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Dazzed and confused :(

pophoto

New member
The 20/1.7 and my Leica 45/2.8 produce fantastic results from such a portable camera. I can also turn in very good birding pictures using the 100-300.

LouisB
LouisB:What do you think of the 100-300 lens, is this the telephoto to get?

Thanks
Po
 

biglouis

Well-known member
LouisB:What do you think of the 100-300 lens, is this the telephoto to get?

Thanks
Po
There have been some arguments for and against in the forum but I come down on the side of (a) it is relatively inexpensive for this type of long telephoto, (b) it benefits from being very light and quite short when the hood is reversed - I carry it quite happily in my camera bag, so you will take it with you, (c) it is autofocus - I mention this because you can buy any number of optically better manual lenses and fit them with adaptors to your m43rds camera but when you are trying to get a 'bird on the run' I prefer the aid of autofocus. And I did I also mention the stabilisation?

I also happen to think the optical quality is amazing but I also don't have much experience with really long zooms.

You can get a better idea of the capabilities by looking at the 'birds' section of my Flickr stream, or the 'fun with 100-300' thread in this section of the forum.

Just my two cents!

Louis
 

pophoto

New member
Thanks for sharing your experience Louis.
I don't really use a telephoto much, I think part of the reason is what I shoot, but in particular if size and weight were manageable this might change! Change is what I am trying to experiment with right now, especially with the GX1 and m4/3 in general.

Po
 

Brian Mosley

New member
DR and how i optimized it within my Pen:
All in M- Mode, RAW only
Picture Mode MUTED and in addition
Contrast set to -2
Saturation to -2

Highlight warning set to 245
Histogram off ( it is only valid for JPG !! )

Now i set thru INFO Button for HIGHLIGHT Warning with that red blinkies.
I now do NOT meter for zeroing but for vanishing red blinkies !!!

What do i get : Perfect smooth RAWs with wonderful skintones....No Burned Highlights anymore and still structure in the darks.
Rawfa, if you still have your PEN, go and try it.

Regards
Klaus
Thanks Klaus, this sounds interesting - I'll give it a go :thumbs:

Brian
 

jonoslack

Active member
I know that this is conventional wisdom philber, but I don't really think it holds water
Rafa, because the NEX sensor is larger than the M 4/3, it performs better, all other things being equal. Hence, better noise and high ISO and DR..
It's really not that much larger - the height of the sensor is only a couple mm difference - really not significant - most of the difference is in the length. I just don't that's a good enough excuse for the lesser quality of the Pana/Oly sensors; I think the point is that Sony make killer sensors and Panasonic don't (yet - but the OMD sensor does sound promising).

And because it is larger, lenses need to be larger as well in order to produce a larger image circle.
So what's with the tiny Pentax limited lenses then? Most of these are actually for full frame, not just for APSc . . . and how about the Leica M lenses - which are all for a full frame sensor, and are much smaller than the Sony lenses.

all the best
 

jonoslack

Active member
1) If shooting RAW you're mostly (95%) at the mercy of the sensor size and pixel density for ISO performance and DR range. There is no magic hokus-pokus voo-doo that will make a sensor of size/density X perform like one of Y. And companies will even distribute false data to try and get you to believe that there is. So µ4/3 was then what it is now plus the density increase. Period. :) Except for actual blunders like Panasonic's line pattern noise in high ISO darks this is true and you can bank on it when making decisions.
The Sony sensor as 15.5mm tall - the m43 is 13mm tall. I'm sorry - this is not a radically different sensor size - the shorter m4.3 sensor makes it seem that way. This is not a difference which is going to be significant in sensor results.

all the best
 

jonoslack

Active member
HI There Rafa
I completely understand your quandary. I've sold both an m4/3 and a NEX system TWICE :shocked:

Like you, I might use manual focus lenses on it, but principally its to use native AF lenses (I use my M9 if I'm going to shoot manual).

The reason for ditching NEX this time was that it wasn't as good as the M9 for M lenses (how should it be) and it wasn't as good as the A77 for AF. The fact that the image quality was fab wasn't really the point - because it's fab with the M9 and A77/A900 as well!

