My first posting here - Bee on flower

Images of undisturbed subjects in their natural environment. All subject types.

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JimGnitecki
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Post by JimGnitecki »

rjlittlefield wrote:I expect you'll have to use the LCD. As far as I know, the 70D has an optical viewfinder that works only when the mirror is down.

But I also expect you'll find that after a while the LCD becomes a lot more usable than it is at first. Some time spent practicing will be well rewarded.

--Rik
I'll try, but:

- I find it hard to react fast enough to rapid insect movements, with the LCD versus the viewfinder. Following a moving subject with your eye is a lot easier than simultaneously trying to follow the subject while simultaneously tilting and panning the camera with the correct independently quickly calculated mechanical hand motions necessary to do so, and hands are a lot slower than your eyes. I tried it both ways with ants, and the LCD approach was hopelessly too slow.

- Also, holding the camera with a viewfinder hold makes it a LOT stabler than holding the camera away from your face so you can actually see the LCD. Using the viewfinder, you actually have a strong facial bond to the camera and your arms are also closer to your body, making a tight, more stable hold. Extending your arms to see the LCD, and losing that facial bond, both negatively affect the hold. When the DOF is as narrow as it is, this is a BIG negative.

Jim G

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Yep, it's always a game of tradeoffs, and people vary. If video doesn't work for you, then don't use it. Certainly the maximum achievable quality will be a lot higher shooting single frames. Video just gives a higher hit rate (for me). If I were looking through a video, and saw the image that you posted at the top of this thread, my first thought would be to look for some nearby frame that might have caught the critter fully at rest, or with focus placed more on the eyes.

Here's an example that I shot a few minutes ago, captured here as screen grabs from Photoshop CC. The first frame is motion-blurred and has a focus error, but the other one, just 1/15 second earlier, is much better.

http://janrik.net/MiscSubj/2017/Skipper ... .03.18.jpg

http://janrik.net/MiscSubj/2017/Skipper ... .03.16.jpg

--Rik

JimGnitecki
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Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:37 pm

Post by JimGnitecki »

rjlittlefield wrote:
. . .

Here's an example that I shot a few minutes ago, captured here as screen grabs from Photoshop CC. The first frame is motion-blurred and has a focus error, but the other one, just 1/15 second earlier, is much better.

http://janrik.net/MiscSubj/2017/Skipper ... .03.18.jpg

http://janrik.net/MiscSubj/2017/Skipper ... .03.16.jpg

--Rik
Yes, I see what you mean. I'll try it. When you record a video on the camera, and then upload it to a Mac running "Photos", how does Photos display the video? Does it enable you to walk through individual frames, or ??

I don't have Photoshop, but ust yesterday got Affinity, if that helps.

Jim G

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Well, I'm mostly a Windows user. But hauling out a Mac and Google...

Searching for extract frame from video mac leads quickly to https://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article ... rom-videos , but that doesn't say much about frame-by-frame scanning tools and anyway I don't seem to have Photos installed.

I used to use QuickTime Player Pro for Windows, until Apple dropped support for that a couple of years ago.

I see that Macs still have QuickTime Player. In quick test just now (using QuickTime Player 10.4 on Mac OS X Yosemite), I see that it still has good frame-by-frame navigation by using the arrow keys. There seems to be no capability for saving a single frame direct from QuickTime, but I can do a screen capture (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201361) to end up with a .png file on my desktop.

Check to see if your Mac has QuickTime Player installed. If it does, that plus screen capture could be a quick way to go. Screen resolution could be limiting, depending on what resolution your display has.

--Rik

JimGnitecki
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Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:37 pm

Post by JimGnitecki »

rjlittlefield wrote:
. . .

Check to see if your Mac has QuickTime Player installed. If it does, that plus screen capture could be a quick way to go. Screen resolution could be limiting, depending on what resolution your display has.

--Rik
I'm not seeing Quick Time PLayer on my MacBook, and screen resolution would be giving up too much resolution, plus I would lose the data attached to the frame.

I'll find a solution.

Jim G

JimGnitecki
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Post by JimGnitecki »

Rik: I just tested my MacBook's ability to handle videos.

I made a very short video on my iPhone.

My MacBook automatically recieved it in "Photos" because I am registered on iCloud so any photos on any of my devices appear on ALL my devices. From the camera, I would of course need to import the video via USB cable, card reader, or wifi.

Phoots will play the video, but also enables me to pause anywhere on any frame, and to "export" the frame.

However, the exported frame is (a) TIFF format and (b) much lower resolution than either RAW or JPEG. See the screenshot of its "info" box that I have attached to this posting.

I need to find a way to get full resolution ... :)

Jim G

Image

JimGnitecki
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Post by JimGnitecki »

The default display resolution on my 12" 2016 MacBook is 2304-by-1440 resolution at 226 pixels per inch with support for millions of colors.

Even THAT is only about 40% of the resolution of my camera frames in each of horizontal and vertical pixels, so I lose a LOT by using the exported TIFF frames.

Jim G

rjlittlefield
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Post by rjlittlefield »

Sure, that's HD resolution, 1920 x 1080. It's the tradeoff of video -- you get more frames per second, but at less resolution than still captures.
I need to find a way to get full resolution ... :)
Just personally, my goal is always to get good pictures. Sometimes that involves trading off resolution for something else.

With all respect to your early efforts, the image that you posted at the top of this thread doesn't even justify the 821 × 547 pixels that you posted it at. A really good image, at 1920 x 1080, would be a treat in comparison.

Since you said that you're a newbie, I'm throwing out an assortment of ideas that I personally have found useful. You have to pick and choose which ones match up with what you want to accomplish, but I'll just caution that early rejection can close off options that you might have found helpful with a little more experience.

--Rik

JimGnitecki
Posts: 28
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2017 2:37 pm

Post by JimGnitecki »

I hear you, Rik. I'll keep an open mind on the video frame capture.

Jim G

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