Hi David, here are a few answers David Young wrote:
Philippe showed:http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Phileica/Playground/Red+Dot.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Phileica/Playground/Mitsibou.jpg.html http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Phileica/Playground/Tractor.jpg.htmlhttp://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Phileica/Playground/Tractor2.jpg.htmlA couple of questions, if I may...1) Was the Red-dot shot taken with any supplemental close up device (extension rings, +6 diopter lens, 2x converter, etc.) or simply using the close focus limit of the lens? It taken without any supplemental devices, it's quite remarkable!
Nothing but the lens - the exif says it is above 100 so it can't be the D Elmarit - and I played with the 40-150 and the 70-300, but I can't remember which one I used on that specific shot. What I wanted in fact was to include two more "f... " couples in the background (clearer spots but so fuzzy/bliurred), but I wasn't able to get them as the lens lacks a nice bokeh - and the Angenieux was at my place ...
the raw file in LR is much better - I hadn't realized the highlight were that blown out until I saw the pix on the LUG ... What I conclude from this is when there's light, there's hope for higher ISOs, , which is news to me, at least on the L1.2) Mitsibou is a nice looking cat, if I ever saw one! (I wouldn't fret about the blown nose highlight... almost unnoticeable.) And the noise, for ISO 1600 is very well controlled.
Personally, I've never been bothered by the pursuit of perfection in noise ... for almost any decent digital camera will exhibit much lower noise at high ISOs than the equivalent grain in any film of similar speeds. Still, when making larger prints for exhibition/sale, I usually run them through Neat Image - a noise reduction program which works very well and is not very expensive. In fact, there is a free version which saves only in jpeg form, and has limited batch processing, but is otherwise identical and runs without limit. Neat image, like any noise reduction program makes any shot just a wee bit softer ... but the improvement in background noise more than compensates - especially in larger prints. Give it a try! I used the Demo version for about a year, before I spent my money. And if you buy a license, you get upgrades to all later versions without cost.Download the demo version from http://www.neatimage.com/download.html <http://www.neatimage.com/download.html%A0>Another good choice, at slightly higher cost is Noise Ninja, from http://www.picturecode.com/ <http://www.picturecode.com/%A0> However, it places annoying watermarks on your images until you pay the fee.
I might try this as soon as I get a week off - I'm keeping the link, thanks.
3) you mention that in "Tractor" you've turned the 300 into a 1200mmm. How? By using a 2x converter? The Oly one? If yes ... how do you like it? (I'm very happy with my 1.4x version.) BTW, I like this shot the best of the four, though they're all good. :-)
300 to 1200 is simple: on the L1, if you shoot JPEG (no raw at all allowed there) , and decide not to use the top quality/resolution feature, you can set the camera to use only a part of the sensor, and get an optical, repeat optical, doubling of the focal length ( I really DK how) . So, using the lens at 300, using the above described feature, I get 600mm , then, knowing you're dealing with a 4/3 sensor, you double that again to get to 1200. It only works in the Lview mode. There's also a digital feature to extend this, but I haven't tried it in 18 months' of intensive use.
My next experiments will be with (faked) HDR using the multi-exposure feature in a reasoned/systematic way.In Tractor 2... the blue cast/haze gives it a wonderful effect, and you've used the "live view" to great advantage.
PAW n° 3 here: http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Phileica/PAW-2oo8/shows something of what I have in mind in terms of density and "richness" (no reference to the beverages displayed though)
Amitiés Philippe
Thanks for sharing! ---David Young, Logan Lake, CANADALimited Edition Prints at: www.furnfeather.net <http://www.furnfeather.net/> Personal Web-site at: www.main.furnfeather.net <http://www.main.furnfeather.net/>Stock Photography at: http://tinyurl.com/2amll4