fjp

<p>5D2</p>

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<p>5D2 under low light - lost detail after reducing to 700px<br>

ISO1600 21mm f/4 1/40sec handheld</p><div></div>

<p>I just tried the 5D2 stop-down button with a Sigma 50 1.4 and a Canon 85 1.8.<br>

The Sigma sounds slightly louder, but not much, as I didn't even noticed it before.<br>

Fernando</p>

<p>I'm using Fedora 10 Linux<br>

I just downloaded the source code from the website and followed the instructions to compile the binary program (ir takes only two commands: ./conflgure; make ).<br>

I didn't even installed it on the system: I ran the program directly from the compile directory.<br>

Now I have the two versions on my computer: 0.15 and 0.16.</p>

<p>I just tried UFRaw 0.16 and it seems to work just fine.</p>

<p>I do not have a 7D but there is a new version of UFRaw 0.16, dated from October 15, that probably will read 7D raw files.<br>

UFraw is based on the command line utility "dcraw" that already includes support for the 7D.<br>

Fernando</p>

<p>I own a 70-300 IS and also have a Sigma 1.4X TC.<br>

You can mount the Sigma 1.4X TC on the 70-300, but you have to be very carefull:<br>

From 70mm to around 130mm the 70-300's rear glass element touches the converter front plastic protection and you always<br /> have to remember not to turn the zoom ring to the lower end.<br>

In practice that isn't a big problem because you only need a TC to get more reach and are only going to use it at the long range, to get 300-420mm focal lengths.<br>

Regarding autofocus, this converter provides autofocus over the entire range (the converter simulates a max 5.6 apperture), but at the long range (more than 200mm) it isn't accurate and tends to hunt a lot except with lots of light.<br>

In conclusion: it works but I wouldn't recommend it.<br>

Fernando</p>

<p>My niece had exactly the same set of lenses as you do: 400D/Xti + 18-55kit + 50/1.8 + 75-300.<br>

When I had to choose another lens to offer her at birthday, I ended up choosing the Sigma 17-70 f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro.<br>

It is slightly faster than the kit lens, offers a better zoom range and also can work as a macro.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>In the previous post I forgot to mention that I'm considering the Distagon 21 ZE.</p>

<p>I'm also interested in getting a good image-quality wide angle prime lens (20 to 28mm)<br /> mainly for shooting landscapes (full frame body), and I would like to know which lens are recommend ?<br>

Fernando</p>

<p>I'm also interested in getting a good image-quality wide angle prime lens (20 to 28mm)<br /> mainly for shooting landscapes (full frame body), and I would like to know which lens are recommend ?</p>

<p>Fernando</p>

<p>Hello,<br>

If you are going to compare several programs, please let us know which one worked better.<br>

I tried several programs one year ago: at the time, I choose UFraw because it was much faster than the other programs (it uses all CPU cores in parallel - if you have a DualDuo or a QuadCore it's a lot faster) but things might have changed since then.<br>

Fernando</p>

<p>TIFF is just another image format: It supports both 8bit and 16bit per color channel images,<br /> as oposed to current JPEG implementations that only support 8 bit images (this might change in the future).</p>

<p>Some persons prefer to convert RAW to 16bit TIFF.<br /> They execute all post processing work (filters, sharpening, blur, etc.) using this 16 bit image and only convert the final image to JPEG as a final step in the end.</p>

<p>http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/digital/raw.html</p>

<p><em>Exactly. So, when I finish with UFRaw I should proceed with GIMP?</em><br>

I think yes.</p>

<p>JPEG uses 8 bits per colour channel resulting in 256 shades of red, green and blue.<br>

16bit TIFF uses 16 bits, corresponding to 65536 shades per colour channel.<br>

However, most camera sensors only generate 12 or 14 bits per pixel, so some of the 16bit bits are not used.<br>

The computer monitor will only display 8 bit colours, but the remaining bits are used by the computer to avoid loosing details when we apply filters and other image transformations.<br>

One of the big advantages of having more bits per channel is that it is possible to correct exposure, colour balance, apply gamma curves without loosing too much information.<br>

In this case, as most of these transformations (gamma curves, exposure and color correction, etc.) are performed inside UFraw using 16bit math, saving the output as a 16 bit image isn't so important, unless when we later want to apply many filters.</p>

<p>When you press OK does the image go back to the gimp window ?<br>

If yes, I guess you can save it inside gimp and apply sharpening, USM, etc.<br>

Fernando</p>

<p>I've been lookig at the user manual http://ufraw.sourceforge.net/Guide.html<br>

and it seems UFraw ca be build as two versions/modes: the standalone version that saves files<br>

and the plugin version that is used inside gimp.<br>

It seems my version is the standalone version and you are using the gimp plugin version.<br>

If you call it from inside gimp, it will return the output image back to gimp.</p>

<p>Fernando</p>

<p>Hi,</p>

<p>I'm using UFRaw version 0.15.</p>

<p>The settings dialog on my system is also empty: it just don't use the settings Dialog :-)</p>

<p>If you look to the scrennshots you just posted, there is row of icons above the "Camera WB" button (below the "+/-" Button).</p>

<p>When you select these buttons, it will open different "tab" pages, with all the other settings (curves, file settings, crop/resize, EXIF, etc.)</p>

