Photographer's Corner - equipment

[walkinwood]

Am totally lost when it comes to current photo equipment, although my wife has a Panasonic ZS6 Lumix.

I still have a Minolta SRT-101, with zoom lenses, flash units & filters. Seems as though some lenses could be usable by using adapters, but it seems like it's not worth the hassle. Getting ready to take these to Goodwill as part of a decluttering program.

Check to see what they go for on ebay - you may get yourself a nice dinner out on the proceeds or decide that the trip to Goodwill is all the effort worth expending on them.

 

[ampeep]

Just checked eBay & it's kinda sad.... There were many cameras for sale, most w/ no bids. One with some bids @ $100 & included 5 lenses + camera body! Really nice equipment going for really low prices.

Was into taking surf shots in the 70's - have to get the right moment, otherwise the shots are worthless. Wasted LOTS of film. With digital, it would be so much better (& cheaper).

 

[photoguy]

Lightroom 6/CC is out and I downloaded it yesterday. Main things added were HDR/panoramas, face detection, and speed improvements.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum

 

[Ronstar]

Lightroom 6/CC is out and I downloaded it yesterday. Main things added were HDR/panoramas, face detection, and speed improvements.


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Thanks for the tip!

 

[Walt34]

Lightroom 6/CC is out and I downloaded it yesterday. Main things added were HDR/panoramas, face detection, and speed improvements.

I feel slighted. They didn't tell me until today when I started LR.

 

[Ronstar]

I opened my Lightroom 5 and got the notice that 6 was available. I clicked on the link and it took me to the "purchase" page for CC. I don't know if I want the CC version. I'm happy with Lightroom on my mac and laptop using a portable external drive for the photos. But I would like the upgrade for panos.

 

[photoguy]

They certainly make it difficult to buy/upgrade the standalone version. I'm guessing they will move lightroom to subscription only when they have an update with "must have" features.

If you go to:

Digital photography software | Download free Adobe Photoshop Lightroom CC trial

at the bottom right there is link to buy Lightroom 6. It takes you to a shopping cart page and then you have to edit the item to switch from full to upgrade.

 

[Walt34]

Since I was already paying the $9.99/month for Photoshop cc the Lightroom cc doesn't cost extra so I downloaded it. Install went OK, but the I couldn't start the application. Looking around, lots of others had the same issue and the most common solution (and it worked for me) is to log out of the Creative Cloud application and then log back in. And I still can't find the directory where it went! (Windows 7)

Anyway, here's a short video of what's in the new version. Not sure I would have bought it for those since PS does the same things and I don't use HDR or panos much anyway. But they are easier in LR cc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkwGE_jV5qs

 

[RonBoyd]

I understand the new Nikon D7200 doesn't have the filter either. I haven't read any reviews on it yet since it'll be at least a year before I start thinking about buying one.

Not a Review, as such, but:

 

[audreyh1]

I opened my Lightroom 5 and got the notice that 6 was available. I clicked on the link and it took me to the "purchase" page for CC. I don't know if I want the CC version. I'm happy with Lightroom on my mac and laptop using a portable external drive for the photos. But I would like the upgrade for panos.

Yep sounds like they are really trying to steer you in that direction!!! Typical Adobe.

I am interested in Lightroom 6, but only to purchase an upgrade, no CC.

And I think I'll wait until the first bug fix version. I do HDR and panos a lot, and I think doing them in LR will be a lot easier. Then I only need to resort to Photoshop for the toughest cases.

I haven't been happy with Photoshop's HDR mapping. They don't give you enough control over the dynamic range. But they do an absolutely fantastic job of stacking images taken off tripod and correcting ghosting. So it's been a bit frustrating. I'm really hoping the LR HDR mapping has improved control over dynamic range. I won't know until I see some demos.

I also usually have to deal with the camera raw compatibility between LR and my older version of Photoshop. So far Adobe has been good about making camera raw upgrades that work with my non CC Photoshop, but I'm always a bit nervous about that breaking.

 

[RonBoyd]

I do HDR and panos a lot, and I think doing them in LR will be a lot easier. Then I only need to resort to Photoshop for the toughest cases.

