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[jongkookie]

Fnckin' finally!



Some interesting facts about this thing, the previous owner is Korean so the default language of the camera is Korean but thankfully you can change the language unlike the Japanese versions.

Upon first boot I was like fuuuuu, that means I get no warranty(though I don't think it matters since this according to tag at the bottom the manufacture date is 10-2013) but, and this was the biggest surprise... it has a 12400 shutter count!!

Also, the EVF is amazing. It might be "laggy" compared to an OVF and I certainly wouldn't be using the EVF during a foot race, but it duplicating the main screen is crazy. Focus peaking works on the EVF and that to me is a huuuge game changer for anybody using MF lenses... also the ability to magnify the EVF to check focus is extremely useful.

Now for the bad...

Auto-ISO is still up in the air. Granted I've only had 3 hours(also it's night time) at most with the camera but it seems like it just sets it at 6400 and calls it a day even if you adjust aperture or shutter speed. The image is still actually useful even at 6400 ISO but I kinda wish it just worked well. I know it's a set and go type of setting but it's a feature so why not use it right? Lol.

The other and the one thing I really hate right now, my favorite lens, the Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm just dropped down in quality for me, though obviously this isn't the cameras fault. There's visible vignetting on all 4 corners of the image, something you couldn't see with an APS-C camera. But again, as it is night time, it might just be something I'm imagining or whatever... we'll see when I actually take it out tomorrow morning at work.

Overall though, after 3 hours of playing with it... I gotta say, I'm hugely impressed with the camera. I can actually now go above ISO 800 with claiming the grain is for creative shots, it's ridiculously lightweight, and again, focus peaking is a huuuuuuuuuuuuge game changer. I dunno how I can go back to a shooting MF without it.

Spoiler

And yes, this was shot with my D3200 lol.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Fnckin' finally!



Some interesting facts about this thing, the previous owner is Korean so the default language of the camera is Korean but thankfully you can change the language unlike the Japanese versions.

Upon first boot I was like fuuuuu, that means I get no warranty(though I don't think it matters since this according to tag at the bottom the manufacture date is 10-2013) but, and this was the biggest surprise... it has a 12400 shutter count!!

Also, the EVF is amazing. It might be "laggy" compared to an OVF and I certainly wouldn't be using the EVF during a foot race, but it duplicating the main screen is crazy. Focus peaking works on the EVF and that to me is a huuuge game changer for anybody using MF lenses... also the ability to magnify the EVF to check focus is extremely useful.

Now for the bad...

Auto-ISO is still up in the air. Granted I've only had 3 hours(also it's night time) at most with the camera but it seems like it just sets it at 6400 and calls it a day even if you adjust aperture or shutter speed. The image is still actually useful even at 6400 ISO but I kinda wish it just worked well. I know it's a set and go type of setting but it's a feature so why not use it right? Lol.

The other and the one thing I really hate right now, my favorite lens, the Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm just dropped down in quality for me, though obviously this isn't the cameras fault. There's visible vignetting on all 4 corners of the image, something you couldn't see with an APS-C camera. But again, as it is night time, it might just be something I'm imagining or whatever... we'll see when I actually take it out tomorrow morning at work.

Overall though, after 3 hours of playing with it... I gotta say, I'm hugely impressed with the camera. I can actually now go above ISO 800 with claiming the grain is for creative shots, it's ridiculously lightweight, and again, focus peaking is a huuuuuuuuuuuuge game changer. I dunno how I can go back to a shooting MF without it.

Spoiler

And yes, this was shot with my D3200 lol.

And now you see why I thought you were crazy for downplaying focus peaking ahaha.

Okay, so before you end up having to figure this out on your own to your detriment, I'll go ahead and let you know that if there's one annoying weakness to Sony's mirrorless systems, it's that all of the information displayed on screen.... is based entirely on what the screen is literally displaying. What I mean by that, is there's a setting called "Live View Display", which gives you a preview of your exposure on a given shot with your given settings. Essentially, the EVF will be approximately just as bright or dark as the resulting shot when you press the shutter. *But* you can turn that setting off, so that regardless of your exposure settings, your EVF will be "regular" brightness. (Turning this off is mainly useful for macro, astrophotography, and manual non TTL flash, where the camera doesn't know a giant strobe light is going to fire, and having Live View on will have a dark EVF).
The weakness, is that your histogram displayed in the EVF isn't based on what result you'll get... it's based on what the EVF is displaying. So if you have Live View set to "Off", you'll see a histogram that looks well balanced! Then you'll take the shot and find it's black as tar.

This same thing applies to the Focus Peaking. Focus peaking is based on areas of high contrast... on the screen displaying. So if you zoom in, you'll get a much more accurate shimmer, since then it'll actually be sampling the higher resolution rather than just the EVF.