<p>Fernando</p>

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<p>Hello,</p>

<p><em>>> I already installed it but for the life of me I can't use it. It opens the RAW files but I have no idea how to continue from there. I searched for a user manual on the net or a FAQ but couldn't find any. I'm talking about a simple one for the most basic things like: To convert a file to other format click on 'File' and then 'Convert and save' (DPP). What I'm looking is some kind of "UFRaw for dummies" handbook.</em></p>

<p>In my copy of UFRaw I just have a "Save" file near the bottom right corner.<br /> I just press "Save" and it saves a JPEG file with the same name as the original raw file.</p>

<p>You will also find an Icon with a Hard-Drive drawing, that opens a Tab where you can select the type of output file (8/channel bit JPEG or 16bit/channel TIFF/PNG) and configure all output file settings, like compression, filename, etc.</p>

<p>You can also choose to generate an "ID" file where it saves all settings you used to convert each RAW file (curves, white-balance, noise reduction, etc.) and later you can convert it again with some small settings changes.</p>

<p>In my system I have defined UFraw as the default program to open RAW CR2 files.</p>

<p>Generally I only have to double click on the raw file to open in with UFRaw and in most cases I only need to press the "Save" button to convert the file because it remembers all settings used to on the previous RAW file.</p>

<p>However, when I'm converting the first file in a batch, I do as following:</p>

<p>- Open the file.</p>

<p>- White-Balance/Color correction:<br /> Check white ballance (First tab) - It lest's you use the color correction values defined by the camera, but you can choose automatic color correction or manual color correction where you select a rectangle on the picture (over a white/gray area of the image).<br /> You can also correct the colors using direct color temperature values.</p>

<p>- Correct exposure/highlights/shadows:<br /> - In case exposer is wrong, you can can correct it and Add/remove up to +/-3EV (+/- Icon) - it even has an auto-correct exposure button.<br /> - In case you have overexposed, you can choose several methods to clip/recover highlighs (soft/hard/clip/etc.)<br /> - In case you have underexposed, you also have several methods to recover shadow details.<br /> It will show blinking highlights and underexposed parts of the image.</p>

<p>- Noise removal:<br /> When shotting at high ISO, you can select a wavelet noise filter denoise level (I use it when shoting at ISO >= 3200 on a 5D2)</p>

<p>- Black and White convertion: if you want to convert to Black and White, the second tab lets you choose several convetion methods: Lightness/Luminance/Value/Channel Mixer.<br /> Converting to BW using Luminance works very well to remove Chroma noise from high ISO images.</p>

<p>- Apply curves to correct gama / luminosity and saturation. You can use two curves - one on the base image and other applied later after interpolating colours.</p>

<p>- Crop and rotate / rescale the image.</p>

<p>You can also see EXIF data, etc.</p>

<p>In the end just press "Save".</p>

<p>There is a mode to batch process many files at once with the same settings, but I never used it.</p>

<p>Sometimes I later apply some sharpening to the resulting JPEGs using Gimp,<br /> but can also save the output as a 16 bit TIFF file and edit it using "cinepaint" (a 16 bit gimp version).</p>

<p>Overall I'm very happy to have found this program as it let's me do all the post-processing using Linux.</p>

<p>Fernando</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I wasn't able to find any version of DPP for Linux, but I've been using UFRaw http://ufraw.sourceforge.net<br>

to convert RAW files, adjust curves, noise reduction, etc., under Linux.</p>

<p>If you want close focus on a wide angle lens and are using a crop-sensor camera, I suggest the "Sigma 17-70 DC macro".<br>

It's not a real macro, but it offers aprox. 2x magnification.<br>

I offered one to my niece on her birthday and she uses it like a macro: it focuses objects less than one inch from the front glass element.<br>

It focuses so close that sometimes she finds the objects touching the protection UV filter...</p>

<p>I have both Sigmas.</p>

<p>I used the old Sigma 24-70 DG macro on a crop sensor camera (400D) and my copy was just fantastic.<br>

But then I upgraded to a 5D2 and I started to notice It was a little soft on the full frame corners.</p>

<p>Recently I purchased the new 24-70 DG IF HSM and I like it a lot.</p>

<p>After performing focus micro-adjustment, the only problem I have detected until now<br>

is some vignetting at the extreme corners at 24mm when focusing at near subjects - but I think it doesn't happen on all pictures.<br>

It doesn't happen at other FL (28mm and higher) and I still didn't check if the problem is related<br>

to UV filter or lens-hood.</p>

<p>Sigma also sells a 105 macro (unfortunately non HSM).<br>

However, it includes a hood with a 77mm thread to attach 77mm filters.</p>

<p>I think the 1.4 extender will decrement the effective lens apperture by one F/stop.<br>

Thus you get the equivalent to a 140mmx560mm f/6.3-8 lens.<br>

Unfortunately, I believe autofocus only works with f/5.6 or larger apertures,<br>

but you may still manual focus and get focus confirmation from the body.<br>

Fernando Pereira</p>

<p>Yes, with some postprocessing these H2 images can be made usable.<br>

For instance if you want black and white photos, you can get better results<br>

since most of the 5D2 noise seems to be chroma noise.</p>

<p> </p><div></div>

<p>ISO 25600 shows a lot more noise than 12800.<br>

I'm a Linux user and thus I cannot use all of the fancy software available for Windows/Mac.<br>

Fortunately I've found the UFRAW freeware program to process RAW files, including a wavelet noise filter.<br>

I shot this picture just to test ISO25600 (handheld).<br>

These pictures are far from perfect, but in some extreme cases the images can be used for some low-res applications.</p>

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