Ashim.Dey

Waves of Happiness

2012-01-11T12:50:00.001+05:30

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Ahana at auroville

2011-10-12T00:16:00.001+05:30

The Watch post

2011-10-03T11:48:00.003+05:30

Pied Cuckoo

2011-10-02T12:15:00.004+05:30

Sandpiper

2011-10-02T12:14:00.004+05:30

Faith washer ashore

2011-10-02T12:13:00.003+05:30

Egret in morning light

2011-10-02T12:12:00.000+05:30

Hydrangea

2011-10-02T12:09:00.000+05:30

Egret

2011-10-02T12:07:00.000+05:30

Inner glow

2011-10-02T12:05:00.002+05:30

A bycycle

2011-09-30T23:57:00.002+05:30

Three wise men

2011-09-30T23:55:00.002+05:30

Krishnachura portrait

2011-09-30T23:54:00.002+05:30

A bowlful of fruits

2011-09-30T23:53:00.000+05:30

Lily close-up

2011-09-30T15:48:00.001+05:30

The flood situation in Orissa continues to remain grim with nearly 2.1 million people affected in more than 3000 villages. The second spell of floods has resulted in the death of 19 people so far with six casualties reported from the Jajpur, one of the worst-affected districts.

The flood situation in Orissa continues to remain grim with nearly 2.1 million people affected in more than 3000 villages. The second spell of floods has resulted in the death of 19 people so far with six casualties reported from the Jajpur, one of the worst-affected districts.

Look at me

2011-09-30T14:58:00.000+05:30

Cosmos in morning light

2011-09-27T09:44:00.012+05:30

Canon 7D and Nikon D700 - tools for trades

2011-05-02T12:41:00.003+05:30

I have been using the Canon 7D and the Canon 400mm f/5.6 L USM after being a strong Nikon loyalist for a very long time. Many friends have asked the reason and a few have joked asking whether I am changing loyalties. In JJM, I had recently commented on a post to say that I find noise in my 7D pics at lower ISOs which had also raised some questions there. Here is my account of the reason for using a Canon set-up and a quick assessment of the 2 DSLRs I currently own

Okay, here is a more objective assessment of the noise of 7D at lower ISOs.

The noise is predominantly shadow noise. This can also happen due to improper exposure.
The original RAW looks cleaner in DPP than in LR3 with no camera profiles applied during import. Therefore, this could also be due to the default tone curve and sharpening being applied by LR3. One can get better images to start with if one is ready to accept the limitations of DPP as a full-fledged RAW-software. In contrast, I open and work on all Nikon NEFs in the proprietary Capture NX that handles NEFs the best possible way.
Also, one can’t expect the same noise performance from a sub-APS-C, 18 mpx camera compared to that of a 35mm, 12 mpx camera.

I use the Canon 7D, along with the 400mm f/5.6 L USM, for bird photography. I settled for this combination as I can’t afford the Nikon long telephotos and Nikon doesn’t have anything in this focal length (400mm) and this price-point. The 7D seems to be a camera made for action and bird photography.

The 1.6X crop-factor and the 18mpx provide for increased reach and tremendous scope for cropping – very important attributes for bird photography.
Snappy AF with the USM lenses. In more than a month of use, I have never faced a situation of the 7D and the 400mm f/5.6 USM ever “hunting” for focus.
High continuous rate of shooting – 8 fps without any additional batteries/pack.
Much better dampened mirror box with softer mirror-slap sounds. (When I picked up the D700 the other day and fired a few shots in High-continuous mode, the mirror slapping sounded like a clunky tin-box.)
Much better implementation of Live-View in terms of mirror slap and ease of operation.

To be fair, one can’t compare the 2 cameras side-by-side. The D700 is an older camera and is meant for a very different purpose than the 7D. I find the ergonomics of the Nikon far surpasses that of Canon any day. However, there are different tools for different crafts.

Next: Once I get a spottingscope and get into digiscoping, I can freely use any camera body with the necessary adapters. This is just the opposite of using legacy lenses on m4/3 bodies, where the camera body is fixed but the lenses can be from any mount.

Canon Vs. Nikon - Issue resolved

2011-01-04T13:25:00.001+05:30

I have been pondering over this question ever since I bought a Canon Powershot A70 in 2003 for a princely sum of Rs.16K. Many Canons and Nikons later, I recently came across this information on the Net compiled from analysis of 5000 pictures taken using both systems and 1200 user opinions. Following are the 9 rules:

Nikon is good for sunrise pictures whereas Canon captures sunset colors better.
Canon produces good results in the hands of guys and the opposite is true for Nikon.
When it comes to capturing the members of different genders, it is just the opposite – Nikon takes good photographs of girls whereas Canon produces good pictures of guys.
Canon is better for Left-handers.
If your name starts with a letter that is the same as the first letter of any week-day – go for a Canon.
Nikon is better on Tripod whereas Canon produces better pictures on Monopod.
Carnivorous animals and birds are captured better by Canon vis-à-vis herbivorous ones which are better captured by Nikon.
Canon produces better pics in the hands of people born on an odd-numbered month.
However, if you are born in the night, irrespective of the month – a Nikon will take good pics for you.

