I need a better camera. Is it just me?
10-10-2014, 01:16 PM
#21
Melting Slicks
Do your research and wait for Black Friday. Picked up a Nikon d3200 w/ two VR lenses, case, mem card, network card and a couple other goodies for about $350 off regular price and about 150 Less than other local retailers sale price w/ regular, not VR lenses.
10-10-2014, 06:24 PM
#22
Instructor
Another great how-to and review site is kenrockwell.com
Any name brand DSLR will yield great pics. Besides the glass, the sensors are huge compared to the phone cameras.
On the JPEG vs. raw issue, I am too lazy to do the post processing except for a few cases. I put the camera on vivid, and use bracketing when there are contrast issues and just fire away - 5000 shots on a typical 1 week vacation. Then it is easy to ditch the bad ones in a viewer. Most new DSLR's have feature to take both JPEG and raw.
Any name brand DSLR will yield great pics. Besides the glass, the sensors are huge compared to the phone cameras.
On the JPEG vs. raw issue, I am too lazy to do the post processing except for a few cases. I put the camera on vivid, and use bracketing when there are contrast issues and just fire away - 5000 shots on a typical 1 week vacation. Then it is easy to ditch the bad ones in a viewer. Most new DSLR's have feature to take both JPEG and raw.
10-10-2014, 09:03 PM
#23
Tech Contributor
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All of the above...one thing you can do with those pictures you presented by the water. ALWAYS get your horizon perfectly flat...I was getting a little seasick looking at those views!
10-11-2014, 01:50 AM
#26
Race Director
This photo was taking using my Samsung Galaxy Note 3 cell phone using "A Better Camera" App with some post-processing in PhotoShop CS3.
Unsure of the current Point &Shoot cameras, but if I were to drop some $$$ on a new dSLR, I would buy the Canon EOS 7D and a very good all-purpose lens.
Unsure of the current Point &Shoot cameras, but if I were to drop some $$$ on a new dSLR, I would buy the Canon EOS 7D and a very good all-purpose lens.
Last edited by WICKEDFRC; 10-11-2014 at 09:41 AM.
10-11-2014, 02:05 AM
#27
Team Owner
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What cellphone do you have, OP?
10-11-2014, 11:06 AM
#28
Racer
As promised, here is a view of the photo before and after. The first photo is the image as shot from the camera in RAW format. The first thing to notice is that the exposure is set purely to get the white parts of the car exposed correctly. The goal is to get the highlights and reflections in the paint. Because the white is so bright, setting the exposure for the white ends up making the rest of the photo too dark. The black wheels, tail lights and interior lose detail.
If you shoot RAW and try to get the dark parts of the car brighter, you end up with the photo below. You pick up a little bit of detail in the dash, tires, tail lights and diffuser, but you lose some detail in the reflections on the paint. Compare the left side of the car in the first picture with the one in the second picture, and you see that the reflected horizon is now completely missing. This is what most pictures of white cars with dark wheels ends up looking like. The camera will try to make a best compromise and you end up with paint that is overexposed and black areas that are still a little underexposed. Exposure issues are much less of a problem if your paint is about as dark as your wheels. So it is much easier to get proper exposure in a white car with chrome wheels or a black car with black wheels.
What Lightroom (and photo editing software in general) does is get the best of both. Detail in the reflections in the white paint and in the dark parts of the car. So in literally 60 seconds, you can get the photo to look like the final version. Starting from the first picture (the one with the detail in the reflections), you selectively increase the brightness of the dark areas without affecting the brighter areas of the photo. Then you just apply some increased contrast in the mid tones, increase vibrance and sharpen the photo. It's a few sliders and you're done. I also cropped out the top of the photo because the sign is ugly. There is some aliasing in the photo, but that's simply because the forum software is reducing the size of the 24mp image in a way that causes the aliasing. Incidentally, most photographers use Lightroom for the bulk of their work, and only use Photoshop when specific needs come up.
Here is another example of an "after" photo. Key here is that there are details in the headlights and grille that are typically lost, and the selective contrast adjustments do a better job of emphasizing the contours in the seats.
