what are the major differences between the 5100 and 5200?

11/21/2013 3:21:41 PM

Thought I'd put a heads up here for anyone following Adobe's CC release.

They have now opened the $9.99/month pricing to everyone, not just owners of previous versions, until Dec. 2

http://petapixel.com/2013/11/20/adobe-opens-cc-photography-program-everyone-limited-time/

11/21/2013 3:26:26 PM

what is CC? I have CS3 and a 2 year old version of Elements. I'll have to do a little research as this may be appealing.

[Edited on November 21, 2013 at 4:09 PM. Reason : ]

11/21/2013 4:09:44 PM

Its basically CS7, they moved everything onto "the cloud" for products after CS6.

It's really annoying, especially since I used to have CS3 and lost it when my laptop crashed and my license wasn't compatible with new operating systems. I wanted to upgrade to the monthly cloud subscription service since they give deep discounts to users with previous version keys. Unfortunately I bought my CS3 under a student license, and that disqualified me for the "existing customer" discounts.

Adobe has caught a lot of flack for its move into cloud based software and a subscription style pricing. They've been dropping their prices ever since the release with different bundles, but those have been available mostly to existing customers until now.

11/21/2013 4:17:39 PM

ah I see. Just read that you have to commit to 12 month subscriptions at a time. That's kind of a bummer. I may just stick with elements going forward.

11/21/2013 4:21:50 PM

Quote :

"what are the major differences between the 5100 and 5200?"

you get 24.1 MP vs. 16.1 MP and 39 AF points vs. 11 AF points, but most reviews that I read said that image quality was pretty comparable. When I purchased my D5100, the D5200 was still current so it was much more expensive so I purchased the D5100. Now that prices have come down, it may be worth it but you just get these evolutionary changes and not major feature differences. The D5300 removes the low pass filter and adds wifi and GPS>

11/21/2013 4:41:47 PM

If I add one prime lens to my 18-55mm stock for now, I've been looking at these 50mm and 35mm:

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-35mm-1-8G-Digital-Cameras/dp/B001S2PPT0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385131043&sr=8-1&keywords=NIKON+35MM+LENS

http://www.amazon.com/Nikon-50mm-NIKKOR-Digital-Cameras/dp/B004Y1AYAC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385131073&sr=8-1&keywords=NIKON+50MM+af-S+LENS

Not sure which one I would get more use out of. Any general input?

11/22/2013 9:39:36 AM

Don't you do interior photography? I'd probably want the 35mm to get a wider shot

I'm trying to decide the same myself, but I shoot landscapes. Looking back at the shots I like, most of them were closer to 35mm than 50mm so I have the 35mm lens on my Christmas wishlist.

11/22/2013 9:46:55 AM

Yeah, that's what I was thinking too. I think the 35mm would be more versatile for me at the moment. I do mainly shoot a lot of interior shots. I of course have been doing lots of random shots around town and with our dog etc. as well, but in terms of buying another lens it would probably be based on interior stuff. I will be sticking with the stock lens for all my wide-angle because I can't justify the cost of anything else in that realm. But for some "vignette" type shots where I am just getting room partials or shots of a styled bookshelf or dresser etc. I think I could get better quality from one of those prime lenses.

I'll have to pay attention to where I land on my adjustable lens when I am framing some of those types of shots now and it probably is around 35mm more often than 50mm.

[Edited on November 22, 2013 at 9:57 AM. Reason : ]

11/22/2013 9:51:46 AM

just look back at the EXIF data at some of your shots to see what the lens length was

11/22/2013 10:00:28 AM

thanks. that's the kind of stuff I don't even think about. I haven't done that yet for anything I've shot.

11/22/2013 11:18:00 AM

This is a good deal right?

http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras/eos-rebel-t4i-18-135mm-is-stm-lens-kit-refurbished?WT.mc_id=C126149

EOS Rebel T4i 18-135mm IS STM Lens Kit Refurbished

$551.52

11/25/2013 5:48:03 PM

guess I should finally break down and throw Windows 7 or 8 on our home desktop that we rarely use. I wanted to pickup lightroom to go along with Elements and CS3 that I have, but it looks like they don't have any recent version compatible with XP.

