Media GX460 / Prado150 pic thread (10 Viewers)

[Hiluxforever]

Haha that’s awesome! I need to read book 8. Never really got into the tv series though.

The books are pretty good, read them all including the Novellas. I like the show, too, but it's enough different that its it's own thing.

 

[Hiluxforever]

Sorry... guess we'll have to ban Hiluxforever for ever!
Hey Woody! We have someone posting Jeeps on the GX forum!!!!

I mean, just showing the vehicle that made me justify spending $33k for a vehicle I was going to abuse.

Seriously, I have put way more offroad miles on the GX. The Rubicons bushings disintegrated after about 6 months. Supposedly it only had 30k on it, but after owning it for 6 months I figured it probably had been a Jeep that was towed a lot, a bad deal all around. It does give me the ability to say that the GX is like 95% as good as the Rubicon, just because of how good Atrac and KDSS are.

 

[Green4Gulf]

@Hiluxforever GXs AND RUBICONS! LET THE HATERS HATE!

 

[Green4Gulf]

 

[K Dub]

It's absolutely amazing what a cell phone camera can do these days. This is hand held! As an old school film guy, it blows my mind.

 

[K Dub]

It's absolutely amazing what a cell phone camera can do these days. This is hand held! As an old school film guy, it blows my mind.

Trona Pinnacles.

Weird place. I've been wanting to check it out for a long time. I came in from the south on an easy-ish sand trail that would've been a challenge in a crossover or Subaru. When I arrived I saw the RVs and Sprinters and indeed a few Subarus that had come in from the easier northern route. It was crowded and trashy. I grabbed a decent spot overlooking the valley from the south, opposite the main entrance. Someone below us was blasting techno until 2am, and the constant drone of UTV motors went all night. Typical desert stuff, but not my bag. I'm glad I saw it, but doubt I'll be back. My daughter had fun camping on a simple overnight a couple hundred miles from home, so hopefully there's more of that in our future.

 

[r2m]

Trona Pinnacles.

Weird place. I've been wanting to check it out for a long time. I came in from the south on an easy-ish sand trail that would've been a challenge in a crossover or Subaru. When I arrived I saw the RVs and Sprinters and indeed a few Subarus that had come in from the easier northern route. It was crowded and trashy. I grabbed a decent spot overlooking the valley from the south, opposite the main entrance. Someone below us was blasting techno until 2am, and the constant drone of UTV motors went all night. Typical desert stuff, but not my bag. I'm glad I saw it, but doubt I'll be back. My daughter had fun camping on a simple overnight a couple hundred miles from home, so hopefully there's more of that in our future.

We were out there a couple of years ago with our off road club. It is very cool.
Several of the Sci-Fi TV shows like Star Trek have used that area for filming as a backdrop representing other planets.

 

[K Dub]

Picked up some new products for matte paint at the neighborhood detailer's supply store. Also super pumped to have a neighborhood detailer's supply store; it carries Chemical Guys products and just opened in the last year. I got a ceramic spray for the Lexus and holy smokes this stuff is cool. The truck has a mirror finish now. You can use it for spot cleaning and dusting between washes, so it'll probably see steady use.

The matte stuff is weird. I got a soap, and a detailing spray made fore matte surfaces. Hard to say if it "works" or not, since I'm not sure how you judge that. I did one panel at a time and the finished ones had more diffused mirror effect, but it's subtile. Good build quality on my new Hyundai though, everything lines up real nicely. It was fun to put hands on a brand new car, but I found a couple blemishes, of course. Fascinating paint though. It has a gold pearl, but you really have to look for it.

Nice day for a driveway wash, and the truck sure needed it after the desert trip.

 

[Hiluxforever]

It's absolutely amazing what a cell phone camera can do these days. This is hand held! As an old school film guy, it blows my mind.

The converse is what you can do with a pro camera. With AI denoise I can take near noiseless photos at 25k iso.

Also stacking for astrophotography can blow your mind. Deep sky stacker is fun to play with. This is using about 50 subs.

 

[K Dub]

The converse is what you can do with a pro camera. With AI denoise I can take near noiseless photos at 25k iso.

