Forum Replies Created
Albert,
No, the images were not viewable in the camera and as noted, the card was not even formatable in either a MAC or PC platform.If you shoot a lot of images covering a subject say 400 + images per subject then losing one 32 gb card means that you only lost one subject. But if it is what you shoot in one day, then you have lost everything for that day. For me, an 8 gb card in the S2 holds 100 images which for me is a quarter day of shooting so losing that would not be that catastrophic.
I number each card and use odd numbered cards on odd days and even on even to give each one use. They are downloaded everyday to a portable LaCie drive and that drive backed up to another one. All cards are formatted in the camera and never in the computer.
Paranoid? Obsessive? I deal with tech on a daily basis and one thing is for certain, it is when, not if, it fails. You need to have a good backup plan and minimize losses. A portable drive failed on me and without the backup, all of my images would have been lost.
Do you really want to add a light from your camera that may affect the mood?
Jack,
I agree with David, this is cool technology, matching the ambient color temperature. But the output of the unit is nowhere near the amount needed to overcome daylight.The reason to use a colored gel to warm the cold strobe light is to give a natural appearence to the fill. Adding a warming gel enhances the skin tones and also gives the illusion of a natural, logical source for the fill, a lamp. You can try an experiment with and without the gel in a fill situation and judge for yourself what looks better. If you have a local theatrical lighting store or camera store selling light gear, you can pick up a swatch book of colored gels for about $5 and try all the different combinations. The sample swatches are about the same size as the front of the flash.
Thank you from the colder part of the world!
Jack,
I like #2, the flower stems look like fireworks with the flowers bursting through.Kurt, love the lighting! The 120 really does render nicely with a beautiful falloff.
You can use off brand flash for basic flash fill that allow A or aperture auto setting. It is like a manual setting that uses the sensor on the flash to determine the amount of light for proper exposure. This is different than the TTL offerings that measure off if the film plane forproper exposure. Advanced TTL systems even go as far as using the metering area to determine the proper exposure of the subject.
If you get a basic flash or one that is not TTL linked but has either A aperture mode or manual, you can use it for fill flash. In A mode you set the ISO and aperture on the flash, it uses the information to output that amount of light to the area. It is not intelligent, so if you have an out of focus plant in the corner of your image, it may get the proper exposure while your subject is under exposed. With that in mind, setting the aperture and speed on camera is next. Meter the scene, if the scene calls for 1/90 @ f4 with 160 ISO and you want a -1 fill which would mean a flash output of f2.8 @ ISO 160. Great your flash only has output for f5.6 @ ISO 160, what to do? You could change your camera setting to 1/24 @ f8 but what about movement? Not too good of an idea. Upping the ISO on the flash would reduce the amount of light from the flash ISO 320 would need 1/2 the amount of energy and ISO 640 would need 1/4 the energy. In our example you need an equivalent of f2.8 @ ISO 160 for your fill, the flash says f5.6 at any ISO is the minimum. The flash will shorten the duration of the flash to keep the exposure at f5.6 at whatever ISO you input. So change the ISO to 320 will be equivalent to f4 @ISO 160. At ISO 640 it is equivalent to f2.8 @ ISO 640.
woodyspedden;106 wrote: Well, as I said my only problem has been with the 120mm and that happened only twice. I was focusing close to infinity and the S2 just kept hunting.
I think the best advice is to use Al's method. Using the AF button on the back to get close then tweak seems like a pretty quick and reliable method.
Anyway I am not knocking the AF of the S2, just sharing my experiences
Thanks for all the advice
Woody
I have found that AF, any brand, does not always agree with my framing and point of focus. With Nikon, I got 51 opinions on what I should be focusing on, all within the center of the frame of course. So even with the superb AF from Nikon, I ended up doing the same with that system, rear button focus compose, adjust, shoot.
Here is an example of when the flash did not fire and when it did. Notice the ambient light is exposed the same, just the subject in shade is better exposed.
Did I say that I love to use flash? It adds a lot of life to your images and can bring drama to ordinary shots. I use it all the time with my little Canon S95 as the flash sync speed goes up to 1/1600th of a second giving me a lot of creative control.
Basic rules about flash, the output is measured in f stops and for portable flash the time is far shorter than your shutter speed. So for example, if the sun is bright and you want to make the overall ambient light area dark, using the “sunny 16 rule” 1 over ISO @ f 16 would be 1/160th at f16 with ISO 160 which would mean that to make the ambient light area 1 stop darker than the flash lit scene, you would need the flash exposure to be at f 22 which would underexpose the ambient light area by 1 stop. Using the SF 58 flash, you can use HSS to sync the S2 up to 1/4000th of a second but with reduced flash output. So applying the above sunny day scene and the SF58, the exposure of 1/160 @ f16 would equal 1/2500 @ f4 so if you wanted a 2 stop darker ambient light then set the speed at 1/2500 and aperture @ f8. The flash will output to f8 all of the area that it is pointed to and the ambient light will be 2 stops darker. Or in some cases used to balance out the indoor scene with the outdoor scene.