I haven't been happy with Photoshop's HDR mapping. They don't give you enough control over the dynamic range. But they do an absolutely fantastic job of stacking images taken off tripod and correcting ghosting. So it's been a bit frustrating. I'm really hoping the LR HDR mapping has improved control over dynamic range. I won't know until I see some demos.

from this article - Tips for Creating Raw HDR Images in Lightroom CC « Julieanne Kost's Blog

or

A Review of LRCC - Say Hello to the NEW Adobe Lightroom CC! | Photofocus

 

[photoguy]

One thing that's nice about HDR and panos in light room is that they make dng files which are substantially smaller than the tiffs I get out of PS

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

 

[audreyh1]

from this article - Tips for Creating Raw HDR Images in Lightroom CC « Julieanne Kost's Blog

or

A Review of LRCC - Say Hello to the NEW Adobe Lightroom CC! | Photofocus

I actually have been using the Lightroom to Photoshop HDR merge creating a 32 bit file in Photoshop then doing the final work on that file in Lightroom. It has been able to handle the toning on that large file for a couple of versions now - since 4.1.

The tone mapping in Photoshop is just not good enough (or there is not enough control in creating the 32 bit file), and Lightroom doesn't have enough "room" to make the highlights and shadows adjustments needed when the large file is returned from Photoshop.

I'm hoping Lightroom 6 has improvements, but I'm not holding my breath. From what I've skimmed so far, there are some differences indicated by the recommendation to use less exposure overlap in the initial HDR images/fewer files. I'll keep investigating.

Well - it does look promising. You can't select which image to use for deghosting, but maybe that's not too bad. The resulting tonal range you can manipulate after the merge looks like it has been improved. I'd have to play with it myself to see if it is better. I was having difficulty with edge artifacts introduced as well with the prior solution, so I'll also have to see if those have gone away.

 

[audreyh1]

One thing that's nice about HDR and panos in light room is that they make dng files which are substantially smaller than the tiffs I get out of PS

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Early Retirement Forum mobile app

Right! That is definitely a motivation!!!!

Managing my drive space is a constant challenge. I'm more than half filled on a 2T drive now and I have a lot more processing to do!!!!

 

[RonBoyd]

I'm more than half filled on a 2T drive now and I have a lot more processing to do!!!!

One solution is to simply "bite the bullet" and increase your storage capacity. This (WD 8TB My Book Duo External RAID Storage) is my latest purchase. I paid $348 so ask them to "e-mail you a better price" if you're interested.

I am, however, not typical in this regard: I have 41TBs of storage attached to my Desktop machines. (Oops, make that 44TB since I, also, have a 3TB NAS drive for backup purposes.) This does not include the internal Hard Drives -- my main desktop, for instance, has 5TB internally. In addition, I have about 6TB in several portable drives that I take "on the road." Furthermore, I have a bunch (10+) of drives of 1TB or less that have accumulated over the years that I need to dispose of.

I can empathize with you, however, because despite all that, I continually have the same "short of space" problem you have.

 

[photoguy]

My problem is that I run into the 2/4GB limit for psd and tiff files when doing panoramas / layered files. Lightroom doesn't support photoshop's large file format (.psb).

I'm not sure what the file size limit is for DNG but I'm guessing that it will be larger (than 4gb) and plus the files are smaller (at least compared to 16bit uncompressed tiff). I will have to do some more testing.

 

[photoguy]

Furthermore, I have a bunch (10+) of drives of 1TB or less that have accumulated over the years that I need to dispose of.

I also have a bunch of old 1 or 2 TB drives (5+ years old) that are accumulating. They're starting to get too small / too old for extra backups, but I'm not sure what to do with them.

I feel like it would be wasteful to dispose of them. I thought about getting a cheap USB3 4-bay enclosure and just making a giant disk out of them (RAID-0 stripe or Drobo), but the enclosure would probably cost as much as getting a new 4TB drive.

Anyone have ideas?

 

[audreyh1]

Well I ordered the upgrade to Lightroom 6. I decided it was important enough to take along on my upcoming Europe trip. Usually I wait until I get home to process HDRs and Panoramas, but now I won't have to.

