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Topics - Daneel

Pages: [1] 2
1
Lighting / Speedlite 430EX or 580EX?
« on: August 30, 2007, 15:13 »
Hi all,

I'm going to buy my first external flash for my 400D (long overdue, but I haven't really realized the possibilities of a good flash until now).

The choices are either the speedlite 430EX or the 580EX. I know all the differences from reading reviews, i.e., mainly the 580 is more powerful and can act as a master while the 430 is smaller, lighter and cheaper.

Among "traditional" flash uses I want to use the flash for macro photography with my Canon 100mm f2.8 Macro using a flash diffusor. I don't want to invest into a specialized macro flash, i.e., ring flash or twin lite yet.

I wonder if the the 580EX has that small (but essential) advantage with regards to macro photography. Other than the 430EX, the 580EX can tilt down by 7 degrees (the 430EX can't tilt down). Does that give a significant advantage for macro photography with the 100mm Canon or is the tilt irrelevant because the objects are far enough away?

I would love to get your inputs w.r.t. the question above and generally about macro photography with the 100mm Canon and one of the both speedlite flashes mentioned above.

Many thanks and all the best,
Michael

2
Hi all,

I'm in the market for some medium to advanced Canon EOS equipment (flashes, lenses). Buying this stuff directly in Europe is out of the question, since you often pay more than the same price which you would pay in Dollars, but just in Euro (1/3 to 1/4 more expensive than in the USA).

Last time I bought something I was lucky, since I've been on a trip in the USA and could buy my equipment there.

Mail order from the USA (e.g., B&H) is quite risky because of potential taxes to be paid.

I heard of some Asian / Hong Kong online stores which are supposed to be even more reasonably priced than buying from the USA.

So all you european buyers: Where do you get your advanced Canon equipment? It would be great if you could share your insights / experiences. If you would like to contact me directly with your advices, please simply e-mail me at: [email protected]

Many thanks and all the best,
Michael

3
Hi all,

what's your experience with true macro (i.e., life size and above) photography in stock? Is microstock the right place for it and if yes, which objects (insects, ...) are selling well?

I'd love to get your experience with true macro photography and stock.

Thanks and all the best,
Michael

4
Cameras / Lenses / Help me with my birthday wishlist :-)
« on: August 14, 2007, 12:37 »
Hi all,

I'm using (and immensly enjoying) a 400D (XTI) with a Sigma 18-50 mm f2.8 lens (excellent piece, also focus down to 20 cm giving it a maginification factor of 1:3) and a Canon 70-300 IS (again, very nice to work with although not as sharp as my Sigma). I'm also owning a good tripod.

I'm now pondering what I should put on my wishlist for my birthday and I really need your help on this. The Sigma already gives me some Macro abilities, but I think I would enjoy really getting into the microscopic world ... so maybe a good macro lens? I think that on the wide end the Sigma is already quite good with 18 mm, so I guess I don't really need a dedicated wide angel lens.

What do you think? What other lenses or photo gadgets would you recomment? I really enjoy all sorts of photography, animals with my 70-300, portraits with my Sigma, but also product and "almost" macro shots with my Sigma.

Some (very few) of my photos are on my website:
http://microstockmonitor.unfolded.com/index.php?pr=My_Photos

Most of the others are online at the diverse microstock agencies which I work with (more on this on my website).

Please give me your input. I'm desperate to get a nice new gadget for my camera hobby :-)

Thanks and all the best,
Michael

5
Hi all,

I'm doing all of the "Big 6" agencies, which already takes some time to upload, review and submit. I'm also with many of the "Up and Coming" agencies. I'm now considering to discontinue doing all the "Up and Coming" ones except those which have a "upload and forget mechanism" such as Lucky Oliver (there are other reasons why I will stay with them) and 123RF.  These smaller agencies which do not have a _very_ streamlined process eat up as much time as the big agencies but don't get me much cash. I'm not sure if they are worth the time.

What do you think? What is your feeling? What did you do?

All the best,
Michael

6
Microstock Monitor / MicrostockMonitor.com goes online!
« on: July 11, 2007, 09:48 »
Hi all!

I'm very happy to announce that Microstock Monitor now has a dedicated domain name. From now on you can access the website not only through http://microstockmonitor.unfolded.com but also


(Depending on your location it might not be available until tomorrow or so - but it's working already for me :-))!

