. Straight lines but keep it simple with not a lot of detail . Not sure if it will help, but it should be easier to get a clean crisp image, just to prove that it can be done (hopefully). Trying it with each lens you have too wont do any harm. If you get some satisfactory results , maybe then go back to experimenting with settings.
Mind you if you think that's all crap, it quite possibly is as I feel like I'm clutching at straws.
Another thought. Can you borrow another similar camera off someone & go out for a shoot with both to compare results? Or go together & swap cameras.
All offerings of advice much appreciated, Cuppa. I have also booked into a lesson at the camera shop.
That has probably had over 50% cropped. Also used a small bit of editing, but much less than needed previously.
The camera set it at 1/750 and 7.1 fs. I will borrow my daughters gear and have a go at your suggestions when she visits.
After a 3/4 hour lesson I spent an hour or two testing out all the functions I was taught.
I got a few good snaps but this one was the best.
The sigma lens was set at 500mm. The Shutter at 1/640 and arperture was 7.1. Partly cloudy. mid-late afternoon.
All I did was crop and run it through paint to reduce size so it lost a tiny bit of clarity.
I think the shutter speed could have been at 1/1000.
So spill the beans then - what did you take away from the lesson that helped. That’s a way better shot!
Rules of thumb, such as the shutter speed is approximately twice the value of the focal length.(there are many exceptions). Start in TV mode with the shutter speed set. Do the half press on the shutter button and see what the camera gives for Arperture. If the number is flashing, then it is not within an acceptable range. Use the AV button and the main rotor button near the shutter button to adjust light by up to three stops.
It is advisable to set the ISO on auto unless a particular setting is desired, for effects, etc.
I have the sensor sampling now tied with the focus point, and about 10-15% of the field. (Not ideal for all situations).
Learned how to use one shot focus mode, properly.
I will type up a small card with simple instructions, plasticate it and keep it with the camera.
The camera is set on multishot, so that after pressing the button it reduces camera shake.
Haven't found a user manual for the Sigma lens, but found a review video that discusses each function.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VykkH-OVdyg He takes a while to get into it, but has taught me a few functions.
Three pics. First is the original 'as shot'. Second is cropped,lightened & detail increased. Third is with a different sky added in Luminar 4. I also had a shot taken in .jpg & by comparison it lacked detail. It was an unusually grey day & the morning (9am) sun was behind me. The bird was quite some distance away. Shot in Raw format on Sony A6500 with the Sigmar 150 to 600mm zoom lens on full extension. Handheld. ISO 125, F11, 1/500s 600mm This was the last of only 2 or 3 shots as I was keen to leave, due to there being a snake close by plus I was being attacked by green ants swarming up my legs! These factors could be described as disturbances to my concentration! Once I had the pic on my laptop I was pleasantly surprised at the relative lack of expected camera shake & the detail I was able to bring out with the post editing. Only thing I'm not 100% happy about is that the sky 'bled' into the top of the cyclone-busted tree the bird is perched on, but don't know how to rectify that. Reduction in file size to upload to forum has taken out a fair bit of detail as you might expect of a 25Mb photo reduced to just over 1Mb.
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Magnificent bird. Have you heard the male hammering on a tree trunk to alert his partner of his presence?
No but would love to. Since it was discovered they do that 30 or 40 years ago it has only been captured on camera about 60 times. At the end of this week we’ll be moving to a house sit on Cape Weymouth, at the northern end of Chilli Beach where we are expecting to have use of a quad bike to get down to the beach on, so expect to be in their territory a lot more often, so fingers crossed.Quote:
Originally Posted by mudnut
Have a look at channel masking as a technique Cuppa. You can use the density of the image to create a complex selection in your photos.
Here are a couple of different skies. One more dramatic than the other. In each, I've tried to keep a lighter part of the image up near the crest to blend with the finer parts of the feathers, but both backgrounds are selected with consideration of the lighting in the original photo.
Attachment 83383Attachment 83384
I'm impressed Cremulator, but have no idea about channels - unless that's another name for layers - in which case I'm still a total beginner. What software do you use? I suspect it is something which requires rather more practice & understanding than Luminar? In Luminar to put in a different sky involves no skill or need to use layers, at least not at my level. I will look up Channel masking to see if it is something I can try. Thanks.
Channels are the red, green and blue information that make up the colour image.
I use Adobe Photoshop.
In looking at those examples again, I really should have cropped the sky to a smaller detail of clouds.
Those cloud images are photographed with a wide angle lens but you've captured that beautiful image of the bird with a 600mm lens. In reality, on a day that wasn't overcast, you still wouldn't see much of the sky due to the field of view with a 600mm lens.
Maybe something more like this?
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.
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Have not posted here much, as you guys have really done a great job with the thread, exactly what it was for. :smiley_thumbs_up:
Hope everyone is keeping safe in these Covid times, at the moment we are lucky enough in QLD to be allowed out, so im trying to make the most of it, as who knows how long it will last.
Anyway,here's one i took this weekend, i thought may be relevant to this thread, as i did not have my DSLR with me, all i had was my crappy ph, its a el cheapo OPPO brand, and is really not good for taking any photos (nothing like a i phone etc), but it does show, while a good location obviously helps , the best camera you have, is the one you have "with you".
Also i think it shows just how you can use composition to your advantage (as i briefed on in the start of this thread) almost every time i shoot a car, i give the car "room" within the frame to move into, it looks more natural to the eyes, this often means NOT having the car in the center of the image, but giving the car space in front (the normal direction of travel) and for the exact reason just explained, is why i chose to cut half the camper trailer out of the picture.
If id had my DSLR (and had time to use it), i would have undoubtedly have captured much more enhanced and brilliant colour from the sky, as well as, i do set my Landscape mode (within the onboard camera settings) to add some subtle enrichment as well, i would have also used a Tripod so i could get a sharper image, extend the exposure time, and then have the option of illuminating the near side of the car with light painting effect (using a torch).
I say "option" of illuminating the car, as i would like to have seen the effect, but with the S5 alloys being quite shiny, im also aware that they may reflect torch light back at the camera, and really highlight themselves, this could well be very distracting, becoming the main focus of the pic, and could also have the effect of appearing to reduce the vividness of the sky.
Same goes for putting the interior light on in the car of the hazard lights on (as i have done in the past for effect) there is a real danger of drawing your eyes away from the sky, brake lights would be my pick in this situation, but you need a helper or long exposure (or a thong wedge) to make that work, anyway, some food for thought.
As with my other pics, i don't change or modify anything with the pics afterwards in the PC, with the only exception being, a small crop to cut the pic down into 16:9 (so it suits pretty much every screen the pic may be viewed on), yet ironically, the cheap OPPO phone lets me capture in 16:9 , so i didn't even have to do that (lol)
:biggrin:
back together could you guide me as 2 what bits
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