Hope I don't offend people, but there are often alot of very uninteresting shots in these "lens" threads that are only posted because they were taken with a certain lens but have little merit other than that. However, this is a beautiful image indeed.
michael49 wrote:
Hope I don't offend people, but there are often alot of very uninteresting shots in these "lens" threads that are only posted because they were taken with a certain lens but have little merit other than that. However, this is a beautiful image indeed.
The same can be said about just about any other forum or collection of photos anywhere.
To be honest, I appreciate these alt and lens threads because it gives me an opportunity to see different lenses and styles without the feeling of having to put an exhibition. It's like the difference between showing my friends my photos vs. putting my photos in Portrait or Landscape/Still Life forums. In the C&C forums, I feel like my work becomes scrutinized (unless you're one of the cool kids, in which case it's non-stop praise).
there are often alot of very uninteresting shots in these "lens" threads that are only posted because they were taken with a certain lens.
No offense taken ...
Also, this can often be the point of the thread ... to show a varying array of images that can assist with undertanding strengths & weakneses of the lens itself ... not necesarily how nice the image is or how good the photographer is. The focal point of 'merit' here often leans toward the technical attributes more so than the artistic ones.
For this reason, I try to always note when I've used PP to make a nice image vs. an SOOC / RAW image for lens evaluation (buying research). It can be easy to misunderstand how a piece of glass renders if someone is shooting jpgs with the sharpening, saturation & contrast cranked up in their camera just to make it 'pop' more.
OTOH, it is nice to see what CAN be done with an image that comes from a given piece of glass ... just important to know which you are viewing RAW or PP (in camera or PC) when trying to evalutate glass.
These kind of threads are mostly a way of helping others learn things about the glass, much more so than showcasing our talent ... although, we do that once in a while too.
Case in point ... the pics from Bifurcator's last post with the 28/3.5 catch my attention with regard to the way it handles sharpness (central/edge/corner), saturation, bokeh, distortion & CA on his 4/3 format. None of the shots themselves are OMG-WOW artistically/photgraphically speaking, but that wasn't the point of posting them. Rather to show how the lens handles different situations / scenarios for us to draw our own conclusions from ... semi-scientific evaluation tools more so than talent show, if you will.
michael49 wrote:
there are often alot of very uninteresting shots in these "lens" threads that are only posted because they were taken with a certain lens but have little merit other than that.
This thread is really about what the lens can do, and not what the photographer can do. I am here to check out the lenses IQ, rendering, bokeh, etc. So if the uninteresting photo can show me these, they will to me be interesting.
ManWearPants wrote:
This thread is really about what the lens can do, and not what the photographer can do. I am here to check out the lenses IQ, rendering, bokeh, etc. So if the uninteresting photo can show me these, they will to me be interesting.
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like a lot of these photos are more interesting than what I see in some of the C&C forums. In there, I seem to see the same things on a regular basis. In the alt lens and image threads, I seem to see a lot more variety and more interesting photos.
kakomu wrote:
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like a lot of these photos are more interesting than what I see in some of the C&C forums. In there, I seem to see the same things over and over again. In the alt threads, I seem to see a lot more variety and more interesting things.
michael49 wrote:
Hope I don't offend people, but there are often alot of very uninteresting shots in these "lens" threads that are only posted because they were taken with a certain lens but have little merit other than that. However, this is a beautiful image indeed.
Thanks! I assure you it was only by accident though.
I think these threads are about both things though. Someone who's good can both show what the lens can do and also stun us with great photography at the same time. Although, the emphasis is on the lens sampling IMO - or should be!
For me it's (usually) a half and half kinda thing. The 1st thing I do with a new lens is shoot a hundred or so images all wide open. From those I'll pic the 5 to 10 best looking thumbnails a scale them for here - assuming there's a thread about it/them. I shoot RAW and try not to do too much processing - usually.
Next I clean and recondition the lens and shoot a rez-chart plus take it out and walk through it's aperture settings. I don't usually post any of those because it's a PITA to put something meaningful together that will fit in these threads.
