Need quick answer Pannie GX-1 - Page 10

Max · May 4th, 2012, 05:41 PM

Yep. Although I would add that, if you enjoy what iPhoto offers you, you might want to step it up and take it further. There's only so much that iPhoto will give you - although it must be said, in this day and age it's pretty amazing all the same.

MacDoc · May 4th, 2012, 05:45 PM

I can't stand iPhoto - never use it.

I will get into post processing at some point with the most intuitive pro program. I see an awful lot of post processing effects on Pixoto and while in some cases I admire the results too often it destroys an otherwise fine shot.

Max · May 4th, 2012, 05:53 PM

What is it about iPhoto you hate? I'm curious. It seems to me your shots would hugely benefit from a modest series of alterations - something iPhoto handles with aplomb. I love the straightening tool, for one thing. Does it very well. That said, It's LR all the way for me.

MacDoc · May 4th, 2012, 06:06 PM

Never have liked the interface and the way it litters the computer with thumbnails.

Too many horror shows trying to recover drives. I organize with GraphicConverter and I like the older one with good random slideshow tools.

I like my photos in my own folders not some iPhoto concept. My sense is LR will be the choice but not for a while. I tend to be content with what the camera produces ( tho the AF issues drove me crazy with the TZ ) and then crop to compose.

I'm trying not to bog down into minutiae which is why have a good AI and AF is important and worth spending on. My photos are never for print so it's a different world in transmitted colour instead of reflective and sizing and scaling is often done on the screen in a temporary show case ( one reason I do like the Apple screen saver for it's varying juxtapositions and cropping so random photos seem fresh.
That's my major use of my photos and I see them daily from that varying viewpoint.
The 27" Cinema is truly sweet for that use. Crisp and bright and allows the slide show a wider range of resolutions to show in the window - sometimes Iuse just a corner and other times the whole surface.
It changes the photos in many ways and my appreciation of them.

Really nice with the higher pixel counts that the later ones don't pixellate out on th big screen when one of the slide shows blows up a section.

Max · May 4th, 2012, 06:16 PM

Hmmmm.... thumbnails, eh? You'll hate Lightroom, then.

Minutiae is what image development - and subsequent appreciation - is all about. But it does require patience. If you don't have that, there are no shortcuts to better images. Your software will only go so far in giving you a kind of generic appeal; the last mile has to be walked by you. The camera itself is only part of the equation, for that matter.

eMacMan · May 4th, 2012, 06:36 PM

My biggest issue with iPhoto, (which may or may not still be valid as I am 3 or 4 generations behind) is I never know what scale I am at and there seems to be no quick way to select 25%, 50% or 100% views. Absolutely crucial to be at one of these scales either when applying sharpening filters or trying to determine if moire patterns are affecting your image. For a quick work-up on an image I much prefer Preview which does solve those issues.

MacDoc · May 5th, 2012, 01:49 AM

	Quote:
	Minutiae is what image development - and subsequent appreciation - is all about. But it does require patience. If you don't have that, there are no shortcuts to better images. Your software will only go so far in giving you a kind of generic appeal; the last mile has to be walked by you. The camera itself is only part of the equation, for that matter.

That's where we disagree in goals perhaps - I'm not looking for software for "better images". Yes some basic correction but for me a camera is "capturing a particular moment" not turning a mundane image into something that was not there.

The camera quality only allows more accurate detail of what I'm trying to capture - picking out the part of the scene I'm looking for quickly from the clutter. I'm not interested in it as an art process at all.
I'm interested in it as a method to revisit memories and evoke those and also as a way of capturing for later learning ( in the case of birding )

When I'm sitting along the Pacific on Captain Cook Highway in the early morning I'm looking to capture that feeling to relive and to share...not make an art piece out of it.

I have no issue with those that do approach it that way ....it's just not my thing.

Many of my shots include the motorcycle I'm on as they are destined to share with those on the riding forum and that inclusion helps them put themselves in that spot at that time even tho it may detract from the "art" of the particular photo - and it often does.

Sure - eye candy shots are great but the camera is for me just a memory aid and the picture not an end in itself but a way to invoke the memories associated with the shot. That's why I love the random slide shows that I run in the office and most of the time on my computer in a window as it takes me back to those places and times.

If they happen to combine eye candy and that evocative spur so much the better. Shooting in the clutter and low light of the rain forest simply led me to need a better capture tool and one that can focus automatically more accurately and with greater ease. The GX-1 for that purpose so far seems good and I'll trade off the greater bulk for that.

It also I think will reduce the need for a second camera on the trips we take with more expansive views. I can switch to a longer lens and capture some of the things the P&S would miss or be frustrated with due to distance it can resolve with the limited range and lens.

The photos are not the end goal but a memory aid which ideally evoke the feeling and the setting. Doing that quickly and accurately enhances the experience I'm on.
For the longest time I would carry no camera as I felt it got in the way of the experience.

But particularly on the bike with a partner who does not ride and with others who won't get the opportunity to cover some of the ground I've been able to.....the camera allows my memories and the sharing.

If the more sophisticated camera gets in the way of doing that process easily and without a lot of fuss .... then it won't get used for a broad spectrum of the activities I engage in.

Max, some of your photos are evocative which I like....but it's not with a specific memory in mind tho it may be to you.

Mine record a journey - and some of the wonders along the way -for me and to share with others. If new camera does offers me a better method without adding in delays or reducing spontanaeity - that's what I'm hoping for.

Not looking for painter's tools either in camera or software. Only an easy to use, quality recording tool with good glass.

Had my tiny high end binocs for 30 years and they've been a treasure.
Hoping to get that kind of enjoyment and use from this camera.

Here's a case in point...was just watching random slide show while I'm working and this popped up and instantly transported me to that lovely stretch of rain forest track I was on a couple of months ago. I could smell the richness of the forest as soon as it showed up.
The mcycle mirror makes it relevant to other riders who may visit the area and for my purposes in no way detracts from the shot.

MacDoc · May 6th, 2012, 11:04 AM

Finally some full light to work with
Pretty happy with the "pop" on this

how do I achieve a greater depth of field on this one

sorry for the pink deluge but I'm still sick and it's the local colour

MacDoc · May 6th, 2012, 01:00 PM

Yesssssss - fits in the mcycle jacket with the lens on

iMatt · May 7th, 2012, 10:56 AM

I understand your not seeing it as an "artistic" thing, but just the same there can be value in going back and tweaking things that the camera didn't get quite right.

If you're shooting JPEG, then you have tons of camera settings that you can adjust to get the output just as you like it. If you take the time to explore these settings and tweak them just-so, you should have no need for post-processing because all you're really doing is setting up a single-purpose computer to do your bidding. You can think of this approach as "pre-processing".

Some of us, however, find that getting the camera to get it right is actually harder, less precise and more time-consuming than just doing it afterwards on the computer, when sometimes a single click can make all the difference. That doesn't have to mean faking anything or rendering something that wasn't there. On the contrary, once you become even moderately skilled at adjusting exposure, shadows, highlights etc. you can use that skill to make the final photo look *closer* to what you saw with the naked eye than the untweaked camera output.

As for software, Lightroom does give you lots of control over where your files go and how they're organized. Thumbnails are kind of an inevitable part of the whole process of having a photo library; I guess it's just a matter of where and how they're stored.

As for eMacMan's comment on iPhoto, it's still true (9.2.3) that you can't specify a precise zoom level.