Want to buy a digital SLR - which one?

it sometimes seems to me that most of the internet is camera threads.

Porn requires cameras. Case closed.

but its a bloody amazing camera, and that lens is just soooo bloody useful.

So's the hubble space telescope, but unfortunately I couldn't stretch to that either.

Actually the Hubble telescope was fucked when they tried to use it, they had to take it back to the shop (NASA) and get it fixed.

I told the guys beer wasn't a good lens cleaner..

Actually the Hubble telescope was fucked when they tried to use it, they had to take it back to the shop (NASA) and get it fixed.

I hope they opted for the collect & return warrantee option

I hope they opted for the collect & return warrantee option

. . . with a 3 year turnaround ! (1990 - fixed by 1993)

Ouch. Anyway back on topic: here's one of my early attempts at hand-rendering HDR:

What does "hand-rendering HDR" mean?

HDR images are made from multiple exposures blended together. Often this is done by sticking the component exposures into photoshop and clicking file > automate > merge to hdr or similar.

Instead, I manipulated each exposure individually before layering them and using masks to select the bits I want from each layer and blend them nicely together. Finish off with a bit of burn'n'dodge and you're all set, allegedly.

What does "hand-rendering HDR" mean?

HDR = high dynamic range.

hand-rendering = doing it by hand, or rather doing it in something like photoshop by painting through the various exposures.

Basically:

take a picture and expose it for the shadows (blows out the highlights)
take a picture and expose it for the midtones.
take a picture and expose it for the highlights (fills in the shadows)

(this example is three exposure but you could do as many as you like)

Then using a photo editor like Photoshop either automatically get it to produce a HDR image with detail in the highlights and the shadows - or do it 'by hand' by masking and deleting between the various exposures.

EDIT: beaten to the punch by fc9k

I can't stand HDR - just seems like a more advanced version of the PS filters people used to use on their shots in the belief it would make a mediocre shot good (no offence - I'm posting from my mobile and haven't seen the HDR shot posted earlier). I suppose I'm just a purist - my brain says it's a photo and should therefore be left to stand on its own merits, while other people see a digital image ripe for manipulation.

Better than a posterise or watercolour filter though!

It's easy to push it too far and end up with something looking rediculously over-processed and fake, but when used subtly (not necessarily like my shot above), it can be really useful.

It's easy to push it too far and end up with something looking rediculously over-processed and fake, but when used subtly (not necessarily like my shot above), it can be really useful.

I actually quite like that shot - have only just managed to sit down at a desktop and see it though. The one thing I would say though is that the Southbank is naturally quite shadowy, and that's what makes it what it is. By bringing HDR into the mix, I fear you're on the verge of losing that.

Nice tones though - can't say I disapprove.

I got one of these yesterday too !

Well a Nikon to Canon one anyway.

Ooh - where do I get one?

I've a load of old Nikon AI and AIS lenses that I'm itching to use again!

You got to get it right on the neg. the rest will follow...

I don't see the point in being a purist for all subject matter, PS filters are so widely used you have to really master them to get great results. but it happens and it is a skill in itself. the thousands of saturated and pushed pictures on photoblogs fail to grab me but fc9k's shot has more depth, an unusual amount, add that to the placement of red paint around the picutre and your eye keeps moving. helps that its a well composed shot to start with

on a more interesting note - does anyone know of a reliable place i can take my Canon for service/repairs in London? the sensor locked up whilst cleaning and now it wont come back to life. the sensor works (if it put it on auto the lens moves) but the menus are dead.

http://www.canon-europe.com/Support/Consumer_Products/services_locator/index.aspx

"on a more interesting note - does anyone know of a reliable place i can take my Canon for service/repairs in London? the sensor locked up whilst cleaning and now it wont come back to life. the sensor works (if it put it on auto the lens moves) but the menus are dead."

fixation in vauxhall.

i woulda thought you were a CPS member, mr smith

crown prosecution service?

i am. (it's CPN canon professional network)

they are using one of my images in a tilt/shift lens feature for their website soon.

'how not to..'?

'how not to..'?

no. how to use their lenses properly.

seeing as you know very little about how to use a camera properly haven't you got any random casio/stylaphone/bontempti key bashing to tape

touchy

touchy

how much you want to pay?