D50 owners: post some pics

[pontifex]

and what lens and settings you used. i just want to compare what your shots look like compared to mine.

i'm very unhappy with image quality on mine.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: pontifex
and what lens and settings you used. i just want to compare what your shots look like compared to mine.

i'm very unhappy with image quality on mine.

Really? I'm extremely pleased with my D50. The more I read about the other lens released around it, I more glad that I chose this particular camera for the features and price.

I have an entire gallery that you can check out of shots from my D50.

http://joshpuckett.smugmug.com

Click on the 'My Favorites' gallery, and these are all the ones I have been most pleased with in my 2800 shutter clicks on my D50 thus far. Each picture should have full EXIF info, and each has a full-size version available to view if wish to pixel peep. Most were taken with the 18-55 kit lens, but a few others will have been taken with either the 50/1.8, Sigma 105 macro, or in the case of a couple at the tail end of the gallery, the Sigma 70-300 DG.

Let me know if you have any questions, or if you'd like to know my thoughts on anything specific.

 

[ProfJohn]

The D50 is a pretty nice camera.
Are you sure it is the camera and not the user?

Post us some pics to look at. Maybe you are making some minor mistakes or something.
My D70s takes amazing pics and the only difference between it and the D50 are some minor things and features.

 

[IeraseU]

Unless you have some really exotic needs such as tracking a race car head on at full speed, it's really hard to imagine the D50 not being able to deliver.

 

[pontifex]

my photo gallery

maybe i'm just too picky or too used to seeing pics by other people that are just amazing, but my pics never seem clear and sharp.

maybe its me causing the problem or maybe its just me who's too used to seeing those great pics by other people.

 

[IeraseU]

I just think you need to do a bit more post-processing to your pictures.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: IeraseU
I just think you need to do a bit more post-processing to your pictures.

i don't know what to do besides auto levels, auto contrast, and maybe auto color (which seems to make it worse. I don't think i ever had auto color make my pics look better).

i really don't know Photoshop that well.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: IeraseU
I just think you need to do a bit more post-processing to your pictures.

i don't know what to do besides auto levels, auto contrast, and maybe auto color (which seems to make it worse. I don't think i ever had auto color make my pics look better).

i really don't know Photoshop that well.

Go to the Nikon website, and download the 30-day trial for Capture NX. It's specialized specifically for photographs. Even though you can use jpg's in this program, shoot a few RAW pictures, open them in the program, and just mess around with it. The PP process is non-destructible, so anything you do to a picture can be undone just as easily.

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: blurredvision

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: IeraseU
I just think you need to do a bit more post-processing to your pictures.

i don't know what to do besides auto levels, auto contrast, and maybe auto color (which seems to make it worse. I don't think i ever had auto color make my pics look better).

i really don't know Photoshop that well.

Go to the Nikon website, and download the 30-day trial for Capture NX. It's specialized specifically for photographs. Even though you can use jpg's in this program, shoot a few RAW pictures, open them in the program, and just mess around with it. The PP process is non-destructible, so anything you do to a picture can be undone just as easily.

I already do shoot in RAW.
Capture NX, huh? its photo editing software then? easy to use and figure out?

went to the website and checked it out. that looks awesome!
how much does it cost? i saw you can download the free trial but didn't see a price anywhere.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: pontifex

Originally posted by: blurredvision
Go to the Nikon website, and download the 30-day trial for Capture NX. It's specialized specifically for photographs. Even though you can use jpg's in this program, shoot a few RAW pictures, open them in the program, and just mess around with it. The PP process is non-destructible, so anything you do to a picture can be undone just as easily.

I already do shoot in RAW.
Capture NX, huh? its photo editing software then? easy to use and figure out?

went to the website and checked it out. that looks awesome!
how much does it cost? i saw you can download the free trial but didn't see a price anywhere.

Capture NX is VERY easy to use. Plus, it's very powerful. Once you get into it and learn the lay of the land, I'll share a trick for you to use that you'll probably want to use on almost every single photo.

Somewhere on Nikon's website is a sh|tload of tutorials, also, incase you get stuck anywhere.