I'm very happy about this and I do hope that this helps to further increase the popularity of Microstock Monitor. Remember, Microstock Monitor is and will always stay free software and all I get for implementing and maintaining it is a little something from referals. If you like Microstock Monitor and want me to be able to spend additional time enhancing it, please consider telling your photographer friends about it, write a blog message or put a link on your web site. The more popular Microstock Monitor becomes, the more time I will be able to spend enhancing it for you!

All the best,
Michael

7
Hi all,

there is a new release of Microstock Monitor available at:
http://microstockmonitor.unfolded.com/index.php?pr=Downloads

I'm quite happy to report that I could strike a deal with the new Geckostock (http://www.geckostock.co.uk/?ID=333&name=daneel) agency. In exchange for a link from their website, I included them into Microstock Monitor.

I think this is a win-win situation:
1) More users for Microstock Monitor which will ensure that I keep extending and maintaining it and
2) Easy monitoring of Geckostock stats (in addition to your other stock agencies) which might cause more users to sign up with Geckostock.

Are you representing a microstock agency which you would like to get listed in Microstock Monitor? Or are you representing an agency for which you would like to have enhanced support in Microstock Monitor? No problem, pass me an e-mail at [email protected] and we will talk about it!

For all other users of Microstock Monitor, if you have a website or blog, it would be awesome if you could write a few words about Microstock Monitor. The more users there are, the more time I will be able to spend for maintaining and enhancing Microstock Monitor.

Please also remember that Microstock Monitor is completely free software. If you like it, please consider to sign up with new agencies through the links provided on the website or in Microstock Monitor. This might give me a small compensation for my work through referal earnings.

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

All the best,
Michael


8
Microstock Monitor / Announcing Microstock Monitor 1.8
« on: June 25, 2007, 15:07 »
Hi all,

there is a new release of Microstock Monitor available at:
http://microstockmonitor.unfolded.com/index.php?pr=Downloads

It contains fixes for StockXpert and Fotolia stats which stopped working after their website updates.

Many thanks for everyone who uses Microstock Monitor. If you like it, please spread the word - I hope to see many new users in the future. If you have a website for example, then I'd heavenly appreciate a link. If you have a blog, it would be awesome if you could write a few words about Microstock Monitor. If you have a website, please consider linking to Microstock Monitor. Many thanks in advance!

Please also remember that Microstock Monitor is completely free software. If you like it, please consider to sign up with new agencies through the links provided on the website or in Microstock Monitor. This might give me a small compensation for my work through referal earnings.

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

All the best,
Michael

9
Microstock Monitor / Announcing Microstock Monitor 1.7
« on: April 01, 2007, 08:46 »
Hi all,

there is a new release of Microstock Monitor available at:
http://microstockmonitor.unfolded.com/index.php?pr=Downloads

It contains a fix for StockXpert stats which stopped working after the change of the month (March to April). I've also added a dedicated section to the website where I plan to showcase some of my photos which I like.

For a future release I'm currently investigating a mechanism to make Microstock Monitor work on all platforms (OS X, Linux and Windows).

Many thanks for everyone who uses Microstock Monitor. If you like it, please spread the word - I hope to see many new users in the future. If you have a website for example, then I'd heavenly appreciate a link. If you have a blog, it would be awesome if you could write a few words about Microstock Monitor - many thanks in advance!

Please also remember that Microstock Monitor is completely free software. If you like it, please consider to sign up with new agencies through the links provided on the website or in Microstock Monitor. This might give me a small compensation for my work through referal earnings.

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

All the best,
Michael

10
123RF / A note on isolations of electronic gadgets
« on: March 26, 2007, 05:07 »
Hi all,

123RF has an interesting policy on isolations of electronic gadgets such as mobile phones. They won't accept those, even if you carefully remove all brand names / logos. All other agencies (the big 6 and the up and coming ones) follow another policy on this (my own experience, as I uploaded some of these isolations).

So save your bandwidth and don't try uploading these to 123RF.

The full thread is here:
http://forum.123rf.com/viewtopic.php?t=405

All the best,
Michael

11
Microstock Monitor / Announcing Microstock Monitor 1.6
« on: March 24, 2007, 07:41 »
Hi all,

there is a new release of Microstock Monitor available at:
http://microstockmonitor.unfolded.com/index.php?pr=Downloads

It contains a fix for Fotolia stats and I've added several new columns, so that you can see what I plan to implement in the future. Please take a look and comment.

