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dallalb

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Posts posted by dallalb

    Finally got my 1st roll of Kodak Ektar: need suggestions

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    <p>Finally I got my first roll of Kodak Ektar film, after a long search (in Italy I had some difficulties to find this film)!<br>

    I know that many of you use that film and that this is one of your favourites... Can you give me some suggestions? What is the dynamic range of this film, I mean, by how many stops can I open/close my lens from the 18% grey to still get details in the highlights/shadows?<br>

    And what about scanning this film? I use Nikon's Super CoolScan 5000 ED with Nikon's software.<br>

    Thank you for your help: I will post my results.</p>

    Need suggestions: EIZO S2233W or NEC P221W?

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>I need a new display for my Windows XP PC and after reading a lot on the net I've found these two models: EIZO S2233W and NEC P221W. I'm coming from a CRT display and I need a 22" LCD display mainly for photo editing purpose and general office. I love photography, but I'm not a pro user, so I have a limited budget. I've found that these two displays can fit my needs and can be a good reliable solution tha lasts several years... I know that the NEC has an internal 10 bit LUT for hardware calibration with SpectraView II software, but unfortunately I live in Europe and NEC applies a different selling policy here. I cannot buy SV software but they sell a calibration kit (SV software, colorimeter and hood) for an absurd price that is higher than the price of the display itself! So I was thinking to buy a Spider 3 Pro colorimeter, to properly calibrate my new device.<br>

    Have you got any suggestions or experiences to share about these theme? Would you buy the NEC or the EIZO display?<br>

    Thank you in advance for your help.<br>

    ALBERTO. </p>

    Those of you who shoot 35mm slides.

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    <p>I shoot slides with my EOS 3 because I like "full frame" format and the unique way each film renders the colors: it's like changing every time the sensor's characteristics :-) If you want to understand better this concept, please look at my portfolio: <a href="http://www.photo.net/photos/dallalb">photo.net/photos/dallalb</a><br>

    I shoot slides mainly for scanning purpose, because I like to take advantages of the digital benefits in post production...<br>

    I’m not interested in shooting a huge number of photos, but I prefer to work on quality and to refine my ability of synthesis: shooting with film can help to achieve this purpose, since every frame has a real cost and you cannot preview the result on the field. I scan and spend time in editing only my best shots. An ideal goal would be shooting only one frame to fully describe the visual potential of a scene and to fully convey my message.<br>

    Alberto.</p>

    Switching to digital: need your suggestions.

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>Thank you, Tom for your kind words and your interesting questions. I think you are right about selling photos and you are right thinking that taking shots for selling or taking shots for creating art from our feelings are two very different point of views. I live in Italy, in the large flat surrounding the Po river and there's no important tourist trade in this area, unless the stunning art of Mantova town... I try to convey the feelings I get from the simple landscapes and elements of my surroundings, so my subjects or my locations are often not so recognizable... But your comment demonstrates that someone can appreciate my work and could be a potential buyer... So, I thing I prefer this second approach.<br>

    Daniel, thank you for your useful "out of chorus" suggestions: I will keep them in minds! </p>

    Switching to digital: need your suggestions.

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>Thank you for your interesting and useful suggestions! I'm glad that my post didn't deviate to the boring "digital vs film" debate. I agree with many of you looking at 5D Mark II or an intermediate step with the "old" 5D (which I could buy from a friend of mine). I've always loved the "full camera" aspect ratio. Maybe the only thing I will miss is the unique way of color rendering each type of film has....<br>

    I'm aware that the Canon EOS 3 camera is a wonderful piece of equipment, with some powerful features difficult to find in many newer digital cameras. And I'm aware that I can get very few money selling it, so I will keep this fully working camera!<br>

    Tom Purvis, good question. I'd like to improve my photography to be able to sell my works in the near future. But now I first need a new camera to speed up my digital workflow, since I already use a "hybrid workflow"...</p>

    Switching to digital: need your suggestions.

