billballardphotography

Hello everyone,

 

I've joined the 'Drone World' of photography with a DJI Phantom 4 Pro+ UAV. Still learning to fly, grasping the clear and specific rules and regs, wading through all of the vague contradictory rues and regs, and having fun. Nothing to show yet; just a few stills and videos shot so far to get a feel for the camera works.

I coveted the EOS 1V HS but alas, the closest I ever got to (owning and shooting consistently with one) was one of my darkroom mentors shot two of them. I did, however, shoot the EOS 3 extensively and loved it as well.

Not cheap, but I don't think you can beat Gitzo tripods for their weight/size versus stability.

 

Incidentally, I'm not sure why anyone would want to bulk up a small and lightweight camera with an L bracket. Seems counter-productive to me. It takes only seconds to bolt a camera or lens to a screw-fit head, old school style.

 

True - I used Gitzo legs for years. And exactly what Ed said for the L-bracket. Haven't ruled out ballheads though. Thanks!

Hi Bill,

 

I purchased a Mefoto Roadtrip for air travel a few years ago. It reverse folds and fits easily in a carry-on bag. It comes with an arca swiss compatible ball head that handles my D7000 with 16-85 lens well. The 70-300 pushes the limits. I think it would be more than sturdy enough for your Fuji X100 or an XT1 with primes. There are a number of similar tripods sold under different names. Look up and down the product lines to find the best balance of size, weight capacity, and cost. One advantage is that they are relatively inexpensive in the event of salt water corrosion.

 

Joe

Joe!

 

Hope all is well with you guys. We need to get together sometimes!

 

In looking around, I'm surprised at how inexpensive carbon-fiber tripods are. (That's 'inexpensive' in relative terms - compared to carbon-fiber boat gear!) And I hadn't even considered the reverse folding capabilities. I'm not shooting big glass so much these days, so the Mefoto Roadtrip or similar sounds ideal. Thanks!

Hello all -

 

Looking for recommendations for a small, good quality, and sturdy tripod, one capable of various head adaptions - ball, L-bracket, etc. Cameras are Fujifilm X series mirrorless, one original X100 and a X100F. I also have occasional access to a Fujifilm XT1 body. No big lenses for the XT1, all small zooms and primes to 56MM.

 

In the studio days, and living-in-a-house days, I had multiple heavy tripods for my big film 35's and lenses, and my MF bodies. Used the same for my DSLR's. Now, I'm compact and mirrorless and live aboard a small 34' (10M) cruising sailboat. Our total 'living' space is about 275sq/ft; the actual space where we can walk and stand in the cabin is < 50sq/ft. Clearly, the key here is small size and ability to be stored in a tight space. Good portability, durability, (i.e., good quality), etc., are a must for when in use.

 

I am open to your suggestions - thanks in advance.

<p>Thanks again, everyone!</p>

<p>David H: actually, no I haven't yet made up my mind. Thanks for posting your link. I did what I thought was a thorough search and didn't see what I felt was a workable 12vDC monitor anywhere.</p>

<p>Wouter & David S: I'll revisit the Surface models again...and a machine working 'flawlessly' in Windows 10? I look forward to that! ;)</p>

<p>Alan: I've not checked that particular one - I'll take a look. Thanks!</p>

<p>Thanks everyone, for your replies and input. I do need to explain some issues a bit further:</p>

<p>David, LG: I did consider an external monitor. However, there are two inherent concerns about going the external monitor route. First, is the power supply. Unless someone knows of a suitable, high-quality monitor which is powered by 12vDC, it's an incredibly difficult (and expensive) option from the power supply perspective. We don't generate our own AC current on-board, and can only use the shore power supply (120vAC, 50mhz) when we're dockside. Away from the dock, and in most foreign ports, I wont have any way to power the monitor. To keep our costs down, when we're traveling, we're anchored out or on a mooring as opposed to being in a marina. My second concern is secure stowage. Of course, maintaining the systems in the general marine environment is a challenge - and that applies to all of my gear - cameras, lenses, memory cards, etc.</p>

