Initial Printer Research

Looks like there are three 13x19 large format printers on the market.

1. Epson - Stylus Photo R1800
   
2. Canon - Pixma Pro9000 - $449.99 at newegg.
   
3. HP - Photosmart 8750
   

The canon is the fastest and seems to be the most liked. The Epson has a cool CD/DVD print option for printing directly on Discs that are coated for printing. The HP and Epson seem to be better for B&W printing.

Time goes by

Time sure does fly. I've been taking pictures and doing research on post processing images.

Post Processing Items I've been experimenting with

• White Balance
• Camera - using the custom white balance function from the menu. I find it produces much better images than the presets.
• Post Production in Digital Photography Professional (DPP) - Click white balance with a bit of tuning usually gets everything properly balanced.
• Histogram (brightness/contrast)
  
• Camera - using the histogram to make sure I've gotten a proper exposure. I use it in RGB mode. If there is a white wall in the image then there will be a part of the histogram where the RGB components all peak at the same point. If they don't, then I know I don't have the correct WB set.
• Post Production - In DPP I adjust the histogram to get the brightness/contrast set. I also find myself editing the red channel alot to remove a color cast. I swear my camera has a tendency to take red pictures.
• Noise Reduction
• Post Production - I've played around with Noise Ninja, Neat Image, and Noiseware. I haven't decided which one I like the best so for now I'm going to keep evaulating them. I need to take a series of high noise pictures and do a side by side comparison and write up a quick article regarding my findings.
• Sharpening
• Camera - I'm not sure what to do here, I had the camera in "Standard" mode which has a sharpness value of "3" set. Now, I changed it to faithful as I plan on sharpening my images post process. I need to do some side by side experiments to see what is best.
• Post Production - I've been using Unsharp Mask (USM), High pass filter, Embross and other photoshop & paint shop pro tricks to learn to sharpen images. Still lots to learn here. I've read (and agree with) that you should sharpen last.
  
• Color Saturation
• Post Production - Ummm, I've been turning this up one notch (sometimes two) to get more color saturation in DPP. But I have no basis other than how I think it looks to know if I'm doing it right. Lots more reading to do on this.
• Enlargments
  
• Post Production - not that I need it, but I stumbled upon it so I read about it. Seems like there are a number of tools (like genuine fractals) that allow you to do large 500ish percent enlargments and still get good prints. So it seems like printing large 20x14 prints (or larger) would be something I could do if I wanted to. Definately something to try in the future.

There are a bunch more things to learn about post processing, but that will take more time.

I did a few other interesting things recently too. I tested both my lenses for image sharpness and focus accuracy. I set up three 9 volt batteries about 2 inches apart each about 2 inches deeper from each other. I focused on the middle battery and took pictures at all focal lengths for both my lenses. Every picture exept for one focused correctly, and the 2nd try worked. So, I guess I learned that I don't have any front/back focusing issues and that I need to look at what the Autofocusing system is doing, vs just trusting it.

I also took pictures of the batteries at each aperture to see how it effects image quality. Both lenses are soft at f/2.8, which I knew from the reviews. I'm going to try to avoid f/2.8 unless I'm at iso 1600 and need the extra light to get the shot.

Recent photo ops.

• 4 year old birthday party at an gym. Very active 4 year old jumping on stuff and running crazy in a poorly lit gym. f2.8 ISO 1600 1/200 with flash. The pictures would be about 1.5 stops under exposed with out the flash. Would have been nice to have a f/2.0 L 135mm prime, but I'm not rich. I took some good action stopping shots that I will post soon.
  
• friends wedding. I was asked to take pictures so I did. I got a lot of nice pictures of the bride, and some nice ones of the groom too. Just not that many really good ones of them together.
  
• hockey 101 practice. Ok, so everything I read said 70-200mm for hockey. I bought a 50-150 as it is equivalent to a 80-240mm on a full frame. And if my 4 year old son was a full grown man, then the 50-150 would have been great. But he's about half the size of a full grown man so really what I need now (until he grows up) is a 100-300mm. (Sigma makes one, and I'm tempted but not quite yet). Turns out my rink is lit pretty well, I can do 1/500 at f4.0 at iso1600. Since I have a stop to give, I'm going to pick up a 1.4 teleconverter to get a little more reach.

Short term purchase list:

• 1.4x teleconverter

Long term purchase list:

• Sigma 100-300mm f/4.0 lens (sorry, can't afford the 120-300 f/2.8 lens)
• Nice new photo printer that can print big prints (what's the point of taking nice pictures if I can't print them and give them away)

Short term things to do

• Post pictures to the blog .
  

Lenses...

