camera for bee, wasp and hoverfly id?

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camera for bee, wasp and hoverfly id?
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Shane

Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 3467
Location: Doha. Is hot.

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 19 10:36 am Post subject:
Just back from holiday, some of which was spent playing with a friend's rather impressive mirrorless Nikon, so I'll be following your living review on the Canon equivalent (being a Canon junkie myself)

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Aug 20, 19 10:48 pm Post subject:

the Nikon has slightly better specs but I did not like the feel of it, I know where things are on a canon and it is more than good enough.
maybe it is what I am used to or perhaps I have had a few because the shape suits me but of the ones I played with I prefer the handling of the r to other makes and to the mk iv

I have yet to see the results full size ( about 2/3 size for a full res snap even with a 4k+ screen )
I have the pooter working and talking to all it's bits and my phone, the Bluetooth works the headphones to the end of the yard which bodes well for remote for the camera.

I recon I need a day at least to sync the camera and get used to how it interacts with the other things.

after that I can sort photoshop and then start learning to get what I want from the camera.

having just started to play with this pooter it does seem like it was made for creative stuff.
I'm looking forward to seeing what the combo can be made to do, if I can spellcheck with a finger tip or pen or mouse or keyboard I recon photoshop will be fun.

if you do decide to upgrade I recon it needs the right sort of pooter rig to make the most of it.

I spose it is pro quality tools but i'm a bit old and battered to be using the Milwaukee SDS and Hamilton brushes etc etc so applying the same criteria if it needs to look and be right with minimum trouble use good tools.

I recon I am close to complete for hardware once a few more bits arrive and I get a largish external hd and perhaps a 100/300 white series lens ( pre loved at a good price ) if the is will work via the R to EOS converter ring. I need to get the details and ask canon.

as to software I need to find the best photoshop option as that is the tool I need , know and like for leccy photos.
video can wait

i have plenty to learn without complicating matters yet.
last time i did video it was DV tape and HD , i had to build a pooter to deal with it, hopefully this one will cope.

a bit of a diversion from camera stuff but pretty relevant , full frame is serious number crunching when it comes to image manipulation and needs a pretty decent screen.

surface pro / R, gulp , where is cardinal fang to hear my confession?

and i also sinned with a new office chair which is far nicer for my knee ,back and shoulder . necessary if rather tiresome.

the headphones are rather nice as well

hopefully the results will justify the means

Shane

Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 3467
Location: Doha. Is hot.

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 19 4:08 am Post subject:

I'm using Photoshop Elements (version 14) at the moment - it's good enough for what I do (much like the 80D

) and totally different to anything I'd used before, so I'm still learning it. Newer versions of Adobe software are cloud subscription only (v14 is a freestanding installation), I think, which would annoy me as I don't use it often enough to justify paying 20 quid a month.

Lightroom is ace for cataloging and simple bulk edits, too, so worth reading up on that one. It also lets you design photobooks and calendars, if that sort of thing tickles your fancy, although there are plenty of online alternatives, some of which provide more optionality.

Built my own rig a couple of years back that's more than powerful enough for my purposes. Coupled it with a 16 TB external NAS drive, as storage in GB isn't enough when you routinely come back from a holiday with 5000 photos

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 21, 19 11:13 am Post subject:

that pooter would be up to most jobs that need number crunching or data storage.

I would like stand alone photoshop but I have a feeling I need the newest or at least newish stuff

research is required , I have a feeling that there might be some decent software with the camera but some version of photoshop seems essential.

I will try to find the best deal that will do the job, there is a lot of photoshop I never need but parts are ace for darkroom stuff and arty stuff.