We take a MacBook Air on long trips and have Lightroom on it, but I don't have Photoshop on it. Now I can do a little initial processing on the best multiple exposure stuff while still travelling.

There was another Lightroom 6 HDR video I found informative.

BTW - I had no trouble navigating to the upgrade and Adobe and updating my chart. You do have to look.

 

[RonBoyd]

We take a MacBook Air on long trips and have Lightroom on it, but I don't have Photoshop on it. Now I can do a little initial processing on the best multiple exposure stuff while still travelling.

I, too, take Lightroom wherever I go. I, however, subscribe to the full Adobe CC suite so I have Photoshop with me also (along with Premier Pro, Illustrator, etc. but rarely use them).

I have all 200,000 of my images, along with the Lightroom Catalog (including presets, keywords, and other LR settings) on a 2TB portable hard drive. Therefore, all I need to do is plug this into whatever computer I am using (desktop or laptop) without the need to transfer files around each time I switch. (Of course, I do have three backups of this on separate HDs.)

Lightroom has been such a time-saver that I shutter to think what I would do without it.

 

[audreyh1]

Pun intended? (shutter) LOL!

I don't take an external drive or many of my apps on the Air. We mainly use it to upload photos and video onto the internal drive while traveling - a backup of the memory cards, and to deal with banking while we are traveling. DH has a video app he can use.

I really have very, very little time to process photos while traveling. If there is something particularly great I may try to pull together something for email or posting, but most of it waits until I get back home and can use the big HD screen workstation.

Last Europe trip I filled two 64G cards and one 32G card. This time I'm taking a 128G and two 64G cards.

 

[explanade]

Lightroom CC would be worth $10 a month if I had any interest in using Photoshop.

Upgrade price of LR alone is $80.

 

[Chuckanut]

Last Europe trip I filled two 64G cards and one 32G card. This time I'm taking a 128G and two 64G cards.

!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know what to say. Does you camera generate 100 mb files? Or do you take very long trips to very many places.

And I thought I was a profligate photographer.

 

[RonBoyd]

Pun intended? (shutter) LOL!

Unintended <doggoneit>

I really have very, very little time to process photos while traveling. If there is something particularly great I may try to pull together something for email or posting, but most of it waits until I get back home and can use the big HD screen workstation.

Last Europe trip I filled two 64G cards and one 32G card. This time I'm taking a 128G and two 64G cards.

Yeah, I don't spend much time processing images while on the road either... other than to get the images copied to the hard drive... which is not that quick with six cameras. (Sounds like a lot but includes two cell phones and two pocket cameras.)

Our last trip (got back a week ago -- California and Arizona) was a month long and about 1,500 images. During that time I used Lightroom on less than 20 images that "needed" to put on Facebook. We camped on the (Dockweiller) Beach in Los Angeles and the Sunsets were fantastic. I purchased a Tamron 150-600 lens (with the APS-C 7D Mk II that is 240-960mm) that I was learning to use. The "Blood Moon" eclipse happened while we were there also.

These are all hand-held, BTW... love this camera.

 

[RonBoyd]

Last Europe trip I filled two 64G cards and one 32G card. This time I'm taking a 128G and two 64G cards.

Yeah, three of our cameras (7D, 7D Mk II, & EOS-M) create ~22mb RAW images and the two PnS's are in the 5mb JPG range. We have about (guess) a dozen 32gb cards that we carry with us. The 7D Mk II has two card slots and I have 2 extras attached to the camera straps of each of the larger cameras. Over the years I have run out of film or storage space too many times... and always at the most inopportune time to not be very paranoid in this area.


I, also, have a difficult time accepting the use of cards larger than 32GB -- "too many eggs in one basket" ... and even then.

 

[explanade]

I still pack laptops.

So every night or every other night, I offload the images from the cards. The D750 RAWs are about 25 MB.

However the biggest card I've use is 16 GB and most days I don't fill it. Have an 8 GB in the second slot.

I do cull as I shoot but when I end up with 400 in a day, it's an especially long day. Often involves night shooting too, to end up with that many.