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>Hi, after several years of rewarding film photography I think I have to switch to digital. It's not the classic "film VS digital" debate. I used a hybrid workflow, shooting film and then scanning it and perform digital corrections in PS.<br>

    My current setup is: Canon EOS 3, Sigma 24-70 f2.8 EX Macro (not the usm version), Canon EF 70-200 f4 L, some filters, Manfrotto 055X ProB tripod and Nikon Super CoolScan 5000 ED. I enjoy landscape and nature photography and occasionally portraits in available light, with high ISO films. Please take a look at my portfolio to have an idea: <a href="http://www.photo.net/photos/dallalb">http://www.photo.net/photos/dallalb</a><br>

    I want to change my setup and I kindly ask your suggestions as owners and users of several piece of equipment. The budget is important for me, since I'm an amateur, and I can fix it around 2000 Euro. I've always tried to squeeze my equipment to get the best image quality, so I prefer taking less photos but working on quality.<br>

    I have some ideas: please let me know your opinions about...<br>

    Regarding the camera I have two models in my mind: Canon 5D Mark II and the new Canon 7D... With the first one I will reach the top of my budget, but it's fullframe and I can use my current lens setup. The second one is cheaper but I need a new wide zoom lens, as the Canon EFs 10-22.<br>

    Another issue is that I'm not completely satisfied with the Sigma 24-70 mm, especially at the lower end which is the most used, so (speaking from a FF point of view) I'd like to sell it and buy a Canon EF 17-40 f4 L lens, with the classic Canon EF 50 mm f1.8 and maybe in the future a Canon 100 mm (f2 or the f2.8 macro) prime lens for portraits...<br>

    What is your opinion about?<br>

    Thank you in advance for your suggestions and your time.<br>

    Kind regards, Alberto.</p>

    Just got my "new" EOS 3

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>Hi Charles, I am another EOS 3 active user... It's a wonderful "full frame" camera and you can achieve wonderful "digital" shots, plenty of Mpx, if you own a Nikon 5000 ED scanner, as well! ;-)<br>

    All the shots in my portfolio (<a href="../photos/dallalb">http://www.photo.net/photos/dallalb</a>) were taken with this camera and the color rendition is given by the film's unique characteristics.... Every film is like a new "sensor".<br>

    This camera is plenty of useful and advanced features: it's a nice piece of equipment!<br>

    Regards, Alberto.</p>

    How to add a stripe of sky which was cropped

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>The question may be silly, but I need your suggestion. Ok, imagine to take a shot of a landscape after the sunset, when the sky shows a beautiful gradient of colors, but to do the mistake of cropping too much (in camera) the upper portion of the sky... How can I re-create digitally (I use PS CS3) the missed upper stripe of the sky in the photo with very few artifacts?<br>

    Thank you for your suggestions, Alberto. </p>

    Framing with the Canon EF-S 10-22 on a APS-C sensor camera

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>Hi everybody. I've read so far that this lens is one of the favourites lenses among the Canon's APS-C cameras users because of its performances and its field of view (a real wide angle zoom on APS-C). But I wanted to know your opinion about framing and focusing on the field with this lens... In fact it seems not so luminous wide opened and I was wondering if you feel comfortable with it...<br>

    I have no experience with APS-C sensor cameras since I still shot "full frame" film ;-)<br>

    Thank you for sharing your experience, Alberto.</p>

    In hybrid workflow does film choice really matter?

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    <p>Les, Roger, many thanks for your appreciation: it's a great reward for me and for my efforts in shooting film and scanning it!<br>

    I'd be honored if you left a comment on my portfolio page.<br>

    Jedidiah, if you want to email me and ask some questions click on my name and then on the link at the top of the page or directly: <a href="http://www.photo.net/shared/comm-to-member?user_id=2842111">http://www.photo.net/shared/comm-to-member?user_id=2842111</a><br>

    Regarding the scanning process and software I use the same scanner and the same software of Les Sarile: I leave all the settings off (neutral scan) except digital ICE (normal). I check the histogram and sometimes I adjust the analog gain control to avoid clipping. All my scans are 16 bit .tiff files @ 4000 dpi in Adobe RGB color space. I then fine tune my scans with PS CS3.<br>

