New Hobby

Posts you want to find years later go here.
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Alan
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New Hobby

Post 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.
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Alan
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Post 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)
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Dave
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Post by Dave »

Your shoes turn me on.
It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.

quantus
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Re: New Hobby

Post by quantus »

Alan wrote:It adds pictures in like a stack
It's phrases like this that remind me that you took CS
Have you clicked today? Check status, then: People, Jobs or Roads

Alan
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Post by Alan »

Haha. I think that's just about the extent of my CS knowledge nowadays. Or ever.
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VLSmooth
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Post 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?
Last edited by VLSmooth on Sat Jan 20, 2007 8:47 am, edited 1 time in total.

Jonathan
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Post by Jonathan »

Comments? What comments? We put vulgarities into the code, mister.

VLSmooth
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Post by VLSmooth »

Ah... however, delving into my memory banks, I remember "asstape"? I can see #, !, #!, but what the heck is asstape in code? (@something?)

Jonathan
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Post by Jonathan »

probably a turing machine that is full of ass. that'd be my guess.

George
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Post 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.
I feel like I just beat a kitten to death... with a bag of puppies.

Alan
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Post 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.
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Jonathan
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Post by Jonathan »

Retracking the thread, why the Sony?

Alan
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Post 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.
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Peijen
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Post by Peijen »

Pictures from Taiwan, bitches!

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

Dave
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Post by Dave »

REPORTED FOR INAPPROPRIATE CONTENT
It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.

Jonathan
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Post 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.

Vyrosama
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Post 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

Peijen
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Post by Peijen »

Vyrosama wrote:christine
Sister! you sick fuck!

Dave
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Post by Dave »

Chuck just wants to be Alan's brother in law.
It takes 43 muscles to frown and 17 to smile, but it doesn't take any to just sit there with a dumb look on your face.

Jason
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Post 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.

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