4/3 vs dslr

[Grainbelt]

Originally Posted by DriveShaft

Macro is definitely not something I'm up to speed on. What's the meaning of the 1:1 ratio, and what's its appeal?

1:1 means the image is the same size as the sensor, so a 35mm sensor would take in a 35mm image, and for smaller DSLR sensors, the same holds true. None of the above images were anywhere near 1:1, that's rch territory.

Extension tubes are used to take a 'normal' 50mm or other lens and use it for macro (close-focus) purposes.

[Grainbelt]

and by rch I mean red cunt hair

you can thank my dad for that

[RocketMan]

Originally Posted by DriveShaft

Macro is definitely not something I'm up to speed on. What's the meaning of the 1:1 ratio, and what's its appeal?

The other big macro mystery to me is the purpose of extension tubes...

Nice flower "portraits," btw.

A short primer on Macro and magnification ratios (not to be confused with aspect ratios )

http://www.dpreview.com/learn/?/Glos...l/Macro_01.htm

RM

[DriveShaft]

Originally Posted by RocketMan

A short primer on Macro and magnification ratios (not to be confused with aspect ratios )

[URL]

RM

Hey, that was a useful little description. It definitely cleared up some of the terminology for me, like what the 1st "1" represents & what the 2nd "1" represents in the phrase "1:1 macro." Particularly useful in translating to non-35mm cameras.

[Rashnak]

Originally Posted by HardCase

I checked out the Panasonic 7-14 which is an f4. I've never really felt a need for extreme wide-angles, at the lower end of the range this one would be almost a fish-eye. My kit lens which is a 14-42 has about as much wide angle as I feel that I need, but I note that a lot of serious photographers seem to really like wide-angles and to use them more than they do telephotos. On the later score, I've been eyeballing the Panasonic 100-300mm, thinking that would be great for sporting events and also for nature/wild-life.

I still would not mind having the Voigtlander 25mm......maybe someday if they become readily available and turn up for a good price. I was surprised to notice on Amazon that my camera (Oly Pen E-P2) with the 'kit' that I got which included the EVF and the 14-42 lens is now more than $250 more than what I paid a little over a year ago, and many of the lenses have gone up in price as well. Is that a function of the declining dollar versus foreign currencies?

the main use of wide angle is panorama shots and indoor shots. 7mm is a long way aways from 14mm, you would have to stich together a bunch of 14mm shots to make a single 7mm. You could stand in the corner of a normal size room and get the whole room in the shot with the 7mm lens.

that 100-300mm lens gets great reviews too. The way I understand it, that lens really shows the benefits of the m4/3 system- giving a really long reach in a small compact lens at a decent price. I'm not sure the OIS works on your camera.

As for prices- I think the earthquake/tsunami has probably affected pricing quite a bit on all cameras and lenses.

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by Rashnak

the main use of wide angle is panorama shots and indoor shots. 7mm is a long way aways from 14mm, you would have to stich together a bunch of 14mm shots to make a single 7mm. You could stand in the corner of a normal size room and get the whole room in the shot with the 7mm lens.

that 100-300mm lens gets great reviews too. The way I understand it, that lens really shows the benefits of the m4/3 system- giving a really long reach in a small compact lens at a decent price. I'm not sure the OIS works on your camera.

As for prices- I think the earthquake/tsunami has probably affected pricing quite a bit on all cameras and lenses.

I can see the benefit of a wide-angle for indoors or architectural shots more than for panoramas and scenics. I found that even a 28mm (on an old 35mm SLR.....a 14mm on a m4/3) tended to compress things too much, a gorgeous mountain range suddenly looked like little mole-hills, with lots of sky and foreground included in the shot! I can't imagine what a m4/3 7mm would do to a scene like that!

I probably will spring for the 100-300 one of these days, having a compact lens that is the equivalent of a 600mm telephoto on a 35mm format camera, is hard to resist.

I agree that the tsunami likely had an impact on availability, hence price, of a lot of this stuff.

