[thalavoy]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

@kkr2k2, I am impressed with whatever I have learnt about Pentax and the K-r seems to be in range. But how will I procure one and get service if need be. To my knowledge, Pentax is non existent in India.

There is an active Pentax users group. You can find separate threads in PentaxForums.com and also the ipentax google groups is quite active.
You get all the encouragement to root for Pentax
I got K200D 4 years back and last year got myself a K-x (all from USA through friends). Absolutely no problems till now. I just take good care and use it.
So ... Go get your Pentax K-r. May be the facepalm version

[thalavoy]

Originally Posted by ampere

Can you point to a basic GIMP tutorial? Manual is too big!

PS: You know the history: Folks rarely read manuals! Want to learn on the job!

This is the workflow that I 'ported' to Gimp. This was originally submitted by a friend (Arijit Banerjee - check in india nature watch for his wonderful pics) to Pentax users group. His version had used Photoshop and Adobe RAW converter.

Using Gimp. Download Wavelet plugins from Gimp Registry

Work flow after download from SD card was

1. Open Rawtherapee, with 'crisp' as default + defringing enabled. Save as TIFF (for best image quality).
Or use Pentax Digital Utility to convert to TIFF as per your taste.

2. Open Gimp, select Image->Scale to 1600 as width/height (landscape/portrait). Keep 'cubic' as the scaling algorithm. You can choose to scale later. Some times, working with smaller images is faster.

3. With Color->Levels, with the three arrow heads under Input Levels, adjust brightness and contrast to bring in pop

4. Select Channels tab on the 'Layers, Channels, Paths' window. Make sure all the Red, Green, Blue channels are selected. Right click and select 'Channel to selection'. The bright parts are selected. Press Shift-Q to mask. Go to Filters->Blur->Gaussian Blur. Select 3.0 pixels. Press Ok. Press Shift-Q (or the box at the bottom left corner next to the scroll bar) to remove mask. Use Colors->Brightness-Contrast to reduce brightness on what appears blown out. It will work as long as you make small changes. Once done press Control-Shift-A to remove selection.

5. Use the Fuzzy Selection tool or any tool to select the bird and rocks (your subject).

6. Right click and 'Select->Invert (Ctrl-I)'

7. Press Shift-Q (toggle quick mask) The bird and rocks get colored with a Pink mask. use the brush tool to touch up (reduce brush size or increase image size for convenience). If you feel, use the eraser to fine tune the mask. What you are doing is fine tuning the mask/ making a precise selection of birds and rocks, thereby separating it from the BG.

8. Once you feel the selection is Ok, Go to the Fuzzy Selection tool again. Press Shift-Q again to remove the mask. You have a selection. Right click to select inverse. Right click Edit->Cut/Copy. Right click Edit->Paste. Right click Layer->New Layer. In the Layers tool bar (right handside) you will see the bird and rocks on the top layer and the Background layer below. Select BG layer.

9. Go to Filters->Enhance->Wavelet Denoise. Trsut me it will work, just play around with the amounts. So the noise is now reduced/ removed from BG layer.

10. Select the upper layer (pasted layer). Go to Filters->Enhance->Wavelet Sharpen. Sharpen the image to your satisfaction. What you are doing is sharpening only bird and its perch.

11. Right click on Pasted Layer and select Merge Down. ie. The sharpened bird and rocks is pasted above the noise removed BG. This trick will work in 8 cases out of 12.

12. Now save as TIFF or JPEG

13. Now if you still want to use Neat Image, on Windows (chances are you wont), use it on the tiff and save the jpeg.

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by ampere

Can you point to a basic GIMP tutorial? Manual is too big!

PS: You know the history: Folks rarely read manuals! Want to learn on the job!

The two gimp volumes I am trying to read are:

Peck, Akkana - Beginning GIMP From Novice to Professional
Pruitt, Joshua and Ramona - Teach yourself GIMP

All the best. Both are good but rely on slightly older versions of GIMP. But you should get the basics right.

[clevermax]

^ I use GIMP and I use CS4 as well. I find GIMP to be really crippled in functionality and performance compared to CS4. There is no concept of adjustment layers in GIMP and that's the no.1 reason why I decided not to use it for serious photo editing. If I rate Photoshop 8.5 out of 10, GIMP will only get a rating of 5 out of 10 from me.

[typeOnegative]

@clevermax, it is true that GIMP is seriously crippled on functionality. But for me, who does not see the need to spend and who uses Linux as OS, GIMP is a decent alternative. Cumbersome though it is.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by thalavoy

T...I got K200D 4 years back and last year got myself a K-x (all from USA through friends). Absolutely no problems till now. I just take good care and use it.
So ... Go get your Pentax K-r. May be the facepalm version

Well there are some unlucky people too, now stuck with ...... (I dont know what to call it)
This is what a friend of mine from Hyderabad Photography Club(HPC) in flickr has to say:

The K10D that I have has stopped sending the signals to K mount pentax af lenses to open up fully for focusing. Not having a service center in India means that I will have to use it almost exclusively for mf lenses. So, util I figure out what is going on with the K10D, I am not sure I will be investing Rs 70K or so on the K-5, and not be left with the security blanket of a service center in India.