Basically, I found the AF on the NEX7 not to be controllable enough - I'm often focusing on small things in front of a distant background, and it doesn't really work - I could never be sure what's going to be in focus. Added to which the AF wasn't nearly as fast the EP3 which it replaced - so it's gone.

I'm going to give m4/3 one more chance (I liked the EP3, and it's results, although I prefer more than 12mp, and the high ISO and DR were not fantastic). So - I have an OMD on order - if it's fun to use, has fast AF and decent IQ then I might buy a couple more lenses (probably the 7-14 and a longer telephoto).
 

Terry

New member
I'm sorry if this is a bit of a mash up now but there really was no reason to have this going on two different forums. Confusing to all. Now we just have 25 posts in a confusing order.
 

Jonas

Active member
Some threads are confusing anyway, either due to the content or due to problems knowing who is replying to who. I think we al are used to it and I don't think this thread got impossible. Thank you for the merge.
 

Jonas

Active member
DR and how i optimized it within my Pen:
All in M- Mode, RAW only
Picture Mode MUTED and in addition
Contrast set to -2
Saturation to -2

Highlight warning set to 245
Histogram off ( it is only valid for JPG !! )

Now i set thru INFO Button for HIGHLIGHT Warning with that red blinkies.
I now do NOT meter for zeroing but for vanishing red blinkies !!!
Klaus,

That sounds like a variation of earlier methods we all have read about how to expose to the right. Just for curiosity; What is your colour temperature setting and in what light conditions does this method work the best for you? And, The Histogram is, as you say, for the actual JPG setting only, then I would guess the Highlight warning also is valid for the actual JPG setting only?

I guess I'm missing something?
 

jonoslack

Active member
Klaus,

That sounds like a variation of earlier methods we all have read about how to expose to the right. Just for curiosity; What is your colour temperature setting and in what light conditions does this method work the best for you? And, The Histogram is, as you say, for the actual JPG setting only, then I would guess the Highlight warning also is valid for the actual JPG setting only?

I guess I'm missing something?
HI Jonas
Klaus's recipe sounds exciting but . . .
I think I'm missing something too:


DR and how i optimized it within my Pen:
All in M- Mode, RAW only
Picture Mode MUTED and in addition
Contrast set to -2
Saturation to -2
I thought that the contrast and saturation settings only applied to jpgs as well?

But I guess I'm wrong - it's interesting news though.

all the best
 

Terry

New member
I thought that the contrast and saturation settings only applied to jpgs as well?

But I guess I'm wrong - it's interesting news though.

all the best
I think what he is saying is that the histogram and the information on the screen is all from the jpeg thumbnail so the settings neutralize what that looks like in the image review and gives you a better idea of how your RAW file will behave.
 

Brian Mosley

New member
I rarely use the histogram anyhow, and think the highlight/shadow blinkies are more useful.

This will work on the jpeg, but the settings give a very neutral file so should be reasonably close I think.

Anyhow, I'm glad to give it a go.

Brian
 

Jonas

Active member
OK, I understand turning the histogram off if the blinkies are more effective. What that puzzles me is that the WB setting is omitted from the list. I would guess it has much more of impact when it comes to saturate the "pixels" than the contrast and saturation settings. I also would guess one has better leave the WB at daylight all the time using this method.
 

jonoslack

Active member
I think what he is saying is that the histogram and the information on the screen is all from the jpeg thumbnail so the settings neutralize what that looks like in the image review and gives you a better idea of how your RAW file will behave.
Well, okay, but he says he switches off the histogram because it only relates to jpgs?

Klaus - we are all interested, but we need more information - please will you get up and explain properly :)
 

Diane B

New member
That's how I read it. Having shot Canons since the original D30 I was always told their histo was based on jpeg and the best way to use it was to make it as neutral as possible so I've tried to do that with m4/3 also.


I think what he is saying is that the histogram and the information on the screen is all from the jpeg thumbnail so the settings neutralize what that looks like in the image review and gives you a better idea of how your RAW file will behave.
 

Rawfa

Active member
One of the many things that I´ve found very interesting about the OMD is the fact that it lets you adjust the curves (highlights, shadows, mids) directly on the camera. If it really works it could be very very cool.

I´ve just bought a 14mm 2.5 SUPER cheap on ebay and I ordered some adapters for my manual lenses. Now all I need the OMD :)
 
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