Lenses: Ok, so I waffled a little bit here. I was heavily considering Canon "L" series lenses. But, my eventual though process went something like this. I don't have a top of the line digital camera, so I feel that an "L" series lense will be a little bit of a mismatch to the Rebel body. Plus the 1.6 FOVCF of the Rebel pushes all the "L" series focal lengths up. I decided that I would get lenses made for the 1.6 FOVCF cameras thus ending up with focal lengths equivalent to the more traditional zoom lengths. So, after much research I went with the following 2 lenses to get me started:

Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 (equivalent to a 27-80mm)
Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 (equivalent to a 80-240mm)

If I need more wide angle I'll look at getting the Canon 10-22mm f/3.5-4.5(16-35mm). If I want an overlapping zoom I'll look at the Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 (45-120mm).

Photos: I read about fill flash, and about using the flash in general, and my dislike for the flash is really a dislike for the auto mode on the camera. In auto mode the flash lights the subject in focus, and in manual modes it tries to get the proper exposure on what is behind the subject. The difference is dramatic, I hated the flash in auto mode, in the creative modes I like the flash.

Misc: Along with the lenses I ordered a tripod (Bogen 3021 with 486 ball head) and a speedlight 430ex flash. Everything should be delivered today. It will be a fun night playing with more new toys.

Canon Digital Rebel XTi

To my surprise, I received a Canon Digital Rebel XTi DSLR camera for Christmas from my wife. Now, being who I am, in order to not insult the camera, I need to learn how to use it to the best of my ability. I've spent most of my free time since Christmas reading about SLR cameras, Digital SLRs, Lenses, Tripods, Flashes, Memory Cards, etc. I haven't only been reading, heh, I've taken a lot of pictures too.

So far here is my plan and this Blog is going to be a place for me to keep track of things and post pictures.

Primary Camera Uses (This is important as it impacts lens selection)

1. Pictures of the Kids At home, at parties, outside, etc.
   
2. Hockey/Ice Skating/School & Church Performances (This is all indoor, I hear shooting hockey is one of the worst indoor sports, so that means big $$ for a nice lens to get good results).
3. Family Portraits.
   
4. Pictures of Friends (Group photos)
   

Common SLR uses that, at this time, are not a priority.

1. Landscape
2. Macro Photography
3. Wildlife

The plan.

1. Keep taking pictures, I used the auto mode the 1st couple of days, since that I've been using the artistic modes, including full manual.
   
2. Keep reading online photography tips and tutorials.
   
3. Research/Buy the accessories that I need to get the best pictures I can.
4. Take more pictures.

Research Notes:

Memory Card: Lexar 2GB professional 133x Compact Flash. I already picked this up after researching CF Cards. It cost me $89, which is about twice as much as most 2GB CF Cards, but it's at least twice as fast. The camera claims 179 pictures available in RAW mode. In the future I'll probably pick up a 2nd card if needed for shooting events like hockey games.

Tripod: This is going to be the next thing I order. I've done a bit of reading, and the "pros" really hate the affordable tripods. If I follow their advice I'll end up with a $1000 tripod. Well, I just can't bring myself to spend that much. It seems like a lot of people like the Bogen 3021 tripod legs and the Bogen 486 Compact Ballhead. The head will support up to 13.2 LBS which is more than I should ever need. This is still pretty expensive at around $200.00.

Flash: I hate using the built in flash, although I need to experiment using it as a fill flash. I've done some research/reading and seen pictures taken with a more professional flash, and they look so much better than the built in flash. So I'm pretty sure I'll be buying this when I order the Tripod. I've read some reviews and I think I'm going to get the Canon Speedlight 430EX for around $240.00. If in the future I need the big canon 580EX I can use the 430EX as a slave flash. I'll probably get a Sto-Fen omnibounce fitting for the flash as it's only $16.00 more (Hey, whats more money)

Remote: Initially I was thinking of getting the wireless remote, but after reading some thing, it seems that perhaps it only works from straight on. So, maybe I'll get the wired remote. It's a shame that they both cost about the same. Maybe I'll just hold off buying the remote. I'll ponder this a bit longer.

Lenses: This is where a lot of my reading has been done. With the XTi being a FOVCF body (1.6x multiplier on the lens) it makes things interesting. Based on all the reviews for Sports (Hockey) I need a 70-200mm 2.8f lens. Now the real question is, do I buy the Canon "L" series lenses, or do I get a Sigma. Tokina sells a 50-133mm f2.8 that is smaller/lighter and has an effective 80-212mm on the XTi. Then there are the EF-S lenses, but if I ever upgrade to a full frame they can't be used. The way I look at it, technology will continue to advance and in 2-5 years full frame digital bodies will be where the FOVCF bodies are today. Based on that I think I should get lenses that will work on full frame bodies. But then would I need a 50-133 on a full frame? I dunno. I suspect it will be a while still before I bite the bullet and get a better lens.