For the first set I try to be creative without spending too much time thinking about it - pretty much designated as "snapshots". The second round is all technical and very very boring!
From there I decide if I wanna keep it or sell it on. Then when I wanna shoot something only for the photography I pick from the keepers and go. I'm not very good compared to most people here though (FM has some of the most awesome photogs who post publicly!) so you made me feel pretty good with that compliment!
kakomu wrote:
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like a lot of these photos are more interesting than what I see in some of the C&C forums. In there, I seem to see the same things on a regular basis. In the alt lens and image threads, I seem to see a lot more variety and more interesting photos.
I think he is refering to my picture in which I am trying to show the bokeh of a particular lens cos his comment came quickly after I have posted. I have since removed my post. I will seek expert opinion and ensure it is fit for gallery before posting in future I guess people like me who are not born a good photographer should look for a lesser place to show my photos.
Bifurcator wrote:
....
I think these threads are about both things though. Someone who's good can both show what the lens can do and also stun us with great photography at the same time. ...
That's in line with what I was thinking.
I love gear as much as the next photographer, but recently I picked up a GF-1 with the 20 1.7 pancake and it has really reacquainted me with the entire point of photogarphy - capturing a treasured moment in time. Leaving my 5d2 and huge bag of lenses at home and focusing on my images rather than the gear has been a wonderful experience.
As I say, I love gear as much as anyone else, except when I start to fucus on it more than the images they help me to create.
kakomu wrote:
The same can be said about just about any other forum or collection of photos anywhere.
To be honest, I appreciate these alt and lens threads because it gives me an opportunity to see different lenses and styles without the feeling of having to put an exhibition. It's like the difference between showing my friends my photos vs. putting my photos in Portrait or Landscape/Still Life forums. In the C&C forums, I feel like my work becomes scrutinized (unless you're one of the cool kids, in which case it's non-stop praise).
I agree, I love seeing these alt lens in use. I enjoy all the posts here. In my view; art is subjective, photography more so as the image strays from technical precision, from standards and exact representation to a creation of the moment.
Heck, even the experience from monitor to monitor can be vastly different.
So, thanks all for posting up your work for me to learn from!
Please, I hope I didn't offend anyone. I've seen some absolutely incredible images here in the alternative gear section....and it always keeps me thinking of new things to try.
as I said, these threads are not about "perfect images" in first place. The purpose is another.
I do enjoy this forum. As anybody else I do judge those images whenI look at them, but since I am aware that this is not a "show your best images thread" I keep my judgement for myself.
michael49 wrote:
Hope I don't offend people, but there are often alot of very uninteresting shots in these "lens" threads that are only posted because they were taken with a certain lens but have little merit other than that. However, this is a beautiful image indeed.
kakomu wrote:
The same can be said about just about any other forum or collection of photos anywhere.
Man, I sure disagree with that. I frequent 7 other photography sites and all but one SUCK compared to this place! Seriously! And by "suck" I mean the VAST majority of images posted there are poor to very poor in terms of technical merit, subject, artistic creativity, and etc. This is followed by the majority of active posters on those sites being nit-witts to a great extent. No, I just can't agree that other forums are typically the same as FM. There are a few other good ones and there are some nice collections out there but they're fairly rare. The overwhelming majority of them are people who are just learning how to place an image on-line but do not know how to use their cameras yet and haven't even begun to consider what looks good nor how they might go about accomplishing a look that's interesting, intriguing, or conjurers emotion in/to others. These things are true even holding the subjective nature of photography in primary regard. FM is exceptional!
rtester wrote:
In my view; art is subjective, photography more so as the image strays from technical precision, from standards and exact representation to a creation of the moment.
Heck, even the experience from monitor to monitor can be vastly different.
So, thanks all for posting up your work for me to learn from!
I agree! There's a lot of factors that can make a photograph "good". Many sets of criteria can be applied. Often when two or more such factors slash criteria sets come together in one image it can be seen as "great".
