Comments made by bychan - Page 22

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Another thumbs-up for the Marumi Super range, which as suggested was bought from an ebay seller from the Far East for about £50.

A point worth noting was that when using a standard, or thick framed CPL on the Sigma 18-50, vignetting was visible at 18mm. However this isn't an issue with the Marumi.

On the 10-20 I chanced on one of these link
No visible vignetting at 10mm, but to be honest I rarely use it, as I find I get better results without it.

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on Circular polariser recommendation at 22/07/2012 - 17:15

mcpieman wrote:
I've been looking at upgrading recently too from an old p4. From what I've read the I5 is the way to go, although clock speed and number of cores make some difference its the architecture of the chips that make the core I series much better. Its important to be able to keep all those high speed cores fed with instructions and the core I's pipelines for feeding are far better at this than the current AMD chips. I've only read all this and haven't been able to test both, so will also watch this thread with interest

This is what I've also read, so it would seem that the i5 would be the way to go, such as

link

greynolds999 wrote:
To be honest, you have a good enough spec right now to do everything you need.

The only investment which I think would be worthwhile (unless something else breaks) is to possible replace your graphics card with something newer. Interestingly there is more work going on around GPUs than CPUs these days.

If it were me I would think about a newer monitor (assuming that is also five years' old) ahead of anything else.

Good point about the graphics card, I can get a 1GB one for £25, might well give this a go

My monitor, how did you know that there's a loose connection and that I've got to wedge a thin piece of plastic under the switches to get the display on (honestly).

A new monitor is most certainly on the agenda.

apeksdiver wrote:
I had a similar quandary my intel is about the same age as yours. I kept the mobo and processor added additional memory and a solid state drive (ssd) and it flies now.

Did similarly turn of the year, went from Vista x32 with 2GB RAM, to W7 x64 with an extra 4GB.

I really don't want to spend much on it, although am now tempted to get a 1GB graphics card.

wvbarnes wrote:
Hi,

I have a four year old PC with the first iteraton of the Intel i7 quad core (8 core when hyperthreaded) processors. It dropped RAW processing from 40 to 4 seconds.

I too have been trying to read up on what next as my PC has become troublesome.

I understand the intel chips are much superior to the AMD at present and that manufactureres are not always passing ont he cost advantage of the AMD kit if you are on a budget.

I have found that having mult cores means you can have Windows, back up, virus scans, photo program, DTP, web software all open at once without any real slow down. I read the latest desktop (but not laptop) i5's are quad core.

Good luck with your search and keep us posted.

Yes the i5 that I've been looking at is a quad core (such as in the link earlier). However the AMD FX-6100 is supposedly 6 cores, and stll doesn't get very favourable reviews.

RayB wrote:
Don't know if this will help, but I was forced into an upgrade recently when my Intel board failed.

I opted for the following;

AS-Rock A75M board
AMD Liano A6-3670 2.7Ghz Quad
8GB RAM
Win 7 Pro 64

£245 ex.VAT

I re-used the graphics card from the previous machine. Whilst the above specs are not cutting edge, it can run HD TV and LR4 simultaneously without any loss of performance. If the most work you'll make it do is LR4, you won't need the graphics card, as the on-board is more than capable of handling it.

I'm sure I've read on the web that Lano performs better than the Bulldozer (but don't quote me, in case I dreamt this )

I don't have any immediate plans to go out and purchase a new PC (in a few months perhaps), unless another failure forces my hand. A a new graphics card is very likely though.

Thanks for the advice, all appreciated.

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on AMD Bulldozer 4/6 core, anybody? at 20/07/2012 - 19:34

My trusted Intel Core2 Duo PC is fast approaching it's 5th birthday, whilst in itself isn't a reason to upgrade. However the onboard network adapter failed recently, all sorted with a PCI card.

Being pessimistic, I'm now wondering what/when will next fail, seeing as everything bar a memory upgrade 6 months ago, were purchased together.

On paper the AMD Bulldozers seem very good, whilst the reviews aren't so generous.

The machine specs I've looked at would have 8GB RAM with a 1GB graphics card. The AMD would cost £350-£400, whilst for about £60 extra the Intel Core i5 3540 could be had.

I don't do any gaming, do the ocasional video decoding, music ripping etc. Probably the most intense application I use is Lightroom 4.

Does anybody have any experience of the Bulldozers?
Or would it be a case of spending that bit extra for the i5?

For info, my current CPU is a E6750 @ 2.67Ghz, with 6GB RAM and 256MB graphics card running Windows 7 x64.

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on AMD Bulldozer 4/6 core, anybody? at 19/07/2012 - 21:11

Again thanks for all the advice and suggestions, it seems that the HDR option is a very viable option (must give in built-in feature a go).

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on Blown-out Sky at 04/07/2012 - 00:50

Thanks for the advice David & Philip.

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on Blown-out Sky at 01/07/2012 - 19:12

Thanks for all the replies, all greatly appreciated.

I'll try using milti-segment metering, see how I get along.

Coming from the Kx, where the camera didn't align the built-in HDR images, this option doesn't cross my mind on the K5 (must now remember that this is also an option).

I'm still amazed by the amound of detail that can be retrieved from the K5, shooting RAW, where a 'bad' shot turns out good

I always have my Cokin GND filter in the camera bag, and this was deployed after the above shots were taken.

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on Blown-out Sky at 28/06/2012 - 19:44

I'm a bit puzzled as to why the sky is washed-out in the examples illustrated. Conditions were sunny, blue sky and white clouds.

K5 set to AV mode, F11 and auto ISO, centre weighted metering.
Metered on the trees on the far bank of the lake. CPL fitted on the lens (Sigma 18-50).

The first image is a JPG straight from the DNG (no processing), second image the JPG from the camera, last DNG processed in Lightroom 4.

If it's human error, I can live with that, if I know where I went wrong.
Other images from other locations around the lake didn't suffer the washed-out skies.

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on Blown-out Sky at 26/06/2012 - 15:00

Stuey wrote:
I like these

To take nothing away for the photographic skill these make me feel at home or thereabouts

Thanks Stuey

davidstorm wrote:
A high standard, the last one in paticular is very good.

Regards
David

Thanks David

Still27 wrote:
Beautifully captured, I must go there.

Thanks Bill

Algernon wrote:
Wow! I didn't think the Sigma 10-20mm was that sharp
At least my copy isn't

All shots are excellent

What was the general exposure details and ISO?
Did you use AF and SR or just pre-set focus?

Thanks Algi.

All were shot at auto ISO, F10, AF and SR enabled. All processed in Lightroom 4.1 (still a learning curve).

Regards
Adrian

Comment by bychan posted on Y Lon Goed III at 16/06/2012 - 15:26

I've posted some images previously from this location (I think it was a supply road for nearby quarries). Here are more recent attempts, all K5 & Sigma 10-20.

BTW, the name roughly translates as Road/Lane in the woods.

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