tvBilly Posted July 7, 2009 Share #1 Posted July 7, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) I'm a brand new D-Lux 4 owner, and I wanted to say hello, and share some of my pictures. I especially want to thank everyone here. From recommendations on where to buy (PhotoVillage in NYC), to what accessories would be useful (Richard Franiec's wonderful grip and hotshoe protector), and general advice that helped make the decisions easier. Thanks! Anyway, I got the DL4 two days before I left for vacation to Amsterdam a couple of weeks ago. I'm an old hand with cameras (decades...), but this was the first camera I had with such a wide angle lens, and was my first experience with RAW files. Editing RAW files in Photoshop CS4 (Mac) is incredible. Two or three stops of headroom! I can burn and dodge again!!! (I much prefer CS4 for RAW files over C1 or SilkyPix, but that's for another thread). Here are two pictures I took; the "clean" ones are from the RAW files, via CS4's RAW processor and then Noise Ninja. The heavily processed versions of each have some help from the Topaz Simplify plug-in. I'd love to know what you think, (my favorites are the second and third pictures) and I'm working on a way (photobucket) to share more than just four images at a time, and in higher resolution (960 pixels doesn't do these justice). Billy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 Hi tvBilly, Take a look here New DL4 Owner . I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
ians Posted July 7, 2009 Share #2 Posted July 7, 2009 Hi Billy I'm also a recent D-Lux4 owner (and a real digital novice) - so as someone who has absolutely no idea what you've done to your images - I really like the effect. Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalina Posted July 7, 2009 Share #3 Posted July 7, 2009 I'd love to know what you think, (my favorites are the second and third pictures) and I'm working on a way (photobucket) to share more than just four images at a time, and in higher resolution (960 pixels doesn't do these justice). Billy I like this third picture for its formal qualities in composition. The colors and clarity are excellent. I'm not too fond of the Impressionist painting look in the second and fourth. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted July 7, 2009 Share #4 Posted July 7, 2009 I agree, I don't like the look of the impressionist ones either. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Alfy Posted July 7, 2009 Share #5 Posted July 7, 2009 Nice photos Billy, and the D-Lux 4 is a lovely camera with lovely results. But I agree with Kalina and Jaap as for impressionism. Also, since you use CS4, may I suggest that you minimize the distortion of the wide-angle in the first photo? Select/All, then Edit/Transform/Distort, and playing around with the handles (bottom-left one in this case). I use this PS feature extensively. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
vdb Posted July 7, 2009 Share #6 Posted July 7, 2009 Very nice, I too prefer the first and 3rd images. You will enjoy exploring this little gem of a camera. Welcome. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stuny Posted July 7, 2009 Share #7 Posted July 7, 2009 Advertisement (gone after registration) Billy - I very much like the effects on 2 & 4: lush and dreamy. But for me #3 is the best for composition, colors and saturation, light, detail and depth. Lovely. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pauledell Posted July 8, 2009 Share #8 Posted July 8, 2009 Billy, I like the first one, but I love the third picture. Great composition, colors and clarity. I am not excited about the impressionate style of No. 2 & 4. Paul Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvBilly Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share #9 Posted July 8, 2009 Thanks for all the comments! I understand that many of you are not fond of heavy post processing, and I'm not a huge fan of my #4 photo, but I really do love the altered #2 photo of the canal. My favorite of the hundreds of pictures I took is probably the #3 shot out my hotel window at midnight. I'm so not used to a 24mm lens though. The widest I've ever used is a 35mm with my Contax G2. I have to get used to keeping interesting stuff in the foreground when I shoot full wide angle... I'm going to try to take a bunch of long exposure pictures late tomorrow night, in Times Square. I'm very familiar with Times Square as I live there. I've been very judicious with adding detail to the pictures I've taken. Unlike all the other digital cameras I've used over the years, the DL4 seems to look better without adding much artificial edge or contrast. Even with almost no artificial detail/contrast added, the resolution is astounding, and keeping the wonderful smoothness makes for delicious pictures. At least to my taste. <snip>Also, since you use CS4, may I suggest that you minimize the distortion of the