I have a full legit cs3 and only ever used the camera still image part and the filing system, ideal for 7mp or scans but it would be like running a new supercar on cracked birch distillates

at the mo i don't need more than basic video edit so long as it can cope with 4k but for stills i need full image tweaking, filters and some graphics stuff. as far as i have discovered if i want museum quality prints a jpeg is ideal so i do not need some of the " a million ways to talk to the printers " stuff , nor do i want to do instant news feed.

i need to prep photos to look how I want them to look for photoprint or online, extract data from photos ( video later ) and have the tools for arty stuff.

stuff for packaging designers or things i never even looked at are not needed.

i will get to that once the hardware is all chatting nicely:roll:

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 19 7:25 pm Post subject:

i managed to get the camera and pooter talking by usb3+ which is a start, i think the camera talks to the phone but the phone does not understand yet and i have had several new passwords for several old things in a day.

tech , it is nice really, tis frustrating when some bits are seamless and others are not.

if some things can work instinctively and easily why don't folk learn from how that is done and avoid most of the issues folk have attaching a new thing or migrating to a new machine.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 19 12:00 am Post subject:

£99 for a year seems decent value for photoshop and both styles of lightroom, a useable amount of cloud storage for work in progress and a few other nice odds n ends

i did not get 11 yrs out of cs3 desktop version and i only used about a third of it, i.e. the bits i have this time.

overall this will be cheaper until i need another chunk of software for posh video edits rather than basics

new photoshop is similar to old photoshop but it has better help and tutorials.

new photo shop for dummies will be sourced and secured

i rather like the idiot's guide to how to do whatever the idiot wants to do rather than trying to interpret the instruction manual to the requirements.

it is a proper skill writing them but the book of the app or device is far better from a user point of view than the factory manuals when it is well done.

ps re migrating cos i am so carp at typing i have had up to 5 new passwords on one account before i got it to the right machine and right browser

pps IE Bing etc are rubbish but you have to use what fires up to recover/adapt/replace the good stuff.
i hope i am very near uninstalling IE and all it's little demons

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 19 1:07 pm Post subject:
chompski has been helping me edit and resize photos, we are not quite there yet iirc this could be almost twice the resolution and i still need to work out how to embed metadata and copyright protection.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 19 1:26 pm Post subject:

ps. new photoshop is ace but the lightroom filing systems are a bit beyond me so far.
it is much more user friendly than the cs3 era stuff

the camera, pooter , photoshop combo does seem to work together rather well.
i get the feeling to get the best out of any of them requires the other two so my cunning if rather expensive plan seems technically viable.

something i have really noticed is how little photoshop work is required to produce a decent image.
this has had a small align and crop but needed no studio work to make it look right like stuff from my old sureshots usually did.

getting suitable compression for web use is fairly simple, this simpleton found a way in about half an hour.

most of the buttons and options are in the same places but it is all much slicker and nicer to use.

having multiple input options is nice, fingers, trackball keyboard and pen are working so far, the dial thing will have to wait til i know what i'm supposed to be doing with it

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Aug 26, 19 3:34 pm Post subject:

pps, i did not get the lenovo as their sales team cost me £20 not answering their phone on a premium rate number.
silly reason maybe but if they dont want to sell em i am pretty sure they would not want to fix them if they dont work.

so i went for a bill special and got top end surface studio pro, with a nus discount it was still quite pricey.

however, it does seem up to the job and has all manner of bells and whistles that are possibly useful and a few that already are.

i have often felt the main issue with ms os is they need a lot more machine than most folk get to run them on.

the last time i was really happy with bill's os was 98 sp2 running on a home built 3 . 2 chip and good sub boards rig with, at the time a massive, 500 gb disk
i built it for running a sound studio and video edit suite but it was a pretty good gaming machine as well

so far this machine seems to work fine with win 10 ( whatever that is

) it is fairly instinctive having started with ms dos and used a few since.

i do like the simplicity and customization of linux and the useful free software it has but it is not suitable for image or video or sound if you want to use decent tools.
as an everyday os it is hard to beat cos you can do most stuff to home use/ office use standards with a fraction of the hardware and software costs needed for ms or mac.

ie gimp is ideal for low res tweaking and polishing a snap for web use or making a christmas card, a funding pitch document with maps and plans is easy in office etc but it has few tools compared to the real stuff for creative work.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 19 9:09 pm Post subject:

i managed to get a mk 1 white 100/400 is lens for a decent price, a few scratches on the body but the optics and mechanicals are fine

it is rather nice if a bit of a bazooka to hand hold .

i'm fairly sure i have several hand grips that might work on the tripod ring but hand held is poss with either of the is modes switched on and a fast iso

hand held for more than a short while would be quite tricky unless one has a healthy body and a fair bit of internal control.