He is now contemplating to buy the Canon 60D!!!

Originally Posted by clevermax

......
I don't think difficulty in using a third party lens adapter in a camera can be seen as an issue with the camera itself.

I guess you missed the previous discussion!!
Please read the subsequent posts following this post:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...ml#post2215350

Originally Posted by shajufx

As expected, thats my friend Raghuram and Priya
This month's Better Photography mag has his images and interview (wedding pocket guide). I love his photographs.

Originally Posted by HellwratH

Ha ha, I didn't make out that it was Raghu!! Good, now I'll pull his leg when I meet him next . And oh yeah, he is one awesome photographer and one of the few film shooters around.

Its nice to know that you guys know Raghu. I dont know him personally but I know him through HPC. But he is well known for his photography in HPC!!!

[tsk1979]

Originally Posted by clevermax

^ I use GIMP and I use CS4 as well. I find GIMP to be really crippled in functionality and performance compared to CS4. There is no concept of adjustment layers in GIMP and that's the no.1 reason why I decided not to use it for serious photo editing. If I rate Photoshop 8.5 out of 10, GIMP will only get a rating of 5 out of 10 from me.

Adjustment layers will be coming in from 3.0 onwards, hopefully. Right now its duplicate layer, and then work on the duplicate layer. Slightly more manual effort.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by kkr2k2

I guess you missed the previous discussion!!
Please read the subsequent posts following this post:
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/gadget...ml#post2215350

Yes I already read all that - none of them has any relevance to a third party lens adapter issue on a NEX. My point was, a third party lens adapter having issues with a camera cannot be seen as an issue with the camera itself. Not all users of NEX are gonna use a Nikon adapter for their shooting.

Originally Posted by tsk1979

Adjustment layers will be coming in from 3.0 onwards, hopefully. Right now its duplicate layer, and then work on the duplicate layer. Slightly more manual effort.

That will make GIMP much much better than its previous versions! Having to work with duplicate layers really affects the ease of working with it. It is like thinking straight to achieve what you want with Photoshop and having to think backwards from what you want, with GIMP.

[amitk26]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Yes I already read all that - none of them has any relevance to a third party lens adapter issue on a NEX. My point was, a third party lens adapter having issues with a camera cannot be seen as an issue with the camera itself. Not all users of NEX are gonna use a Nikon adapter for their shooting.

Anyway a simple search on e-bay tells me every kind of adapter for NEX is available. Also if you use an adapter you need to know how to mount , unmount , focus etc. Sony just provides adapter for Alpha to NEX mount

There are all sorts of complains related to adapters on all sorts of cameras ranging but most of them are user errors and undue expectations and I think NEX will not be any different.

[ashok_lat]

Kindly suggest me i am planning to get a DSLR. My choices are..

1. Nikon D3100
2. Sony Alpha NEX-5

Which one will be good..?

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by ashok_lat

Kindly suggest me i am planning to get a DSLR. My choices are..
1. Nikon D3100
2. Sony Alpha NEX-5
Which one will be good..?

Second item you have listed is not a DSLR. It is an EVIL camera (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) so it is difficult to suggest because of lack of clarity on what you exactly need.

[ampere]

Originally Posted by typeOnegative

The two gimp volumes I am trying to read are:

Peck, Akkana - Beginning GIMP From Novice to Professional
Pruitt, Joshua and Ramona - Teach yourself GIMP

All the best. Both are good but rely on slightly older versions of GIMP. But you should get the basics right.

Thanks very much for that help. Now the only issue: Can GIMP be integrated with any photo management S/W like Picasa or some thing else. Because we need to process it on an image-by-image basis.

[kkr2k2]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Second item you have listed is not a DSLR. It is an EVIL camera (Electronic Viewfinder Interchangeable Lens) so it is difficult to suggest because of lack of clarity on what you exactly need.

I agree!!! What exactly are you looking for???
What kind of photography you are into? family/candids/street/commercial....?

Is size / form factor important for you?

Any specific needs w.r.t lenses??

Any quirks / specific requirement? You would want to use different lenses or you you may want optical viewfinder?

[typeOnegative]

Originally Posted by ampere

Thanks very much for that help. Now the only issue: Can GIMP be integrated with any photo management S/W like Picasa or some thing else. Because we need to process it on an image-by-image basis.

To the best of my knowledge such an integration is not possible with Picasa, though there could be other software to which GIMP integrates. Anyhow, what do you mean by process it on an image-by-image basis?

[MadBiker]

Guys, I'm off on a 5 day trip this week to Munnar - Valparai.. Includes travelling by Train.. Bus.. and also a Car / Jeep for local Sightseeing.

Lenses i currently have is : Sigma 10-20 / Tamron 17-50 F2.8 / Sigma 70-300 F4-5.6.

It would mostly be a mix of Landscape + Wild Life Trip:

1. Should i take my Tamron 17-50 ?

2. Should i buy a Tripod before the trip / Is Tripod a must for this kind of a trip?

3. Which camera Bag would you recommend me to use, A Back pack (Tamrac ExpeditionBackpack - 5273) or The Canon Waist Bag ?