Fun with 4/3rds cameras/ Image Thread

[Cindy Flood]

Nice shots Cindy. I think the 50/2 is probably too much for the G1.

Here is one (a crop) with a 0.7X wide converter on the kitzoom (set to 14mm).

Nice shot Vivek.
Would you please explain about the teleconverter that you are using and also why you think the 50 f/2 is too much for the G1???

 

[Vivek]

Hi Cindy, The first shot (even this winter sunlight) of the chrome steering wheel is blown because of the low DR of the G1. Another camera should have been able handle that, I would think. The 50/2 has good contrast and would need a bit subdued lighting (with lesser contrast as in in your 2nd and 3rd shots) for the G1 to catch all the details that lens can deliver.

The 0.7x wide converter is something I had for my Nikon kitzoom (18-55 AFS II, specifically for IR), called "Digital King". It is already in 52mm screw thread. It is a single (glass) element wide converter with the front about 82mm diameter. It works on the G1's kit zoom as well. Only problem with that converter is that while widening the field of view, also lengthens the infinity focus. As a result, the close focus distances of the kit zoom becomes longer (~0.5m instead of 0.3m at 14mm and even longer at longer focal lengths). If you want fairly inexpensive (it isn't cheap though, cost me 50 Euros, almost the same cost as the Nikon kit zoom!) ultrawide with all the auto things that the kitzoom offers, this could be it. The expected distortions are all there though.

 

[Vivek]

I do not photograph television and never thought it will be this difficult!

Anyone had a chance to be in DC?

 

[terryc]

The G1 has become a personal favorite. Both of the current G1 lens are good, I do have the novoflex adapter but have not had much of a change to use it - just yet.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3281/3088835906_7a54c6c8ff_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3184/3051670780_fa09299804_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3072/3072853722_5e07633ae7_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3246/3072542176_616065f299_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3080/3126178558_6c6e664a73_o.jpg

Best regards. Terry

 

[Vivek]

Terry, you can also display the images inline if you insert them using the appropriate

tag.

 

[terryc]

Terry, you can also display the images inline if you insert them using the appropriate

tag.

Thank you so much Vivek. I will give that a try, I was just a little unsure how to do that.

I am certainly enjoying this forum.

Best regards. Terry.

 

[Cindy Flood]

Hi Cindy, The first shot (even this winter sunlight) of the chrome steering wheel is blown because of the low DR of the G1. Another camera should have been able handle that, I would think. The 50/2 has good contrast and would need a bit subdued lighting (with lesser contrast as in in your 2nd and 3rd shots) for the G1 to catch all the details that lens can deliver.
....snip....

Vivek, Thanks for the info on the adapter.
I put the steering wheel photo into PS and you are right. There are blown hightlights on the S. I don't want the G1 to be blamed for my sloppy processing in Silkypix:cussing:. I put the file through the dng converter and into Capture One and re-processed it (below). Thanks for pointing this out to me. BTW, no winter doldrums or dreary skies here in the Valley of the Sun"!

 

[peterb]

Terry,

Absolutely loved the photos. The shot of the fur protester reminded me of a wonderful story.

Five years ago, I had the good fortune of flying to Vancouver on business (which by the way, in my opinion, has won the geography lotto---the sea-to-sky highway is drop dead gorgeous!) and was staying at the Four Seasons. As you may know the hotel is attached to a very posh shopping mall. As you leave the hotel lobby and enter the Mall, across from it at the time was a very high end fur salon. Knowing that there was a hew and cry in the U.S. at least about wearing fur and seeing the very open salon I walked up to the pretty sales woman sitting at a very nice desk in the middle of the salon. She was surrounded by some of the most beautifully assembled furs I'd ever seen.

I asked her if she was concerned about fur groups assaulting her establishment. She looked up at me and said in her best Vancouver accent, "Are you kidding? This is Canada!"

Again, great photos.

Peter

 

[terryc]

Terry,

Absolutely loved the photos. The shot of the fur protester reminded me of a wonderful story.

Five years ago, I had the good fortune of flying to Vancouver on business (which by the way, in my opinion, has won the geography lotto---the sea-to-sky highway is drop dead gorgeous!) and was staying at the Four Seasons. As you may know the hotel is attached to a very posh shopping mall. As you leave the hotel lobby and enter the Mall, across from it at the time was a very high end fur salon. Knowing that there was a hew and cry in the U.S. at least about wearing fur and seeing the very open salon I walked up to the pretty sales woman sitting at a very nice desk in the middle of the salon. She was surrounded by some of the most beautifully assembled furs I'd ever seen.

I asked her if she was concerned about fur groups assaulting her establishment. She looked up at me and said in her best Vancouver accent, "Are you kidding? This is Canada!"

Again, great photos.

Peter

Great story Peter, and so true. Vancouver is to say the least very relaxed. Even the protest outside the Vancouver Hotel, was relaxed. I had a great chuckle and thank you for that.

Best regards. Terry

 

[Cindy Flood]

Wonderful series, Terry.