The desktop still works fine as does my XP laptop, and most the time we are on phones or tablets so I just haven't felt the need to upgrade yet.

11/26/2013 8:33:57 AM

Just ordered a new camera, so figured I would throw this up here first before going to CL.

FS: Nikon D90 Body w/ Nikon Grip and 3 batteries (1 Nikon, 2 generic).
Comes with all original accessories, and I think I even have the box.
I've had this camera for about 3 and a half years and haven't had a single problem with it.

$450

Also have two lenses I've hardly used since purchasing a mid range zoom.

Nikon 35mm 1.8 AF-S Lens
$175

Nikon 50mm 1.8 AF-S Lens
$200

11/26/2013 7:45:24 PM

I think for Christmas I am going to ask for a shoe mount flash but I'm not sure what I need. Can anyone recommend a flash?

11/29/2013 10:12:33 PM

All you guys with Canon gear... Buydig is having a sale on lenses on their eBay account.

I got the EF 50mm f/1.4 USM for $279 with free shipping (normally $339)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Canon-EF-50mm-f-1-4-USM-Standard-Medium-Telephoto-Lens-for-Canon-SLR-Cameras-/310807680685?customid=ruYdEFn-EeOG-vLLArRDVQ0_UE5q3_4KQ_0_0&pub=5574652453&afepn=5335869999&campid=5335869999&afepn=5335869999

11/30/2013 3:44:45 PM

Amazon has dropped their price to match Buydig, but they have better shipping options (free 2-day with Prime or $3.99 for 1-day shipping)

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00009XVCZ/ref=ox_ya_os_product

11/30/2013 7:01:05 PM

I took a test shot with the new lens. Say hi to my dog, Dexter


http://www.flickr.com/photos/103789266@N06/11178608396/sizes/m/

12/2/2013 4:36:34 PM

I've been playing with Photoshop CC after upgrading and created a timelapse .gif of an image sequence I took while in the mountains over Thanksgiving.

Forgive the exposure change. The whole thing was 8 seconds long and fades into dark as dusk sets, unfortunately that was a 12mb gif file, so I shortened it to just a few frames.

12/2/2013 9:45:26 PM

Quote :

"This is a good deal right? http://shop.usa.canon.com/shop/en/catalog/cameras/refurbished-eos-digital-slr-cameras/eos-rebel-t4i-18-135mm-is-stm-lens-kit-refurbished?WT.mc_id=C126149 EOS Rebel T4i 18-135mm IS STM Lens Kit Refurbished $551.52 "

I'd say so. Adorama (who are normally pretty competetive on refurbs) wants $639 for the same package.

On a different topic--I'm having issues with what are the proper settings to use indoors under artificial light. Was trying to take some shots of our dining room set up for Thanksgiving dinner and was having issues--for most general-puprose shooting I leave the camera in aperture priority, but no matter what aperture I chose, I was getting absurdly long exposures. Even with flash it was still longer than I'd expected. Am I doing something wrong, or is aperture priority just a poor mode choice for indoors under questionable light?

12/3/2013 9:28:30 AM

Do you have your ISO set too low?

that's my first guess, but i'm far from an expert.

12/3/2013 9:33:10 AM

I thought it was on auto ISO (being somewhat of an SLR beginner, I try to focus on one thing at at time) but I could be wrong. Definitely will check that out.

12/3/2013 9:40:12 AM

Are the photos properly exposed or are they overexposed? What aperture/ISO/shutter speed is it shooting?

12/3/2013 10:03:29 AM

Check the exposure compensation setting on your camera first. Sometimes they can get adjusted up or down by accident. I've had this happen several times.

After that, check your metering modes. It could be that you've got spot metering or centerweighted on and that point is focused on a bright light source or a dark area of the image. That'll push your exposure out.

AP should be fine for indoors, but I would take the Auto ISO off and just choose something appropriate for indoors like 800 or 1600. If your camera goes higher than that, then go for it, but just know that all cameras are different when it comes to the quality of their high ISO settings.

The flash shouldn't affect the camera's metering for exposure either, and if it's ETTL, it'll adjust the flash output to the appropriate level for the exposure. This doesn't mean it'll look good it just won't affect the metering. And for indoor stuff, I would avoid pointing the flash directly from the camera. If it's got a swivel neck, just point it at a wall or ceiling out of frame to bounce some light back into the image and soften it up a bit.