These are really just things to be aware of though, and once you're aware of them they shouldn't present any problems.

Be sure to customize the living hell out of the camera. The less you need to go in the menu the better. I really only ever use the menu to change the Live View setting, very occasionally the LCD brightness, and formatting the SD card.

As for your Vivitar lens, you should notice it feels a bit sharper, and thankfully vignetting is fairly easy to fix in Lightroom. I know my FD 1.4 50 feels like it got a "quality" boost going from a6000 to a7.

 

[JadedWriter]

Fnckin' finally!



Some interesting facts about this thing, the previous owner is Korean so the default language of the camera is Korean but thankfully you can change the language unlike the Japanese versions.

Upon first boot I was like fuuuuu, that means I get no warranty(though I don't think it matters since this according to tag at the bottom the manufacture date is 10-2013) but, and this was the biggest surprise... it has a 12400 shutter count!!

Also, the EVF is amazing. It might be "laggy" compared to an OVF and I certainly wouldn't be using the EVF during a foot race, but it duplicating the main screen is crazy. Focus peaking works on the EVF and that to me is a huuuge game changer for anybody using MF lenses... also the ability to magnify the EVF to check focus is extremely useful.

Now for the bad...

Auto-ISO is still up in the air. Granted I've only had 3 hours(also it's night time) at most with the camera but it seems like it just sets it at 6400 and calls it a day even if you adjust aperture or shutter speed. The image is still actually useful even at 6400 ISO but I kinda wish it just worked well. I know it's a set and go type of setting but it's a feature so why not use it right? Lol.

The other and the one thing I really hate right now, my favorite lens, the Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm just dropped down in quality for me, though obviously this isn't the cameras fault. There's visible vignetting on all 4 corners of the image, something you couldn't see with an APS-C camera. But again, as it is night time, it might just be something I'm imagining or whatever... we'll see when I actually take it out tomorrow morning at work.

Overall though, after 3 hours of playing with it... I gotta say, I'm hugely impressed with the camera. I can actually now go above ISO 800 with claiming the grain is for creative shots, it's ridiculously lightweight, and again, focus peaking is a huuuuuuuuuuuuge game changer. I dunno how I can go back to a shooting MF without it.

Spoiler

And yes, this was shot with my D3200 lol.

Dude you're on full frame now so now's the time to get used to that vignetting cause that becomes a thing. Go to lightroom, hope to god there's a lens profile for that ancient lens and dial it back or do it yourself. Glad you got the camera though.

 

[Ty4on]

That's the annoying thing with dumb lenses. No exif for lens correction.

IIRC the auto ISO was a bit of a problem for some with the A7. The problem I most remember is the camera really liking 1/60th shutter speed regardless of focal length. Either way I'd Google it to see what people did to overcome it or if there was a firmware update.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Dude you're on full frame now so now's the time to get used to that vignetting cause that becomes a thing. Go to lightroom, hope to god there's a lens profile for that ancient lens and dial it back or do it yourself. Glad you got the camera though.

Vignetting correction trick I learned from astrophotography, is if you crank a bunch of settings up to max (forget which off the top of my head, but I think contrast, and jacking up brightness some), it exaggerates the vignetting enough that correcting it manually is piss easy, and then you just reset the other settings again before starting on the rest of PP.

 

[JadedWriter]

Vignetting correction trick I learned from astrophotography, is if you crank a bunch of settings up to max (forget which off the top of my head, but I think contrast, and jacking up brightness some), it exaggerates the vignetting enough that correcting it manually is piss easy, and then you just reset the other settings again before starting on the rest of PP.

Interesting. This whole thing really explains why I've never been too giddy about going mirrorless with lenses that aren't native and going the adapter route.

That's the annoying thing with dumb lenses. No exif for lens correction.

IIRC the auto ISO was a bit of a problem for some with the A7. The problem I most remember is the camera really liking 1/60th shutter speed regardless of focal length. Either way I'd Google it to see what people did to overcome it or if there was a firmware update.

Is it weird that I don't mess with auto-iso?

 

[reggieandTFE]

Wow, had no idea this was a thread. I got a question.

I'm an artist and I'm looking into getting my own camera for music videos and I don't know where to start Anyone knows a good camera/s for $1600 max? Without tax of course. I'm looking for something that can give me the type of quality that's at least similar to these.

Peso - ASAP Rocky
ADHD - Kendrick Lamar

I'd go with a Sony or Panasonic if you're looking to do video. Is your budget $1600 for the camera or for everything?

If it's for the latter, I'd definitely go with a Panasonic GX85 or G85. Fantastic 4K quality with image stabilization that keeps your footage from being shaky and jittery and you having to fix that in post.

