Agave attenuata

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:10 pm

Having fried yet another camera (my 20d) by sweating into the controls and shorting out the sucker, I received a G9 for Chanukah. These are some of the first shots. Hope you enjoy.

Irwin

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 6:53 pm

IMO the 20D is worth the money for repairs. I need to send mine in for dust in behind the sensor cover glass (again!), since it, the dust, cannot removed by conventional means. Funny thing though, I have not been plauged by that problem with my 30D.

So...I will not look a gift horse in the mouth.

Great shots with the G9, thanks for posting them. I have been pondering over a G9 and two other Canon cameras, like I really need another, those being the 5D full frame digital and the EOS 1v 35mm film.

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 7:50 pm

Thanks for your looking and your kind comments, Ken.

I wanted to repair the 20d because I loved the camera. My local shop initially thought it was the shutter due to the number of shutter activations abnd the fact the shutter would not operate. When that didn't work, he sent it to Canon. They said I shorted the whole thing out and that it was not repairable. I really wasn't surprised. I have shorted out 2 A2's previously. I guess a sweathog taking pictures in a 110 degree greenhouse is a less than perfect combination. I think I will be taking fewer shot inside the greenhouse--too expensive.

I really like the G9 because of the image stabilization and the ability to get images when handholding. I will let youknow how it goes. It will not replace my 1Ds Mark 2 and the ability to use different lenses.

Irwin

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:03 pm

Glad to see you are back Irwin and hope you enjoyed your holiday. I was contemplating getting the G9 also but decided to go with the 400D, but it will be a while before I post pics taken with it.

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 8:05 pm

I have the G7 and so far have had nothing but excellent service from it. I was surprised however to find that the G9 is around a hundred dollars or a little more less than the G7. I figured with such a sharp drop in price, something somewhere had to have been sacrificed but I guess not. Wonder why the sharp difference in price between the two? Still I would not give up my G7, very portable and very good at producing sharp images. By the way, I put my G7 on a Novoflex camera flash bracket with the Canon 430EX ETTL speedlite and off camera flash cord. The bracket makes for using the 430EX flash a lot simpler with the G7, since the flash is as big as the camera

and also positions the flash much better over the little G7 for macro shooting.

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:15 pm

JoanYoung wrote:Glad to see you are back Irwin and hope you enjoyed your holiday. I was contemplating getting the G9 also but decided to go with the 400D, but it will be a while before I post pics taken with it.

I have no doubt that when you get your dedicated macro lens you will be feel comfortable with it quickly. The improvement in your images in the past month or so makes it clear that you are ready for this step.

My holiday was great. I spent my mornings shooting in scenic Santa Monica while everyone in my group slept. I enjoyed tested the G9 and loved it. At the higher speeds, I noticed a great deal of noise so I will have to find a program that can reduce some of the noise.

Hope your holiday was good.

Irwin

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:26 pm

Ken Ramos wrote:I have the G7 and so far have had nothing but excellent service from it. I was surprised however to find that the G9 is around a hundred dollars or a little more less than the G7. I figured with such a sharp drop in price, something somewhere had to have been sacrificed but I guess not. Wonder why the sharp difference in price between the two? Still I would not give up my G7, very portable and very good at producing sharp images. By the way, I put my G7 on a Novoflex camera flash bracket with the Canon 430EX ETTL speedlite and off camera flash cord. The bracket makes for using the 430EX flash a lot simpler with the G7, since the flash is as big as the camera and also positions the flash much better over the little G7 for macro shooting.

I don't know why Canon priced the G9 like it did but I am glad. I love that you can shoot in raw, in fact I just love the camera..

Thanks for the tip about using a bracket for flash.

Irwin

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Fri Dec 28, 2007 11:34 pm

You should let Ken give you some advice Irwin, most of his recent stuff is taken with his G7 and they are brilliant. (Just don't tell him I said so....he might get a swollen head from a compliment like this!!)