    I think the scans archive of Les is preciousness for "hybrid photographers"! Thank you again!<br>

    Alberto.</p>

    In hybrid workflow does film choice really matter?

    in The Wet Darkroom: Film, Paper & Chemistry

    Posted

    <p>I think that one of the advantages of a hybrid workflow over digital is that you have different films to choose: each film has its own unique characteristics and it's like you were able to change your "sensor" each time you load a new roll of film in your camera :-)<br />If you know your films you can take advantages of their unique characterictics and choose the film which fits best your need according to your purpose. I think you cannot change completely the film look with PS, unless you search for a very strange or creative result... In theory you can emulate a film with digital, but in practice it's very difficult or requires very advanced skills.<br />If you want some examples, take a look at my portfolio (<a href="../photos/dallalb">http://www.photo.net/photos/dallalb</a>): all these shot were made with a hybrid workflow. I shot with different films and then I scan my best with Nikon's 5000 ED scanner... The different look I achieved is not from PS editing, but from unique film characteristics...<br />Hope that helps, Alberto.</p>

    GND filter on camera versus ACR?

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    <p>Hi Jon, reading this post I've not noticed an important difference between GND filters and exposure blending in post processing: the former technique requires a singol shot while the latter requires multiple shots. This can be a problem if something in your scene is not still (grass, trees, cars, traces, water, etc.): if something is moving when you take multiple exposures you can have serious problems when you need to align the frames in post processing and you can end with several artifacts in your final image. Maybe you are able to remove most of these artifacts, but it's a very time consuming activity and the final quality will suffer...<br>

    Regards, Alberto.</p>

    Canon EC-D in an EOS 3

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>I think you are right, Jeremy. I shoot with a EOS 3 camera and its default screen is... too blank! I sometimes miss lines and references in the viewfinder to compose easily the scene. I use a bubble level in the flash hotshoe, but it's more tricky than your solution... I can consider the grid screen, too...<br>

    Alberto.</p>

    Lens combo suggestions for Canon EOS film (or FF) body

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>I need your suggestions. I shoot film with a Canon EOS 3 body (in the future I want to upgrade with a digital FF body) and currently I own a Sigma 24-70 f2.8 EX Macro (not HSM) and a Canon EF 70-200 mm f4 L (not IS). The Canon is amazing: very sharp and great IQ, my best buying. The Sigma is good, although heavy and noisy and not very fast: what I don't like is its IQ and corner sharpness falloff (and high distortion) at wider end. So I'm thinking to replace it.<br>

    I prefer landscape and nature photography (both scenic and closeups) with tripod and occasionally candid handheld portraits in available light with fill flash.<br>

    I'm an amateur, so my budget is limited, but I think it's worth investing in good quality lenses. I have some ideas and I kindly ask you your opinion.<br>

    OPTION 1: Canon EF 17-40 f4 L (for landscapes) + Canon EF 100 f2.8 macro (for portraits and closeups + new macro possibilities) + Canon EF 70-200 f4 L (which I own);<br>

    OPTION 2: Canon EF 24-105 f4 L IS (for landscapes and general purpose) + Canon EF 70-200 f4 L (which I own);<br>

    The combo EF 17-40 f4 L + EF 100 f2.8 macro costs about the same as EF 24-105 f4 L IS and this is another reason of my choice. I don't need to go very wide (24 mm can be enough) but the 17-40 can open new possibilities...<br>

    Thank you in advance for your suggestions. Alberto.</p>

    Canon EF 17-40 and 24-105 IS in the 24-40 mm range

    in Canon EOS Mount

    Posted

    <p>Hi folks, I was wondering how these two lenses perform in the 24-40 mm range on a full frame or film body.<br>

    I know they are different lenses for different purposes, but I wanted to compare them in their overlap range... Which one performs better?<br>

    Could you post some sample shots?<br>

    Thank you for joining this discussion, Alberto.</p>

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