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NN
{K:26787} 3/1/2006
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She must be watching the Animal Planet or National Geographic! The eyes do look BIG here :) Lovely shot!
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Ina Nicolae
{K:44481} 1/11/2006
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Hi Jeanette - I'm still very unhappy with the Canon Digital Rebel (300D). Mine was a lemon, and Canon Canada did a very poor job with the repairs. I'm looking to trade it in for something else, as soon as I can just to get rid of it. But I love the 20D. Digital noise is not much of an issue with Canon SLRs. I know what you're saying about "good noise", though. Sometimes it adds mood to a picture, or a vintage look :) Best regards, Ina
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Mark Longo
{K:12760} 1/11/2006
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Hi Jeanette. I agree with all you said about noise. And I do find myself shooting in low light situations more often than not. I hate the look of flash anywhere outside the studio, especially camera mounted flash. So as you say, it is for faster lenses to solve this problem of noise and exposure for me. Canon makes a very inexpensive 1.8 50mm prime lens (and a much more expensive 1.4) but I don't know if I can live without zoom... It is silly because many years past I have taken all pictures without zoom!
Thanks very much for comments!
Best regards, Mark
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Jeanette Hägglund
{K:59855} 1/11/2006
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I´m curious too see how it looks with noise ;)) Beautiful cat you have and i like this portrait of her!
I think a lens with better light sensitivness is a good problem solver when it´s about the noise :) Why not a 1.8 one? Excpensive i know...
Jeanette
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Jeanette Hägglund
{K:59855} 1/11/2006
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HI Ina! I think you was unlucky, cause i never heard anyone having any problem with that camera you are talking about. I think you are too hard about noise - also analogue film has it. Since i worked with Fuji (in work) i know they have really good and not so visible corn even in 800 - 1600 ISO. But it was there.... and whats the problem with it? It depends how it looks, sometimes it adds a lot to the image. well... depends on which object/subect and situation.
Jeanette
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Tomas Koran
{K:362} 1/7/2006
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very nice light but not much sharp (or i dont see where the focus is) but although i like it. framing is accurate. she looks something has drawn her attention.
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Mohamed Banna
{K:34237} 12/30/2005
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great lighting amazing shadows very nice presentation as well
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Ina Nicolae
{K:44481} 12/20/2005
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Now is the right time to get a 20D, it's probably towards the end of the cycle and the prices are lower, there is a new gen firmware, but then, who knows what they may come up with as a replacement? I find the focus superb, fast and very precise. I don't shoot indoors (almost never), but it is low noise compared to others right now. My shots in the library under terrible conditions - fluorescent + incandescent and no flash turned out amazingly good!
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Mark Longo
{K:12760} 12/20/2005
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Hi Ina. The ISO 3200 shots on the web site you mention are impressive, uh, for ISO 3200. Again, not something a photographer is eager to use. Yet there are applications. All indoors, I expect. For example, my wife plays indoor soccer in the winter and I try to shoot it. I've yet to get a decent shot, even at ISO 1600. A lot of that is the fault of the photographer :). But shutter speeds above 1/100 (well above at times) indoors with a zoom lens are a challenge, to say the least. You can accept a certain amount of blur and try to incorporate that as part of the action, but there are limits. :)
As to Canon gear, I have owned three Canons without a single malfunction and I don't treat this gear very carefully at all times. Obviously others including yourself have had other experiences. I held a 20D in a store the other day and it felt like a VERY solid piece of machinery. Hope your luck is better with the 20D! Would LOVE to own one myself...
Mark
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Ina Nicolae
{K:44481} 12/20/2005
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Mark, every time I look at your cats I feel like talking to them :) I have never tried the 3200 ISO, but there are tests on the web like this one (http://digitalmedia.oreilly.com/2004/10/06/canon20d.html) - but why would you need that, other than for indoor sports action shots? My Canon 300D came from the repair shop yesterday and I took it back today, they fixed one thing and broke another. I never owned Canon stuff before, but I hope the 20D will be a better experience :)
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Mark Longo
{K:12760} 12/20/2005
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Thanks for the comment Carsten. No, I did not know of the belladonna effect, which is extremely interesting. I got a little lucky with this shot in the ambient light as the model was willing to sit still for a moment. The belladonna effect was a fortunate side effect!