Price is $129.95 MSRP, but I swear I've seen it for $99 elsewhere. The latest 1.1 update really added some speed and improvements to the software.

EDIT: http://nikonimaging.com/global...enx/nxsp/tutorials.htm

EDIT2: More Tutorials

 

[pontifex]

$115.90 from Amazon.
$111.95 from Cameta
$114.95 from Adorama

I'll probably get it from Cameta since they seem the cheapest and I know they are reputable.

 

[IeraseU]

Just learning levels (not auto-levels), curves, and sharpening will improve most pictures a pretty good amount. NX is great, though it can't replace photoshop entirely so you end up using both.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: IeraseU
NX is great, though it can't replace photoshop entirely so you end up using both.

For just photographs, I think it can. Sure, you lose layers and manual cloning and the like, but you are comparing a $110 piece of software to another that costs $649.

I use NX for almost all of my PP'ing. The only time I use Photoshop is to put a border and signature on all my pics I upload online, and I also use it for any photos I want to convert to black & white, since I have a plug-in that is fantastic for this.

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: pontifex
$115.90 from Amazon.
$111.95 from Cameta
$114.95 from Adorama

I'll probably get it from Cameta since they seem the cheapest and I know they are reputable.

Definitely trial the software (that's what it's there for), and buy if it's for you. I purchased Capture 4.4 when I first got my D50, and liked it so much that I upgraded to NX the day it was available for purchase. I had paid $90 for 4.4, and then later upgraded to NX for $90 at a special price.

 

[Demo24]

I agree with you, something is off with most of those shots. I don't believe that post processing is the issue, so I wouldn't go spend anymore money right now

what lenses and settings are you using? Do you use auto focus? Got a tripod?

 

[blurredvision]

Originally posted by: DEMO24
I don't believe that post processing is the issue, so I wouldn't go spend anymore money right now

Agreed. I got off on a tangent recommending software, and forgot about the purpose of this thread.

 

[troytime]

Pontifex, i looked at your gallery

many of your photos are just as good, many better, than some of the local 'professional' photographers

one thing i noticed in a few examples though is the composition isn't what it could be
I'm far from an expert (your pics are better than mine)
but heres a good link that i refer to often

 

[pontifex]

Originally posted by: DEMO24
I agree with you, something is off with most of those shots. I don't believe that post processing is the issue, so I wouldn't go spend anymore money right now

what lenses and settings are you using? Do you use auto focus? Got a tripod?

most of the time i end up using auto mode because i can't figure out what settings to use.
for instance, today i was using it to take photos of some of our server equipment at work. the room is fairly well lit but i had to drop my shutter speed to about 1/10 or 1/8 of a sec so it wasn't a completely dark photo. iso was at 200 and i was using f/4.5 or somewhere around there.


i have the 18-55 kit lens, a 50mm 2.8, a borrowed 28-70, and a borrowed 70-300.

i use auto focus. i do have a tripod but rarely use it because its a pain to carry around, plus its not a very good one.

 

[Demo24]

I noticed some of the shots had some weird focusing issues going on.

Still I would recommend doing the following. On a nice sunny day, go out with the 50mm and a tripod. Just find something to do some testing with(doesn't have to be pretty), then just shoot at the same object but with many different settings. With the 50mm things should be nice and clear. If not then there may be an issue.

 

[Anubis]

the pics looke fine IQ wise, i feel you could benefit from just expirmenting with your camera and finding out what you like to shoot,

the secret to taking great pics is not in the camera it is who is standing behind it

and even the most basic post processing can change an image greatly, i took this literally 10 min ago for this post,

what i did

Levels adjustments ( not auto)
Cropping
Slight Hue/saturation
tiny bit of dodge tool

Came out of the cam like this Basic Jpeg from the D70, its kinda ugly looking and its underexposed

After 2 min in Photoshop

the D70 and the D50 are basicially the same camera, its teh same Image chop and everything, only diff is the D70 is faster and has a few other features that do nothing to IQ

 

[ProfJohn]

There does seem to be some strange focus issues on some pics.
Maybe the camera is getting confused when it comes to where to focus.
Make sure the little black box in the view finder is lighting up over the center of the picture.