wide-angle in the first photo? Select/All, then Edit/Transform/Distort, and playing around with the handles (bottom-left one in this case). I use this PS feature extensively. Funny, I don't notice the distortion at all! I'll play with the picture a little and try out what you suggest though. In Amsterdam I was learning to use a new camera, with a wider angle lens than I've ever used before, and now that I've had a while to look at the pictures I took, I realize I wasn't paying much attention to composition. I was really more interested in seeing how the DL4 judged exposure and color temperature. I never had access to RAW files before either, and I'm very impressed with how well the in camera JPG generator works, and how many varied in camera options there are to alter it. Still, I prefer working with the RAW files exclusively, at least for now. Excuses not withstanding, here are a few more pictures from the trip: Billy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvBilly Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share #10 Posted July 8, 2009 Forgot the last one: Billy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Alfy Posted July 8, 2009 Share #11 Posted July 8, 2009 Funny, I don't notice the distortion at all! I'll play with the picture a little and try out what you suggest though. Sorry Billy, I used a wrong term. There is no distortion in the picture. What I meant is the slight slant of the buildings on the left due to the fact that the camera was probably pointing slightly upwards. DSLRs use tilt (perspective-correction) lenses, and a tripod; other cameras, hand-held, and Photoshop. [ATTACH]151174[/ATTACH] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
soleforeal Posted July 8, 2009 Share #12 Posted July 8, 2009 Cool shots and effects. The forgot the last one pic is nicely framed and nice colors. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvBilly Posted July 11, 2009 Author Share #13 Posted July 11, 2009 Sorry Billy, I used a wrong term. There is no distortion in the picture. What I meant is the slight slant of the buildings on the left due to the fact that the camera was probably pointing slightly upwards. DSLRs use tilt (perspective-correction) lenses, and a tripod; other cameras, hand-held, and Photoshop. I finally had a chance to play around with distort in CS4 (and I did understand what you meant). It really can fix things! After toggling back and forth between the fixed perspective and the original perspective, I can't believe I didn't notice it until you pointed it out. I can't look at the uncorrected version anymore! I was concerned about mushing the picture using the transform, but CS4 does a great job (the shrunk down version you used to show me what you meant was pretty mushy, but when I take the original and make the transform it holds up well). I tried both moving the bottom left handle to the right and moving the top left handle to the left. Since you mention that you use this technique frequently, have you found that one works better than the other? Though I understand the principle, I never had a camera or lens that had tilts and swings, so I don't know if correcting a shot that was made with the camera tilting up a little is best fixed by contracting versus expanding versus doing half the correction on the top and half on the bottom. Further tips appreciated. Thanks for the suggestions and help! Billy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Alfy Posted July 11, 2009 Share #14 Posted July 11, 2009 Billy, I am glad you found my tip useful. As a mathematician and physicist, anything slanted gives me seasickness. As the name suggests, I originally thought Perspective was the right tool, but it works only if the distortion is symmetrical, which is rarely the case. Hence my use of Distort most of the time. My workflow is usually to rotate in C1 to straighten the horizon and the central verticals. Then, after all other corrections available in Cone are done, open in PS for final Distort/Crop/Sharpening/Export. Showing gridlines may be helpful. I have not tested “contracting versus expanding versus doing half the correction on the top and half on the bottom”. Intuitively allergic to pixel interpolation, I just contract using the bottom handles. Since a crop is unavoidable, wide uninteresting left and/or right margins are a plus. An extreme example: 24 Elmarit Asph @2.8, ISO 160, 1/6 s hand-held using the 2s timer in order to cancel the famous locally induced Pilszner shake (photog not allowed in the Prague Strahov Library). The camera was tilted in order to frame for the ceiling. As a former Rollei TLR user, I like the final 1/1 crop. The original capture [ATTACH]151621[/ATTACH] The final 1/1 straightened [ATTACH]151622[/ATTACH] The traditional 100 % crop. Not bad for 1/6 s hand-held... [ATTACH]151623[/ATTACH] Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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