Remember that in AP the camera is going to adjust the shutter speed based on the amount of light coming through the aperture. If you're getting a 1/10 shutter at your widest aperture, then any other aperture setting is just going to lengthen your shutter speed.

For indoor and architectural shots, a long exposure can be a good thing. You'll just need to stabilize the camera by mounting it on a tripod or setting it on something that will ensure it won't move around. Also, there are several techniques for hand holding a camera that can work with shutter speeds faster than 1 second, though they take some practice and several attempts before getting a good steady image.

Lastly, if all else fails, just bracket your exposures in manual until you get what you're looking for.

Also, I played with photoshop some more last night and images from Thanksgiving. I assume once the novelty of having the newest software again after several years wears off I'll start to do something productive with CC but until then, here's my kid playing in the snow.



[Edited on December 3, 2013 at 10:13 AM. Reason : ]

12/3/2013 10:09:43 AM

in the second frame of that gif, cut his arms from the second shot and add them to everything else of the first shot so only his arms move.

12/3/2013 10:33:05 AM

Finally got some time this week to start editing some footage and stills. Compiled a funny NC Comicon video.

12/5/2013 1:34:44 AM

^ I enjoyed that

12/5/2013 4:55:46 AM

So is the consensus that Flickr is the best for posting and sharing photos? I was enjoying 500px, but even in the short time I've been on I feel like the quality has fallen and most of the comments are "check out my stuff...".

12/7/2013 11:32:17 PM

Seems to be the case. Lots of great photos on there, but after my trial period ended, I got almost no traffic. Granted, I didn't have many photos up, but I haven't found it to be as good of a fit as Flickr. I could never go back and invest the time to re-upload the thousands of images I already have up, and I prefer being able to check out and post to groups rather than being limited to several very general categories.

12/8/2013 12:15:51 AM

I use Skydrive for my photo dumping and album sharing, but I was using 500px to post and share my best shots. A few of mine trended and a couple made the popular page, but really I liked 500px because the quality was a lot higher and I was learning a lot and getting a lot of inspiration by browsing other people's work. Lately though the quality is more on par with Instagram, with some good stuff but also a lot of popular stuff and people asking for votes.

That had been my complaint about Flickr in the past, but Flickr has a lot of other advantages (embedding for example), so I might as well switch to Flickr if 500px is going to have the same problem.

(If I was a professional photographer though I would probably stick with 500px. The way fresh stuff makes it to the popular page can really get some good exposure)

I just didn't know if there was some new hot service, or if Flickr was still the consensus

12/8/2013 12:29:07 AM

Flickr is the best in my experience for just sharing. The other photo hosting sites I have joined promoted the fact that the other members are mostly "professional" and that it was a great way to network and get your name out there. In reality though, I, and other users I talked to, had very little to no benefit from using those sites. No professional contacts were made, no clients were viewing portfolios, just other users who were trying to game the social media functions to get more page views.

Flickr has tons of space, is well known, good traffic, has the most members, has a good active online community, easy to use interface, and a pretty good image protection/rights policy.

I will add that if you get any money from photography, its worth buying your own hosting through a site like Photoshelter, Zenfolio, etc.

[Edited on December 8, 2013 at 12:35 AM. Reason : ]

12/8/2013 12:35:07 AM

Flickr has historically been the best for social interactions, but the two most recent redesigns (particularly the current "beta" interface) have done quite a lot to ruin that.

12/8/2013 12:25:47 PM

I hated the old design and am only considering switching because of the new design

(just tried to login and remembered one reason I never used it: they make you use a yahoo login )

[Edited on December 8, 2013 at 12:52 PM. Reason : .]

12/8/2013 12:46:04 PM

Quote :

"Do you have your ISO set too low?"

ISO was, in fact, set to 100. D'oh. Problem solved.

12/8/2013 8:06:33 PM

Great job on that ComicCon video, Jeff! It was fun to watch

12/9/2013 1:51:44 AM

I'm not sure what the 'new' design is, so I must not be a part of whatever testing group they are running. I've used Flickr for awhile though and always found it pretty easy to use and extremely easy to link various sizes to friends or blog posts etc. Once they upped the storage size I started using it exclusively. As long as they don't remove the ease of on-the-fly multiple image sizes of the free storage capacity, I'll probably be content with whatever layout they choose.

12/9/2013 8:55:33 AM

Has anyone seen this new Exposure site? PetaPixel had a post about it, it looks like a clean and easy way to post a photo narrative. It's a pay service (3 posts for free, pay after that), but I may try it out after the holidays to share pics from our holiday travel with family.

It doesn't look that much different than some templates that you can probably get for free on tumblr or somewhere, but I like how simple it looks. It may be a good option for sharing trips and vacations.

https://exposure.so/
player.vimeo.com/video/79251177

12/9/2013 8:58:31 AM

Is there a TWW Flickr group by chance for sharing shots by chance?

12/9/2013 9:07:46 AM

^I can create one if not.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/2400706@N25/

PM me your flickr info for an invitation.

if there's already a group that I wasn't aware of I'll delete this one.

[Edited on December 9, 2013 at 10:43 AM. Reason : ]

12/9/2013 10:38:29 AM

Just sent a request in Flickr. I rarely update on Flickr, but maybe this will get me to start posting more.

12/9/2013 10:56:42 AM

^Nighthawk you are now an admin of the group.

12/9/2013 4:04:08 PM

Joined a local racing team for the chumpionship as both pit crew and photographer. Doing a year long documentary about them. Wrote a little story on my website here http://multimedia.graeyscale.com/?p=75, and yes, my website sucks. Its just a place holder till I get the new one built.

12/12/2013 5:28:48 AM

Have any of ya'll done any shooting with a GoPro? I have put one on my list. More importantly I guess, have ya'll ever played with aerial photography/videography via a quadcopter? I have loved these things and have a "cheaper" one on the Christmas list ($300). I would love to shoot some with one. First I love R/C in general, but to have one that can also shoot would be ridiculous and combine two of my hobbies.

12/12/2013 6:37:33 AM

Get the new ones, they are so so much better than the older gen stuff. I've played around loosely with a quadcopter drone and an older gopro before, but the video really turned out un-usable as the vibrations from the drone translated to the camera. The half a pixel shakiness sucks as its hard to remove plus the way the image recorded is not truly progressive.

12/12/2013 7:16:40 AM

I was kinda looking at this one:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007HZLLOK/ref=nosim/cooperscape

12/12/2013 8:31:32 AM

Check http://www.reddit.com/r/Multicopter/ for some good suggestions.

I've been wanting to get one to play with for a while but just don't have the time or money so I just lurk that subreddit for now. The general advice is that if you don't have any experience flying RC helicopters, then you'd be best served getting a small inexpensive quadcopter to train with before investing anything over $100. They can be difficult to control and everyone seems to destroy their first. You'll also want to look around for 1 that has parts that are easily and cheaply replaced. Arms and rotors break fairly easily on these things.

12/12/2013 9:07:40 AM

^Yep. I have a couple of small indoor and one outdoor battery powered RC copter. I like how easy it seems the AR.Drone flies and does not require the purchase of an expensive remote control. Plus with the indoor styrofoam body, it seems like it would make it a little more survivable. I personally do not feel like spending that kinda cash, but its a good "toy" Christmas present. And looking online they sell every piece to the unit and they do not seem to be that expensive.

12/12/2013 9:43:18 AM

Thread's quiet. Anyway, having to sell my Tokina 16-28 (Canon) if anyone's interested.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tokina-AT-X-PRO-16-28-mm-F-2-8-Canon-/281236220830?pt=Camera_Lenses&hash=item417afc2b9e

12/30/2013 2:37:04 PM

I got a quadcopter for Christmas. But its too small for flying a camera, which is probably good. It is a good trainer though. Having a blast flying it.

12/30/2013 3:09:50 PM

Any suggestions on an external flash for a D7000? I'm sure its been discussed in this thread but not on the last 5 pages. I've been thinking about just going with an SB400 over the 700 since I've made it 4 years without really needing one. Need it for indoor shooting and a better flash for outdoor daylight shooting. Not trying to do anything complicated.

A few from Maui in October







[Edited on January 5, 2014 at 11:14 AM. Reason : .]

1/5/2014 11:11:50 AM