<p>Eric: I took a long, hard look at the Microsoft Surface Pro models. My big concern with them is durability, especially the keyboards. I don't think they could stand up to the beating any machine is going to take living aboard a small boat making ocean passages.</p>

<p>JayDann and Barry: Mac is still a good option, particularly since I discovered that I can transfer my Adobe Cloud from Win to Mac. This is still the front-runner and thus far, the better option. Or so it seems.</p>

<p>Thanks again everyone -</p>

<p>I have a Lenovo Edge 15 that is proving to be simply awful for editing. <em>(I'm using Adobe CC, PS & LR with varying Nik and VSCO plugins. The Lenovo is Windows 10, 64 bit.)</em> When I look at my images on another monitor - even other laptops - the images I've processed on the Lenovo are flat, and lacking good contrast and tonal range. This is much more noticeable in color than monochrome images, but the disparity is there. I can even see differences between images from other photographers when viewed on the Lenovo and my phone.</p>

<p>The big issue seems to be the lack of adjustable color settings for the monitor. Using the Windows 10 color calibration tool, I can set the Gamma and RGB. I use the Lenovo settings for brightness...but there is no setting to adjust the contrast. I've used the X-Rite i1Display Pro color calibration system and end up with a very flat and warm toned image on the screen.</p>

<p>So...I have three choices as I see it:</p>

<p>1. Buy another laptop, with the most adjustable monitor I can find for it. So far, my research has shown the Dell XPS 15 (non-touch) to be worth considering, and not necessarily with the uber hi-res 'touch' monitor offered as an option.<br>

2. Buy a MacBook Pro 15 with Retina Display, and make the switch from PC to Mac. <em>(I understand the Retina Display is not adjustable, per se.)</em><br>

3. Take my former studio assistant up on his offer to do my post/retouching work on his Mac setup; he knows what he's doing, and he understands how I see. Plus, his work is awesome!<br>

<br />I also must use a laptop as I live on board my 34' sailboat. A desktop system is not an option, not up for consideration, and not doable. And having said that, the lighting is horrible in the boat - all LED - and that is most certainly a factor in the lack of quality of the image edits. And going off topic for a second, the boat is also a factor in my considering a move from PC to Mac, as we already use an iPad for navigation.</p>

<p>For the near term, I'll be using my former assistant's talents for post work. But sometime in the next couple of months, I will need to find a solution which will work for my lifestyle. I'm no longer a working pro, but from time to time I sell a print here and there, and do post images on the web, etc. Quality is important. Any input is appreciated.</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

 

<p>For what I shoot, I use "M" 99 % of the time. The other 1% is split between Av and Tv.</p>

<p>John, et all...</p>

<p>I didn't intend to sound negative, as if there was nothing good about the critiques and suggested adjustments. I do agree that others may benefit from them while I may not, and I'll be honest and say I didn't stop to consider that when I started the thread. I hold no animosity towards this individual.</p>

<p>John, you are absolutely right about nudes in photography. Nudes touch a nerve, and people respond sometimes in uniquely dofferent ways towards them.</p>

<p>Best regards to all -</p>

<p>I hear you Lex. I've considered those very points myself.</p>

<p>I long ago presumed this particular individual was new to photography. In truth, his 'tweaks' have only been a little annoying; sometimes even humorous. I recently posted a low-key studio shot and his critique was "Nice shot, but it's dark. More light would help" and voila, there's the link with his suggested adjustments!</p>

<p>As I said, onward and upward - </p>

<p>Off to check out Fastone now...</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

<p>Hey Joe!</p>

<p>Thanks - I had completely forgotten about Picassa. I thought about LR too, but probably will need it for longer then 30 days, but since I may upgrading within 90, I don't want to spend too much $$$ so Picasa and IrFanview are looking quite attractive at the moment.</p>

