Digital photography

Has anyone got a compactflash reader I could borrow for a very small amount of time? Or even an olympus cable.

My reader has broken and cable has been lost.
Please PM

do they just take normal USB cable? I could be wrong but I think most camares just take normal USB cable, no?

I know fuck all about photography.

My mate is going to take some decent pics of my new bike later. I think his camera is pretty flash. An SLR or something. Generally speaking what would be the best settings to put the camera on for outside pictures, assuming good light?

Don't get too technical.. Ta.

Auto

jokes aside. Stick it on Aperture priority and auto iso, then snap away at different apertures and see what you think works

to be honest, if your mate has a flashy camera, he should know how to use it and I would just leave him be.

He should know shouldn't he!

You know if take a bike pic with a camera phone and you get that fish eye effect and it distorts the geometry and ovalizes the wheels. To get away from that you just stand futher away and use the zoom, right?

Told you I haven't a clue.

Thus:

Yes, use at least a 35mm lens (if not 50?), anything wider will distort

get a jam jar or glass to stand the bike... like lean one of the pedals on top, this way you don't have to lean the actual bike against anything. If you are really fussy, you could photoshop out the jar, I was just lazy...

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Cheers kboy and ExTra.

If you've scratched anything it won't be the sensor, it'll be the protective or anti aliasing filter.

It'll probably still be spendy to have fixed but not new sensor spendy.

You may even be able to do a diy removal and get a sharper camera.

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3562141

Nikon acknowledges dust/oil problem with D600. Offers free clean and shutter mechanism replacement.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/02/26/nikon-to-offer-d600-shutter-replacement-to-address-dust-issue?utm_campaign=internal-link&utm_source=news-list&utm_medium=text&ref=title_0_1

Yeah I meant to say the glass on the sensor but most ppl just shorten it to the sensor. Called Sony this morning, have to send it to Texas. They'll look at it and say if they'll do it free or cost. I figure probably 200 quid if I have to pay. 7-10 days turn around, shame means I won't have it for my Eu trip.

So, my concern about this is that it seems pretty much impossible to change the lens without getting dust in there. the sensor is so exposed and close to the front. There should be some sort of shutter that when you remove the lens closes to protect the sensor (yes I know an SLR is built like that, but with a mirror).

Downside with mirrorless cameras I guess

Do you have to get it sorted before the trip? Are the images not usable at all?

Well if it was somewhere I'd never been before I'd still take it, but I'm just going back skiing in the same place I always go (Zermatt). I also will be there again in 2015/16/17/18/etc... and I'm reasonably sure the Matterhorn is not going anywhere ;)

It's usable, and the scratch can be photoshopped out, but I literally just got the thing so want them to fix it for free. They say 7-10 working days... I bet it arrives back 1 hour after I've left to the airport!

Sorry to hear about your sensor problem. It's good practice to hold the camera sensor facing down when changing lenses or blowing dust off. Sensor dust is a fact of life, I get a lot of it with mirror less cameras. You can get around it to a degree by avoiding stopping down below f5.6.

I have some sensor cleaning kit but I don't use it any more as there was a massive scratch on my sensor when I took it for pro cleaning. Fortunately the manufacturer replaced it free of charge.

Now I create a mask removing spots in Lightroom for each set of photos that show problems and only ever blow it clean held upside down. For oil spots I give it back to the manufacturer who can clean it in one of their branches. They also do this gratis, which makes doing it myself an unnecessary risk.

Thanks for the tips... it's weird how I lasted 8 years with my SLR and no sensor dust at all (even after being stupid and changing lens in the middle of the desert outside of the car)

Learning how to wet-clean a sensor is part of being a 21st C tog if you ask me...

Like you I've been in environments that you think would be bad for dust and not had problems, then picked up lots of dust or pollen when I don't expect it.

I wouldn't say never clean your sensor with the wet cleaning kits as I did it for years.

How are you finding the A7 otherwise?

I really like it. AF with canon lenses is a bit sluggish but works. MF is great.
Picture quality is fantastic, and really amazing.
I only had a half day with it before the fuck up, so will reserve further judgement

I've put off learning to wet clean as I'm scared I'd break the glass on the sensor or something stupid. Clearly that wasn't totally unfounded.

grd4

I never had any fears about it and bought the pentax sticky lollipop cleaner and the eclipse wet wipes. Then it turns into a rabbit hole where you end up needing an illuminated loupe to really see what you're doing. You can pick up oil from the surround of the sensor and wipe it onto the glass or drag a piece of sharp dust across it.

Some days it went well, others it seemed to get worse not better! I would probably try it again if I had too but it's easier to get it done by a pro in a dust controlled environment with good lighting and tons of clean cleaning materials.

Some people recommend doing it in the bathroom having run a hot shower, it keeps the airborne dust down. The pentax thing is good but it didn't remove oil.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03wxk2w/What_Do_Artists_Do_All_Day_Tom_Wood/

Thanks for posting that, I really like his stuff. Those photos of Birkenhead in the 80s... Jesus.