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New Hobby

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:42 am
by Alan
I took up photography.

So if you're bored check this page every once in a while:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eninala/

It adds pictures in like a stack, so the older ones are at the bottom of the page.

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 6:45 am
by Alan
My equipment:

Sony A100
Konica Minolta 24-105mm/3.5-4.5 AF D
Konica Minolta 50mm/1.7 AF
2 gig CompactFlash (for a grand total of ~130 RAW photos)
Adobe Photoshop CS2 for OS X (volume licensed)

Need a tripod at some point for long-exposure night photos. Someday.

AF = Autofocus
D = Distance Encoding (lens acquires distance information and uses it to calculate flash exposure...if I ever bother learning flash photography)

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:01 pm
by Dave
Your shoes turn me on.

Re: New Hobby

Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 7:45 pm
by quantus
Alan wrote:It adds pictures in like a stack
It's phrases like this that remind me that you took CS

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 12:45 am
by Alan
Haha. I think that's just about the extent of my CS knowledge nowadays. Or ever.

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:14 am
by VLSmooth
How could you forget 212?

If I remember correctly, Jonathan, Chuck and you were constantly pound (#) bang (!) shebanging (#!).

Btw, did you actually remember to remove your comments before submitting it?

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:16 am
by Jonathan
Comments? What comments? We put vulgarities into the code, mister.

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 1:51 am
by VLSmooth
Ah... however, delving into my memory banks, I remember "asstape"? I can see #, !, #!, but what the heck is asstape in code? (@something?)

Posted: Fri Jan 19, 2007 6:15 am
by Jonathan
probably a turing machine that is full of ass. that'd be my guess.

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 4:36 am
by George
As I recall, at least one of the 213 projects Alan and I demoed contained "Oh my God, fuck me up the ass", indicating that it successfully reached a particular path.

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 7:43 am
by Alan
Ah yes, a proud moment in my life.

That was also the day I had to explain how I had gotten a 7% on the midterm.

Posted: Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:40 pm
by Jonathan
Retracking the thread, why the Sony?

Posted: Sun Jan 21, 2007 1:20 am
by Alan
I looked at 4 cameras before deciding on the Sony. I checked out the Canon 400D Digital Rebel XTi, the Nikon D80, and the Pentax K10D.

My criteria were

1) Image quality
2) Feature set
3) Lens selection
4) Cost
5) Feel

In terms of image quality, the Nikon is the best, especially in low light due to its excellent noise reduction at higher ISO settings (800+). At ISO 400 and below, the Sony is not noticeably inferior to the Nikon, and actually has better resolution than the Canon. The Pentax has a terrible image processor, so you have to shoot exclusively in RAW format to get good images.

With feature set, the Pentax comes in first, with body-based image stabilization, LCD preview, weather-sealed body, and some other stuff I don't remember. Sony is next, with body-based image stabilization, dynamic range optimizer (helps reduce highlights and shadows), sensor dust removal, and all the other stuff you'd expect in a camera like this. Nikon has pretty much the standard feature set. Canon is the worst in this category, since they have so many cameras they purposely leave out some standard things like spot metering and manual white balance adjustment so that you'll get one of their higher-end models instead if you want that.

Canon is clearly the best in lens selection. Nikon is next, Sony is third. But I can use the old Konica-Minolta lenses since Sony bought their camera department, and if someday I am good enough for it to matter, I have the option of getting Carl Zeiss lenses since they have a deal with Sony now.

Canon is the cheapest, then Sony and Pentax. Nikon is the most expensive.

I liked the way the Sony felt in my hands WAY more than any other camera. The Canon is way too small, I couldn't get a good grip on it at all. The Nikon and Pentax were pretty good too.

Basically decided against the Canon because my feeling about Canon is that as the market leader (and having the most extensive system--lenses, flash units, etc) they were purposely making their intro-level DSLR camera inferior just because they could get away with it. I decided against Pentax because I didn't want to ALWAYS have to shoot in RAW, and their system is no more extensive than Sony's. I decided on Nikon mostly because of the cost; in order to get image stabilization I'd have to spend an obscene amount of money on each lens. With Sony it's on the body, so I every lens I attach has it. I planned on not getting a tripod for a few months and shooting handheld exclusively until then, so I get good use out of the image stabilization which lets me shoot at lower ISO and slower shutter speed than I have a right to be doing. So basically, between Nikon and Sony, the deal-maker was the IS, with $$$ being the cherry on top.

The drawbacks on my Sony are that it's not good at high ISO settings due to inferior noise reduction (I stay at ISO 400 or below, even indoors, unless I have no choice), so sports photography is probably not in my future). And there aren't many places out there that I can rent lenses if I ever come across that need. With Canon and Nikon, if I wanted a telephoto lens for the weekend I could rent one. Not so easy with Sony. But it's not as if I'm going on any safaris anytime soon.

So basically Sony's strengths matched up well with my needs, and its weaknesses were in things I don't care too much about.

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 3:54 pm
by Peijen
Pictures from Taiwan, bitches!

http://picasaweb.google.com/peijen.lin/Taiwain

Posted: Sun Feb 04, 2007 4:29 pm
by Dave
REPORTED FOR INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT

Posted: Fri Oct 05, 2007 11:59 pm
by Jonathan
I have purchased batteries and film (film! how quaint.) for my Nikon N60. I am seriously considering getting a decently fast 50mm lens. I have the crudtastic adjustable length lens. I may go shopping this afternoon and if I can find one just buy it now. I hate flash photography.

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:13 pm
by Vyrosama
and don't forget '\'...which was...whack?

anyway to be nosy (mostly bored at work)...

is christine or steph your gf?

You named your dog (or their dog) genki..awesome....

:P

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:16 pm
by Peijen
Vyrosama wrote:christine
Sister! you sick fuck!

Posted: Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:08 pm
by Dave
Chuck just wants to be Alan's brother in law.

Posted: Tue Oct 09, 2007 5:12 am
by Jason
Geez, I'm not in any of your DC pictures although you have like none of them there. I can't even remember what I was doing during the day that I couldn't go with you.