[NikonsAndVStroms]

Originally Posted by Grainbelt

and by rch I mean red cunt hair

you can thank my dad for that

Or black chest hair.....and no I never made a series of abstract images of this....never:



To be in a fine art photography program again

And the photographer I studied under is famous for putting his naked body into scenes and having it look like it fit as part of nature so this wasn't even that big of a deal.

[Rashnak]

Originally Posted by HardCase

I can see the benefit of a wide-angle for indoors or architectural shots more than for panoramas and scenics. I found that even a 28mm (on an old 35mm SLR.....a 14mm on a m4/3) tended to compress things too much, a gorgeous mountain range suddenly looked like little mole-hills, with lots of sky and foreground included in the shot! I can't imagine what a m4/3 7mm would do to a scene like that!

I probably will spring for the 100-300 one of these days, having a compact lens that is the equivalent of a 600mm telephoto on a 35mm format camera, is hard to resist.

I agree that the tsunami likely had an impact on availability, hence price, of a lot of this stuff.

i've been saving my pennies for a GH2- that camera has great video functions and would suit me perfectly (i'm more into video than pics)

with four lenses it would make a fantastic package for motorcycle travel

7-14mm wideangle- for landscapes and bright indoor scenes to capture a wide view

20mm - low light and portrait as well as a compact walking around lens

14-140mm- general purpose lens medium zoom shots

100-300mm - telephoto- the gh2 has a XTC mode which is an in-camera crop function. With this lens it gives 4mp pics at an equivalent of 1560mm!!!


this is a fairly expensive bit of kit tho , but an amazing range of capability in a small, lightweight package. The only thing missing would be a great macro lens, but the other lenses could be pressed into service for that duty.

[DriveShaft]

Originally Posted by HardCase

I can see the benefit of a wide-angle for indoors or architectural shots more than for panoramas and scenics. I found that even a 28mm (on an old 35mm SLR.....a 14mm on a m4/3) tended to compress things too much, a gorgeous mountain range suddenly looked like little mole-hills, with lots of sky and foreground included in the shot! I can't imagine what a m4/3 7mm would do to a scene like that!

I probably will spring for the 100-300 one of these days, having a compact lens that is the equivalent of a 600mm telephoto on a 35mm format camera, is hard to resist.

I agree that the tsunami likely had an impact on availability, hence price, of a lot of this stuff.

Wide-angle shots do work well with landscapes, imo, particularly if you combine Grainbelt's suggestion w/ landscape shots. If you google near-far composition, I'm sure a ton of examples would come up. Results can be quite dramatic. Also, some shots look better when shot wide angle, then having the aspect ratio clipped to a more panoramic view.

[Grainbelt]

Originally Posted by NikonsAndVStroms

Or black chest hair.....and no I never made a series of abstract images of this....never.

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by DriveShaft

Wide-angle shots do work well with landscapes, imo, particularly if you combine Grainbelt's suggestion w/ landscape shots. If you google near-far composition, I'm sure a ton of examples would come up. Results can be quite dramatic. Also, some shots look better when shot wide angle, then having the aspect ratio clipped to a more panoramic view.

I'll look into that. My photographic education, such as it was, took place in the late 1960s, and things were a bit different back then..... Thanks for the tip, I'm definitely interested in learning more.

[HardCase]

Originally Posted by Rashnak

i've been saving my pennies for a GH2- that camera has great video functions and would suit me perfectly (i'm more into video than pics)

with four lenses it would make a fantastic package for motorcycle travel

7-14mm wideangle- for landscapes and bright indoor scenes to capture a wide view

20mm - low light and portrait as well as a compact walking around lens

14-140mm- general purpose lens medium zoom shots

100-300mm - telephoto- the gh2 has a XTC mode which is an in-camera crop function. With this lens it gives 4mp pics at an equivalent of 1560mm!!!


this is a fairly expensive bit of kit tho , but an amazing range of capability in a small, lightweight package. The only thing missing would be a great macro lens, but the other lenses could be pressed into service for that duty.

You're right, that would be a great kit but not inexpensive. Still, compared to something roughly comparable in the dSLR range, it'd be quite a bargain. And you could add the excellent Panasonic/Leica 45mm f/2.8 macro for a mere $850-900!

