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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 25, 2008 - 01:27am PT
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FujiFilm S5Pro + AF-S Nikkor 18-135mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED
was about $1400...
off of eBay...
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nutjob
Stoked OW climber
San Jose, CA
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Aug 25, 2008 - 05:30am PT
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I'd have a conniption fit before spending that much on a camera, but I have to say the difference is apparent to my unskilled eyes. Maybe the close-up lens makes the difference? I'm satisfied to ignorantly ogle.
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dirtineye
Trad climber
the south
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Aug 25, 2008 - 05:35am PT
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It's the lens and the superior chip and the size of the chip, plus 'professional features' that used to be on nearly every 35 mm SLR. Like full manual control.
And considering that Ed's new toy competes with the current $3-5 K stuff, $1400 is a real bargain.
I'd call it a really good choice, if you want to take super nice digitals without having to sell off your first born child.
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 25, 2008 - 11:48am PT
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One of the considerations of buying the FujiFilm was that it accepted all of my Nikkor lenses, so some of the shots are manual focused and exposures in manual mode.
The manual focus is aided by two features: 1) a continuous diopter adjust of the view finder which allows me to see the scene well and 2) the fact that the image focus software reports in the view finder if it considers the scene focused. I've noticed that with my Nikon FM2N film camera that I can't always get the sharp focus that I could, the diopter corrected eyepieces, when you can get them, come in 0.5 diopter steps at best.
I've only started to work with the S5, so I'm not at all facile with the exposure choices. On the other hand, since I can put the camera into manual mode, I fall back to my old film experience. However, the response of the digital sensor is different than the response of film so the images come out different. Playing with "Curves" in Photoshop can restore the film "look," as does the choice of "film" shooting mode in the camera itself.
The choice of the S5 was inspired by Guillaume Dargaurd (look here) who has considerable experience shooting in adverse conditions, including climbing. He got me jonesing for a Ricoh GR-21, but that is a lot of bucks to put down for a speciality camera, the GR-1 is a wonderful machine and mine is responsible for most of my "on route" shots. The poor beast has the look of a hard used tool, but every other year it gets sent to C.R.I.S. Camera and is refurbished by their tender hands. I love the buttery soft images that it takes and the optics are amazing for its price and the fact that it is a point-and-shoot fixed focus camera.
A lot of my close ups are hand held shots with a PN-11 52.5mm extension tube and a Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 MF lens that was modified for the mount. This is an amazing lens for closeups, and the 1-to-1 images are great for the sort of botany that Debbie does, which is generally aided by a hand glass.
Anyway, so far I'm learning a lot, and I'm not too unhappy with my choice.
Thanks all for the positive comments.
EDIT: the other thing is that the 400x600 pixel back lit images posted on the web are not necessarily an indication of what a printed 8x10 or 14x17 image will look like... getting good prints is yet another skill to develop!
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Wade Icey
Trad climber
www.alohashirtrescue.com
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bump
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 1, 2008 - 12:57pm PT
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I woke up on Friday morning, went through my normal breakfast/wakeup routine and Debbie says "did you notice that beautiful cactus bloomed during the night?" in a tone that indicated to me that she knew full well I didn't notice... because I usually don't.
Her Mammillaria had bloomed, the one from Poot's Cactus (you who travel CA 120 know what I'm talking about)... it was pretty indeed...
here with some local fauna
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Zander
Trad climber
Berkeley
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Sep 28, 2008 - 02:00pm PT
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Great thread Ed,
I don't know how I missed this first time around. A nice way to start a lazy Sunday.
Zander
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steelmnkey
climber
Vision man...ya gotta have vision...
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Sep 28, 2008 - 02:47pm PT
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World could probably use a little beauty every day...flower shots are from the Hudson Gardens, Littleton, Colorado
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Ghost
climber
A long way from where I started
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Sep 30, 2008 - 12:36pm PT
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When this thread began, I posted a shot of some peppers growing on our back deck. Two months later, it's harvest time...
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Jul 26, 2009 - 01:34pm PT
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Debbie's rather orange Dahlia
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Ed Hartouni
Trad climber
Livermore, CA
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Topic Author's Reply - Sep 13, 2009 - 02:07pm PT
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Debbie's backyard in the early morning September light...
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Risk
Mountain climber
Olympia, WA
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Sep 13, 2009 - 09:12pm PT
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my suspicions are verified: film is still better for artistic potential.
From this afternoon (digital)
I want to harvest this soon, but still need to wait a week or two
I bought this basket at a roadside stand, and the thing has gone totally ape all summer.
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MH2
climber
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Sep 13, 2009 - 10:28pm PT
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Beautiful. We must share some genetic material with bees.
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Sep 13, 2009 - 10:52pm PT
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hey there ed... say, you have great pictures in here... wow...
(i know others have some great ones here, too, but i have not seen them all download yet)
SAY---kevin, i DID see yours... very lovely flowers, and nice to see you here tonight... (hope the cat is well)... :)
say, timid toprope... am just now heading back, to see your download... say, i have a few pics from years back that are kind of neat, but just regular camera stuff, no neat closeups...
thanks for this great garden flowers stuff, ed... :)
and to all a good night, and more happy flower seekig, come the morning... (
ps:
say, i always get free film when take this camera in to get developed... NOW---come morning, i too am going flower hunting, as i have seen some neat ones that i will try to share... haha, give me a few weeks, folks, okay... one is really neat though... )... hope the wait will be worth it... ;)
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neebee
Social climber
calif/texas
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Sep 13, 2009 - 11:28pm PT
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hey there say, tmjess... these were my sunflowers from back in 2002 ??? from one of the few spots in michigan that i have been able to have a garden...
naturally they are LONG since harvested and gone (from an regular cheap film from walgreens camera):
then, some lovely white kind of ?shooting star? type flower, from said-long-ago years, too:
and from said-time, a (edit-ooops gladiola!)? that didn't come in too clear, from this close up:
/IMG]
well---hopefull, i can hunt down the neat flowers that i mentioned, just up above all these...
god bless to all...
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