I'd get the G85 because it has a mic input and a weather-sealed kit lens with decent range for $999. You can then buy their 25mm f1.7 for your shallow depth of field/low light needs for less than $199. Use that other $400 to buy some extra batteries, sd cards, an external mic and off-camera LED lighting for your shoots.

 

[Ty4on]

Vignetting correction trick I learned from astrophotography, is if you crank a bunch of settings up to max (forget which off the top of my head, but I think contrast, and jacking up brightness some), it exaggerates the vignetting enough that correcting it manually is piss easy, and then you just reset the other settings again before starting on the rest of PP.

That's a great tip!

When I'm really frustrated fine tuning white balance I also like to ramp up saturation so I can see flaws more easily.

Is it weird that I don't mess with auto-iso?

Me neither really. I typically shoot raw with ISO 100, increasing it when it's dark or I need to shoot JPEGs. Then I just boost them in post. In most non-Canon cameras the difference between ISO 100 boosted four stops and ISO 1600 is negligible apart from much better highlights in the 100 shot.

 

[JadedWriter]

Me neither really. I typically shoot raw with ISO 100, increasing it when it's dark or I need to shoot JPEGs. Then I just boost them in post. In most non-Canon cameras the difference between ISO 100 boosted four stops and ISO 1600 is negligible apart from much better highlights in the 100 shot.

I honestly trust myself more than the computer in the camera, I really don't even shoot in aperture priority anymore. Unless I don't have the time to mess with settings I'm usually 98% of the time in manual. I usually try not to boost too much in post though, just turns into adding noise to me and sometimes you just lose too much color detail I think.

 

[Astral/H3X]

I honestly trust myself more than the computer in the camera, I really don't even shoot in aperture priority anymore. Unless I don't have the time to mess with settings I'm usually 98% of the time in manual. I usually try not to boost too much in post though, just turns into adding noise to me and sometimes you just lose too much color detail I think.

I usually leave auto ISO on, but manually control my shutter speed (and aperture obviously). Ultimately, my ISO is going to simply be determined by the other two factors, so instead of having a third factor to worry about I just let the camera take over that.

Doesn't hurt that for many photos, the noise is at a point where it doesn't really harm anything.

 

[JadedWriter]

I usually leave auto ISO on, but manually control my shutter speed (and aperture obviously). Ultimately, my ISO is going to simply be determined by the other two factors, so instead of having a third factor to worry about I just let the camera take over that.

Doesn't hurt that for many photos, the noise is at a point where it doesn't really harm anything.

I have shot aperture priority for example and couldn't even get three consecutive pictures to keep the same shutter speed I'd rather just have that stuff locked in for example. Paying more attention to my shutter speed and focal length requirements and improving my hand holding has helped out decently enough.

 

[Rentahamster]

If it's not rapidly changing lighting conditions, manual is usually most useful, I feel.

 

[JadedWriter]

If it's not rapidly changing lighting conditions, manual is usually most useful, I feel.

Yeah I usually don't like the camera picking stuff for me for the most part. Sometimes it either over or under exposes stuff or picks too low of a shutter speed and it's blurry.

 

[jongkookie]

I think I was wrong about auto ISO, I've actually seen it drop down below 3200! I'm still not sure though how it knows what ISO to use. Obviously my lenses and converter don't even have the ability to communicate with the camera so I'm guess it just follows the shutter speed I've set?

Dunno though if I'm gonna keep it at auto ISO too, I feel like I've got a decent idea of where it needs to be but we'll see.

And now you see why I thought you were crazy for downplaying focus peaking ahaha.

Okay, so before you end up having to figure this out on your own to your detriment, I'll go ahead and let you know that if there's one annoying weakness to Sony's mirrorless systems, it's that all of the information displayed on screen.... is based entirely on what the screen is literally displaying. What I mean by that, is there's a setting called "Live View Display", which gives you a preview of your exposure on a given shot with your given settings. Essentially, the EVF will be approximately just as bright or dark as the resulting shot when you press the shutter. *But* you can turn that setting off, so that regardless of your exposure settings, your EVF will be "regular" brightness. (Turning this off is mainly useful for macro, astrophotography, and manual non TTL flash, where the camera doesn't know a giant strobe light is going to fire, and having Live View on will have a dark EVF).
The weakness, is that your histogram displayed in the EVF isn't based on what result you'll get... it's based on what the EVF is displaying. So if you have Live View set to "Off", you'll see a histogram that looks well balanced! Then you'll take the shot and find it's black as tar.

This same thing applies to the Focus Peaking. Focus peaking is based on areas of high contrast... on the screen displaying. So if you zoom in, you'll get a much more accurate shimmer, since then it'll actually be sampling the higher resolution rather than just the EVF.

These are really just things to be aware of though, and once you're aware of them they shouldn't present any problems.