Using flash as a fill flash and look unobtrusive will require you to dial down the flash +/- to -2/3 or more, I prefer to dial it in at -1 to -2 stops. This will fill in the eye sockets and add a little catch light to the eyes. At the same time I also add a little warming filter over the flash with a colored theatrical gel from Lee filters a 1/4 CTO (Color Trans Orange) is the equivalent of 1/4 the strength of a daylight to tungsten conversion filter. This gives the illusion that the light is coming from a natural source such as a lamp instead of the harsh blue from the strobe. The amount of fill depends on the effect that you are going after, the term “fill” should be just that, to fill in the shadows and even out the harsh lighting and not overpower the ambient light. So just the opposite of the fast shutter, small f stop of the first example, now you use the long shutter speed with large aperture to balance out the flash to ambient light. Thus the – compensation for flash. For example, an interior scene lit by a mix of daylight and incandescent lights with the subject next to a large window. The shadow cast is blocked up but you do not want to overpower the scene destroying the light from the window. The meter reading says 1/125 @ f 5.6 ISO 160, you put on the flash and set it for – 1 which in effect will put the flash exposure @f4, this will lighten up the shadows with out blasting out the ambient light. Again, remember to use a little warming filter over the flash as this will give the illusion that the light is coming from a lamp in the room.
The shutter speed is always for the ambient light while the f stop is for flash. In the photo of my son and daughter in law, I used a Hasselblad 501CM and CFV back @ ISO 100. Nikon SB800 flash in a softbox and gold reflector. I set the exposure for 1/500 @ f8 and the flash output at 1/2 power (No TTL connection). The ambient light exposure would be 1/500th @ f6.3 so about 1/2 stop darker background to balance out the light and bring focus to the couple.
In the shot at the beach, I used the flash to light the entire shot and brought the background about 1 stop darker by using direct flash from the Nikon SB800 at full power and exposing the shot at 1/500 @ f11. The setting sun which will normally get the sky white is now with texture and under control.
Cool!
Took a look at a Sinar P3 this weekend, my they are proud of their price, $8000! I bought my first Sinar P 4×5 for $750
Mark Gowin;64 wrote: I notice the horizon looks to be titled slightly. This must be an optical dillusion (spelling intentional) because I used a level. Tilted horizons are a pet peeve of mine.
These days tilted horizons are all the rage in senior and wedding photography. It drives me nuts although I have tried it a time or two myself.
Mark,
Tilted horizons are common in Marin County – home to many 60's Hippies who discovered capitalism 😎Thanks David, I may take you up on it, beware.
David Farkas;72 wrote: There's no doubt that the 40 FLE and 120 CF Makro are both very, very good lenses. I was just pointing out that the S equivalents offer 1.5 stops faster max aperture. In fact, if you are shooting static objects for macro, there is absolutely nothing wrong with using the Hasselblad version. Much of macro work is done using manual focus anyway. This is where alternative lenses can really help fill in the gaps where you don't need an S lens.
I agree with you on the 70mm. It offers really good close-focus ability, and is a great all around and flexible performer. It is my most used lens, by far.
David
I guess part of the problem in deciding on what lens to get is not being able to see one.
David Farkas;70 wrote: Hey Al,
First, welcome to Red Dot.
How did the 40mm CF or 120mm CF Makro do at f/2.5? 😉 If you primarily use your lenses stopped down for maximum DOF there won't be as much difference than if you tend to shoot more wide-open. I think this is an obvious advantage for the S lenses. Wide-open, the 120 S is especially killer. And, the 35 S is no slouch, either.
Keep in mind with the 30-90 that in order to keep its proportions portable, Leica opted to make it a variable aperture lens. It will most likely be f/3.5-5.6. So, about 1 stop slower on the wide end than the 35 S.
Glad you decided to get the 180, though. The 180 probably offers the most “perfect” imaging performance with almost no change from f/3.5 to f/8.
David
Okay David, you know better, the Hassey lenses are f4 max aperture. That aside, I shot at max aperture for all lenses and yes the Leica wins but not by much.
Yes, the 120 is a killer lens but so is the 70 and it shoots reasonably close so it will be my macro for now.
