Discussion
I have lost track of how long I have been away from PH, and while I still have it as my home page, I never wandered into the forums for quite some time. It was most likely due to my senior year of high school, my job, and my broken D70. However, now that it is summer, I have been unvoluntarily unemployed, and my D70 has been fixed for free 6 months out of warrenty (thank you, Nikon), I figure it is as good a time as any to return.
I managed to acquire another Panasonic camera, a DMC-FZ20. I bought it used and about a year old from my former manager, who knew nothing about digital cameras. She was hooked on her new Casio compact P&S and mentioned selling the FZ20, so I offered $250 and she took my offer. That brings my total of up-to-date digital cameras to 4, split into two Nikons and two Panasonics. So perhaps that makes me a Panasonican as well? At any rate, aside from noise in photos taken with 1 second exposures and longer, I really can't find fault with it, and it makes a great camera to take anywhere I want great pictures, but don't want to worry about a DSLR. I can leave it in my car in the summer in 120 degree heat, use the 12x image-stabilized optical zoom and thus eliminate changing lenses, and easily bring it along wherever I go, as the entire camera weighs about as much as two EN-EL3 batteries and my CF card case. Well, maybe a little more than that... Oh, and dust: there's no worry about dust. I never would think of bringing a D70 to the beach, yet the FZ20 performed quite well at various sandy beaches, even withstanding my dropping it in the sand a few times. Anyhow, now to some pictures from the time I've been away...
Nikon 300mm f/4 w/ Promaster 1.7x Teleconverter
@ f/4, 1/500 sec, & ISO 200
Just the typical picture of the moon taken a few days ago. I was surprised though at how bright the moon actually was... I was anticipating shutter speeds of 1/10 or slower at maximum aperture, but with those settings I ended up with a white blob.
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 1/640 sec & ISO 100
After attempting to take some pictures while driving with my newly-acquired camera in early June, and after being foiled by rain, I got this picture while I was pumping gas.
Sony DSC-V3
@ f/2.8, 1/15 sec & ISO 100
I may have posted this already, as I took it in early November last year. I was on my way to work and was going to sell this camera to a co-worker, and took this last shot in case he wanted to see how well it worked. He took it anyway, and I didn't get around to looking at this photo until after I already sold it. Biggest mistake I ever made. I wasn't even necessarily trying to get a decent picture, I just put it to landscape mode, and free-handed the shot before popping out the memory card and taking it inside. Lesson I learned: never sell a good digital camera even if you think you're replacing it...
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 8 sec & ISO 80
I was experimenting with long exposure shots with artificial light. As for color, I thought this shot came out rather well, though the noise left something to be desired... but that's what I get for not using a DSLR.
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 8 sec & ISO 100
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 4 sec & ISO 100
These were from a visit to Pittsburgh in mid-June. A friend of mine who lives there brought me to one of the overlooks, and I just happened to have the FZ20 with me. That's what I love about that camera, though: it gives close to DSLR quality, yet is compact and can be left in a car without fear of expensive damage. Anyhow, the first shot seemed to be a tad overexposed, so I halved the exposure time for the second. Both photos were this well saturated when taken, though I had to select the sky and turn it to pitch black to get rid of the otherwise horrid noise.
Nikon DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5
I could get the EXIF data from these photos if I wanted to, but that would involve finding the original NEF files from whence they came, then the corresponding JPEG with the data in it. In general, they were all taken at 18mm, ISO 100, and a combination of either f/22 (or smaller) & 1/10 sec, or f/3.5 & 1/500 sec, depending on if I wanted the water still or in motion. If anyone would want the exact EXIF data, I wouldn't mind retreiving it, though.
Anyhow, this was the first time I used my newly repaired D70 to take any serious number of pictures. I did this at the Bushkill park in northern Pennsylvania this past weekend. Really, I wasn't expecting much from the shots I took, since I hadn't been using a DSLR since January. But I guess my constantly using manual settings on my P&S cameras and having to worry about blurring paid off.
Given that I have about a month and a half until I begin school again, I'll be shooting a lot more with my arsenal of digital cameras... And I'll be sure to post.
I managed to acquire another Panasonic camera, a DMC-FZ20. I bought it used and about a year old from my former manager, who knew nothing about digital cameras. She was hooked on her new Casio compact P&S and mentioned selling the FZ20, so I offered $250 and she took my offer. That brings my total of up-to-date digital cameras to 4, split into two Nikons and two Panasonics. So perhaps that makes me a Panasonican as well? At any rate, aside from noise in photos taken with 1 second exposures and longer, I really can't find fault with it, and it makes a great camera to take anywhere I want great pictures, but don't want to worry about a DSLR. I can leave it in my car in the summer in 120 degree heat, use the 12x image-stabilized optical zoom and thus eliminate changing lenses, and easily bring it along wherever I go, as the entire camera weighs about as much as two EN-EL3 batteries and my CF card case. Well, maybe a little more than that... Oh, and dust: there's no worry about dust. I never would think of bringing a D70 to the beach, yet the FZ20 performed quite well at various sandy beaches, even withstanding my dropping it in the sand a few times. Anyhow, now to some pictures from the time I've been away...
Nikon 300mm f/4 w/ Promaster 1.7x Teleconverter
@ f/4, 1/500 sec, & ISO 200
Just the typical picture of the moon taken a few days ago. I was surprised though at how bright the moon actually was... I was anticipating shutter speeds of 1/10 or slower at maximum aperture, but with those settings I ended up with a white blob.