fine for snaps, video with that lens will need a tripod.

apart from either more batteries or the battery grip i think i am done for hardware bar a few bags and some sort of all the kit carry/store container

thinking of the battery grip it makes it bigger but it can be powered by mains wire, there is another extra bit of kit for usb and yet another for 12v power.

my favourite idea at the mo is work with what i have got to identify what is missing

the 100/400 was definitely missing from the kit, the three lenses cover most things i might want to do and quite a lot of things that i dont want to do but now could.

re is in the lens rather than the camera, i just wobbled an id friendly snap of a moth on the ceiling with a 400mm trombone and although it looked jumpy as in the viewfinder when i pressed the button it came out with well enough to zoom in on the snap and see the fur on it's legs

not bad for available light indoors at night, iso 40000 probably helped

note to self dust and wash tripods

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Aug 27, 19 11:59 pm Post subject:

one reason i find this rather good fun is that at last what i want from kit and what is available matches

the last time that happened was the eos30 and nice wet facilities

i first saw good kit in the 1980's , the studio cost £5 mil and each of the big cameras was about £.75 mil.
that only did video of a fraction of the resolution now available at home for rather less.

in that sort of perspective it does not seem too daft to get decent kit at last

re snaps , even though i am only just starting to see what i can do this thing has advantages over film and wet stuff that are superb.

i spose the big test will be to see if i can obtain a decent print .
afaik there are folk who will do archive quality high res work for a respectable price, i will make a snap and see how they get on:P

a bit ahead of myself, online is nice and useful but hard copies of the arty stuff are good for assorted reasons

i promise not to covet the camera and lens the dancing bird chap took to the land of the lost volcano ( bbc telly)

oops, ok i promise

liar, that thing was lovely

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Aug 28, 19 10:47 pm Post subject:

i found an old handle and screwed it to daddy bear lens.
it helps but over 250mm it needs more weight at the camera end
it is not a nice one but wrapped in clingy bandage it is useable for the mo but i am going to explore other hand held mount systems.
for video even with the 24/105 a steadycam type mount would be nice

the 100/400 is a bit of a beast at 1.5kg without the camera but the is in the long lens is ace, even with no handle i got hand held 400mm snaps that were fairly unblurred

it might be via the converter ring and a rather older lens design but it does the job.

gulp, proper kit at last, it has only taken 55 years

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 19 12:57 pm Post subject:

i have been playing, with a bit of study when lost, and i rather like this thing.

if i stand in the doorway the 100 to 400 white lens is awesome for the feeder 2m away.
i need to play with the focus modes for in flight at a distance shots and for group or individual snaps at the feeder. an easy switch between modes can be preset but i have not got that far yet.

even in slow continuous mode it takes 3 or 4 snaps a second

considering it is a grey day being able to turn up the iso a lot is rather useful, again i need to play more with that and perhaps a few umbrella reflectors as the feeder is in shade and under in a hedge.
more light=faster shutter speed and less blur issues for id if birdy is moving or for arty flying snaps

the sparrows were a bit concerned at the clicking to start with but soon got used to it

no photos i want to post yet but im getting there.

tis rather like starting again but it is rather nice.

ps dik does not care about a man with a clicking thing

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Oct 22, 19 3:18 pm Post subject:
re flying things at a distance , remember to always take the camera co i missed a chance to snap a hurricane as it came over. we have a very varied set of planes, current issue are predictable (or a bit random) and the heritage ones from elvington and linton often play about.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46211
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Jan 01, 20 3:05 pm Post subject:

happy new year, happy new project

all was set, camera, 20 birds, me.
then a raptor arrived overhead and everyone hid, someone may have hidden a few doors along with the cats

calm is resuming , but the light is starting to go for being able to get feather pattern snaps.

so far i have a few , sort of ok, ones for one bird.

yesterday i could have filled a couple of cards with sparrow close ups

wc fields is the patron saint of wildlife study ".... never work with .... or animals."

as i type most are back including the robin, pigeons and lady blackbird

at least it is not day one wondering where the penguins and my toes are

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