If anybody is interested... (56k warning)

[Adam Payrot]

I got bored and tried out a few things w/ my new camera... Oh, and just to make this post a little more "tech"; I will be installing my new exhaust manifold (shorty header in RSX-speak) soon, should be interesting

[Radio-Active]

Very nice! :)

[srivendel]

Nice pics. What kind of camera?

S.

[Adam Payrot]

Canon SD550, got it off Amazon (via Beach Camera) for $300 shipped, and I also ordered a high-speed 1gb SD card... I wanted an SLR, probably could have afforded a "base" kit, but I would have needed 2 or 3 extra lenses for the shots I want to do. This will do me just fine for a year or so; I'll probably upgrade to a digital SLR next summer. I've been interested in photography for a while, just never had the $$$ for the equipment. I might even take a class at UTA for fun, it would probably help.

I almost forgot... I used Canon's software to touch-up the pics a little. I have Photoshop, just too lazy right now to mess with it. Gotta go study anyways

[Treibenschnell]

Looking nice!

[Radio-Active]

I would also like to get a D-SLR one of these days, but you just can't beat some of the deals with these 10x - 12x zoom point and shoots. They work very well. I have a Two year old Panasonic FZ-10 and have only seen a few instances where a full D-SLR would have been better. Mainly on high speed action shots.

[tailchaser]

...have only seen a few instances where a full D-SLR would have been better. Mainly on high speed action shots.

I really like the reduced depth of field in a nice fast prime 50mm lens... tough to do that with a p&s...
http://picasaweb.google.com/willbdun...34175381504018


Certainly easier to catch action with the DSLR though....
http://picasaweb.google.com/willbdun...34129670537234

[channelmaniac]

I really like the reduced depth of field in a nice fast prime 50mm lens... tough to do that with a p&s...
http://picasaweb.google.com/willbdun...34175381504018

TC - Is that the F1.8 50mm fixed lens from Canon?

Raymond

[tailchaser]

TC - Is that the F1.8 50mm fixed lens from Canon?

Raymond

Heh... Oops. Checking the handy data for that image, I see that it's actually the 28-105mm el crapo zoom lens at the 105mm end at f4.5. So even the crapo lenses make some nice images sometimes....

I have a 1.8 50mm in my bag for those times when I worry about breaking a lens... I usually use the 1.4 as it produces much more natural "bokeh" for not a lot more money and allows easier manual focus.

Note... found one taken with the 1.4 50... All the out of focus areas are nice and soft with no edges. The 1.8 50 tends to create identifiable geometric shapes in the out of focus areas.
http://picasaweb.google.com/willbdun...34158604156946

[channelmaniac]

The 1.8 50 tends to create identifiable geometric shapes in the out of focus areas.

I think for the difference in cash the 1.8 50mm will work for me.

$70+shipping vs. $350+shipping

I won't use it enough to justify the extra expense.

[Adam Payrot]

There's a couple of features that the SD550 has that were the main reasons I bought it:

Manual exposure modes
Continuous 2fps shooting until memory is full <- nice to have, shouldn't miss a pic; especially with high speed SD
Shutter speeds of 15 seconds to 1/2000 second <- the biggest reason, I wanted 30 seconds but only DSLR's have that high
Auto noise reduction with 1.3 sec or longer shutter speeds
Selectable ISO settings from 50 to 400
It takes .5 seconds to turn on, ready to shoot

It also does 60fps movies (low res), or 30/15 fps movies (all with sound, and at higher res) that will record til the card is full. The only drawback is that Canon didn't implement any compression, so the video lengths are a little shorter than they could be.

Some other fun features that I need to try out deal with colors. I can do a completely B/W pic except one color (yeah, software can do it, but it's really nice to have it built-in to the camera), and I can color swap on the fly (again, SW does it, but it's a nice feature).

[Adam Payrot]

The other pictures that I took, now that this thread is on a new page.

[srivendel]

Nice! Those final changes they made to the RSX were super-sharp. I'm not brave enough to buy a red car these days (although Mrs. Srivendel is!), but that's a beautiful red. My first car was a Civic Si in Milano Red. Your red looks a lot like it.

I might need to borrow your camera (or get together for a photography session) once the Si gets in. Yes, that's right kids, it's still not here. So I'm driving a dealer demo beige CR-V in the meantime. Be still my heart!

S.

[Adam Payrot]

Mine is Milano Red too There's a 06 Milano Red Si that an employee of Vandergriff has, looks nice

We could do a photo session; I'm going to have a hard time filling a 1gb card, even at the highest quality settings.

[Nexus Flux]

I might have to join you guys once i finally do a good wash and wax. I have to clay bar the sprinkler crap off my hood first.

[Adam Payrot]

You should have seen my wheels right before these pics, they were actually gunmetal colored from the Hawks I am getting a lot more dusting than I had anticipated. Oh well, just gives me an excuse to wash it more

[srivendel]

I might have to join you guys once i finally do a good wash and wax. I have to clay bar the sprinkler crap off my hood first.

Sweet! We can get together for a photoshoot one weekend soon. I know some great locations in Deep Ellum that I've been wanting to shoot car pics in front of for a while now.

Adam, how dark is your window tint?

S.

[Adam Payrot]

Sweet! We can get together for a photoshoot one weekend soon. I know some great locations in Deep Ellum that I've been wanting to shoot car pics in front of for a while now.

Adam, how dark is your window tint?

S.

It's factory, not sure what %. I want to go down to 20%, maybe 25%.

[srivendel]

Here's some more very nice amateur automotive photography.



S.

[Adam Payrot]

Hopefully one day soon I can make it out there; I might shoot for next summer