Be sure to customize the living hell out of the camera. The less you need to go in the menu the better. I really only ever use the menu to change the Live View setting, very occasionally the LCD brightness, and formatting the SD card.

As for your Vivitar lens, you should notice it feels a bit sharper, and thankfully vignetting is fairly easy to fix in Lightroom. I know my FD 1.4 50 feels like it got a "quality" boost going from a6000 to a7.

I read this earlier in the morning and didn't get it... now that I actually dove in to the settings, I see what you mean. I think I'd rather have it on and have the EVF show me how it would look instead of brightening everything up, I think it makes more sense that way for lenses that can't meter light.

That was actually one of the annoyances I had with my D3200, I'd have to jump into live view before taking even one pic just to see where I need to be.

And yeah, the lens is definitely much sharper from some of the pixel peeping that I've done.

Dude you're on full frame now so now's the time to get used to that vignetting cause that becomes a thing. Go to lightroom, hope to god there's a lens profile for that ancient lens and dial it back or do it yourself. Glad you got the camera though.

Thankfully it's not that bad as I thought... I think lol.

Y'all be the judge, this is straight off LR .ARW to .JPG :

28mm at f/2.8


Around 50mm at f/2.8


90mm at f/2.8

These might be poor examples since they're also shot at 6400 ISO(thanks auto ISO lol), and the light in my room isn't necessarily that great. I'm gonna see about redoing this test outside tomorrow with daylight. AFAIK, the aperture doesn't matter as I've got another set of these shots in f/5.6 and it's pretty identical.

On the other hand, I just found out that someone's actually made a proper mount for Canon lenses where EXIF, IS and AF actually work, and IIRC they go for a $100 bucks. I'm now shopping for a Canon 24-70 2.8 L lolol, but from some of the prices I'm seeing... I'm gonna pay more for the lens than I did for the body so we'll see.

I've actually got a portrait shoot this weekend so I'm finally gonna be able to fully test out my lens and see how it works. Thankfully though, my Nikon 50mm performs fan-fncking-tastically on the A7 so I'm probably gonna stick with that and have the Vivitar as as experiment.

EDIT: How the fnck does the auto setting work?? I pushed the dial to auto and it fncking works!!

I rotated the aperture ring and it automatically adjusted the ISO and shutter speed... what in the hell?? This is amazing!

I think this might be another gamechanger moment for me.

 

[Rentahamster]

Yeah I usually don't like the camera picking stuff for me for the most part. Sometimes it either over or under exposes stuff or picks too low of a shutter speed and it's blurry.

Indeed. I think some cameras have a minimum shutter speed setting though? I dunno, I never use it.

 

[Astral/H3X]

I think I was wrong about auto ISO, I've actually seen it drop down below 3200! I'm still not sure though how it knows what ISO to use. Obviously my lenses and converter don't even have the ability to communicate with the camera so I'm guess it just follows the shutter speed I've set?

Dunno though if I'm gonna keep it at auto ISO too, I feel like I've got a decent idea of where it needs to be but we'll see.



I read this earlier in the morning and didn't get it... now that I actually dove in to the settings, I see what you mean. I think I'd rather have it on and have the EVF show me how it would look instead of brightening everything up, I think it makes more sense that way for lenses that can't meter light.

That was actually one of the annoyances I had with my D3200, I'd have to jump into live view before taking even one pic just to see where I need to be.

And yeah, the lens is definitely much sharper from some of the pixel peeping that I've done.



Thankfully it's not that bad as I thought... I think lol.

Y'all be the judge, this is straight off LR .ARW to .JPG :



These might be poor examples since they're also shot at 6400 ISO(thanks auto ISO lol), and the light in my room isn't necessarily that great. I'm gonna see about redoing this test outside tomorrow with daylight. AFAIK, the aperture doesn't matter as I've got another set of these shots in f/5.6 and it's pretty identical.

On the other hand, I just found out that someone's actually made a proper mount for Canon lenses where EXIF, IS and AF actually work, and IIRC they go for a $100 bucks. I'm now shopping for a Canon 24-70 2.8 L lolol, but from some of the prices I'm seeing... I'm gonna pay more for the lens than I did for the body so we'll see.

I've actually got a portrait shoot this weekend so I'm finally gonna be able to fully test out my lens and see how it works. Thankfully though, my Nikon 50mm performs fan-fncking-tastically on the A7 so I'm probably gonna stick with that and have the Vivitar as as experiment.

EDIT: How the fnck does the auto setting work?? I pushed the dial to auto and it fncking works!!

I rotated the aperture ring and it automatically adjusted the ISO and shutter speed... what in the hell?? This is amazing!

I think this might be another gamechanger moment for me.

