squareframe

<p>it's very difficult to compose and make things right when there are a gazillion tourists on the street. as I recall, there were tour busses on the right and I had to use a long exposure to blur (eliminate) the tourists walking in front of the gate. Paris is so amazing .. but tourism is a reality and I'm simply not bold enough at this juncture to be oblivious to their presence. someone like Brad .. would come away with some spectacular photography against my derivative tourist snaps.</p>

<p>I recently bought an apartment here with the idea of spending half the year in Paris studying photography and art history. the Lapin Agile is an old night-club, cabaret, that was the haunt of Picassso and my favourite painter Modigliani. it's across the street from Renoir and Utrillo's home and studio here in Paris and simply gives me goosebumps each time I trek down the cobblestone road from my home in Montmartre. I am experimenting with HDR and this was my first attempt at merging multiple exposures together. I attempted to purchase Photomatix but decided instead to use the trial version since anything downloaded here gets charged a ~20% added tax in Europe. <br /> I'll post additional photos here when I can ... daniel<img src="http://doublereef.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/au-lapine.jpg" alt="" width="720" height="405" /></p>

<p> </p>

thank you .. we're off to the south of France later, then Barcelona, Madrid, and Portugal. the Nex-7 in many ways is the

perfect camera for travel and a pleasant departure from the DSLR poundage around my neck. I bought the cheap

Manfrotto travel tripod with integral ball-head that is almost perfect for the Nex-7 excepting the quick-release plate that

some might find overly intrusive. I have been experimenting with HDR, not finding the in-camera solution pleasing, but it

is rather easy to use exposure-compensation to take a series of exposures and merge them in Photomatix. a pity though,

that I can't automate the process via bracketing in 2-stop increments. I do have a suspicion that we might all be pleasantly

surprised with the next firmware upgrade. looking forward to its arrival!

I assumed Canon DSLR's would be the prevalent choice. yes, there is no shortage of Canons on the streets of Paris, but

my unscientific, if not subliminal itemization was surprising to find Nikon the preponderant leader and ostensibly the more

popular camera. a factoid unworthy of further assessment.

I've been living in Paris the last month and found it to be the perfect venue for learning the ins-and-outs of my new Nex-7. my initial

impressions are positive but not without complaint. the convoluted menu structure may well be ultimately learned but not without pain and

suffering. thankfully, I have the manual on my iPhone at the ready.

 

beyond the menus, the camera shines and I am enjoying the Tri-Navi control structure. a terrible name to my mind but generally works

well, excepting the ease of inadvertently changing the exposure compensation on the right-dial. the dreaded undesired video activation

hasn't been much of a problem, though it would be nice to disable it. the inexcusable implementation is within the playback mode and

attempting to view stills and videos. they are in separate directories, viewable separately, and requiring a juggling act at times. not as

onerous as taking a bogus still photo to change directories as reported after an errant video entry however.

 

blazing  fast shutter- release, adequate autofocus, overkill (not particularly useful or needed) creative modes, non-pleasing HDR,

imbecilic restrictive bracketing mode (+/- 0.7 stop max),  EVF works well and makes the camera. I don't use video but my inadvertent

activations have yielded beautiful hi-res movies of no artistic merit! I'm also anxious to use adapters to attach my old Nikon lenses off my

Nikon F, the 55mm f1.2, and perhaps my Hasselblad lenses that have been collecting dust.

 

what I really wanted to reflect upon is that with all these features,  resolution, ease of image capture ... the photography I just viewed at

the Pompidou Museum of Modern Art of Brassai and Dosineau so eclipsed what I have been producing, obviously not limited by the

camera, and I'm left with a sense of liberation to simplify and distill down to the lowest level where the camera essentially disappears

between me and what I desire to see in front of me. which might help explain why I am tending to use my iPhone as much as I do. 

 

I also feel blessed to have gone to the Eugene Atget exhibit at the Musee Carnavalet here in Paris. those visiting should make the effort

to see the most amazing photography capturing the essence of Paris at the turn of the century. It shows through the end of July.

 

and finally, though I have seen a few Nex-7's on the streets of Paris, by far .. Nikon DSLR's are the clear leaders, surprisingly so, as the

camera of choice. 