I've also added a new section to the website, which attempts to give a primer on microstock photography.

Many thanks for everyone who uses Microstock Monitor. If you like it, please spread the word - I hope to see many new users in the future.

Please also remember that Microstock Monitor is completely free software. If you like it, please consider to sign up with new agencies through the links provided on the website or in Microstock Monitor. This might give me a small compensation for my work through referal earnings.

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

All the best,
Michael

12
Microstock Monitor / Microstock Monitor is BACK! :-)
« on: March 20, 2007, 13:32 »
Dear friends,

I'm very very happy to announce that Microstock Monitor is available again.

After what happened with the old version (see here: http://www.microstockgroup.com/index.php?topic=1314.0) I was first very reluctant to ever distribute it again. However, in the days following this incident, I have exchanged quite some e-mails with Jon from SS (CEO/Founder) and he took some of his (probably very valuable) time to explain the situation to me. Basically they are going after any program which asks their user's passwords, because such programs are a security risk to them. He told me that if I manage to rewrite my program to not ask user's passwords, then it would be fine with them.

I spend considerable time to think about a solution and today I'm happy to announce it. I've totally rewritten Microstock Monitor and it is now an extension of the popular Firefox browser. That means that you no longer need to provide any user information to Microstock Monitor, as it re-uses the session information of the Firefox browser. Microstock Monitor will no longer get (and no longer needs) any of your user information, which makes it much safer to be used.

Finally thanks to all of you guys who stayed in contact with me even after I had to stop distributing the old Microstock Monitor.

But now, let's get going! Please head over to


read the documentation and install the software to test it!

As you can imagine, I've spent quite some time to rewrite this and I would love to hear about your experiences with the software here. If you enjoy it, please consider signing up with some agencies through the links which I provide in Microstock Monitor and at the website, which might get me a little compensation for the work I did (through referal earnings).

Finally, please spread the word!

Many thanks for all of your support! If you want to get in touch with me, I'm available through:
icq: 71772353 | skype: daneel1409 | msn: [email protected]

I'm looking forward to your feedback.

All the best,
Michael


13
Microstock Monitor / Microstock Monitor revised?
« on: March 16, 2007, 10:09 »
Hi all,

I've been in contact with SS and there might be "light at the end of the tunnel".

Stay tuned...

All the best,
Michael

14
Software - General / Lossless Compression?
« on: March 14, 2007, 15:16 »
Hi all,

which lossless compression method do you use to archive your photos? Adobe Raw?

Thanks,
Michael

15
General - Top Sites / Generic Model Release?
« on: March 14, 2007, 06:45 »
Hi!

I'm looking for a generic model release which gets accepted at all of the big 6. Both for minors and adults. What do you use?

Many thanks,
Michael

16
Lighting / Do you use the lens hood for isolations?
« on: March 13, 2007, 06:56 »
Hi all!

Do you use the lens hood for isolations? Is it useful to enhance the contrast / correct exposure of the object while still keeping your background white?

Thanks,
Michael

17
Hi all,


which metering mode do you use for photographing isolations (objects or persons on a white background with appropriate lighting)?

For my first shots I've been using the evaluative metering. However, from reading the manual of my EOS 400D it seems to make much more sense to use "center-weighted average" or even partial metering.

Which one do you use for isolations?

All the best,
Michael

18
Lighting / Modifying construction lights - will it burn?
« on: March 12, 2007, 05:04 »
Hi all,

I'm using a few of these 500W construction lights for my "just for fun" studio lighting:


I would like to diffuse the light by taping a bedsheet directly in front of the lamp. Will it get too hot, i.e., will the bedsheet burn or is it ok?

Please no speculation - I'd like to hear your experience.

Many thanks,
Michael

19
General Stock Discussion / Your worst performer?
« on: March 12, 2007, 04:36 »
Hi all,

Which of the big 6 is currently your worst performer?

Please only vote if you submit the same photos to all of these agencies, in order to keep it fair.

Thanks,
Michael

20
Software - General / What's your RAW workflow (Canon EOS)?
« on: February 28, 2007, 09:29 »
Hi all,

good news: I've ordered my DSLR (Canon EOS 400D).

