The photography thread

strumjoughlamps

jellyroll said:

Photobooks/zines.....any recommendations for best quality print services? Hopefully without sounding too arsy, I'm after the best, not the cheapest...
Thanks, chaps.

Loxley Colour was always one of my go to places.

stickyfiddle

I got a couple of photobox lay flat books for people for Xmas. Great quality and colour reproduction. I’d have liked slightly sharper definition, but generally happy

RaymondLin

Within the UK I like Loxley, they offer a lot of print options and framing options. 

ThePrettyDamned

Loxley everytime. I had a photobox set of prints, it came on fuji crystal archive (which is decent, if not amazing, paper) and the inks faded, presumably they used dye inks instead of pigment. 

boogieman

I’ve also had Photobox books in the past and was a bit disappointed with the quality. 

Jimbro66

dazzajl said:

I've never met a 70-300 type lens that wasn't pretty horrid. They are usually very compromised objects designed to give a good level of reach at pretty low price point but it does look like Fuji have bucked the trend here doesn't it. Not that Fuji ever make bad lenses but not all are created equally. And all the Samyang, 7Artisan type lenses that we have to choose from are amazing value, not an easy choice ahead at all.

Interesting. Before I moved to Fuji a few years ago I was firmly in the Pentax camp and owned a range of their excellent lenses. Included in those was the 50-135 and 150-450, both of which were on a par quality-wise with the Fuji equivalents. Then I bought the Pentax 55-300. No, it was not of the same top-notch quality as those other two but apart from a slight fall-off at the long end it was more than acceptable. From that point on I used the 50-135 and, particularly, the 150-450 only for specific projects but for general use the sheer convenience of the 55-300 combined with very acceptable IQ and fast AF meant that the other lenses remained at home. I suspect the new Fuji 70-300 will be valued for the same reason.

When I first moved to Fuji I bought a range of their prime lenses from 16mm to 90mm. I found I missed the Pentax 55-300 so later bought the Fuji 55-200. A nice lens but bulkier and heavier than the Pentax and lacking that extra 100mm of reach. I'll be interested to try the new Fuji 70-300 to see how it compares.

ThePrettyDamned

I use a Tamron SP 70-300mm on my Canon and it's fantastic for hardly any money at all - I paid £120 for it.

It's soft at 300mm but fine for portraits if that's your thing. Between 70 and 200mm it's really sharp and has pretty smooth bokeh, if that's your thing - obviously it's not a fast lens, but at 200mm you can stop down to f8 for a tight portrait and everything is out of focus so it doesn't terribly matter. 

The vibration compensation is great too, and auto focus is reasonable - I think more limited by the camera than lens (the original Canon 6D is not for sports!). 

However, when I was on nikon I had a nikon 70-300mm with vibration reduction and it was horrible. Smaller than the Tamron I think, but while the AF was very much instant (on D7200, which had an excellent AF system) the lens was soft from about 150mm. 

I'm happy with my affordable Tamron as a walkaround lens for walks through woodland, and carry the 28mm 1.8 in my bag for a 2 lens lightweight set up. 

All that said - I'm looking at switching systems again! I was hoping to go Canon mirror less with the Canon eos rp but they hold value too well. I also find myself not enjoying the size of full frame lenses - I had much more fun on aps-c and micro 4/3, and I don't shoot in darkness, and almost always hate extreme bokeh shots (a portrait shot at 85mm 1.2, for example, makes everyone look bad to me unless it's a carefully composed studio shot that wants to be dreamy - one eye in focus and one eye out always looks bad, where at f/2 it would look much better to me). 

So maybe m43 is on my horizon. If fuji finally start getting more affordable lenses (sigma and Tamron?!) I'll definitely go back that way and get an xt-2 again, or maybe a xt30. 

jellyroll

Thanks guys.  I’ll check out Loxley. 

Budgie

The Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR (FX version) is a very good lens too (up to about 220mm it’s pin sharp, then it gets a little softer beyond).

ThePrettyDamned

Budgie said:

The Nikon 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 VR (FX version) is a very good lens too (up to about 220mm it’s pin sharp, then it gets a little softer beyond).

Yes for clarity mine was a crop version. I've seen good pictures from both, again, sharpness, bokeh etc have very little with whether a photo is good or not.

Vintage leica lenses are not amazingly sharp but have been used for some incredible images. 

BigMonka

Jimbro66 said:

Interesting. Before I moved to Fuji a few years ago...

For the first half of your post I was getting really excited about seeing photos of the island of Fuji! *facepalm*

menamestom

Tripods.  

What’s a good and reasonably priced general purpose tripod?  Travel, night photography, static video.
I have a cheap £20 one and it’s rubbish, just wondering what brands and budget for something that’s a bit more robust.

2nd option as a stop gap and travel tripod is one of those small ones you can put anywhere with bendy legs.

Tannin

dazzajl said:

I've never met a 70-300 type lens that wasn't pretty horrid. They are usually very compromised objects designed to give a good level of reach at pretty low price point but it does look like Fuji have bucked the trend here doesn't it. Not that Fuji ever make bad lenses but not all are created equally. 