If you do not plan to edit your photos, do NOT use the RAW format on your camera. RAW bypasses some image enhancements that your camera does automatically. Shooting in JPG format, your camera will actually try to balance the darks and lights on its own. The only issue with the automatic adjustments is that the camera won't know exactly how much you want to increase the brightness in the dark areas and decrease them in the light areas.
If you shoot RAW and try to get the dark parts of the car brighter, you end up with the photo below. You pick up a little bit of detail in the dash, tires, tail lights and diffuser, but you lose some detail in the reflections on the paint. Compare the left side of the car in the first picture with the one in the second picture, and you see that the reflected horizon is now completely missing. This is what most pictures of white cars with dark wheels ends up looking like. The camera will try to make a best compromise and you end up with paint that is overexposed and black areas that are still a little underexposed. Exposure issues are much less of a problem if your paint is about as dark as your wheels. So it is much easier to get proper exposure in a white car with chrome wheels or a black car with black wheels.
What Lightroom (and photo editing software in general) does is get the best of both. Detail in the reflections in the white paint and in the dark parts of the car. So in literally 60 seconds, you can get the photo to look like the final version. Starting from the first picture (the one with the detail in the reflections), you selectively increase the brightness of the dark areas without affecting the brighter areas of the photo. Then you just apply some increased contrast in the mid tones, increase vibrance and sharpen the photo. It's a few sliders and you're done. I also cropped out the top of the photo because the sign is ugly. There is some aliasing in the photo, but that's simply because the forum software is reducing the size of the 24mp image in a way that causes the aliasing. Incidentally, most photographers use Lightroom for the bulk of their work, and only use Photoshop when specific needs come up.
Here is another example of an "after" photo. Key here is that there are details in the headlights and grille that are typically lost, and the selective contrast adjustments do a better job of emphasizing the contours in the seats.
If you do not plan to edit your photos, do NOT use the RAW format on your camera. RAW bypasses some image enhancements that your camera does automatically. Shooting in JPG format, your camera will actually try to balance the darks and lights on its own. The only issue with the automatic adjustments is that the camera won't know exactly how much you want to increase the brightness in the dark areas and decrease them in the light areas.
Last edited by AustinVettes; 10-11-2014 at 11:22 AM.
10-11-2014, 12:05 PM
#29
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If you do not plan to edit your photos, do NOT use the RAW format on your camera. RAW bypasses some image enhancements that your camera does automatically. Shooting in JPG format, your camera will actually try to balance the darks and lights on its own. The only issue with the automatic adjustments is that the camera won't know exactly how much you want to increase the brightness in the dark areas and decrease them in the light areas.[/QUOTE]
Outstanding information for us....this should be a sticky but I have no idea what the category would be!
....maybe the HELP section? Mods?
However, most of us will not want to pay for software...can you recommend a free one that is decent?
Outstanding information for us....this should be a sticky but I have no idea what the category would be!
....maybe the HELP section? Mods?However, most of us will not want to pay for software...can you recommend a free one that is decent?
Last edited by $$$frumnuttin'; 10-11-2014 at 12:08 PM.
10-11-2014, 02:53 PM
#30
Racer
Outstanding information for us....this should be a sticky but I have no idea what the category would be!....maybe the HELP section? Mods?
However, most of us will not want to pay for software...can you recommend a free one that is decent?
....maybe the HELP section? Mods?However, most of us will not want to pay for software...can you recommend a free one that is decent?
10-11-2014, 10:31 PM
#32
E-Ray, 3LZ, ZER, LIFT
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The thing bugging me is my phone camera pictures are lacking. I thought the phone pictures were fine until now. Other forum members post their pictures and it looks like their cars are going to drive off my monitor. If you have a camera your happy with please share. Pictures I took last night, too dark and they don't capture the colors in the sky right, the pictures are not vivid. I like them but I am disappointed they don't "Pop" like other pictures on the Forum.
Took these the other day. No photo enhancement, camera to set full auto. Although at times image editing is a useful tool:
Newly Added Carbon Fiber Hood Vent
Last edited by JerryU; 10-12-2014 at 05:07 PM.
10-12-2014, 11:08 AM
#34
Melting Slicks
The first question to ask yourself is: how much do I want to spend.
The second question is do I want a DSLR or a point-and-shoot.
