hondo2

<p>I tend to find magazine reviews very subjective. In my opinion a minimum of 10 individuals should review the product(s) to achieve any review with substance. Obviously these individuals should not be biased towards any one particular manufacturer, but knowing this can not always be the case, the bias should be equally divided.<br>

If I truly wanted my Olympus to perform like a Canon or Nikon, then I would purchase a Canon or Nikon.</p>

<p>Lauren:</p>

<p>I find the easiest way to extract a subject is using channels, especially when hair is involved. Here is a link to a tutorial in PDF format: <a href="http://www.photoshopforphotographers.com/pscs2/download/movie-04.pdf">http://www.photoshopforphotographers.com/pscs2/download/movie-04.pdf</a></p>

<p>I hope this helps out.</p>

<p>Regards,<br /> Al</p>

<p>The first thing I notice is the need for tighter cropping. Second, using aperture priority at F5.6 / F8 will blur your background to focus more attention on your subject(s).<br>

As for the tinting, I agree you should use Photoshop,Paint Shop Pro, Photoshop Elements. If you do not own either of these or they are not in your budget, I recommend GIMP Image Editor, which you can download for free. I would then Google "photoshop black and white tinting". Also, there is a stripped Photoshop Elements version online at Photoshop.com.<br>

Good luck.</p>

<p>I would recommend your own personal website. Many web-hosting companies offer gallery type applications which you can password protect. Two applications that come to mind are <a href="http://coppermine-gallery.net/"><strong>Coppermine</strong> </a> and <a href="http://www.zenphoto.org"><strong>ZenPhoto</strong> </a> . Although, if you explore this route, choose a web-host that uses <strong><em>Fantastico</em> </strong> or <strong><em>Simple Script</em> </strong> to install these applications.<br>

<br /> This is not an endorsement, but the following companies are known to have reasonable pricing and offer the applications mentioned above.</p>

<ul>

<li><a href="http://www.hostmonster.com">www.hostmonster.com</a> </li>

<li><a href="http://www.godaddy.com">www.godaddy.com</a> </li>

<li><a href="http://www.webhostingbuzz.com">www.webhostingbuzz.com</a> </li>

</ul>

<p><em>Maybe</em> , if I can clear some time in my schedule, I can set up both applications so you can check them out; although, I can't make any promises. If I am able, I will post to this thread with the web address, username, and password for a gallery.</p>

<p>Photis,<br /> <br /> If you have not yet returned the camera and lenses, might I make one more recommendation.<br /> <br /> I noticed your post on November 24th at 2:21AM, the data for your test conditions is "A clear day SAF 14-42 F8 IS0100. Since there is no shutter speed indicated and judging by exposure I can only assume. Anyone following this thread, correct me if I am wrong, but the ideal settings for "A clear day" would be F16, Shutter-speed 125, ISO100.<br /> <br /> This prompted me to look at your second image in this posting and I noticed the exposure was off as well. I took the liberty and adjusted the image with GIMP Image Editor.<br /> <br /> First I corrected the exposure; then I corrected the brightness and contrast. This seemed to improve the sharpness of the image.<br /> <br /> Having worked in a photo lab, processing is extremely important to the final result. The first thing would be to check your colour profile. You can use the Adobe Gamma Wizard or if your budget permits, invest in a monitor colour profiler. Next, use the Adobe-RGB colour profile on the camera. In several articles I've read the Adobe-RGB colour profile is the recommended on the camera. If you do not have the Adobe Digital Negative Converter, I would recommend downloading it from Adobe.com.<br /> <br /> I hope this helps out my friend and Good Luck!</p><div></div>

<p>My apologies for not following the thread a bit more closely.<br>

Just out of curiosity Photis, are you shooting RAW or JPEG or both? If your shooting RAW, what software are you using to convert your RAW files for import into Photoshop?</p>

I did a little research for you and came up with this link: <br /><br />

<a href="http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_14-42_3p5-5p6_o20/page4.asp">http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/olympus_14-42_3p5-5p6_o20/page4.asp</a>

<br /><br />

Hope that helps out.

<p>I'd have to agree with George, it looks as if the AF focused on the tree.</p>

<p>I would also try a larger F-Stop number; a larger F-Stop = Larger area of focus, a smaller F-Stop = a smaller area of focus. If you notice your area of focus is from the tree to approximately the bottom 3rd line.</p>

<p>Last but not least, you can adjust the sharpness setting on the E-510.</p>

I use one that I made myself and it seems to work fine. Materials(Poly lining black and white, dowels for frame) + screw ups, my end cost was approximately $25.00. The box is 42" x 60". It's another possibility to consider.