 

daniel

Will, thank you for an excellent review and for taking the time to share it with the forum. I recently bought a Nex-7 so it's not

surprising that I've watched dozens of reviews and yours is clearly the most professional and helpful of them all. Anyone

truly interested in investing in mirrorless will be greatly served by your expertise and find that 13 informative minutes goes

by quickly and well worth the time. thank you .. daniel

<p>Denton, I use a Hasselblad Flexbody which has restricted movements but more than adequate for what I do. The beauty of the Flexbody is due to the cheap(ish) Hasselblad lenses that are available. I tend to use movements opposite to Scheimflug corrections, as Keith Carter does, so the limited movements are not an issue. -daniel</p>

<p>I guess I am thinking that this obsessive nature with colour accuracy is something difficult for me to relate to. after decades of Windows torment, I opted to buy a 27' I7 iMac and haven't looked back. I have never had so much fun with a computer! now, to be fair ... I print mostly all B&W. I love the iMac monitor and have never given any thought about colour management, because after I bought my Epson 4900, connected it via Ethernet and pressed 'Print' in Lightroom, the colours on my colour prints appear to match exactly what I see on the monitor. dare I say, 'it just works', and indeed it does. and this is great news, so that I may concentrate on other aspects of my photography. look at the numbers and make your decision. for me, it's been a beautiful marriage of technology and art. -daniel</p>

<p>Jon,<br /> I just purchased the V700 and am finding it the perfect scanner for my 6x6 negatives. It is my understanding that both scanners have the dual-lens system but the V750 has better coatings, though I suspect it is more a simple marketing ploy to differentiate the two scanners and the included Silverfast software offerings. If you are not interested in the software, the V700 is the perfect choice. Should you decide that you can't live without wet-mounting and better holders, you can buy from a third-party. My testing shows the Epson Scan software to work perfectly well, with little need for Vuescan or Silverfast. Of course, it's subjective, but anyone doing post-scanning in Photoshop/Lightroom/Aperture will find Epson Scan to provide all the utility needed in most instances. It is stable on the Mac Lion platform, is bare-bones and straight-forward, and facilitates excellent scans. -daniel</p>

<p>Robert,<br>

I just installed my Epson 4900 and found the same issue. The reason is that many of the paper types must use the 'Manual' feed and not the sheet cassette due to their thickness. Therefore, all papers with that requirement will be grayed out until you select 'Manual' feed.<br>

I am so impressed with this printer. I was fortunate to locate one of the last ones at Adorama for the ridiculously low price of $1099 and free shipping. I did download the latest drivers and configuration programs off the Epson site, and other than a few issues getting the Ethernet network to function with my iMac ... it was painless. I also bought the sample pack of the Signature Worthy papers and have fallen in love with the Exhibition Fibre and Hot/Cold Press papers.<br>

Enjoy ...</p>

Success! Thanks to all that took their time to respond. My family back home eagerly waiting for photos will be overjoyed.

-daniel

<p>Thanks Marc! I don't know the URL to your files so I tried to download the Michael Tapes convertor. Can't seem to get the install to work correctly but I'll get there.<br>

To the question about simply waiting to convert the files at home, the family in the states is anxious to see the images on Facebook, thus the need for Jpegs.<br>

Daniel</p>

<p>I am in Paris on vacation and on my visit to the Pantheon today I decided to take the G10 instead of using my iPhone. Unfortunately, I had set the camera mode to create RAW files but I do not have any conversion method on my Netbook. Photoshop and Lightroom are installed on my home computer which doesn't do much for me here. I tried to get DPP from Canon, but apparently you must have the copy of Zoombrowser already installed, which I do not have.<br>

Any stand-alone programs available on the net that could process these RAW files to JPEG's or other readable format?<br>

Thank You,<br>

Daniel Taylor, Paris</p>

<p>Regit, I stumbled upon your post and suspect it is a battery issue. my 203FE battery tends to die after extended periods of non-use. an interesting observation is that the battery from my PME45 is totally different than the battery in my 203FE. perhaps the older PME's are different, but it is worth noting the 203FE takes a 6v battery and the PME45 uses a 3v CR2 type. best of luck ... daniel</p>

<p>> Very pleased and happy to be finished with Microsoft for now.<br>

Microsoft Office for Mac seems to be software that should reside on your Mac. I think Microsoft has done a nice job there. of course, there are non-MS alternatives depending on your requirements. I am very pleased with my iMac 27" i7 though the OS is a little clunky at times compared to Windows 7. most of my criticisms seem to have been addressed in the upcoming Lion release.</p>

<p>I recently purchased the Martin Evening set of books for Photographers using Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom 3. I have found that the colour and readability on my 27" iMac has been a great experience using the Kindle App for Mac. without colour and the constrained viewing of my Kindle, it would be a disappointment and difficult to read as the illustrations are referenced constantly and hold great import. I also purchased David duChemin's eBooks in Adobe PDF and found the Adobe Reader to be better. the great feature of both formats is that you can now search and use the embedded links.</p>

