The random chat thread for throwing out things that don't matter

@haloruler64

Where abouts on Maui?  Merryfrankster lives on Maui and my favourite pizza of all time is a mobile wood-fired oven called Outrigger Pizza.  I think they've got a website, if you want to check them out.  I think I may even have their phone number.   If interested,  message me and if I've got it, I'll gladly share. 

Thanks for the pizza suggestion! I'm staying in Wailea so Outrigger is pretty close. Already found it on Google Maps haha. 

It is a work trip so I won't be lounging around all day but I plan to enjoy the heck out of my evenings.

I watch some sports such as racing and some college basketball, but I'm definitely not one of those screaming at the TV types.  I just watch the game, realize that officials make bad calls on both sides, and just hope to see a good display of talent.

I pack... not so light. Just the basics in clothes and toiletries. I'm a simple man. But tech... a set of noise cancelling over ear headphones, two true wireless in ears, wired in ears, laptop, tablet, Nintendo Switch, a Switch dock, two battery banks, a bunch of chargers for everything, two USB-C hubs for my laptop, a USB-C DAC, an action cam, a gimbal, a mini tripod, and a smartwach. Half my luggage is tech. Thankfully most of it is light.

Tech... socks.... underpants.... PACKED

@pwnzor,

So now that your nips are all good and waxed, (and did you do a top-coat of 303?), you think you don't need to bring a tee shirt to soak?

That's a nice compact list, but without that t-shirt, you're just wasting perfectly good nipple wax and 303.

Went back down the rabbit hole of my other hobby the other day and ordered another rifle.  What started out as looking for a new hunting rifle is turning into a full on build and still looking for a new hunting rifle.  I'm hoping to get back into precision shooting, but wanting to stretch out a little more than I do with my current setup.

Posted by: @nocoolname

Went back down the rabbit hole of my other hobby the other day and ordered another rifle.  What started out as looking for a new hunting rifle is turning into a full on build and still looking for a new hunting rifle.  I'm hoping to get back into precision shooting, but wanting to stretch out a little more than I do with my current setup.

  I have went down the rabbit hole also with my camera hobby but I now have a better grasp of getting away from what the industry is trying to sell me with more megapixels which is utterly useless and actually makes worse pictures. I have the budget to spend more but I cant because I will be ruining the image.  The reason why is because the consumer, youtube reviewer and so called industry journalists are idiots that only care about paper specs and not image quality as they can be two different things. 

While I was down the rabbit hole I found a free lunch in a device that literally improves my lenses to perform better than any newer camera spec like image stabilization.  No moving parts,  affordable and its just simple innovative physics. Sometimes the small company beats the industry by thinking outside the box. 

Dev, are you still using a 5dsr?  Your rabbit hole discovery sounds suspiciously like a decent tripod!  j/k.  Maybe your particular application doesn't benefit from a high mp camera, but many applications do.  Of course there are tons of scenarios where big mp is overkill but adjusting the setup, they still can produce satisfactory results.

Posted by: @dave

Dev, are you still using a 5dsr?  Your rabbit hole discovery sounds suspiciously like a decent tripod!  j/k.  Maybe your particular application doesn't benefit from a high mp camera, but many applications do.  Of course there are tons of scenarios where big mp is overkill but adjusting the setup, they still can produce satisfactory results.

 Yes Im using the 5Dsr and I use it for professional work where it is needed in product photography, jewelry  and women's interest magazines where this camera is supposed to  perform in this area and it does and it doesn't.  I have used the sharpest lenses in combination with it and it produces pictures that are incredibly sharp true to life and resolving but thats all it is which is clinical. I have to a lot of post processing to correct for it and its still not satisfactory.   Camera manufacture have got it to the point where the specs are the specs and the pictures look so clear it becomes clinical.  Photography for me is art, not true to life and therefore its not working for me unless I worked for a crime lab or decide to do landscape photography. 

It has very little to do with lesser megapixel camera not capturing enough detail and therefore is softer but the reality is thats not it as I can get a just as sharp of an image to my eye if I don't pixel peep.    As cameras have evolved with smaller pixel pitches that has to be crammed on to the same size sensor they have to use better processors in terms of D/A conversion, signal converters and BSI sensors to reduce the noise but I don't think they do a good job and you lose something.  My 5DSR produces more noise at lower ISOs than camera I had before it. 

 The best camera I have ever owned for image quality was the original 5D because it had a medium format look with bold colors and balanced luminance. The camera only has 13mp which is less than most cell phones today but it will blow the pants off the 5DSR as long as you don't have to crop too much or need gigantic blow ups.  The sad reality is I cant go back to it because the auto focus sucks and so does the exposure metering compared to a modern camera. 

Although the 5Dmk2 had 21mp and bigger pixel pitch they got that camera wrong also which was probably  Digitec chips but it was completely glossed over because it was the first SLR camera to offer high quality video.  It looks like they kind of fixed in the 5Dmk3 but it was still no where near the image quality of the original 5D.  

 Its not just Canon as I see it in Nikons offerings when the D800 was introduced as well as the Sony crap.  Im not against more resolution but I don't think it works with current sensor technology except for cell phones where I think it actually does make a difference.  

Speaking of Nikon, they stopped producing scopes.  Not sure if it's to concentrate on their other products or that the mid range segment they were in is getting crowded.

@dev are camera lenses similar to scopes where the best glass is still Japanese?

Posted by: @nocoolname

Speaking of Nikon, they stopped producing scopes.  Not sure if it's to concentrate on their other products or that the mid range segment they were in is getting crowded.