I've never shot raw before. I do own Adobe Photoshop CS2. I'd like to know - in preperation - how your raw workflow looks like, in particular of those who use Adobe Photoshop CS2.

Many thanks,
Michael

21
Hi all,

I'll be in San Jose for one week in April. I'll have a rental car and I have yet to decide if my return flight will also go from San Jose or from another city (I'm a bit flexible on this).

I've already been to the west coast once (including Las Vegas and National Parks) but then I had only a point and shoot with me.

I'd love to get some good trip advise / recommendations from you. Where should I go for great photos? Which kind of trip would you suggest?

Many thanks and all the best,
Michael

22
Hi all,

I just went through 40 of the more troublesome minutes in my life (actually the worst, except when I did the exams for my master).

First my account at one of the big 6 was suspended. 5 minutes later I got an e-mail from the founder of this agency telling me that he did not want his agency to appear in Microstock Monitor (because of trademark issues) and that I will hear from his lawyers soon.

I took immediate action by removing the Microstock Monitor website, apologized through e-mail and begged for my account to be re-opened. Fortunately he was very understanding after my swift reaction and my account is re-activated. He also pointed out that I may continue to re-distribute the software, if I remove their agency from it.

However, I decided to not take this risk. Another agency might not be as understanding as this one and I might get into big trouble ... and it's definitely not worth that.

I'm very sorry for this, but I decided that I won't continue distributing Microstock Monitor.

I do hope that you understand.

All the best,
Michael (...who is still quite unsettled about this - so excuse any typos)

23
Cameras / Lenses / Experience with Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO?
« on: February 24, 2007, 07:17 »
Hi all!

Many thanks for your help so far. I feel that I'm progressing well towards chosing the best lens for me. As you know, I'm switching to DSLR (XTi) and I'm currently on my quest to find the perfect lens within my budget, which is around 500 Euros / 600 USD.

From my side, there are two main requirements:

1) This lens should be a very good walkaround lens for landscape, nature, people, buildings, ... just anything which I might encounter on my travels (except for wildlife, where I would need a telezoom).

2) I do a lot of product photography (isolations with a light tent). The products consist of all kind of gadgets (mobile phones, mp3 players) but also food and so on. Nothing too small, but still the lens should have a very good minimum focus distance and also a very good magnification factor.

I put considerable research into finding a lens which fullfills both 1) and 2) and finally came up with the "Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO". This is a revised version of the Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC and has the following characteristics which impress me:

a) Minimum focus distance of 0,2m and
b) Magnification factor of 1:3

With the XTi sensor size (22.2 x 14.8 mm) this means that objects as small as 66,6 x 44,4 mm will fill my photo: Well enough for my work.
I've now several questions to you and would be very happy to get any inputs:

1) Does anyone of you have a Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC MACRO and can provide his experiences / opinion about the lense?

2) Are there any reviews available? I only find reviews of the older "Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 EX DC"?

3) The Sigma has a good price. I'd happily spend more (within my budget of 500 Euros / 600 USD) for a higher quality lens with compareable zoom and in particular similiar characteristics w.r.t. minimum focus distance and magnification factor. Is there such a beast out there? Maybe from Canon? I couldn't find one :-(

Any other inputs are very welcome as well!

Many thanks,
Michael

24
Hi all,

featurepics just stopped working in Microstock Monitor for me. It seems that they slightly changed the structure of their website. I've adjusted Microstock Monitor and a new release is available here:
http://microstockmonitor.unfolded.com/index.php?pr=Downloads

Can you confirm that Featurepics stopped working in 1.3 and that 1.31 fixes that problem?

Many thanks,
Michael

25
Cameras / Lenses / Lens magnification factor - a question
« on: February 24, 2007, 03:24 »
Hi all,

given that the sensor size of the XTi is 22.2 x 14.8 mm, a lens with a 1:2 magnification would allow me to fill the photo with a object of the size 32 x 22 mm, right? With a 1:3 magnification the object would need to be about 39 x 24 mm to fill the photo, or?

If that is about right then I think I won't need a macro for my work right away (see my other threads) but could do my isolations also with a very good standard zoom, which would also be the much better walkaround lens.

Many thanks,
Michael

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