Okay, I confess that I just ordered the Pany 100-300 from Amazon today. I'll give you a report after I get it and have a chance to play with it a bit.

Edit: I should add that I already have the Pany 45-200 which was a fairly inexpensive but decent lens. I used it quite a bit last summer when my girlfriend was playing on a softball team, and found that on a sunny day I could hand-hold it, get some decent shots, and then crop them down and still have pretty decent clarity. I didn't do that in the camera, am not sure whether the E-P2 has that feature or not, but it was no problem to do it on the computer. I realize that the new lens will overlap with what I already have to some extent, but having that extra 100mm of reach will make a big difference, I think. I'm interested in doing some wildlife photography later this summer and into the fall as well, and it should be great for that.

[DriveShaft]

Originally Posted by HardCase

You're right, that would be a great kit but not inexpensive. Still, compared to something roughly comparable in the dSLR range, it'd be quite a bargain. And you could add the excellent Panasonic/Leica 45mm f/2.8 macro for a mere $850-900!

Okay, I confess that I just ordered the Pany 100-300 from Amazon today. I'll give you a report after I get it and have a chance to play with it a bit.

Edit: I should add that I already have the Pany 45-200 which was a fairly inexpensive but decent lens. I used it quite a bit last summer when my girlfriend was playing on a softball team, and found that on a sunny day I could hand-hold it, get some decent shots, and then crop them down and still have pretty decent clarity. I didn't do that in the camera, am not sure whether the E-P2 has that feature or not, but it was no problem to do it on the computer. I realize that the new lens will overlap with what I already have to some extent, but having that extra 100mm of reach will make a big difference, I think. I'm interested in doing some wildlife photography later this summer and into the fall as well, and it should be great for that.

The panny 7-14, 14-140 100-300 is a terrific 3 lens package. I'da done the 14-45 & 40-150. but really it just buys you a stop or so around 40, & it means more lens swapping, so a tradeoff.

Personally, I'm hoping Oly eventually re-creates their high grade zuiko digital line-up in m4/3 format. I might roll with the 12-60 & the 50-200 & a teleconverter (if they ever roll one out). Maybe the 8mm fisheye as a kicker. That would be pretty perfect. I'd be tossing out some of my DSLR lenses, & just keeping the M4/3 platform for my small kit. The DSLR'd only come out when I want f/2.0 zooms or splashproof build.

[Rashnak]

Originally Posted by HardCase

You're right, that would be a great kit but not inexpensive. Still, compared to something roughly comparable in the dSLR range, it'd be quite a bargain. And you could add the excellent Panasonic/Leica 45mm f/2.8 macro for a mere $850-900!

Okay, I confess that I just ordered the Pany 100-300 from Amazon today. I'll give you a report after I get it and have a chance to play with it a bit.

Edit: I should add that I already have the Pany 45-200 which was a fairly inexpensive but decent lens. I used it quite a bit last summer when my girlfriend was playing on a softball team, and found that on a sunny day I could hand-hold it, get some decent shots, and then crop them down and still have pretty decent clarity. I didn't do that in the camera, am not sure whether the E-P2 has that feature or not, but it was no problem to do it on the computer. I realize that the new lens will overlap with what I already have to some extent, but having that extra 100mm of reach will make a big difference, I think. I'm interested in doing some wildlife photography later this summer and into the fall as well, and it should be great for that.

indeed- that long reach is fantastic to have

my FZ-100 goes from 25mm to 600mm, but IQ is lower than I'd like

25mm


600mm uncropped

[Grainbelt]

Originally Posted by Rashnak

indeed- that long reach is fantastic to have

my FZ-100 goes from 25mm to 600mm, but IQ is lower than I'd like

The images look a bit oversharpened and have quite a bit of contrast, which is taking some detail out of the eagle's white head. The soft details may also be a product of noise reduction. On the 600mm shot your shutter speed was only 1/125th, you'd want to be closer to 1/shutter speed (1/500th) to ensure a steady capture. I had similar issues with a Canon superzoom until I started paying close attention to shutter speeds at the long end.

Finally, that camera can save RAW files, you might consider trying your hand at processing the RAW files into JPGs, you may prefer the output to the camera's built-in settings.