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 1/640 sec & ISO 100
After attempting to take some pictures while driving with my newly-acquired camera in early June, and after being foiled by rain, I got this picture while I was pumping gas.
Sony DSC-V3
@ f/2.8, 1/15 sec & ISO 100
I may have posted this already, as I took it in early November last year. I was on my way to work and was going to sell this camera to a co-worker, and took this last shot in case he wanted to see how well it worked. He took it anyway, and I didn't get around to looking at this photo until after I already sold it. Biggest mistake I ever made. I wasn't even necessarily trying to get a decent picture, I just put it to landscape mode, and free-handed the shot before popping out the memory card and taking it inside. Lesson I learned: never sell a good digital camera even if you think you're replacing it...
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 8 sec & ISO 80
I was experimenting with long exposure shots with artificial light. As for color, I thought this shot came out rather well, though the noise left something to be desired... but that's what I get for not using a DSLR.
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 8 sec & ISO 100
Panasonic DMC-FZ20
@ f/2.8, 4 sec & ISO 100
These were from a visit to Pittsburgh in mid-June. A friend of mine who lives there brought me to one of the overlooks, and I just happened to have the FZ20 with me. That's what I love about that camera, though: it gives close to DSLR quality, yet is compact and can be left in a car without fear of expensive damage. Anyhow, the first shot seemed to be a tad overexposed, so I halved the exposure time for the second. Both photos were this well saturated when taken, though I had to select the sky and turn it to pitch black to get rid of the otherwise horrid noise.
Nikon DX 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5
I could get the EXIF data from these photos if I wanted to, but that would involve finding the original NEF files from whence they came, then the corresponding JPEG with the data in it. In general, they were all taken at 18mm, ISO 100, and a combination of either f/22 (or smaller) & 1/10 sec, or f/3.5 & 1/500 sec, depending on if I wanted the water still or in motion. If anyone would want the exact EXIF data, I wouldn't mind retreiving it, though.
Anyhow, this was the first time I used my newly repaired D70 to take any serious number of pictures. I did this at the Bushkill park in northern Pennsylvania this past weekend. Really, I wasn't expecting much from the shots I took, since I hadn't been using a DSLR since January. But I guess my constantly using manual settings on my P&S cameras and having to worry about blurring paid off.
Given that I have about a month and a half until I begin school again, I'll be shooting a lot more with my arsenal of digital cameras... And I'll be sure to post.
A coincidence ?As someone still learning what her camera can do (Fuji S7000 - bought 'cause a pro friend of mine said was the best on the market at the time 2 years ago ish) may I please say a very big thank you for putting the shutter speeds etc on the excellent photos you have kindly shared!
I've learnt more from these than any of the books (& the manual and the college course) I've taken!!
Thanks
Ali
I've learnt more from these than any of the books (& the manual and the college course) I've taken!!
Thanks
Ali
ali_kat said:
As someone still learning what her camera can do (Fuji S7000 - bought 'cause a pro friend of mine said was the best on the market at the time 2 years ago ish) may I please say a very big thank you for putting the shutter speeds etc on the excellent photos you have kindly shared!
I've learnt more from these than any of the books (& the manual and the college course) I've taken!!
Thanks
Ali
I've learnt more from these than any of the books (& the manual and the college course) I've taken!!
Thanks
Ali
No problem, I don't entirely know why I started listing the image data, but I've recently found myself looking at photos in magazines thinking "Hmm, I wonder what settings they used for that..." Like I said, I'd list settings for the D70 photos, but it would be rather hard to get them for a series of photos. But for individual and smaller batches of photos I'll post in the future, I'll make sure to save the data from them.
imperialism2024 said:
ali_kat said:
As someone still learning what her camera can do (Fuji S7000 - bought 'cause a pro friend of mine said was the best on the market at the time 2 years ago ish) may I please say a very big thank you for putting the shutter speeds etc on the excellent photos you have kindly shared!
I've learnt more from these than any of the books (& the manual and the college course) I've taken!!
Thanks
Ali
I've learnt more from these than any of the books (& the manual and the college course) I've taken!!
Thanks
Ali
No problem, I don't entirely know why I started listing the image data, but I've recently found myself looking at photos in magazines thinking "Hmm, I wonder what settings they used for that..." Like I said, I'd list settings for the D70 photos, but it would be rather hard to get them for a series of photos. But for individual and smaller batches of photos I'll post in the future, I'll make sure to save the data from them.
Thanks! I don't browse in here very often tho
I've been playing whilst on holiday this week, taking the same shot with all the different shutter speeds, apatures (SP!), flashes that this thing does etc, and have had some good results, all I need to do is remember what worked when I want to do it for 'real'!!
Whilst out here (Tenerife) I made friends with an English guy that runs an animal sanctury as a registered charity over here as there are lots of abandonded dogs and cats here. He had a basket with 8 x 6 week old kittens that had been dumped at the age of @ 3 weeks, that he is hand rearing with the help of other animals in the scanctury. I took a load of photos for him that I will email to him to make posters of, as they have come out quite well (if I do say so myself
) and will be good for promotion of his work. 
Edited by ali_kat on Wednesday 12th July 22:54
Good stuff! Good to see you back and snapping in a Panikon sort of way 
imperialism2024 said:
I was surprised though at how bright the moon actually was...
Well you have to bear in mind that it's about the light level you would expect shining on a piece of wensleydale cheese on a bright sunny summer day.........Gassing Station | Photography & Video | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff