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General Photography thread







helipilot

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2010
337
Some Short-eared owls from the weekend (along with an upset Northern harrier!)
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Finch

Active member
Jul 21, 2009
340
New Zealand
I've been doing some planting to restore some estuary up around the inlaws place and got quite into documenting the wildlife around there. This extended into taking photos for 'observations' for inaturalist which has become quite a fun hobby. A couple of months ago I brought a bridge camera (Nikon P950), which while it may not be a purists camera due to the small sensor etc, the zoom on it is perfect for observing and documenting wildlife. I have looked into maybe buying an APSC camera with a Sigma/Tamron zoom lens, but not going to commit to the expense unless I really get into the photography more. Currently I quite like the ability to just zoom, take a pic and walk away. Not super interested in camping out for hours to get pictures closer to wildlife. I may look to do some underwater photography as well to capture estuary fish life. The P950 is doing the job so far above water.
Excuse the self quote, but I had forgotten about this thread until now and it was interesting (to me) to look back on my post from May last year. Since then I've fallen quite far down the rabbit hole and picked up a used SonyA7riii with a used 200-600 lens. Also picked up a Laowa 90mm macro lens, a used nifty fifty and a few weeks ago a used Laowa 15mm f2 to try some astro with. Crazy when I think about it being less than a year I was declaring I was fine with the bridge camera. It really was frustrations not being able to do birds in flight well that pushed me over I think. That plus a health scare put me in a 'treat myself in the moment' mindset. No progress on underwater photography but I've somehow found myself a Birds NZ member and done a pelagic out to the sea canyons for bird photography.

Still improving as we always are. I went down to an area south of me 'The Catlins' on the weekend and went into beech forest where the lighting conditions were very challenging. Made a few mistakes, not sure how I bumped the f stop to f8 for a period when I was already struggling for light so I was lacking a bit of detail from underexposure and a lot of noise in a few shots. Can look almost painterly though.
 

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Shins

Well-known member
Aug 13, 2015
527
Hoping for some lens advice please!

I've just bought the Olympus om-d e-m10 mark iv which came with the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42 mm F3.5-5.6 EZ Lens. I'm thinking about getting one more lens to compliment the 14-42mm. Would the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150 mm F4-5.6 II Lens give me much more zoom, or is there a lot of overlap of the two lenses? I've had a look at the 14-150mm but it's 3x the price.

If they don't compliment each other, what are some lightweight inexpensive options that would give me some extra range please?
 


MattBackHome

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
11,878
Excuse the self quote, but I had forgotten about this thread until now and it was interesting (to me) to look back on my post from May last year. Since then I've fallen quite far down the rabbit hole and picked up a used SonyA7riii with a used 200-600 lens. Also picked up a Laowa 90mm macro lens, a used nifty fifty and a few weeks ago a used Laowa 15mm f2 to try some astro with. Crazy when I think about it being less than a year I was declaring I was fine with the bridge camera. It really was frustrations not being able to do birds in flight well that pushed me over I think. That plus a health scare put me in a 'treat myself in the moment' mindset. No progress on underwater photography but I've somehow found myself a Birds NZ member and done a pelagic out to the sea canyons for bird photography.

Still improving as we always are. I went down to an area south of me 'The Catlins' on the weekend and went into beech forest where the lighting conditions were very challenging. Made a few mistakes, not sure how I bumped the f stop to f8 for a period when I was already struggling for light so I was lacking a bit of detail from underexposure and a lot of noise in a few shots. Can look almost painterly though.
Lovely stuff. I absolutely love the A7iii.
 




Wardy's twin

Well-known member
Oct 21, 2014
8,874
Hoping for some lens advice please!

I've just bought the Olympus om-d e-m10 mark iv which came with the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 14-42 mm F3.5-5.6 EZ Lens. I'm thinking about getting one more lens to compliment the 14-42mm. Would the Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 40-150 mm F4-5.6 II Lens give me much more zoom, or is there a lot of overlap of the two lenses? I've had a look at the 14-150mm but it's 3x the price.

If they don't compliment each other, what are some lightweight inexpensive options that would give me some extra range please?
Not sure if you are aware but the panasonic lenses are compatible with olympus. I think the Panasonic ones might be better from what i have read. I use them on my om-d em 10mk2. I have 14-140, 60mm sigma (sharp) a 100-300mm and 14mm prime. I have used a few others. All my lenses have been bought second hand from ebay no problems. I have used the panasonic equivalent of the 40-150 and it was ok. Iwill see if i can dig up some pics.
 


Shins

Well-known member
Aug 13, 2015
527
Not sure if you are aware but the panasonic lenses are compatible with olympus. I think the Panasonic ones might be better from what i have read. I use them on my om-d em 10mk2. I have 14-140, 60mm sigma (sharp) a 100-300mm and 14mm prime. I have used a few others. All my lenses have been bought second hand from ebay no problems. I have used the panasonic equivalent of the 40-150 and it was ok. Iwill see if i can dig up some pics.
Thank you! Yeah I've seen that they are compatible but they offer a similar range to the Olympus ones. What I'm not clear on is the difference between the 14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses. I guess I'm looking to see if I should just save my money and just stick with the 14-42mm for now if the two have a lot of overlap.
 


Wardy's twin

Well-known member
Oct 21, 2014
8,874
In cameras one the key things to understand is focal length which roughly equates to zoom. On a Olympus lens 17 is normal. 14 gives you wide angle and 42 gives 2.5x zoom. 40- 150 lens wil give you 2.5x up to 8x zoom . No overlap, they are designed to complement each other. I would do some more reading up on this .... Happy to answer questions. Often those two lenses are sold with the camera as a 'kit'
Thank you! Yeah I've seen that they are compatible but they offer a similar range to the Olympus ones. What I'm not clear on is the difference between the 14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses. I guess I'm looking to see if I should just save my money and just stick with the 14-42mm for now if the two have a lot of overlap.
 








Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ

Hove / Παρος
Apr 7, 2006
6,773
Hove / Παρος
Just wondering if anyone can help me out here.

We have a Nikon D5600 and I want to get a new lens for my wife's birthday that she can use to photograph our kids (approx 3years old and 1 year old). We currently have a 18-55mm VR lens that came with the camera and also a AF-P 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G which is good for close-ups with bokeh.

The problem with those two lenses is I find that the photos either come out too dark (especially indoors), or because the kids move so quickly the images are always badly focused.

A explained this to a photographer acquaintance and he recommended one of these lenses as a good option: https://www.mpb.com/en-uk/product/nikon-af-s-dx-micro-nikkor-40mm-f-2-8g/sku-1888441

Just thought I'd ask the NSC hive brain for further opions.

We basically want an easy point-and-shoot lens that we can use with a very high shutter speed that has enough aperture that the photos aren't too dark.

Thanks very much for all advice!
 




Jack Straw

I look nothing like him!
Jul 7, 2003
7,117
Brighton. NOT KEMPTOWN!
Not that I'm that much of an expert, but I would have thought that the 18-55 lens would be perfect. I don't know if I'm teaching my Grandmother to suck eggs as I don't know your experience, but if the kids come out blurry, put the camera on Speed setting and set to 500 and that should do it. The camera will set the aperture for you. Ensure the iso is on auto setting. Sorry if this is something you already know.
No need to buy a different lens.
 


Ⓩ-Ⓐ-Ⓜ-Ⓞ-Ⓡ-Ⓐ

Hove / Παρος
Apr 7, 2006
6,773
Hove / Παρος
Cheers, Mr Straw. I find that if I go at 1/500 shutter speed and with auto aperture and auto ISO the photos are still rather dark when taken indoors - even during daylight in a well light room with large windows and high ceilings. The acquaintance mentioned before did also have a fiddle and came to the same conclusion. What are your thoughts on a 40mm lens? They do seem to have great reviews for portrait/street photography which I suppose is pretty similar to photographing kids as you you're capturing a moment rather than photographing a posed scene.
 


Bodian

Well-known member
May 3, 2012
14,282
Cumbria
Cheers, Mr Straw. I find that if I go at 1/500 shutter speed and with auto aperture and auto ISO the photos are still rather dark when taken indoors - even during daylight in a well light room with large windows and high ceilings. The acquaintance mentioned before did also have a fiddle and came to the same conclusion. What are your thoughts on a 40mm lens? They do seem to have great reviews for portrait/street photography which I suppose is pretty similar to photographing kids as you you're capturing a moment rather than photographing a posed scene.
Have you tried the +/- function for exposure. If your pictures are routinely coming out a little dark, dial in a bit of over-exposure (+) and see how it goes.
 


Jack Straw

I look nothing like him!
Jul 7, 2003
7,117
Brighton. NOT KEMPTOWN!
Cheers, Mr Straw. I find that if I go at 1/500 shutter speed and with auto aperture and auto ISO the photos are still rather dark when taken indoors - even during daylight in a well light room with large windows and high ceilings. The acquaintance mentioned before did also have a fiddle and came to the same conclusion. What are your thoughts on a 40mm lens? They do seem to have great reviews for portrait/street photography which I suppose is pretty similar to photographing kids as you you're capturing a moment rather than photographing a posed scene.
I doubt if the lens will make any difference to your photos coming out a bit dark. Have you got a flash on your camera? I ask, as my Nikon hasn't. I believe this is a camera settings issue.
Try Speed setting at 500. Switch of iso auto and adjust iso to 800. See what happens. You may get a little bit of "noise" on the images. Play around with the iso if 800 doesn't work.
Or, wait for a sunny day and go outside!
 




1066familyman

Radio User
Jan 15, 2008
15,235
A quick fire hand held snap the other evening on my Nikon P950.

Image almost looks photoshopped to me as it appears very 'flat' with an odd outline. I can't honestly remember if I was already in shutter speed mode, trying to capture birds in flight, or auto mode. Below are the figures:

shutter speed 1/800
100 ISO
62.5mm focal length.

Any experts any idea what's going on here?, and how I could improve upon this next time?
Could the 'flat' outline even be the Heron's markings doing weird things with human eyes against the sky backdrop? After all, it will naturally have markings designed to break up its outline when on the ground and in hunting mode.
Heron-min.jpg
 


Jack Straw

I look nothing like him!
Jul 7, 2003
7,117
Brighton. NOT KEMPTOWN!
A quick fire hand held snap the other evening on my Nikon P950.

Image almost looks photoshopped to me as it appears very 'flat' with an odd outline. I can't honestly remember if I was already in shutter speed mode, trying to capture birds in flight, or auto mode. Below are the figures:

shutter speed 1/800
100 ISO
62.5mm focal length.

Any experts any idea what's going on here?, and how I could improve upon this next time?
Could the 'flat' outline even be the Heron's markings doing weird things with human eyes against the sky backdrop? After all, it will naturally have markings designed to break up its outline when on the ground and in hunting mode.
View attachment 159516
It could be that the in-camera processing has over-sharpened the bird. Have you got a sharpness setting in your camera menu? If so, check that it's on zero. I assume you shoot in JPEG rather than RAW? Kneon Light is our resident bird photography expert. He will definitely know more about this than I do!
 


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