I have been very happy with the pictures my Panasonic point-and-shoot (DMC-LF1 - $380) takes. It has a large sensor (which is more important than mega-pixels).
I also have a Nikon D5200 DSLR - it does take better pictures than the Panasonic, but not so much so, that most times I just grab the Panasonic.
If money is no object, you might just pick-up a Leica S ($22,000) and a nice Leica 30-90 zoom lens ($11,500) for it.
The second question is do I want a DSLR or a point-and-shoot.
I have been very happy with the pictures my Panasonic point-and-shoot (DMC-LF1 - $380) takes. It has a large sensor (which is more important than mega-pixels).
I also have a Nikon D5200 DSLR - it does take better pictures than the Panasonic, but not so much so, that most times I just grab the Panasonic.
If money is no object, you might just pick-up a Leica S ($22,000) and a nice Leica 30-90 zoom lens ($11,500) for it.
10-12-2014, 04:06 PM
#35
Melting Slicks
If you do not plan to edit your photos, do NOT use the RAW format on your camera. RAW bypasses some image enhancements that your camera does automatically. Shooting in JPG format, your camera will actually try to balance the darks and lights on its own. The only issue with the automatic adjustments is that the camera won't know exactly how much you want to increase the brightness in the dark areas and decrease them in the light areas.
Outstanding information for us....this should be a sticky but I have no idea what the category would be!
....maybe the HELP section? Mods?However, most of us will not want to pay for software...can you recommend a free one that is decent?[/QUOTE]
Windows or Mac? If you have an iPhone/Mac combination, and your pics are decent to start with, iPhoto does a pretty good job of fixing most issues
10-12-2014, 05:02 PM
#36
Drifting
I also take photography pretty seriously and have several Canon 1D and 1DS bodies along with several L glass lenses (Canon's top line). Good glass is extremely important.
One tip for outside photos is to get a good circular polarizer filter... It can make the sky and other background elements pop. It will also let you cut reflection off glass and water. Don't get a cheapie - pay the price for a good quality filter and you will get good results once you learn to use it.
One tip for outside photos is to get a good circular polarizer filter... It can make the sky and other background elements pop. It will also let you cut reflection off glass and water. Don't get a cheapie - pay the price for a good quality filter and you will get good results once you learn to use it.
10-12-2014, 05:32 PM
#37
Team Owner
A decent crop sensor SLR with a good lens will produce the same image quality as a full sensor SLR in decent light conditions and the subject is not moving.
We have had a lot of different camera's, Rebels, 60D, 6D, and now have 2 Mark 5D III's with a variety of Canon L lens plus some Sigma Sport lens.
First thing to learn is exposure. Especially when shooting white. Learn how the sensor meters and how exposure works in general will get you a long way.
Setting proper exposure for a scene will help a lot. I usually meter against something and shoot at that exposure as long as the light does not change.
So for this shot, and this was not manual exposure but you would meter off the pavement, get your exposure, then shoot and focus on the car regardless of what the meter says, so long as the light does not change:
That was shot at Road America a month or two ago. You can see most of our stuff at http://ericptek.smugmug.com Mostly high speed and automotive.
We have spent a lot of time learning to shoot and it takes time. Good equipment does help, but time and understanding how the camera see's light, that will go a long way.
Don't buy more expensive stuff until you know why you need it.
We have had a lot of different camera's, Rebels, 60D, 6D, and now have 2 Mark 5D III's with a variety of Canon L lens plus some Sigma Sport lens.
First thing to learn is exposure. Especially when shooting white. Learn how the sensor meters and how exposure works in general will get you a long way.
Setting proper exposure for a scene will help a lot. I usually meter against something and shoot at that exposure as long as the light does not change.
So for this shot, and this was not manual exposure but you would meter off the pavement, get your exposure, then shoot and focus on the car regardless of what the meter says, so long as the light does not change:
That was shot at Road America a month or two ago. You can see most of our stuff at http://ericptek.smugmug.com Mostly high speed and automotive.
We have spent a lot of time learning to shoot and it takes time. Good equipment does help, but time and understanding how the camera see's light, that will go a long way.
Don't buy more expensive stuff until you know why you need it.