 

@dev are camera lenses similar to scopes where the best glass is still Japanese?

  Nikon is in big trouble financially. It is possible that they are downsizing to save the company or will have to look at a new financial backer that is going to restructure them like Blue Star airlines.  

When it comes to lenses used for scopes you want the sharpest glass possible. For photography you don't want the sharpest glass, you want the rendering of the lens to produce interesting pictures with out of focus quality and you don't get this when you try to make a lens sharp as possible because lens design is a trade off. The more glass you have the worse the image and its possible that you take a hit on the T stops. I imagine for scopes there are certain trade offs as well but for different reasons and it might be you don't want the sharpest lens because that means more glass and more glass is more weight. 

 As far as who makes the best glass I don't know but from what I have read its between Germany and Japan as they are the only two countries that can produce a certain level of quality and they often collaborate to keep the costs down.  The Koreans and Chines are trying to make copies of lens designs and some of them are pretty good but they are often not the same league.  I tried some of them and they are really good for the money but you can see where they fall short.  

With scopes you want clarity, light transmission and field of view. Light transmission has more to do with objective diameter and tube diameter. Field of view isn't determined by glass quality nearly as much as other aspects but it does play a role in clarity at the edge of the view.

I had a couple scopes that had chinese glass that were good for the price and I liked them until I spent double the price on my first scope with japanese glass, 34mm tube and 50mm objective. That thing collected light a lot better, good enough that I can accurately make out coyotes a little over 100 yds out on a clear full moon night. That scope also has a clearer picture at the edges.

I'm still running a second focal plane scope with chinese glass on a rimfire that does it's job well and a 1-6x scope with Philippine glass and it's good considering the price point and the fact I don't shoot over 500yds with it.

My two higher end scopes are a Bushnell DMR and a Vortex Razor gen 2. Both have Japanese glass and are very clear. The Bushnell is more of the entry level to high end with the vortex being a mid to high tier scope. There's even a difference in clarity between those two but the vortex weighs 10oz more. It also has an illuminated reticle and a bigger bell too though. But once you get into those scopes weight isn't as big of a concern as the vortex is a 3lb scope.

Posted by: @nocoolname

With scopes you want clarity, light transmission and field of view. Light transmission has more to do with objective diameter and tube diameter. Field of view isn't determined by glass quality nearly as much as other aspects but it does play a role in clarity at the edge of the view.

 

      You also want some of the same things when designing a camera lens but you are limited by the mount and the distance to the sensor.  Interestingly enough camera manufactures are now changing mounts for new cameras because of mirrorless and in the process they are now able to make larger diameter and shorter length lenses because there is no mirror in the way.  The larger glass can now make zoom lenses that are used in wedding photography so fast that they can be used in place of ultra fast prime lenses and because there is no mirror you can make the lens shorter and lighter.  Its interesting times where instead of useless megapixels this is the real game changers that evolve cameras. Because of the new mounts these lenses now cost upwards of $3000 which is just too rich for my blood but for a wedding photographer its cheap.  

For the budget minded like myself mirrorless did something I never thought possible. It literally turned my crop Fuji camera into a full frame.  Not technically but no one should no the difference.The reason why not everyone has a full frame is mainly due to the cost of making full frame sensors and crop has some other advantages as far as making cameras smaller but that is not true anymore. 

 There are these devices called speed boosters that can condense the entire area of a full frame lens  and project it on the crop sensor.  Its essentially a focal reducer.  The reason why I want this is because it will give me the advantages of full frame which is perspective and short depth of field advantage.  This is what makes these kind of cameras artistic and abstract which its harder to do with a crop sensor.   

The device is controversial because those that haven't tried them scoff at the idea because they think it  ruins image quality. In actuality a focal reducer even though you are introducing glass elements can improve image quality by increasing sharpness and reducing chromatic aberrations.  I have been testing the device  and it really works without any downsides that I can see in my images. 

  Another reason why you want a full frame sensor is for low light performance in terms of dynamic range and better noise reduction however newer crop sensors have improved so much that its not that much of an advantage.  The Speed Booster does one other thing that just amazing and that is it destroys a full frame as far as low light performance.  The reducer magnifies the image and increases whatever lens you use by a full stop.  

For any photographer its a game changer that is better then image stabilization, sensor tech or processor tech. With more light transmission I can now reduce my ISO or increase my shutter speed and get better quality images.  Low light indoor or overcast shots will look incredible and it is as far as I can tell a free lunch and the best way to describe  It is the same thing as hooking up a magic performance chip on your Spyder for $50 and getting 80 horsepower with no downsides. 

  After a good round of tests with Fujifilm including my studio flashes Im moving on from Canon after 30 years starting with the FD mount to the EF mount.  Canon changed their mount again and is no longer going to make EF lenses.  I would have  considered Nikon but after seeing a friends event result this past weekend with his D800 it's a big pass although I do like their button layout.  Im keeping all of Canon lenses which can be adapted so Im not exactly burning it all down. 

Im a big believer of the X trans sensor in the Fuji that has a film look with colors that pop and no post processing except for film simulation profiles. The auto white balance, exposure metering and the mirrorless view finder simulation lets me know what im going  to get before the shot is taken including depth of field.  

 The used camera I have for testing is one of the older models and although they say it renders better than its replacements  I have to buy the new model for professional work because reliability and dual card slots are required.   

 If anyone is interested in getting a good digital camera these days that gives professional results but is very compact for travel and easy to use, look into getting the Xpro series from Fuji.  These cameras look and perform like Leica rangefinders but ridiculously cheap.