SiJ 17: outtakes - unofficial thread

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Day 04 outtake - freezing morning
 
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Our Myna bird showed up again this morning, and was less shy. The picture is heavily cropped, and just not really sharp focus, but this was almost my entry for today.

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Our African Hoopoe is back! Again, heavily cropped. I need to get a longer, sharper lens for the birds.
 
Very well done - the light can't have been that advantageous. Very nice framing, too.

M.
Thanks Matt, the aim was to get all 4 floor levels in the frame whilst at the same time giving some prominence to the clock, all of which I just managed to do. With the S95, I'm finding that dialing down exposure a stop or two, recovering shadows in post, then doing a bit of dodging and burning seems to be the solution to handling awkward light like this. Very carefully though in view of the data the limited megapickles and small sensor gives you. It's funny, I only learned these PP techniques *after* binning the S95 and buying more expensive systems when I could and should have applied these techniques when I originally had the S95. How are you finding the camera after all these years?
 
How are you finding the camera after all these years?
Short answer: I still like it - mostly (or should I say: kind of?). Long answer: On one hand, it's uniquely portable and still delivers worthwhile images - add the quiet shutter, good I.S. and the fact that you can turn off image review, and you end up with a great candid shooter. On the other hand, it just can't hold a candle to any of the other gear I'm using when it comes to IQ and handling. For its size, it actually handles sufficiently well, though - also thanks to extensive customisation, which is actually possible. And I really like the results in good light (or b&w from higher ISOs - though I put the limit at ISO 800). The way I shoot it, as a sort of mini-GR with the added bonus of a zoom lens that allows for portraits in a pinch (I usually stop at the 67mm-e you've seen me use a couple of times, though - above that, IQ gets, shall we say, limited), it can be quite satisfying in use and in terms of results.

But it's got its quirks: It might sound silly, but in aperture priority, the front ring turns in the wrong direction according to the screen display when changing aperture - very annoying because I have to constantly overrule common sense (thankfully, that's in short supply on my side anyway ;)); also, metering is laggy, which can result in completely ruined exposures - i.e. the camera turns on quite quickly and is ready to shoot in about one second, but then you have to wait for the meter to catch up, or you'll blow the shot. It's counter-intuitive because it limits the usefulness of the camera as a snap-shooter (or street camera).

I was contemplating replacing it with the G9X and now the G9X II - because it keeps the form factor (and the II because it operates a lot faster). I'm not so sure I should, though - the S95 has a lot going for it, not the least its sensor that has its own thing going on (nice, if sometimes funky, colours, great transitions), and the fact that it offers quite a lot of dedicated controls (the G9X relies on its touch screen). Add the fact that I usually prefer to carry a :mu43: camera with me, and it's questionable if I should keep going down the route of super-compact. Plus now I have a Google Pixel - "best" smartphone camera, it seems ...

But I'll keep the S95. It works.

M.
 
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Short answer: I still like it - mostly (or should I say: kind of?). Long answer: On one hand, it's uniquely portable and still delivers worthwhile images - add the quiet shutter, good I.S. and the fact that you can turn off image review, and you end up with a great candid shooter. On the other hand, it just can't hold a candle to any of the other gear I'm using when it comes to IQ and handling. For its size, it actually handles sufficiently well, though - also thanks to extensive customisation, which is actually possible. And I really like the results in good light (or b&w from higher ISOs - though I put the limit at ISO 800). The way I shoot it, as a sort of mini-GR with the added bonus of a zoom lens that allows for portraits in a pinch (I usually stop at the 67mm-e you've seen me use a couple of times, though - above that, IQ gets, shall we say, limited), it can be quite satisfying in use and in terms of results.

But it's got its quirks: It might sound silly, but in aperture priority, the front ring turns in the wrong direction according to the screen display when changing aperture - very annoying because I have to constantly overrule common sense (thankfully, that's in short supply on my side anyway ;)); also, metering is laggy, which can result in completely ruined exposures - i.e. the camera turns on quite quickly and is ready to shoot in about one second, but then you have to wait for the meter to catch up, or you'll blow the shot. It's counter-intuitive because it limits the usefulness of the camera as a snap-shooter (or street camera).

I was contemplating replacing it with the G9X and now the G9X II - because it keeps the form factor (and the II because it operates a lot faster). I'm not so sure I should, though - the S95 has a lot going for it, not the least its sensor that has its own thing going on (nice, if sometimes funky, colours, great transitions), and the fact that it offers quite a lot of dedicated controls (the G9X relies on its touch screen). Add the fact that I usually prefer to carry a :mu43: camera with me, and it's questionable if I should keep going down the route of super-compact. Plus now I have a Google Pixel - "best" smartphone camera, it seems ...

But I'll keep the S95. It works.

M.
Agreed and in summary, I can't see myself using it come 1 February not even by members of the household (my teenage son will be taking the m43 gear on his holidays and the girls in the house will be using phones) but it'll probably get dragged out at some future point in time and it was definitely the right challenge for SIJ.
 
my new phone takes bursts of 3 photos in low light or if it detects action so you can choose the best image. It also stores them as a gif. I'm getting hooked on the action. Shot this through a dirty car window on the ride home last night while my wife was driving.

View attachment 122299Burst_Cover_GIF_Action_20170104160814 by Luke, on Flickr
Those GIFs are definitely cool.
 
Ran into technical limitations today, so had to stop fiddling with a couple of files in post and settle for compromises:

Cloud eat mountain (highlights blown, WB seriously out of whack - went for b&w after some hideous colour attempts):
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Last light (I still like the result somehow, even if it's nothing like what I saw):
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M.
 
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