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Comment by MattMatic posted on Lady shapes with smoke at 01/04/2009 - 15:04
Amin,
Looking good
Some hints: You don't need expensive P-TTL flashguns for this work
Get yourself a small "dumb" flash (like the AF160 which should be around £10) to put on the hotshoe of the camera - this becomes your controller. Then, put the Sigma in "dumb" flash mode (if it has it) so it slaves off the AF160. Then, get a really cheap flash (but powerful) and a "slave cube" or similar.
Alternatively, find yourself a local camera shop and invest in PC cords. Second hand shops often have these things in their "bargain bucket". The K20D has a PC socket on the side - you can wire up long leads to as many flash guns as you need. And all flashguns can be as dumb as they come (Make sure they have an "M" mode, and preferably a power slide to select 1/1, 1/2 etc).
Photoshop brush - keyboard hint: "[" and "]" will vary the SIZE of the brush. "{" and "}" (ie shift-"[" and shift-"]") will vary the softness of the brush. Make sure you have brush selected, and not pencil - because the pencil is always hard
Hope that helps!
Matt
Looking good
Some hints: You don't need expensive P-TTL flashguns for this work
Get yourself a small "dumb" flash (like the AF160 which should be around £10) to put on the hotshoe of the camera - this becomes your controller. Then, put the Sigma in "dumb" flash mode (if it has it) so it slaves off the AF160. Then, get a really cheap flash (but powerful) and a "slave cube" or similar.
Alternatively, find yourself a local camera shop and invest in PC cords. Second hand shops often have these things in their "bargain bucket". The K20D has a PC socket on the side - you can wire up long leads to as many flash guns as you need. And all flashguns can be as dumb as they come (Make sure they have an "M" mode, and preferably a power slide to select 1/1, 1/2 etc).
Photoshop brush - keyboard hint: "[" and "]" will vary the SIZE of the brush. "{" and "}" (ie shift-"[" and shift-"]") will vary the softness of the brush. Make sure you have brush selected, and not pencil - because the pencil is always hard
Hope that helps!
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Lady shapes with smoke at 01/04/2009 - 09:50
Nearly forgot - some links:
Incredibly dark conditions at the Jazz Cafe
http://www.pbase.com/mattmatic/sos_jazzcafe
Outside street party.
http://www.pbase.com/mattmatic/fat_45s
(The Photoshopped guitarist was taken with the 50/1.4, won photo of the week at ePhotozine and so I have a nice 36"x24" canvas hanging behind me! )
Matt
Incredibly dark conditions at the Jazz Cafe
http://www.pbase.com/mattmatic/sos_jazzcafe
Outside street party.
http://www.pbase.com/mattmatic/fat_45s
(The Photoshopped guitarist was taken with the 50/1.4, won photo of the week at ePhotozine and so I have a nice 36"x24" canvas hanging behind me! )
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Advice on low light gig/concert photography at 31/03/2009 - 15:51
Quote:
For instance what mode do you shoot in?
Fully manual with spot metering. I aim the centre at a well lit face, and press the green button. That gives me the "right" reading for stage lights. Then I adjust from there.For instance what mode do you shoot in?
Quote:
Do you try and have as low an iso as possible or just push it as far as possible?
It's a juggling act. Thankfully you can quickly change ISO with the K20D by holding down the OK button and rotating the front e-dial Do you try and have as low an iso as possible or just push it as far as possible?
Quote:
How do you set the white balance when the lighting is changing constantly?
Do you shoot in jpeg or raw?
Always RAW, but especially in this situation. You have complete control over white balance back at the PC, plus an extra bit of exposure latitude to play with in RAW.How do you set the white balance when the lighting is changing constantly?
Do you shoot in jpeg or raw?
Quote:
And - finally - roughly how many good pictures I be should be striving for per 100?
As many as you can And - finally - roughly how many good pictures I be should be striving for per 100?
I come from the film age and tend to get a high yield (because I work the same way in digital - ie as if it's going to cost something to take a shot). I've never been into machine gun photography
HTH!