Mark
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Carsten Ranke
{K:14476} 12/20/2005
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Stunning available light shot ! Her eyes are beautiful with this low ambient light (you know the belladonna effect on the pupils ? widens them, thus makes beautiful eyes -> the name... This is a success factor of portrait photographers with an elaborate flash system, they are able show their models with wide pupils). To cut a long story short: stunning portrait of a beauty ;-)
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Mark Longo
{K:12760} 12/19/2005
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Well Ina, I'll be the last to argue with success. Some of your 300D shots are among the cleanest and smoothest I have ever seen. Like you, I prefer to shoot lower ISO and at 100-400 the 350D has virtually no noise at all. The noise reduction package I use also has sharpening that you control with sliders to try to defeat the dulling that comes with noise reduction. The image on this page as an example, you can get reasonably sharp and clean results that way. Yet as you very correctly point out, it's best of all to sidestep the whole issue by shooting lower ISO whenever possible.
Also, for the 800 pixel images we display here at Usefilm, noise reduction is not as needed as it is for higher resolution. For many of my shots I also make 1600x1200 versions for display as wallpaper on my monitors. At that resultion the noise is a bit more evident. I also do large photographic prints of some of my shots at 300dpi and the noise from high ISO is very noticable at those resolutions, especially in low light shots. Noise reduction is a must for high ISO in those instances.
What do you think of the 20D's results at ISO 3200? I'd be interested to know how useable that might be. I've always had Canon stuff going back almost 30 years, but obviously the Nikon choice is also superb. Wish I could have used my old Canon FD lenses on the DSLR. Would have saved me some $$$!
Mark
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Ina Nicolae
{K:44481} 12/19/2005
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Hi Mark, I too dislike noise - that's why I opted for a CMOS sensor (Canon) although my Rebel experience has been really poor (3 times repaired, including shutter & drive engine replacement, CF card slot, etc. and still not working as it should). Normally I should have bought a Nikon, but I wanted the 8 MP. For noise I use a similar program, NeatImage, but I find that every time you run a noise reduction on a JPEG, you lose sharpness. So I try to stay away from high ISO. The 20D has also a 3200 ISO (enhanced mode) - but I never go beyond ISO 2-400. It's amazing to see the results you've got.
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Mark Longo
{K:12760} 12/19/2005
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Thanks for your comment Ina. I often shoot at 1600. Your 20D has the same processor as my 350D (though it is quite a superior camera in many other ways) and so you must also get great high ISO results. I use Noise Ninja for post processing and it does a fabulous job cleaning up the noisy ISO 1600 shots. I shoot a lot indoors and while I prefer lower ISO, I do use the 1600 quite a bit.
Mark
Mark
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Mark Longo
{K:12760} 12/19/2005
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Thank you Yahya. I dislike flash and often shoot indoors at 1600. The 350D does a great job at that speed and using the amazing software Noise Ninja, I do not hesitate to shoot 1600 when needed.
Mark
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Mark Longo
{K:12760} 12/19/2005
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Thank you eleonora. I have seen the wonderful pet portraits in your excellent portfolio. Thank you for your comment.
Mark
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Yahya El Hosafy
{K:8369} 12/19/2005
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very nice shot Mark. ISO 1600, never knew such value exist :) and with 1/30 sec. shutter speed i guess it was a hell of a dark room :) nice pose and lighting, natural lighting seems to give the best results in most cases. well done Mark.
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eleonora frago
{K:2472} 12/18/2005
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bellissimo soggetto, e luce molto bella :)
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Ina Nicolae
{K:44481} 12/18/2005
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Amazing capture at ISO 1600! I would have never guessed. She is so beautiful, and really seems "into it" - I wonder what program she's watching! Great lighting - really makes her fur shine and the eyes so clear! Well done, Mark! Lovely cats, and lovely pictures! Best regards, Ina
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Efrain Morales
{K:1684} 12/18/2005
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Very Good Portrait, she looks interested in photography!
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Mort Gage
{K:2743} 12/18/2005
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beautiful cat, captured beautifully. nice composition and light. amazing this is ISO 1600.
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