Zone focusing with the DP1

[asabet]

As some of you may know, my first DP1 was defective (popping the battery out and reinserting it was the only way to turn it on). I was lucky to receive a replacement quickly, which I took today on a family trip to the National Museum of Natural History. On the way to the museum, I was practicing zone focusing with the DP1. It was bright enough that I could just use f/8 with manual focus at 2m, effectively putting everything beyond about a meter in reasonable focus. It was a lot like using snap focus on the Ricohs. Using the LCD, as Mitch says, just to loosely establish framing while keeping watching the subject directly to establish timing, I had no problem capturing this lady the moment she reacted to the realization I that was taking her photo (by laughing).

I think she felt a bit silly up on that Segway, especially just after I said "Wow!" and called my young sons to have a look. We shared a nice smile as I took the picture. I always enjoy when there's some implied permission for me to take a stranger's photo. Stealth isn't as comfortable for me.

Some more DP1 photos from today, mainly just family snaps, if you click here. All are straight from Sigma Photo Pro, only resized. The indoor shots are all at ISO 800 +/- a bit of extra pushing in SPP.

 

[asabet]

I finally gave in and bough Nik Software's Viveza. SPP & Viveza make a great combination.

Before Viveza:

After:

Who needs fill flash ? I envy the Nikon folks who have Nik's U-point capabilities built into the RAW converter. I hear Adobe has put a similar functionality in the new Lightroom, but I'm just not a fan of that program.

 

[helenhill]

Amin
Loved ALL the Dinosaur shots (particularly your two boys & wife /B&W shot)
What Great Fun at the Museum...

The Museum of Natural History in NYC is another FAB place for
Marvelous exhibits.

Will you be doing any posts of 'Evening Shots' with the DP1 ?
I suppose its too early to tell
still in the Courting stage or hopelessly in Love ....with the DP1
best, H

 

[bbodine9]

Amin,

You seem to have excellent color rendition in the ISO 800 shots. Yet other photos I have seen seem to indicate the colors fading at the higher ISO setting. Did you process the colors back in to full saturation? Thanks!

 

[asabet]

Amin
Loved ALL the Dinosaur shots (particularly your two boys & wife /B&W shot)
What Great Fun at the Museum...

The Museum of Natural History in NYC is another FAB place for
Marvelous exhibits.

Will you be doing any posts of 'Evening Shots' with the DP1 ?
I suppose its too early to tell
still in the Courting stage or hopelessly in Love ....with the DP1
best, H

Thanks Helen! We'll have to check out the Museum of Natural History in NY next time we visit my parents. Regarding evening shots with the DP1, do you mean test shots or just any evening samples? Either way, the answer is yes . As for love, I'm a little slow at that. We're off to a good start though!

Amin,

You seem to have excellent color rendition in the ISO 800 shots. Yet other photos I have seen seem to indicate the colors fading at the higher ISO setting. Did you process the colors back in to full saturation? Thanks!

Thanks for looking Bruce! I made no color alterations other than setting the white balance and occasional contrast tweaking in SPP. No selective color changes or saturation boosting during processing, and no editing other than resize in PS. The results in this case are still somewhat desaturated, though I agree not as much as in some examples. I think this has to do with the spectrum of light used in the museum. It's not the quantity of light, as that was rather low. 4 out of 5 of the ISO 800 photos I posted were taken at a shutter speed of 1/10s, so I was pushing my own limits for handholding.

 

[neils]

So as for the U-Points in NX you do know that you have that feature with ANY Tiff or JPG from any camera. The image does not need to be RAW or NEF.

So NX isn't only for Nikon owners.

Neil

 

[Joan]

Nice work, Amin. Looks like you had a great outing. Particularly like the outdoor portraits of your family, and the Segway lady's expression is great, nice catch!

 

[asabet]

Thanks Joan!