So, since your lens doesn't have any electrical contacts, your lens won't be opening/closing with the shutter button... it'll just stay open at whatever aperture you have it set to. Also, with mirrorless cameras, the sensor is always on, so in effect, it's constantly "taking" a picture, and it uses that as its light meter. That's how auto ISO is working. It doesn't *know* the aperture, but it does know how much light is hitting the sensor, and that's the important thing. So yeah, it really just needs to adjust based on that amount of light, and your shutter speed.

Yeah, turning Live Setting to "off" is really only useful in a few applications, which I had mentioned. Unfortunately, all of those situations apply to me, so I find myself frequently turning it off ahaha.

There's a full electronic adapter to Canon for $100? Hrm, I'd look real hard into that... I don't have one personally, but I know Tony Nothrup used a $350 one, and he found it to miss some shots on AF. As he described it, it worked 95% of the time, but that oooonnneee time man. So AF speed and accuracy are definitely something that can suffer from the adapter. Although, IIRC, Sigma makes one with that functionality for Emount, and maybe due to economy of scale, maybe they can do a similar if not better job for cheaper.
(Be warned, I don't think anyone has reverse engineered using Phase Detect on Sony bodies yet, so it'll be contrast detect only.)

As for Auto working, yeah it's the same case as what I mentioned earlier. If you could buy native lenses that only had one aperture setting, it'd work the same. (Of course, auto aperture on your lens won't work )

OH! Before I forget, you can actually manually set your own ISO range for the auto functions to be limited to. If you go into the ISO menu, when you're on the Auto setting, you can hit left and right on the little circle pad to move over to the minimum and maximum ISOs that you want the camera to shoot for. So you could set it to say, 100-800, and then it'll cap out at 800 ISO and then get more aggressive with the shutter speed to compensate. Also, learn to love the exposure compensation dial! It's pretty much a semi-auto way to control ISO.

 

[JadedWriter]

Thankfully it's not that bad as I thought... I think lol.

Y'all be the judge, this is straight off LR .ARW to .JPG :



These might be poor examples since they're also shot at 6400 ISO(thanks auto ISO lol), and the light in my room isn't necessarily that great. I'm gonna see about redoing this test outside tomorrow with daylight. AFAIK, the aperture doesn't matter as I've got another set of these shots in f/5.6 and it's pretty identical.

On the other hand, I just found out that someone's actually made a proper mount for Canon lenses where EXIF, IS and AF actually work, and IIRC they go for a $100 bucks. I'm now shopping for a Canon 24-70 2.8 L lolol, but from some of the prices I'm seeing... I'm gonna pay more for the lens than I did for the body so we'll see.

I've actually got a portrait shoot this weekend so I'm finally gonna be able to fully test out my lens and see how it works. Thankfully though, my Nikon 50mm performs fan-fncking-tastically on the A7 so I'm probably gonna stick with that and have the Vivitar as as experiment.

24-70 2.8's are god damn expensive, period. If you do find one cheap it's either broken, scratched up or some fool dropped that shit. That vignetting looks hard to me, then again I don't take pics of paper that often so for all I know my actual vignetting is worse than that though I highly doubt it. If you have a shoot you better run out and get a spare battery. Mirrorless battery life and DSLR battery life are not equal by any stretch of the imagination. I think 3 mirrorless batteries equals about 1 DSLR battery cause I can at least get about 1100 shots if not more on one DSLR battery and I've shot entire parades on my 7100 without either my battery dying or at least not even noticing it cause I use 2 batteries including one in the grip.

 

[Aurongel]

Vignetting on full frame is a harsh reality but those sample pics you provided are definitely not in the ballpark of acceptability. I'd perform more tests in better/even light but what is a red flag for me is that the diaphragm seems off-center if you look at the extreme edges at the wide end. You should never, ever see uneven vignetting like that.

 

[Ty4on]

Vignetting on full frame is a harsh reality but those sample pics you provided are definitely not in the ballpark of acceptability. I'd perform more tests in better/even light but what is a red flag for me is that the diaphragm seems off-center if you look at the extreme edges at the wide end. You should never, ever see uneven vignetting like that.

It looks pretty typical for uncorrected images from a fast zoom. It is a grey wall after all.

The uneven-ness could come from not being perpendicular to the wall and uneven light on the wall. Defocused pictures of a grey sky are great to test vignetting if you have the weather for it.

Edit: Lens review in question, full frame examples further down.
http://www.kurtmunger.com/minolta_af_28_70mm_f_2_8_g_reviewid252.html

 

[Flo_Evans]

vintage nikon sale...

*SOLD*

*SOLD*


currently up on fleabay, let me know if ya want them

edit: 20mm is sold.

 

[cordy]

I'd go with a Sony or Panasonic if you're looking to do video. Is your budget $1600 for the camera or for everything?