The Canon 70-300L is excellent in all respects other than price and weight. To be fair, it is no heavier or more expensive than it ought to be given the quality on offer. It tends to be overshadowed by the outstanding 100-400 II and a bit forgotten in consequence. Sadly, I seldom use mine, and for the obvious reason - I tend to take the 100-400 instead.

I can't help much with general-use tripods Mennamestom, I just use retired birding tripods on a hand-me-down basis: they are a bit heavier than needed but effectively zero cost, well-built, and very stable. While I can't recommend any particular models, I do strongly advise not skimping. A good tripod is a joy, cheap and nasty ones are a constant pain.

boogieman

menamestom said:

Tripods.  

What’s a good and reasonably priced general purpose tripod?  Travel, night photography, static video.
I have a cheap £20 one and it’s rubbish, just wondering what brands and budget for something that’s a bit more robust.

2nd option as a stop gap and travel tripod is one of those small ones you can put anywhere with bendy legs.

Get a carbon fibre one if you’re going to use it for travel, they’re so much lighter than aluminium but still incredibly strong and rigid. If your camera bag doesn’t have tripod loops, make sure the tripod has a carry bag with a shoulder strap as they can be awkward to carry around. Some tripods have a hook underneath the centre column which can be very useful: you attach a nylon bag to it to give the tripod extra weight so it doesn’t move around in the wind. You can fill the bag with sand, soil or stones, basically anything that you can find where you’re shooting.

Brandwise I like Manfrotto stuff, they’re a good combination of being well designed and made but not too pricey. I bought my carbon one s/h for around £70. 

RaymondLin

With tripod you pick 2 out of 3, lower the better.

1 - Price
2 - Weight
3 - Size (compacted)

If you want 2 & 3 then it will be expensive, like the Peak Design Carbon or Gitzo Carbon traveller.

Over the years I ended up with 3 tripods.  I bought the big Manfrotto aluminium one first.  It’s heavy, but sturdy.  I’ve had it for 20 years and it’s practically vintage.  It works just the same as day 1. Cost me £150 back then. It’s the 055pro with a pan and tilt head.  I take this with me on jobs.  It’s pretty bullet proof.  It can extends pass my head.



Then I went the opposite with a CF travelling tripod that folds down to 30cm, it’s light too. I put it inside my messenger bag, it fits into pretty much any messenger bag (length the size of a piece of paper/magazine), and you don’t notice it. Like a bottle of water really.  The only downside is it doesn’t extend very high, 1.2m at max and it won’t stand against strong winds. This was £200.  I take this on holiday and travelling.

The top one below is the Gitzo, the bottom one is the travelling one which is 30cm.



My most recent tripod is my Gitzo traveller CF, it’s a touch bigger than the one above but extends much higher and much sturdier.  But it is also like £700.  I take this on foreign jobs.  It fits in my suitcase.




I also have this TINY table tripod.  I use it to put a off camera flash on, take it travelling to shoot exposure on random surfaces. etc

Tannin

Gitzo are excellent but priced like the Martin Custom Shop. Benro make near-copies at one third of the price. Build quality of my Benro is better than either of my Manfrottos. You will have difficulty finding spare parts for it should you ever need them; on the other hand, for the price of a Gitzo spare part, you could just buy a whole new Benro tripod anyway.

But now I'm talking heavy-duty tripods for bird photography. With any sensible size lens, these are overkill. 

stickyfiddle

I bought a carbon Manfrotto Element last year to take to Petra. That trip got cancelled so I haven't used it yet, but I believe it's decent for the money - lightweight and much sturdier than my old cheap jobbie. 

I must admit I'm not at all a "tripod guy" so only want one for the occasional nighttime photography or whatever

ThePrettyDamned

menamestom said:

Tripods.  

What’s a good and reasonably priced general purpose tripod?  Travel, night photography, static video.
I have a cheap £20 one and it’s rubbish, just wondering what brands and budget for something that’s a bit more robust.

2nd option as a stop gap and travel tripod is one of those small ones you can put anywhere with bendy legs.

I have a vanguard - one of these. Can be found used cheap, fold up tiny and comfortable with a DSLR and medium size lens.

https://www.wexphotovideo.com/vanguard-veo-2-235ab-tripod-black-1633256/?sv_campaign_id=259955&sv_tax1=affiliate&sv_tax3=Staircase+51+Ltd+(Genie+Shopping)&sv_tax4=0&sv_affiliate_id=259955&awc=2298_1621168572_f6d97d8b6bf6c055e47789bab0d4a6bf&utm_source=aw

Not worth getting one that doesn't fold small for me, because I never use it! 

beed84

What are people’s thoughts on vintage tripods vs modern? As an amateur mostly interested in landscape photography I’m looking to buy a one on a budget (around £50-100) but unsure if the vintage stuff, despite doing the job, is potentially money wasted. For reference, I have my eye on an old Linhof. Any advice would be appreciated.

strumjoughlamps

beed84 said:

What are people’s thoughts on vintage tripods vs modern? As an amateur mostly interested in landscape photography I’m looking to buy a one on a budget (around £50-100) but unsure if the vintage stuff, despite doing the job, is potentially money wasted. For reference, I have my eye on an old Linhof. Any advice would be appreciated.

All I know is the day I moved to a carbon fibre tripod was a good day.