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Advice on low light gig/concert photography at 31/03/2009 - 15:49
...haven't got my Pentax CS105 with me at the moment to check...
Are you using a genuine Pentax cable remote CS105, or some other remote?
Does custom option 14 (AF on halfpress) have any bearing?
Matt
Are you using a genuine Pentax cable remote CS105, or some other remote?
Does custom option 14 (AF on halfpress) have any bearing?
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Auto Focus and Remote Control at 31/03/2009 - 15:45
Quote:
I presume this is correct, but is there any way around it?
Not unless you read the manual I presume this is correct, but is there any way around it?
It's a custom function - see page 126 the note and page 74:
Set "[AF in remote control]" to "[On]" (point 16 on page 74)
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Auto Focus and Remote Control at 31/03/2009 - 14:27
That's a tricky one
My personal fav is the SMC-DA 17-70 - which pretty much covers all angles. Certainly sharper than the already excellent 24-90, though the 17-70 does mysteriously underexpose quite a bit. Bokeh is on a par.
If it were just portraits then I'd say the 24-90 is probably more versatile - at least for head & shoulders shots (I tend to use around 70mm). But, if you have the 24-90 and need to do some indoor/outdoor architecture shots, then you could be stumped
But then with the 16-50 you can still get great portraits at 50mm - and you have the advantage of f/2.8 for very shallow DoF.
Sorry I can't help much more!!!
Matt
My personal fav is the SMC-DA 17-70 - which pretty much covers all angles. Certainly sharper than the already excellent 24-90, though the 17-70 does mysteriously underexpose quite a bit. Bokeh is on a par.
If it were just portraits then I'd say the 24-90 is probably more versatile - at least for head & shoulders shots (I tend to use around 70mm). But, if you have the 24-90 and need to do some indoor/outdoor architecture shots, then you could be stumped
But then with the 16-50 you can still get great portraits at 50mm - and you have the advantage of f/2.8 for very shallow DoF.
Sorry I can't help much more!!!
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on 24-90 or 16-50 at 31/03/2009 - 12:55
LOL! Love Mike Johnston's comment
Well, yes, Mamiya + PhaseONE is a fairly formidable competitor indeed. It certainly looks more attractive than Hassy's "locked-in" approach.
Time will tell...
Well, yes, Mamiya + PhaseONE is a fairly formidable competitor indeed. It certainly looks more attractive than Hassy's "locked-in" approach.
Time will tell...
Comment by MattMatic posted on Pentax 645D - PMA announcement at 31/03/2009 - 12:20
Images can be found here.
(Quite a change in design from the old 645D)
Certainly competitive in the MF market...
...wonder how much the pricing might change nearer release time
Matt
(Quite a change in design from the old 645D)
Quote:
one million yen/10,000 USD
I suppose that's the ballpark area you'd expect. The Hassy H3D-II-31 with 80mm HC is around £12k. (50Mp version is £16k for body only :shockone million yen/10,000 USD
Certainly competitive in the MF market...
...wonder how much the pricing might change nearer release time
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on Pentax 645D - PMA announcement at 31/03/2009 - 11:53
How many mega pixels is this John?
A very curious camera indeed!! Fascinating just to see it!
Matt
A very curious camera indeed!! Fascinating just to see it!
Matt
Comment by MattMatic posted on The Oddest Camera at 31/03/2009 - 08:41
So if I understand correctly, I buy one or two flashes, the cheap ones that would have M mode and preferably the power selection ability in them. Then the power cord ... I see the ability in the K20 to use the PC type pin in there, so if I get a long cable, do these cheap flashes then give me the ability to wire them up with the camera? is that it? And how do I use my sigma with the combination? Because it doesn't have any cable input.
Oh so many questions, I am sorry to be bugging so much, shoot me if you get frustrated, but I can be pretty slow at times until I start getting the idea of things
Your images are looking good! Watch out for the burnt highlights - they detract a little from the 2nd image, IMHO.
Matt