Camera Upgrade

[trailertrash]

My Canon Digital Rebel was getting a bit long in the tooth, although it still takes very good images. However I deceided it was time for a major upgrade.

So off we toddled to Glasgow and I settled on a Nikon D5100 with a standard lens 28-50mm and a 55-200mm Nikor Zoom. They threw in a few bits...ie a bag and a UV filter and knocked some money off the accidential damage cover.

All things considered I was happy with what I got and look forward to trying it out. First I have to read the book!!! Technology has really moved on since I got the Canon in 2005. I like the high ISO facility since I only had 1600 in the Canon but now have 6400 and up to 25000 by adjusting the ISO settings in the menu. Full HD 1080 Movie capability and vibration reduction in the lenses [whatever that is] A really big view screen helps also.

So hopefully I can justify spending a considerable amount of money on new gear and improve my photography and the quality of my AV work.

Andrew

[davegee]

All that remains to do is to get NX2 so that you can take FULL advantage of all of the goodies that the D5100 has to offer.

Well done,

DG

[trailertrash]

All that remains to do is to get NX2 so that you can take FULL advantage of all of the goodies that the D5100 has to offer.

Well done,

DG

Dave, That came on a disc with the camera. I have yet to fugure it all out.

Kindest regards

Andrew

[davegee]

I think that you'll find that what came in the box is VIEW NX2.

I was refering to CAPTURE NX2 which, unfortunately is around £120 but worth twice as much.

View NX2 is a very light version of CNX2 with organising capabilities but gives a flavour of what CNX2 does.

It will read ALL of your camera settings and allow for retrospective changing of most of them. Other software only guesses the readings or makes versions of the settings eg. Picture Control.

DG

[trailertrash]

I think that you'll find that what came in the box is VIEW NX2.

I was refering to CAPTURE NX2 which, unfortunately is around £120 but worth twice as much.

View NX2 is a very light version of CNX2 with organising capabilities but give a flavour of what CNX2 does.

It will read ALL of your camera settings and allow for retrospective changing of most of them. Other software only guesses the readings or makes versions of the settings eg. Picture Control.

DG

Yes Dave your right. Its View NX2 that came with it. I must look into NX2 and see if ' She ' will let me go a bit further....

Andrew

[davegee]

The trial is 60 days.

DG

[trailertrash]

The trial is 60 days.

DG

I downloaded the trial and will have a 'play' with it. Is there anything it can do that Photoshop cant Dave. Just to get me pointed in the right direction?

Andrew

[davegee]

Andrew,

See your PM.

DG

[trailertrash]

Andrew,

See your PM.

DG

Checked my PM's Dave. No message as of 12:44pm

[davegee]

Took me a while to write it.

DG

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Andrew

There is a Flickr group http://www.flickr.com/groups/capturenx/ for capture NX2 which is free to join & post pics on, you can also ask questions if you decide to shell out for it. Although in my opinion if you have Photoshop you will have many more features that CNX2 doesn't. However you may not be able to open your Nikon NEF (Nikon speak for raw files) with it, depends on the version.

I had the D5000 the one before yours & went bridge after getting fed up carting around the bag full of lenses. But after a couple of month's missing my Nikon I bought a D90 which I like over the D5000 as there are more actual buttons as opposed to multiple presses on the 5000. You should find the swivleing screen useful, it's the only thing I miss.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[Lin Evans]

Hi Andrew,

There are a number of "differences" in various RAW converters. Some of the features of Capture NX2 are not duplicated in Adobe RAW and some of the features of Adobe RAW converter are not found in Capture NX2. The version which came with your camera is a "light" version - sort of like the difference in PhotoShop Elements and the full blown PhotoShop product in a relative sort of way. My prime dislike with View NX2 which came with your Nikon is that it is terribly "slow." I've tried lots of different RAW converters with my various cameras but I personally prefer DXO Optics Pro 6 for my Nikon D7000.