If it's for the latter, I'd definitely go with a Panasonic GX85 or G85. Fantastic 4K quality with image stabilization that keeps your footage from being shaky and jittery and you having to fix that in post.

I'd get the G85 because it has a mic input and a weather-sealed kit lens with decent range for $999. You can then buy their 25mm f1.7 for your shallow depth of field/low light needs for less than $199. Use that other $400 to buy some extra batteries, sd cards, an external mic and off-camera LED lighting for your shoots.

Nah not for everything, just the base if possible. Any lens and such I'll add that onto the price if it comes to.

Wow, that's great, I'll look into that right now!

 

[leng jai]

The EM-1 MK2 looks amazing but then I look at the launch price here and realise I got an absolute bargain last year with my EM-1 and Pro lens bundle.

 

[JadedWriter]

Boxed up my D600 so Nikon can replace the shutter...better be god damn free like they said it would be. Almost shed a tear this morning I'm going to miss it, I hope it come back quickly. Didn't think I'd enjoy full frame so much.

 

[bPod]

I am thinking of upgrade from a Canon XS to a T3. Is it a suitable upgrade?

I am just a beginner and I've noticed image quality from the XS is choppy.

 

[JadedWriter]

I am thinking of upgrade from a Canon XS to a T3. Is it a suitable upgrade?

I am just a beginner and I've noticed image quality from the XS is choppy.

If I'm not mistaken the XS was probably the most garbage DSLR that came out that year, It's not remembered fondly. What's your budget? I usually try to keep people from buying into the Rebel line.

 

[Mr. Hyde]

The best deals for a 5D Mark III are still over $1,500 on ebay? Yeesh. That Canon 6D for $950 and free shipping plus only 6,500 shutter count is looking appealing right now. Ebay, don't tempt me.

 

[lazer_bean]

I went to a shop and saw the Olympus Pen E-PL6 + 14-42 mm lens for 300€ (brand new). I might buy it tomorrow because it seems to be great value. It would be my first camera too.

Here's my question: knowing I could spend 400-450€ max, do you think I should wait until closer to / after christmas, just in case other cameras go on sale and fall in that price range (I'm thinking other Pens or lumix GF7 or even GX7, etc...) ?

 

[snaffles]

I went to a shop and saw the Olympus Pen E-PL6 + 14-42 mm lens for 300€ (brand new). I might buy it tomorrow because it seems to be great value. It would be my first camera too.

Here's my question: knowing I could spend 400-450€ max, do you think I should wait until closer to / after christmas, just in case other cameras go on sale and fall in that price range (I'm thinking other Pens or lumix GF7 or even GX7, etc...) ?

I still have an E-PL5. It is a great camera but the lack of a viewfinder and mediocre auto focus on moving subjects were drawbacks. The controls are also incredibly small so it can be difficult to use if you have large hands. I still use it when I want something compact to just throw in my bag, but use a Panasonic G7 most of the time when I go out shooting now.

 

[lazer_bean]

I still have an E-PL5. It is a great camera but the lack of a viewfinder and mediocre auto focus on moving subjects were drawbacks. The controls are also incredibly small so it can be difficult to use if you have large hands. I still use it when I want something compact to just throw in my bag, but use a Panasonic G7 most of the time when I go out shooting now.

thanks for the reply. I agree with the lack of a viewfinder but there's at least the possibility to add one. I'm a beginner and the only pictures I took were with a smartphone so maybe the lack of a viewfinder won't be too much of a pain for me.

I held the camera in my hands at the shop but it's always a bit awkward especially when it's turned off so time will tell if I find it hard to use or not.
If I bought a better camera I probably wouldn't be able to use it well anyway and, after some research, the E-PL6 ticked many boxes for me (budget price, portability, good performance, in body stabilization)

Anyway, I went back to the shop and they were out of stock. I'd searched online before going and was unable to find that pack at the same price.

They offered the display camera + lens for 270€. I thought it wasn't worth trying but it went down to 199€ eventually. Still risky but I know it was never switched on (only the biggest cameras are plugged in) and, in any case, I can send it back if there's a problem, there's the usual 2 year warranty. They're testing it before I can pick it up too so I took the chance.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Looky what I found! It's busted and doesn't work (not without disassembling the lens), but it's pretty and will fit on my shelf nicely, so FUGGIT.

 

[Astral/H3X]

Does anyone know of any good deals on tripods today or Monday?

I need a new tripod, the one I have isn't the sturdiest, but I already have a head that I'm quite happy with. Weight isn't so much a problem for me, I'm fine carrying heavy ass shit.

I'm looking for around $150 if I can find a good one.

EDIT: I suppose if it's a good deal I could also go for one of those pistol trigger ballheads, those look pretty convenient.