Guideline: If you are a beginner, it doesn't matter - cameras never produce pictures, good photographers do. If you are an experienced one, you wouldn't ask this question.

Someone asked – if budget is a not a constraint, which camera to buy. If budget is not a constraint, buy the Nikon D3X or the highest one in the Canon line-up – why any other model? The more you spend, the more features you get. Whether you are capable of utilizing the features is a different question.

The mystery at Flickr

2011-01-04T13:13:00.001+05:30

Pls see this photographer.
She gets many more views/comments/favs
Than I can ever aspire for
And makes it to the Flickr Explore.

Does she have a lot of friends over
At Flickr
Or is she a great photographer
That I am unable to admire?

This isn’t the first thing like this on Flickr.
I have seen many who click photos like this
Whose content and purpose are very unclear.
But who seem to be very popular
Going by the number of visits per picture.

Help me my friends
As I am having a hard time thinking this over.

XXX

I think the "Model" called Explore
Is bizarre
In its approach so far
As to have a “formula” discover
What is a good photograph and who is a good photographer.

This is the age of the computer
No need to see a picture
You can “calculate” how good it is
By it’s attributes like the number of people who stop over.
Who has the time to judge it by its content or character?

You can make the “formula” even “better”
By adding more attributes of the photographer
Like the geography, sex, earlier explores, total number of posts,
Total number of friends and if any of them made it to Explore
Earlier.

Indeed, how bizarre!
Or are these the rants of someone not able to make it to Explore.

Sure it would give me pleasure
To see my name in the hall of fame
Called Explore
I have shot a few frames that came near
And done my job as a photographer.
Now asking a friend from MIT to break the cipher
Called Explore.

After all, a photograph is a group of pixels arranged in order
So who better to judge the design of the picture
Than a computer or a coder?

B&W film - find and develop in Chennai

2010-08-13T11:15:00.001+05:30

Fuji Neopan 100 is available at Reliance Optic (Opp hotel Accord Metropolis, G N Chetty Road). The owner is Shashi (94441-36308). Spoke to him – he also says they store other films also. Will pay a visit one of these days.

Also spoke to Karthik at 98402-61080 who does B&W film development. Uses imported D76 and Rodinol etc. He is situated at 41/Old 20, 3rd Main Road, RA Puram.

The first Zeiss lens

2010-04-29T16:24:00.004+05:30

I received my first Zeiss ZF lens yesterday. It is a Distagon 25mm f/2.8. I had been looking for a wide-angle prime and after going researching the Nikon 24mm f/2.8 (both AF and AIS), I thought this would be a good chance to check out the Zeiss series. If this lens proves to be what it is claimed to be, the next step can be the prized Zeiss 100mm macro planar.

I received the lens yesterday night. This is not the new ZF .2 lens – therefore there are no electronic contacts. The lens works in a fully manual mode. The non-CPU data (focal length and minimum aperture) has to be added through the appropriate Menu in D700. The lens then works in the Aperture Priority and Manual mode. Aperture has to be set by the lens aperture ring which has half-stop clicks.

The lens is small but heavy for it’s size due to the all-metal construction. The workmanship is top-class. The focus ring turns a full 360 degrees as the lens can focus down to about 6 inches (17 cm). The green-dot focus indicator on the VF remains active and gives perfect indication of focus lock. For near distances, I found focusing to be very accurate.

Hopefully, should be able to take some good pics with this.

Lenses Galore

2010-03-03T11:18:00.001+05:30

Just thought of listing all the lenses that I have used in the past 4 years. I either currently own these lenses or owned them in the past.

Presented in the order of acquisition, they are:

1. Nikkor AF 28-80mm f/3.3-5.6
2. Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 APO Macro
3. Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF-D
4. Micro Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 AF-D
5. Tokina 12-24mm f/4 DX
6. Nikkor 300mm f/4 AF-S IF ED
7. Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 AF-S VR
8. Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S
9. Nikkor 20mm f/2.8 AF-D
10. Nikkor 85mm f/1.8 AF-D
11. Nikkor 180mm f/2.8 AF-D IF ED
12. Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-S DX
13. Micro Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 AF-S IF ED
14. Nikkor 28-105mm f/3.5-4.5 AF-D

Whoa, that is quite a list! Some of them have stayed with me for long and some have not – but almost all have given me a good photo or two.

I think I must write my personal opinion about each of them and share pics taken with them. That is s future project.

Black and White film processing

2010-03-02T15:13:00.001+05:30

I have been looking in the net today for some information about Black and White film processing and the following 2 are worth sharing.

Vimeo has got a set of 3 videos for a total length of about half an hour that shows in very simple and elaborate steps, the process of B&W film development. For starters, this would go a long way in demystifying the process. I, for one, had read about the process a number of times at various places but these set of videos demonstrated it very well. Here are the links:

http://www.vimeo.com/9730432 : Part 1 - Loading the film
http://www.vimeo.com/9730348 : Part 2 - Preparing chemicals
http://www.vimeo.com/9733788 : Part 2 - Processing the film

Ilford has a nice PDF of their chemicals and specifications for developing their set of films. This document would make a lot of sense after you have watched the videos above.

http://www.ilfordphoto.com/Webfiles/200629163442455.pdf

Good luck if you take the plunge :-)