I suspect you will be perfectly happy with the combination of ARC (Adobe - if you have the latest version) and View NX2, but since there are free trials for both Capture NX2 and DXO Optics Pro 6, you might like to try them as well. Capture NX2 is dedicated to your Nikon while DXO Optics Pro 6 actually handles a plethora of different lenses attached to different make and model camera bodies. Each of the different converters and photo manipulation products have differing specifics, but all allow you to greatly enhance the original copy.

In answer to your implied question about "anti-shake" - the Nikon camera body doesn't have optical image stabilization built in. Like Canon dSLR's it then requires any stabilization to be built into the lens. Stabilization compensates for the normal "shake" when you hand-hold your camera. Two primary things other than focus issues cause image blur - camera shake and subject motion. Both can be taken care of by faster shutter speeds but this may or may not be possible depending on ambient lighting conditions. So anti-shake, optical stabilization, image stabilization (all different terms meaning the same thing) are a means of taking care of camera shake. The "normal" shutter speed compensation for hand holding is to use a shutter speed at least equal to your focal length. For example, if you are hand-holding and shooting at 100mm focal length, to minimize the probability of camera shake becoming a problem, shoot at no slower than 1/100th sec shutter speed. If you are using a 600mm lens, then 1/600th would be the "rule of thumb." However, because of the telephoto boost with so called crop factor sensors (yours is 1.5x) you need to add this into your factoring so that in this case you would need 1/150th of a second for 100mm and 1/900th second for 600mm. The "anti-shake" technology gives you a break and lets you shoot somewhere between two and four stops less than you would need without it. So essentially you can sometimes hand-hold at 600mm and shoot at 1/150 th second. It depends on how steady you can hold and how good the stabilization actually is. It varies by lens.

Bottom line is that it helps you take images with less blur as long as the potential blur might be caused by camera movement. It won't help with subject movement.

Best regards,

Lin

Best regards,

Lin

I downloaded the trial and will have a 'play' with it. Is there anything it can do that Photoshop cant Dave. Just to get me pointed in the right direction?

Andrew

[trailertrash]

Thanks Eric and Lin. There is a lot to learn about this one. Having never shot in RAW before I feel a bit more confident about trying it with this one. For some reason I seem to understand the instructions better!

[trailertrash]

Quickie question: Does CS3 have RAW facilities?

[davegee]

ACR in CS3 will not support your D5100.

You can use NX2 to "Open With" CS3 as a 16 Bit TIFF File. Do all of the RAW stuff in NX2 and send the 16 Bit TIFF to CS3.

As I indicated previously, unless you need to do some PP in Layers, NX2 will do everything you require.

DG

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Andrew

I have CNX2 & Elements 6, in the main I use CNX2, but for fiddley bits such as screen shots & PNG files I use Elements. I find straightening & cropping in CNX2 easier than Elements. If you are a fast worker, using Raw will slow you down as it's an extra process in your work flow. You can set your D5100 to take a raw & a Jpeg together, so you could compare what you are getting before deciding to step into the raw field.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[Ken Cox]

Eric Dave et al

with all this raw shooting, how big a card do you use and when on a shoot/trip how many spares do you carry

also

spare batteries?

and where do you charge them when in the field

the few raw picts i have done with my olympus were quite large!

ken

[davegee]

I took 32 Gb of cards away for two weeks hols.

(8x4Gb)

Two Batteries - Charge both overnight in Hotel.

D700 RAW = 25Mb

DG

[Ken Cox]

Dave

thanks for your input -- these points are very important to other people who are planning trips

also people should also have a valid credit card for extras-- when i traveled i would always check the local camera shops )

when i used to help out at the main camera shop in town, summer time was always busy with visitors from Europe - making trades etc - wheelin and dealin

ken

[Guest Yachtsman1]

Hi Ken I have 2 x 4GB cards, 3 x batteries, 265 pics per card in Raw on my D90. Don't use Live View much, or camera flash, so 1 x battery should outlast one card unless I have to faff around.

Regards Eric

Yachtsman1.

[trailertrash]

I got an 8GB card with the kit and one battery. I think I will invest in a couple more cards and at least one more battery.

I'm also going to look at the speedlight for the kit.

Andrew