DOUBLE EDIT:
I'm looking at this one right now, bit more than I'd like to pay, but....
https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1146463-REG/benro_gc258f_goclassic_carbon_fiber.html

 

[Vuze]

I've always wanted to have a better camera on hand and especially in the past months during travel etc there were so many occassions where I just wish I had something better than my lousy iPhone 5S cam lol.

Amazon had a deal on the Canon EOS 1300D + Kit lens (EF-S 18-55mm IS) the other day and there is a cashback promo going on right now so I got it for just under 300€ which is a fine price I think.

Also picked up the EF 50mm 1:1.8 STM on eBay (brand new with the 10% off going on right now). Canon also has a cashback promo going on for that, so I'll get it for effectively 75ish which is also a great price when I look at MSRP.
I'm not extremely happy with the Bokeh on the kit lens and I mainly plan to do close-ups so I hope the 50mm will offer a higher quality in these scenarios

Macro photography is also something I'm very intrigued by but I guess I should learn how to intuitively use manual mode and do exposition before I spend anymore cash on hardware

If you've got any recommendations on other useful equipment, guides etc, let me know!

 

[QualityPixel]

Sigma 18-35mm F/1.8 is $750 at newegg and they give you a $100 gift card with purchase. Pretty swank deal.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Well shit, I decided to take the plunge and drop a ton of money on a very nice camera.

After a ton of back and forth and research, I settled on the A7R II. I feel like I might regret it because the A7R III is surely just around the corner, but this thing is amazing by all accounts for what I want to use it for. Lots of still photography with the occasional 4K video shooting.

For my first lens I'm going for the Sony 55mm F1.8 Sonnar T* FE ZA Full Frame Prime Lens.

I couldn't be more excited for this camera. I've been using the Canon Rebel T4i (650D) for quite a few years now and I am ready to upgrade to a full frame sensor camera and I knew I wanted to go all in with a pretty high-end model.

I really like how Canons operate and because of that I spent a lot of time debating between this and the recently released 5D Mark IV, but it seems like it just can't match the performance of the A7R II despite being more expensive. Many people say the colors are better on the Canon, but I think there's some subjectivity involved there. Besides, most of that is probably due to the amazing Canon lenses and most of these seem like they can be used almost natively on the A7R II with an adapter.

Any A7R II owners in this thread? I would love to read some impressions or tips/advice!

 

[Mr. Hyde]

Sigma 18-35mm F/1.8 is $750 at newegg and they give you a $100 gift card with purchase. Pretty swank deal.

Nice! I really want the sigma 35mm art but I hear good things about that lens

 

[KalBalboa]

Well shit, I decided to take the plunge and drop a ton of money on a very nice camera.

After a ton of back and forth and research, I settled on the A7R II. I feel like I might regret it because the A7R III is surely just around the corner, but this thing is amazing by all accounts for what I want to use it for. Lots of still photography with the occasional 4K video shooting.

For my first lens I'm going for the Sony 55mm F1.8 Sonnar T* FE ZA Full Frame Prime Lens.

I couldn't be more excited for this camera. I've been using the Canon Rebel T4i (650D) for quite a few years now and I am ready to upgrade to a full frame sensor camera and I knew I wanted to go all in with a pretty high-end model.

I really like how Canons operate and because of that I spent a lot of time debating between this and the recently released 5D Mark IV, but it seems like it just can't match the performance of the A7R II despite being more expensive. Many people say the colors are better on the Canon, but I think there's some subjectivity involved there. Besides, most of that is probably due to the amazing Canon lenses and most of these seem like they can be used almost natively on the A7R II with an adapter.

Any A7R II owners in this thread? I would love to read some impressions or tips/advice!

I own the A7S and A6000, bought my department at work the A7S ii and A7R ii.

The 55 you bought is going to be the most stupidly sharp portrait lens you've ever used. Be ready for some incredible detail and crop-ability with that lens + body combo.

If you go with the Commlite adapter for your Canons just be sure to look into preventing the reflections you'll generate in the adapter itself.

 

[sechsterangriff]

Guys, does anyone have a recommendation for an Adobe RGB monitor for someone on a "budget" ?

 

[captive]

Guys, does anyone have a recommendation for an Adobe RGB monitor for someone on a "budget" ?

Any of the Dell IPS monitors

 

[finalflame]

Loving my X-T2 + XF23mm f/1.4 so much. Just need to pick up a few more 62mm filters.

 

[Ty4on]

Damn. I don't know that much about video, but for those wanting to get into video with a budget 4k camera this looks like an amazing deal.
Panasonic G7 for $498 on BH

The Panasonic GH4 is a very popular 4k camera and the G7 is basically its little brother with very similar image quality. The MFT mount is also very mature with lot's of stabilized zooms, fast primes and adapters like speedboosters that are pricy, but can give you really shallow DoF with the right lenses.

