I took this last night with an aim to get something slightly different. After some faffing about this is the best of what I got. Not sure if I like this or not what are you’re thoughts?
Backlit Orchid
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Author Archives: Chris
Viewfinder Magnifiers Review
This is a quick review of the Tenpa 1.22x magnifying eye piece for Nikon cameras. This is also available in a 1.36x but as I have glasses they recommend the 1.22.
Tenpa 1.22x on Nikon D50
This was a 2nd attempt at a magnified view after a failed attempt using genuine Nikon parts. The basics of this can be found here. Though be warned it’s harder than it looks and it’s easy to get glue on the eye piece as I found out. Continue reading
Adobe Lightroom 4 beta review
January 10th 2012 saw Adobe release an open beta of Lightroom 4, 6 years after Lightroom 1 hit the shelves. In this period the product has changed massively but what does this new version bring to the table.
Adobe have made a few changes to existing features and also add some new ones, including a new Map module.
As stated in the title, this is a beta, so there will be dragons. To help keep support issues down Adobe don’t let you convert old catalogues. Instead they recommend you make copies of some files and then import and work on those, never work on the originals as they won’t be there to pick up the pieces when it all goes wrong.
Continue reading
Nikon announces the D4, does it affect me?
Today Nikon finally announced the long awaited follow up for the D3s, the Nikon D4. While this new flag ship has some quite stunning stats, which can be seen elsewhere, at £4800/$6000 it’s out of the reach of most of us.
Nikon D4
GIMP startrail plugin update 1.3
I have released version 1.3 of my GIMP startrail plugin.
This is a free plugin that will layer lots of shorter exposure shots into 1 startrail. There is also the ability to add in 1 or more dark frames which allows you to do dark frame subtraction noise reduction.
Version 1.3 adds the ability to save after each layer is added so you can do a cool timelapse of the trail building up.
This is an example startrail timelapse I have made using this new feature
You can get the plugin from google code: http://code.google.com/p/gimp-startrail-compositor/
DIY flash grids
Over the last few evenings I have been indulging in some arts and crafts to make a set of grids for my Yongnuo YN-467 flash. Made from a handful of black drinking straws cut down and glued together then mounted to the flash, these are simple, cheap and effective.
3 Legged Thing Kirk X2a Tripod Review
First a bit of disclosure: I won this tripod in a contest. While this may mean I can’t comment on value for money very well, I can still be objective and tell you about what I like and what I don’t.
Named after Kirk Hammet of Metallica this differently named tripod from 3 Legged Thing sits at the top of their non carbon tripod range. This one also came with the B3 Arca compatible ball head and a rather nice bag.
It came from Stagsden!
Thanks to a superb put down by yours truly (see link) I am now the proud owner of a 3 Legged Thing Kirk X2a tripod.
Initial thoughts are very good. Continue reading
YongNuo YN-467 intermittent power issue
Recently I have been having intermittent power issues with my YongNuo YN-467 Nikon flash. It would power up then the power would just die, then power its self backup, and so on.
Yesterday I discovered the cause: the batteries. They weren’t flat, but too short! Continue reading
How long do I need to go?
I have been looking into telephoto lenses recently and been trying to find a good ballance between cost, length, lens speed and quality.
In order to do this I have made a graphic showing the fields of view of various common focal lengths to help me work out just how long I need, rather than how long I want.
Field of view of focal lengths 200mm through 500mm
The bird is a crow (about the size of a small pigeon) taken at about 10-15m from the subject.