 

[terryc]

Wonderful series, Terry.

Thanks Cindy. I am having so much fun with the G1 I want to try a few of my Leica lenes in particular I have a 135mm F4 Tele Elmar that is a gem given it's age and grace.

Best regards. Terry

 

[jonoslack]

Hi Cindy, The first shot (even this winter sunlight) of the chrome steering wheel is blown because of the low DR of the G1. Another camera should have been able handle that, I would think. The 50/2 has good contrast and would need a bit subdued lighting (with lesser contrast as in in your 2nd and 3rd shots) for the G1 to catch all the details that lens can deliver.

HI Vivek
I've been using 4:3 cameras for 4 or 5 years now (from the E1 onwards). My own personal mantra has always been 'expose for the highlights'. Blown highlights is something that can ALWAYS be avoided (although not always in combination with open shadows). When using the A900 it's quite different, in this case you can keep on opening the highlights forever.

IMHO Highlights are never blown because of low dynamic range, they are blown because of the exposure chosen. In this case it seems they weren't blown at all, it was just a processing issue.

I've used the 50mm f2 quite a lot on the G1 - it seemed to me to be the best of all the lenses I tried - it's been a favorite ever since the E1, and whatever you think of the DR of the G1 (and I don't think we disagree here), it's better than most previous 4:3 cameras!

 

[Brian Mosley]

Exactly my thoughts Jono - dynamic range is not anchored at either end, it's just a case of where you expose.

Agree totally with your assessment of 50mm f2 and DR of the G1 also. I was surprised to read the dpreview assessment of the G1's DR... I'd got the impression (in practice. shooting for myself) that the shadows were cleaner and DR greater than the E-420/E-520/E-3

Kind Regards

Brian

 

[Vivek]

Clearly, on Cindy's first shot, I erred (not the first time and won't be last).

Terry C, There is only one stretch of shopping area in Vancouver, eh?
(I lived in Victoria for a while. Miss it, even the incessant rains).

 

[Cindy Flood]

Clearly, on Cindy's first shot, I erred (not the first time and won't be last).
...snip...

That makes two of us!:ROTFL::ROTFL::ROTFL:

The Arizona sun is soooo bright, it really plays havoc when photographing chrome.

My hope is that C1 and Aperture will support the G1 soon. Then I can get back to my regular workflow.

 

[jonoslack]

My hope is that C1 and Aperture will support the G1 soon. Then I can get back to my regular workflow.

Tell me about it - I've stopped using the kit lenses altogether.
However, Cindy, you do realise that you can use Aperture with any other lenses? I don't think everyone realises this.

You simply convert the files to DNG using the Adobe DNG converter :
Compressed (lossless)
Preserve RAW image
don't embed original

This will give you a standard DNG file which Aperture deals with very happily.
This works with all the Olympus 4:3 lenses (even the 9-18 and the pancake) and also with anything EXCEPT the two kit lenses (I'm not certain about the Panasonic 4:3 lenses)

. . . perhaps this warrants a new thread?

 

[TRSmith]

I've been watching from the cheap seats for awhile and one thing bugs me. Sorry if this has been dealt with before, I tried to read through all the 4/3 threads but there's a lot of stuff.

My question is regarding the aspect ratio. Does the foreshortened rectangle bug anyone? Something about it chafes a little. Like an uncomfortable crop. Anyone find themselves rubbing up against that in practice?

 

[Cindy Flood]

Tell me about it - I've stopped using the kit lenses altogether.
However, Cindy, you do realise that you can use Aperture with any other lenses? I don't think everyone realises this.

You simply convert the files to DNG using the Adobe DNG converter :
Compressed (lossless)
Preserve RAW image
don't embed original

This will give you a standard DNG file which Aperture deals with very happily.
This works with all the Olympus 4:3 lenses (even the 9-18 and the pancake) and also with anything EXCEPT the two kit lenses (I'm not certain about the Panasonic 4:3 lenses)

. . . perhaps this warrants a new thread?

You are right, Jono, but I use Aperture to catalog all RAW files and C1 to process the keepers. I was clogging up my system with all the DNG files, so I decided to just wait till Aperture supports the G1 to add all the files to my library. The new C1 keeps crashing, so that is another pain in the neck.
For now, I am using Silkypix to display all of the files. In the case of the car show pix, I just used Silkypix to save the keepers and PS to sharpen and crop. I went back and converted the steering wheel pic to DNG and then processed it in C1 to show that the data was really there.

 

[Cindy Flood]

I've been watching from the cheap seats for awhile and one thing bugs me. Sorry if this has been dealt with before, I tried to read through all the 4/3 threads but there's a lot of stuff.

My question is regarding the aspect ratio. Does the foreshortened rectangle bug anyone? Something about it chafes a little. Like an uncomfortable crop. Anyone find themselves rubbing up against that in practice?

Tim, The G1 gives you the choice of 4:3, 3:2 or 16:9.

 

[jlm]

certain highlights, like those of shiny chorme, ought to be blown