Your current GAS list? (1 Viewer)

[ManW_TheUncool]

Yeah, this pandemic has definitely crushed what little I was still doing w/ my D800 DSLR and mirrorless Z6. And my now-nearly-1-yo iPhone 13 Pro has basically killed whatever little remaining desire I still had to lug my formerly carry-everywhere kit/bag (w/ the Z6) w/ me on my occasional brief trips outside -- just haven't gone on any vacations in nearly 2 years to bother bringing more than my iPhone, especially now w/ the 13 Pro.

And I really haven't even used my 13 Pro's camera on more than just a few occasions very sparingly (and for some sporadic, very basic utility)...

Really a major bummer to think about that...

I did finally get around to recharging the batteries for my DSLR and mirrorless a couple weeks ago after all that time unused -- and they still seem fine. Think I'll definitely try to get out more w/ them again w/ the pandemic seemingly much more under control and weather getting milder again as Autumn (and foliage season) approaches soon. Maybe I'll just go on some short trips alone out away from NYC probably via Metro-North this Fall after I get my new Covid booster... and maybe bring a bike w/ me...

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

Yeah, this pandemic has definitely crushed what little I was still doing w/ my D800 DSLR and mirrorless Z6. And my now-nearly-1-yo iPhone 13 Pro has basically killed whatever little remaining desire I still had to lug my formerly carry-everywhere kit/bag (w/ the Z6) w/ me on my occasional brief trips outside -- just haven't gone on any vacations in nearly 2 years to bother bringing more than my iPhone, especially now w/ the 13 Pro.

And I really haven't even used my 13 Pro's camera on more than just a few occasions very sparingly (and for some sporadic, very basic utility)...

Really a major bummer to think about that...

I did finally get around to recharging the batteries for my DSLR and mirrorless a couple weeks ago after all that time unused -- and they still seem fine. Think I'll definitely try to get out more w/ them again w/ the pandemic seemingly much more under control and weather getting milder again as Autumn (and foliage season) approaches soon. Maybe I'll just go on some short trips alone out away from NYC probably via Metro-North this Fall after I get my new Covid booster... and maybe bring a bike w/ me...

_Man_

Weather getting milder? We hit 97 today.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Weather getting milder? We hit 97 today.

It actually got a tad chilly last night here getting down to the low-60's w/ significant breeze... and kept waking me up last night into the morning since I kept my window wide open next to my bed (and wasn't prepared at all for it... still largely in my summer mode though w/ both AC and fan off).

_Man_

 

[JohnRice]

It actually got a tad chilly last night here getting down to the low-60's w/ significant breeze... and kept waking me up last night into the morning since I kept my window wide open next to my bed (and wasn't prepared at all for it... still largely in my summer mode though w/ both AC and fan off).

_Man_

Well, in Colorado the high can be in the 90s and still have lows in the 50 and sometimes even the high 40s. The range today was 61 to 97.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Well, in Colorado the high can be in the 90s and still have lows in the 50 and sometimes even the high 40s. The range today was 61 to 97.

Well, that doesn't bad me thinks since one would get some reprieve from the heat. Also, I imagine it's mostly dry-ish heat at midday, right? Of course, that does mean needing to always bring a light jacket or sweater or similar w/ you. Might be much colder than I'd want in the winter though -- winters have become quite mild over here in NYC metro area, except for this past winter perhaps, but still not that cold for the most part...

Over here, it doesn't get as humid as the south(east) of course, but still, some nights can be quite humid and stuffy (NVM midday) even if/when the temp drops significantly below 80 -- it doesn't always drop below 80 though.

I'd definitely rather have a fairly dry 95 (maybe even upper-90's) that only lasts a few hours each day than very humid upper-80's (and often enough higher) -- the mugginess can often also get/stay indoors w/ you even after the temps drop outside at night.

_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Weather getting milder? We hit 97 today.

Yeah, we are getting to 90 degrees tomorrow with high humidity here in Michigan. You cannot probably even spell the word H-U-M-I-D-I-T-Y in Colorado.

 

[JohnRice]

Yeah, we are getting to 90 degrees tomorrow with high humidity here in Michigan. You cannot probably even spell the word H-U-M-I-D-I-T-Y in Colorado.

