Message from clandk
This message was edited July 15, 2008
Hi and welcome to my place at PBase. I hope you like the pictures. Below, you'll find a description of my equipment.
Cameras.
I have been taking pictures for a few years, and in March 2004 I invested in a wonderful Canon 10D, and an EF 24-70/2.8. I upgraded to a Canon 5D in 2006. This camera is faster and more accurate (i.e. it has better auto focus) and it is also way more sensitive than the old 10D. Pictures at iso 3200 are now quite useable (especially when in black and white).
My favorite set-up is the Canon 5D D-SLR with an EF 24-105/4 lens.
The only problem I have had with the 5D is "factory dust". I actually tested six brand new 5D's (right out of the box) and they all had dust on the sensors. The dust will be clearly visible on landscape pictures with a clear blue sky unless the aperature is larger than 8 (so you'll not see the dust at f/4, for example). After some cleanings, the factory dust eventually goes away. Today, I consider this a no-issue.
When travelling lightly, I presently use a small Fujifilm Finepix F30 (see examples here: http://www.pbase.com/clandk/f30 ). Previously I used a G5 for that purpose (see my London gallery, for example).
Lenses.
My main lens is the Canon EF 24-105/4 (the IS is really great - see, for example, the night shots in my German gallery:http://www.pbase.com/clandk/germany ). I prefer the 24-105/4 over the 24-70/2.8, and I have now sold the 24-70/2.8. I use a Sigma 12-24 for really wide-angle pictures. I have posted two small lens tests:
http://www.pbase.com/clandk/sigma
http://www.pbase.com/clandk/lenstestcanon5d
Color Management.
Color management (icc-profiles etc.) is not an easy task. I have a few books on the subject (including "Real world color management" 2nd ed. by Bruce Fracer, Chris Murphy and Fred Bunting) and ColorVision's Spyder2. I'm not sure if these tools have been of much help to me. The only color management tool that I truely like is the "Kodak color managament check-up kit" (available e.g. from http://shop.colourconfidence.com/product.php?xProd=1186). This kit includes "certified" electronic files and prints and is really great for verification of color accuracy from monitor to paper. It's a very robust way to test if the pictures on the screen (or from the printer) have the right colors.
Software.
Quality: I shoot most pictures in raw, and currently I convert them mainly using DXO v. 5.2 in automatic mode (batch processing). In my view, this gives better pictures than Adobe's Lightroom or Canon's own DPP. Link:
http://www.dxo.com/intl/photo
Speed: Breezebrowser is my main software for browsing pictures and for selecting raw pictures for processing by DXO. I often share pictures with others using Breezebrowser's ability to create HTML pages. It works extremely well, especially with Peter Bergers HTML templates.
The latest: I just recently acquired a licence to Adobes new Lightroom software (in exchange for my old Raw Shooter Premium licence). This software uses a database with picture information. The interface is cool, and after import of pictures into the database I can quickly sort and manipulate them. However, in terms of quality, DXO is still my preferred raw-converter.
There are some nice video tutorials on how to use lightroom here:
http://pictureflow.fileburst.com/_Tutorials/Photoshop_LR/01/index.html
I only use Adobe photoshop (CS) for dust removal of 5D pictures or for more complex jobs where, for example, several layered pictures have to be merged to obtain an extended dynamic range.
Price: I have recently started using the excellent (free) viewer called XnView. (link:http://www.xnview.com/ ) which can be used - among other things - for viewing jpeg-files. It is also handy when an html-albun needs to be created. I use XnView on those computers where I do not have Breezebrowser.
Printing.
I use Qimage for printing on an Epson R2400. The Qimage software http://www.ddisoftware.com/qimage/ has many useful features. For example, I can create job files with links to pictures that I may want to print again and I can keep a log-file of what pictures that have been printed.
With kind regards,
Claus, Copenhagen, Denmark / København, Danmark
PS Does anyone ever read this profile???
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