Main disadvantages are no stabilization and no headphone jack. If you're mostly shooting handheld that could be a limitation, but there's no real 4k option with a stabilized sensor anywhere near this price. The G85 has a stabilized sensor and is otherwise similarly specced, but is currently twice the price.
The headphone jack is to monitor audio to make sure it sounds good with no clipping and all the cables are in place.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Linus Tech Tips has the 5D Mark IV review up. Brandon (their video man) does a good job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CgsF-f3w_H0


I like tat Linus Tech Tips have eclipsed Linus. There is now almost a whole squad of interesting characters. Brandon had some previous really interesting video about must have camera gadgets like bongo ties, like what the fuck?

 

[2real4tv]

Looking at purchasing a Canon T6S for my son there is currently one for sale for $634 but it is a European version should I be worried since I am in the US? Also any opinions on the camera vs the Sony a6000?

I was told performance is pretty much the same however
a6000
+better AF
+easier portability due to smaller profile

T6s
+better LCD with touch and rotate capability
+more access to lower cost lenses

 

[theepicoftyler]

I'm itching really hard to grab a medium format camera. I missed out on a Mamiya RB67 collection last night on eBay (shot up like $150 in the last 15 seconds), and my yearning has only grown.

I've been looking a bunch of different cameras now as a result. Halp.

 

[QualityPixel]

I'm itching really hard to grab a medium format camera. I missed out on a Mamiya RB67 collection last night on eBay (shot up like $150 in the last 15 seconds), and my yearning has only grown.

I've been looking a bunch of different cameras now as a result. Halp.

Medium format film is awesome at times, especially if you have access to a good scanner or funds & time to send your film away for scans.

 

[JadedWriter]

Anybody in here have any grey market lenses? Nikon specifically. I just had to cancel a purchase on something cause it wasn't US region. Am I really making too big of a deal over the whole thing?

 

[captive]

I'm itching really hard to grab a medium format camera. I missed out on a Mamiya RB67 collection last night on eBay (shot up like $150 in the last 15 seconds), and my yearning has only grown.

I've been looking a bunch of different cameras now as a result. Halp.

do it, but also look at getting your own scanner. Medium format film is the hardest film to scan. I was going through some medium format film scans yesterday, the quality is ridiculous, scans that i could literally print 90"x30" without having to do any uprezzing.

 

[Vuze]

Speaking about printing, what's the 'max' recommended size for an uncropped 18MP (3:2) shot? Thinking about getting a canvas print of a photo I took for a friend for xmas but I'm not sure how large I can go?

 

[captive]

Speaking about printing, what's the 'max' recommended size for an uncropped 18MP (3:2) shot? Thinking about getting a canvas print of a photo I took for a friend for xmas but I'm not sure how large I can go?

printing is my favorite part of photography.

Honestly if i couldnt print my photos im not sure i would even shoot. There is such a difference between viewing a photo on a screen than viewing a nice high quality print.


So a few things, more importantly than anything is the subject of your photo sharp? Regardless of resolution if you have an out of focus image its going to look worse when you print it.

Beyond that, print resolution is kind of like viewing TV resolution. I've taken a 12mp 4/3rds shot to 40"x60" with interpolation. At the right viewing distances it looks great, when you stand a foot away from it you can tell it was uprezzed. But who stands 1 foot away from a 40x60 print to enjoy it?

Also with canvas, it does produce a minor sharpness hit just from the texture of the canvas, its not huge or anything but it does work in your favor if you have to uprez a photo.

here is a calculator that should help you but 18mp should be able to do ~20" on the long edge natively. With interpolation you could easily do 24x36 or larger.

http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/printing/1_calculators.htm

 

[Vuze]

printing is my favorite part of photography.

Honestly if i couldnt print my photos im not sure i would even shoot. There is such a difference between viewing a photo on a screen than viewing a nice high quality print.


So a few things, more importantly than anything is the subject of your photo sharp? Regardless of resolution if you have an out of focus image its going to look worse when you print it.

Beyond that, print resolution is kind of like viewing TV resolution. I've taken a 12mp 4/3rds shot to 40"x60" with interpolation. At the right viewing distances it looks great, when you stand a foot away from it you can tell it was uprezzed. But who stands 1 foot away from a 40x60 print to enjoy it?

Also with canvas, it does produce a minor sharpness hit just from the texture of the canvas, its not huge or anything but it does work in your favor if you have to uprez a photo.

here is a calculator that should help you but 18mp should be able to do ~20" on the long edge natively. With interpolation you could easily do 24x36 or larger.

http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/printing/1_calculators.htm

Fantastic, thanks for the tips! And yeah, subject is in focus. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

 

[captive]

if you dont have a lab already, WHCC.com and bayphoto.com do great canvas, metal, float wraps etc.