He also always adds his exif data to the pics, so you can browse back and look at them. Mostly he uses manual mode.

beetleman · Post by **beetleman** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:00 am

Beautiful pictures Irwin. I planted some winter hardy cactus this summer. Will take some pictures in the spring when they come out from under 2 feet of snow (I hope) and flower.

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:20 am

JoanYoung wrote:You should let Ken give you some advice Irwin, most of his recent stuff is taken with his G7 and they are brilliant. (Just don't tell him I said so....he might get a swollen head from a compliment like this!!) He also always adds his exif data to the pics, so you can browse back and look at them. Mostly he uses manual mode.

Shoot Joan, I think you gave Ken a swollen head just before the New Year. What does this portend?

Actually, I think the EXIF data is stripped when I use Photoshop save for web feature. I have tried to resize the image and reduce pixel count to 800, use the save as function, and then post. But it usually spits it out and tells me I have exceeded my image size. So then I have to knock down the image quality in the save for web setting.

I usually shoot in semi-manual mode. I tend to shoot shutter priority with manual focus. After my shot, I check the exposure on the histogram and make any exposure changes by using the compensation function.

Have a great New Year.

Irwin

JoanYoung · Post by **JoanYoung** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 9:52 am

Well hopefully his head will reduce in size before he has to go out the door and get back to work next week.

You have a happy New Year too Irwin.

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 3:59 pm

cactuspic wrote:I have tried to resize the image and reduce pixel count to 800, use the save as function, and then post. But it usually spits it out and tells me I have exceeded my image size. So then I have to knock down the image quality in the save for web setting.

Irwin, there should be no problem using Photoshop's Save As to create jpeg for upload.

Just be sure to check that the file size is reported as less than 200 KB by Windows (or whatever O/S you're using) after the file is actually created. Save As tends to estimate a bit low, so for example if it predicts 190 KB, chances are good that the file will actually end up over 200 KB and then the upload will complain.

If you see that the file is too big after it's actually created, then just Save As again, with the quality slider moved down one notch.

--Rik

cactuspic · Post by **cactuspic** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 6:38 pm

Rik, thanks for the info, but I don't get a slider for quality control in the "save as" function. I do get the slider in the "save for web" function. Am I doing something wrong? I have CS3 for the Mac. Thanks.

Irwin

Ken Ramos · Post by **Ken Ramos** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 7:06 pm

With my G7 and two other Canons, I always use Save As and have never had a problem with the kb size being to large, usually it drops a few but of course I am running XP Home and Photo Impact 6. Would like to go to a Mac one day but those things cost more than my cameras, even the low end Macs.

By the way if you want a nice flash bracket, B & H Photo is where I got my Novoflex, pretty basic but allows you to get the flash postioned in a number of ways out front over and/or beside the lens. Machined aluminum and pretty sturdy, looks heavy and cumbersome but in all actuality it is quite light and gives you something to hold on to, so as to steady the hand. There are also accessories for the bracket to where multiple flashes and an assortment of other whistles and bells may be used too. By the way, has anyone ever used one of those "Flat Panel" flashes?

rjlittlefield · Post by **rjlittlefield** » Sat Dec 29, 2007 8:19 pm

cactuspic wrote:Rik, thanks for the info, but I don't get a slider for quality control in the "save as" function. I do get the slider in the "save for web" function. Am I doing something wrong? I have CS3 for the Mac.

Well, that's odd. I don't have a Mac to test on, but none of the literature I can find indicates that there's any difference between Mac & PC. On my PC, running Photoshop CS (Version 8.0), here's what happens. I select File | Save As and get a filechooser dialog titled "Save As". Within that dialog, I select Format: JPEG. Then when I click the Save button, another dialog pops up, this one titled "JPEG Options". The JPEG Options dialog has a block labeled Image Options, with one field containing a number 0-12, a pulldown list containing Low/Medium/High/Maximum, and a slider labeled "small file" on the left and "large file" on the right. The visual appearance is a little different, but it has the same info and layout as the one here.

Do you not get anything like that? On a quick spin through the menu system, I don't see any way to turn it off, but you never know.

--Rik