I did a new blog entry on why I went to a FF camera.   I ramble a bit too much in it and also get less than dramatic results in a little test I ran but it may be of some value to people pondering the question of FF or APS for their next camera.

My blog is here:

http://www.bobkeenanphoto.com/time-to-go-to-a-full-frame-ff-dslr

I started uploading to Veer in Jul10.  For a couple months after they approved me they only had 8 of my images posted with hundreds in review.  But I made about $8 on those images.  I thought....my goodness.... when I get all my images on here I should be making about $300/month on this site.  Well.... its Jan11 now.  I have over 600 images approved and posted.  I got to a total sales of $19.25 a couple of months ago....and there it sits.   

It's strictly coincidence. I'm getting more rejections since I started using a new espresso maker.

Ah Hah.....  You have given me an idea.... I did get a new Carhartt jacket about the same time the rejections got worse.... that must be it  : )

But seriously.... most of the rejections have been because of OOF or focus not on best area.    I think that the combination of the shallower dof associated with a FF camera combined with hand held shots in a darker winter environment .... a AF system that is not as good as the 7D has led to my rejections.

I use a Mac and use Filezilla, I've got it set up so that once I've told it what I want to send and where I walk away and it just cracks on and does it. You can set it to upload more than one file at a time but I've found it's actually quicker to just do one at a time and when it's finished it moves onto the next file and then the next site.

I think that's what you're after.

Fetch,  what I am using now, does what you are describing.

What I am looking for is a FTP client that will do batch uploads to 7 different microstock sites of one batch of photos  (once I set up the right addresses and password).  So for example I would like to drag 10 images to the program just once.  Then walk away and have the softward automatically upload the 10 images to 7 different sites?  Does Filezilla do that?

I have been using Fetch.  Very reliable.  I upload to 7 sites, the same stuff to each one.  I used to do it serially.  Then I found out that Fetch can handle multiple uploads at the same time so now I open 7 windows and then drag and drop to each.

What would be better is to select 7 sites and have the software load them automatically to all of them.

I know there are some microstock programs that do this but some charge and others seem to not service some of the sites.... but I could be wrong.

Any ideas..... and and its got to work on a MAC

About 0-3 sales a month on around 500 images.....  Not sure if I will ever get to a pay out

I have both cameras the image-output is a lot better with the 5DMarkII therefore I use the 7D only as a back-up or in situations where I need the faster AF, better syncro or the crop (in a sense that I have more tele).

I almost convinced myself there was no advantage for the kind of shooting that I do.

But I think I agree with you that bottom line image IQ, in most cases, will be the same or better than cropped frames.

So I think I will keep saving and wait for the 5DMIII so I can get the newest technology

Holgs,  is right, noise is often caused by wrong in-camera settings, unless youre using very high ISO, see you got to remember, the digital cameras are not perfected yet, not even the D3s, which is supposed to be the most noiseless camera on the planet.

I presume you shoot in Raw?  then turn sharpness OFF, noise-reduction OFF and a neutral picture setting, etc. When working on the shot in PS, try and avoid any sharpening.

Everything I do is in RAW.  I usually shoot in AV and bracket each shot at three shutter speeds, each about 1/3 to 2/3's of a stop difference in case I have not metered correctly.

My Histograms are usually centered and usually have to pull in the blacks and whites on curve adjustments to get a full spectrum curve.

Because of the available light and the fact that I am doing hand held held shots I am force into f2.8- 5.6 shots.  Many times the shots are from about 3' away.  I am using a 17-55mm 2.8 IS lens and speeds now lower than 1/40 sec.  Usually taking shots closer to the 55MM.   So my DOF is just a 2-3 inches.  All of this is only possible at ISO's of 400+.      So.... I normally have to clean up noise in the shadows and its tricky to get the DOF exactly where you want it and where it will be accepted by the microstock places.  I have found that with microstock a wider DOF image is much more likely to be accepted than a narrow one.  Or said another way.  A narrow DOF image must be very well done.

I am slowly convincing myself that the FF camera will not be a panacea for my problem.  And I just need to "man up" and bring a monopod or tripod to the farmers market with me (one of my favorite shooting spots).  And then kiss inconspicuousness away.

I have about 750 images on Yay.  I started uploading them about a year ago.  I have had one sale since then.

Meanwhile on SS.... the same images, over the same period of time.... 800 sales.

Does this site just have incredibly low sales OR are they looking for a specific kind of image?

Absolutely.  I learned that what I used to take was mostly crap.  I used to have noise and CA everywhere.  My composition was nearly non-existent.  I would get lucky every now and then and end up with a really nice image but it was not repeatable.

Seeing what sells and what gets rejected is a constant learning experience.  The experience of microstock has pushed me to read lots  of books on composition, exposure, etc.

And I am still learning....

what's upo with them??? I have photos rejected that sells well on other sites (DT) what are they trademark policies?? they ask me property release for indoor pictures, for motorcycle (although I removed all logos and signals), for a glass building of offices... these pics are on DT and sell well!

I have had the same experience.  My last two 10 photo entries were rejected while the other sites accepted many of the images and are generating sales already.  Both were weekend reviews.  To be fair these submissions were not my best but I felt that they were good enough.

The other thing I was thinking about is that about 2 weeks ago I passed the $500 sales with them and got the .25 to .33 cent raise in minimum commission.  I was wondering if they hold you to a higher standard at the higher rate???

I was looking at an Aperture 3 workflow instructional video.  In it they suggest putting your copyright name (�Bobkeenan Photography) in the IPTC but also to put the statement "all rights reserved" with the copyright name.

If I put the rights statement on stock that I submit to microstock sites....will they reject it, not like it, not care about it, other?

And what does that statement do for me anyhow?

A thread was started on this same topic yesterday. You might find some helpful pointers there.
http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/upload-to-is-a-time-consuming-job!/msg167464/?topicseen#new

I read through all of those posts and did not see any helpful pointers.

Here is what I do.  I use aperture 3 with an istockphoto plug-in.  I select a set of fotos then go to the plug in.  It set up to do the individual category and keywords.  Instead I batch the photos together and pick one random category for all the images.  That gets it past the mandatory inputs.  Then I up hit upload.  For some reason its not as fast as my FTP uploads but I don't care because I can go and do other stuff while its loading.

Once loaded you have to go to the site and then do all the * category and keyword selection.  Note that all my keywords are there but I had to go and review each single keyword for matches to the Istock process.  I not only dislike the tediousness of it but, because my approval rating is not that great about 50-80% of that work is wasted.   And it bugs me because I already keyworded the images.

Again.... I am just whining..... I will continue to submit stuff to iStock.... I still make money there.

But unless I am really dense, and that may be the case,  I did not see any useful hints in the referenced posts from yesterday.