<p>Send me an email - let's catch up!</p>

<p>Garrison -</p>

<p>A great suggestion, and one I've been tempted to try, but I'm so close to the platform switch (I hope, anyway) that I'm reluctant to invest the time...</p>

<p>Best -</p>

<p>Tom,</p>

<p>Thank you for your reply.</p>

<p>I fully understand that having suggestions demonstrated can be helpful. And you are also correct to point out that comments as vague as "adding more light", (which I personally don't see or take as a criticism), can have endless intrepretations, and such demonstrations of what the commenter actually has in mind can be tremendously helpful.</p>

<p>Still, it's frustrating. Ah well. Onwards and upwards!</p>

<p>Best -</p>

<p>JDM -</p>

<p>Bridge was great until the crash, of course. I know lots of people don't care for it, but it was perfect for my needs.</p>

<p>GraphicConverter is one I've not heard of. I'll definitely take a look. Thanks for the link.</p>

<p>Best -</p>

<p>Excellent idea -</p>

<p>Thanks Mendel -</p>

<p>ACDsee is one I was trying to remember the name of...and I'll check Irfanview too.</p>

<p>Best -</p>

<p>Ah, you are correct...of course, however, that was 10 years ago...age-memory!</p>

<p>Thanks for the prompt reply.</p>

<p>There is one, (well intentioned I'm sure), member that frequently takes images I've posted in the Critique Forum and applies his "fixes" or "suggestions" to them, then reposts them in the image critique thread. </p>

<p>While I'm certainly open to being critiqued, (I wouldn't post images if I weren't), and have been through my share of rough ones in the 30+ years I've been doing this, modifying another persons images to fit one's own ideals is going a bit far, even if it's to demonstrate the suggestions being made. After all, I do understand what 'adding more light' and 'more focus' mean. </p>

<p>Is there a way to upload an image so the image cannot be altered, or as he calls it, "fixed"?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance -</p>

<p>Hello everyone -<br>

I did a search, but the relevant threads I found were several years old.</p>

<p>Last year, my Windows XP2 system crashed hard. Amazingly, I recovered every application save one: Adobe Bridge.</p>

<p>It is the only applicaton that will not work. After a cumulative 14 hours on the telephone (spread over three days) with Adobe and Windows tech support, including a confrence call between the three of us, the final suggestions was to replace the system. Both the Adobe and Windows techs agreed that a chain of code somewhere in Windows was broken and any repair was unlikely.</p>

<p>So, I sucked it up and have been using the Windows Photo/FAX Viewer as a browser. As I shoot in RAW+JPEG, it is functional, but for the purposes of organization, real world evaluation, etc., it's useless.</p>

<p>I hope to upgrade my system (probably MAC) sometime this year, but until then: can anyone recommend a good after-market image broswer?<br>

Thanks in Advance!</p>

 

<p>Don't sell your LF gear -<br>

Don't close your darkroom -<br>

Buy up all the Kodak Polymax Fine-Art Double Weight Fiber paper you can get your hands on -</p>

I posted a reply in a similar thread, but have gotten no responses...and I couldn't find anything in a search. I'm sorry if

I'm breaching protocol...

 

I've read that the Epson storage devices mentioned in the subject line have issues reading Lexar "WA" CF cards. I've

not been able to validate this from any other source, including the Epson and Lexar sites. Of course, my complete

inventory of CF cards is made up of Lexar "WA" units...

 

Has anyone else heard of this or experienced it firsthand?

I was also looking at one of these (or the Epson P-5000) but I've read that the Lexar WA CF cards have some difficulties communicating with the Epson storage units.

 

Of course, my entire CF card inventory consists of Lexar WA CF cards -

 

I am grateful for any input -

I have to echo the EOS 3. I've got two of them and I'll never, ever get rid of them.