Summers are more humid than they used to be. We've had dew points as high as 60 this year, which is just too stinking humid for me. Today was closer to 40 but it started raining a while ago and went up to 52. I've seen dew points in the winter that were below 0, which I didn't even think was possible. The humidity has a lot to do with how much the temp drops at night. Higher humidity, less temp drop. In spring and autumn the temperature range through a day can be as much as 50 degrees. That's not any kind of cold front, but just normal range. It can freeze at night and still hit 80 during the day.

Then again, I remember living in Dallas it could be 55 degrees outside, and the instant you went out the door you were soaked with sweat. That's just wrong.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I complain about the muggy heat, but I still try my best to do w/out AC (NVM dehumidifier) more often than not during the summer here... I guess partly because I still have a little bit of the (young) native, no-AC, Hong Konger in me from back in the day, LOL -- probably many/most HK-ers have become used to having AC (or at least dehumidifiers) nowadays.

Hong Kong is basically just like much of Florida (and maybe some places along the Gulf Coast like Houston and New Orleans) although it might not get quite as cool in the winter...

_Man_

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Yeah, this pandemic has definitely crushed what little I was still doing w/ my D800 DSLR and mirrorless Z6. And my now-nearly-1-yo iPhone 13 Pro has basically killed whatever little remaining desire I still had to lug my formerly carry-everywhere kit/bag (w/ the Z6) w/ me on my occasional brief trips outside -- just haven't gone on any vacations in nearly 2 years to bother bringing more than my iPhone, especially now w/ the 13 Pro.

I was stuck in this same situation earlier this week. Went on a guys golf trip to northern Michigan, had my Canon M50 kit set aside, and forgot to put it in the car. Had to use my Samsung Galaxy Flip 3 to take some shots, as the golf course was spectacular -- Arcadia Bluffs along Lake Michigan. I'll put a couple of the pics in the general photos thread.

 

[Citizen87645]

This transition from talking about mirrorless cameras to humid weather provides a good segue to share that I ventured to take my Canon R6 with me to Malaysia to see my in-laws, after the last few trips not wanting to bother with the size and weight, etc. I reduced things down to the body and an all-purpose lens, and it was nice to have a few times, but generally found I still tended to use my phone for convenience. There were some shots I would never have gotten with my phone, though, so I think I'll still pack it again on our next trip.

 

[JohnRice]

Since weather was been brought up. Today I was reminded that two years ago it was in the 90s on Labor Day and two days later we were in a blizzard.

More than 35 °C (almost 70F) temperature drop is expected by Tuesday evening. In just 36 hours. Heavy snow is expected to spread from Wyoming into Colorado foothills.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm thinking it might be fun to have an IR conversion done on my Nikon D5500. I've never ended up using it much.

Has anyone done that?

 

[Scott Merryfield]

I'm thinking it might be fun to have an IR conversion done on my Nikon D5500. I've never ended up using it much.

Has anyone done that?

Never done it, but have always been intrigued with the idea. If you have a body not worth much on the used market (not sure about your Nikon), it's a great use for it.

 

[JohnRice]

Never done it, but have always been intrigued with the idea. If you have a body not worth much on the used market (not sure about your Nikon), it's a great use for it.

I used to love shooting IR, especially the Konica 720 which was moderate and fine grain.

 

[JohnRice]

I used to love shooting IR, especially the Konica 720 which was moderate and fine grain.

Anyway, the D5500 would definitely be worth something, but I bought it to have something as heavy and expensive as the D500. I'm just wondering about things that might get me taking pics again. Then again, sequestering in the basement with movies is also appealing.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

The only "extra" body I currently have is an original Canon EOS M, which was their first mirrorless camera. I am not sure it would be a good candidate for IR conversion, though. The body has some severe limitations, such as no viewfinder and a very poor auto focus system. Due to these shortcomings, Canon had a fire sale on them several years so I picked a kit up very cheap - - about $100 out of pocket for the body, a 22mm f/2 pancake lens, and EF to EF-M lens adapter. The 22mm lens alone was worth that price, and I recently sold the adapter for about 40 bucks. It was a cheap way for my first dabble into mirrorless. I later bought a Canon M50, and the original M hasn't been used since. It's not worth selling, though.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm tempted to do the LifePixel Super Color conversion. It seems to leave a lot of flexibility for how to handle the images.

They have a bunch of galleries on their site. Check out Son Nguyen's stuff.