<p>my images suck no matter what camera I use. if only I had less noise, a new lens, a nicer bag and camera-strap, and the latest Photoshop. Canon isn't working for me ... perhaps Nikon. I wonder what lenses Arthur Morris is using these days ... hmm</p>

<p>fifteen minutes wasted that I can never recover ...</p>

<p>I am ...</p>

<p>I am really enjoying my iMac, and per the title of this thread, make claim that if 'size does matter, sadly', that my impressions are contrary. I enjoy Windows 7 on my Toshiba laptop as well. this has never been a discussion of Apple versus anyone else. it's a testament that the iMac, for many, is not the negative experience that has been claimed by others here. -daniel (frozen San Juan Island)</p>

<p>I'm hearing what you are saying Garrison, but I can't say I agree. I didn't buy the iMac to do all the things you mentioned, and surely the Mac Pro is a better computer in a laboratory and research venue. I have several PC's that I do engineering upon. I have a Toshiba Netbook that my wife and I use when traveling. I wanted a faster computer for some intensive computation work, as well as one that could make use of OpenGL or Cuda standards for uber-fast graphics renderings within my math studies. and too, I wanted a nice environment to pursue my photography with. I started my investigations, looked at all the PC offerings, and then gravitated towards the new iMac. it simply met my requirements, and did so with (in my opinion) a beautiful piece of engineering art. everything resonated with my purpose ... so I ordered the iMac, and I am very pleased. I say it is about process, because though the image is paramount, it doesn't render itself. the process can serve, or not serve. I just found myself, for the first time, really seeing what Apple is all about. and I liked what I saw. I still have PC's and they are all running Windows 7, that has many nice features and some that trump Mac OS. I wasn't aware that Apple was favoured here, or there. I haven't been following photo.net for many years now. the initial discussion made the claim that the new iMacs were junk, and frankly, I just don't see that to be true. it's great to have choices .. you've made yours I am assuming, and I have made mine. peace -daniel </p>

<p>I reread the original posting and had to laugh - I have the opposite feeling about the iMac, in that it is so small. that is to say, there are no wires, cables, everything is wireless. the thin monitor allows me to push it up to the wall, and as someone mentioned, you could hang it off the wall if you desire. I read the link to the dissatisfied iMac owners, and I've observed that forums can present a skewed view. I'm not sure how many iMac's have been sold, but I am confident that the greater percentage are satisfied if not ecstatic owners. then again, my intent isn't to argue Apple versus PC, or Canon versus Nikon. it's about the process, it's about the photography. if, at the end of the day, it all works for you ... that's important. have you seen the display? if this screen was attached to a Vic-20 I'd still be a happy photographer. anyway .. thanks for the comments, and great photography to all. -daniel</p>

<p>well, I simply did a Google search on the latest iMac's and this photo.net discussion was referenced. I honestly don't know or care about how others feel about the computer I just bought. having used PC's and Sun Workstations for the last thirty-odd years, I was really impressed with the Apple iMac offering for advanced-study mathematics. in Wolfram Research Institute's Mathematica 8, they make use of the multi-cored architecture and the OpenGL graphics standard for rendering graphics. my studies are in partial-differential equations and Wavelets, and I was swayed by the performance that the Apple iMac offered. that, and I was tired of what HP, Gateway, and Dell were offering. my iPod and iPhone experiences have been so positive, that I decided to investigate Apple for my next computer purchase. and I am glad I did ... Mathematica blazes, and though I am a Lightroom owner I am more than a little intrigued as to how Aperture 3 might serve me. this iMac was designed by artists and engineers after my own heart and that's the beauty of the age we live in ... so many choices, and I can make informed choices based on my requirements and assessments, instead of those dictated by others. -daniel</p>

<p>I'll admit to being a bit shocked when I read the posting that the 27" iMac is junk. shocked, because I recently purchased (last week) a 27" iMac I7, my first Apple, and am loving it. I'm finishing a Ph.D in Applied Mathematics and bought it to run Mathematica 8 only. and then on a whim, I upgraded Photoshop and Lightroom migrating to the iMac from Windows 7. oh dear .. with that display and Unix I am in heaven. I can't find anything not to like about it, and it's hard to believe every photographer doesn't own one. or desire to own one! indeed, it's rekindled my interest in photography .. a joy! cheerio ...</p>

 

<p>Scott,</p>

<p>that's a fine image and the bokeh quite acceptable. evaluation of the image and its components is subjective. the only issue I would have are the blown highlights at the top of the frame detract from an otherwise fine image.</p>

<p>enjoy your camera system. learning what your lenses do, will allow you to leverage their characteristics to your benefit. while others are complaining about bokeh, go out and make photographs that transcend optical artifacts.</p>

<p>cheers ...</p>

<p>daniel</p>