 

[JohnRice]

The only "extra" body I currently have is an original Canon EOS M, which was their first mirrorless camera. I am not sure it would be a good candidate for IR conversion, though. The body has some severe limitations, such as no viewfinder and a very poor auto focus system. Due to these shortcomings, Canon had a fire sale on them several years so I picked a kit up very cheap - - about $100 out of pocket for the body, a 22mm f/2 pancake lens, and EF to EF-M lens adapter. The 22mm lens alone was worth that price, and I recently sold the adapter for about 40 bucks. It was a cheap way for my first dabble into mirrorless. I later bought a Canon M50, and the original M hasn't been used since. It's not worth selling, though.

Not having a viewfinder doesn't really matter since the best way to use the camera after conversion appears to be with live view. But, it needs to have decent AF in live view. Of course, shooting IR isn't usually a fast process, so speed isn't a big deal, but I expect the camera really does need to have good live view.

As it turns out, Photoshop and Lightroom can't get the color balance right on the RAW files which has to be done below 2,000K, and those apps can't go to that low of a color temp. They mention this specifically with Nikon cameras, but I don't know why that would make a difference. That site has some test files which I tried out, and was able to do excellent conversions from RAW to TIFF (I did 16 bit) as an intermediary step using the Nikon app.

I guess the alternative is to set the minimum color temp on the camera and save as TIFF or JPG, then reduce it even further if needed. One thing said that you can set a custom auto white balance, but again that doesn't work for RAW. I did try to convert their Nikon RAW file directly in PS and just couldn't get a suitable conversion. To me, the best solution is just to use the Nikon app to convert the RAW file. Taking it to 16 bit TIFF should retain the vast majority of the needed RAW data. The result for me was a little flat, but at least I know it should have retained all the dynamic range.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Not having a viewfinder doesn't really matter since the best way to use the camera after conversion appears to be with live view. But, it needs to have decent AF in live view. Of course, shooting IR isn't usually a fast process, so speed isn't a big deal, but I expect the camera really does need to have good live view.

As it turns out, Photoshop and Lightroom can't get the color balance right on the RAW files which has to be done below 2,000K, and those apps can't go to that low of a color temp. They mention this specifically with Nikon cameras, but I don't know why that would make a difference. That site has some test files which I tried out, and was able to do excellent conversions from RAW to TIFF (I did 16 bit) as an intermediary step using the Nikon app.

Since my EOS M is a mirrorless camera, it's always in "live view". The issues are (1) the rear LCD can be difficult to see in the sun, and (2) the AF is quite slow. The latter may not be a huge deal with IR shots, though, as these would be landscapes where you have time to setup, compose and focus. The AF on that body was horrible for anything moving. Issue #1 would probably be the biggest problem to overcome.

I use DxO Photolab to process my RAW files. I am not sure how well it does with IR, though. I do also have access to Canon's Digital Photo Professional software (it's free with any Canon body purchase), but haven't used it in many years.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Only for Nikon mirrorless users, but anyone considering this trade-in offer?

Nikon Trade-In Program | Earn Rebates with Camera or Lens Upgrade

Earn rebates towards camera upgrades with Nikon’s trade-in program. See instant quotes for selling back your old camera or lens when you trade up!

www.nikonusa.com

I took a quick look, and not sure the deals are really that worthwhile to me. The bonus $100-200 would be nice, but on 2nd thought, probably just buying tax-free from B&H (in my case anyway) would save just about that much in most these cases -- and not that many of them come w/ that bonus offer. Plus not sure the trade-in values are nearly enough for me in vast majority of cases -- seems like selling lenses myself would probably yield better returns... though this is simpler and less risky.

The Z 24-120 f/4 S probably woulda interested me if it's parfocal, particularly useful for shooting video, but it's unfortunately not -- that plus there's no trade-in bonus for it anyway. The Z 14-30 f/4 S might've interested me if I have a higher rez body than Z6, but I don't -- think I'm content enough just sticking w/ my old D800+16-35 f/4 VR for that range for foreseeable future...

The Z 40 f/2 prime looks interesting, but apparently, the optics are not really that good, which is too bad -- would probably make for a nice little lens for street photography if the optics are better. Hmmm... Maybe it'd still be worthwhile enough trading in my old F-mount 35 f/2D for that...

Not really itching to upgrade from my existing F-mount lenses otherwise at this point...

_Man_