Also stacking for astrophotography can blow your mind. Deep sky stacker is fun to play with. This is using about 50 subs.

View attachment 3494315

Awesome.

I spent a few years and six figures earning a photography degree back at the turn of the century. One of my favorite techniques was shooting star trails because it meant driving to the mountains and spending all night playing with my camera toys. I've even used an intervalometer and telescope tripod head to shoot panning timelapse footage on film.

I still have all of my old gear, on display in my home museum of obsolete technology. My most recent camera purchase was a Sony mirrorless that could accept my ancient Nikon glass with an adapter (about a decade ago). It's been consigned to the same shelf as my old Nikon and my Grandpa's Fujica range finder. I still really enjoy the technical aspects of photography, but my snapshots are turning out better than some of my best planned and meticulously exposed photos.

Sometimes I'll shop the new a7 and consider my options, humoring the thought of getting back into the game. But life goes on and I have other priorities and hobbies to attend to. My work is tangentially related to my degree, so I haven't fully abandoned the craft.

With all that said, I really don't understand how my phone is able to capture some of these images. Not because they're perfect, but because they don't show the expected imperfections. Not only was my top shot handheld, but so was the telephoto shot from the next morning. That should have motion blur from my shaky hands! It's about equivalent to a 200mm lens and 1/125 exposure. I could take a better photo with my old 210mm Nikon glass on my Sony (with a tripod), but setup would've been a pain and the outcome only marginally better.

Enough shop talk. Here's one of the last photos I've ever taken on my Sony/Nikon 50mm f1.4. It's a repost, but it's also from my first trip in the GX after I bought it in 2020. It captures the paint color better than a phone snapshot can, but again those margins are much closer than they used to be.

And here's one of my favorite shots with the same camera/lens set (the adapter pushes the focal length out to around 70mm and the chromatic aberration just adds to the charm).

 

[Green4Gulf]

Awesome.

I spent a few years and six figures earning a photography degree back at the turn of the century. One of my favorite techniques was shooting star trails because it meant driving to the mountains and spending all night playing with my camera toys. I've even used an intervalometer and telescope tripod head to shoot panning timelapse footage on film.

I still have all of my old gear, on display in my home museum of obsolete technology. My most recent camera purchase was a Sony mirrorless that could accept my ancient Nikon glass with an adapter (about a decade ago). It's been consigned to the same shelf as my old Nikon and my Grandpa's Fujica range finder. I still really enjoy the technical aspects of photography, but my snapshots are turning out better than some of my best planned and meticulously exposed photos.

Sometimes I'll shop the new a7 and consider my options, humoring the thought of getting back into the game. But life goes on and I have other priorities and hobbies to attend to. My work is tangentially related to my degree, so I haven't fully abandoned the craft.

With all that said, I really don't understand how my phone is able to capture some of these images. Not because they're perfect, but because they don't show the expected imperfections. Not only was my top shot handheld, but so was the telephoto shot from the next morning. That should have motion blur from my shaky hands! It's about equivalent to a 200mm lens and 1/125 exposure. I could take a better photo with my old 210mm Nikon glass on my Sony (with a tripod), but setup would've been a pain and the outcome only marginally better.

Enough shop talk. Here's one of the last photos I've ever taken on my Sony/Nikon 50mm f1.4. It's a repost, but it's also from my first trip in the GX after I bought it in 2020. It captures the paint color better than a phone snapshot can, but again those margins are much closer than they used to be.

And here's one of my favorite shots with the same camera/lens set (the adapter pushes the focal length out to around 70mm and the chromatic aberration just adds to the charm).

I’m currently in a beginner’s photography class and like how I can understand camera talk now. Great photos!

 

[Hiluxforever]

Awesome.

I spent a few years and six figures earning a photography degree back at the turn of the century. One of my favorite techniques was shooting star trails because it meant driving to the mountains and spending all night playing with my camera toys. I've even used an intervalometer and telescope tripod head to shoot panning timelapse footage on film.

I still have all of my old gear, on display in my home museum of obsolete technology. My most recent camera purchase was a Sony mirrorless that could accept my ancient Nikon glass with an adapter (about a decade ago). It's been consigned to the same shelf as my old Nikon and my Grandpa's Fujica range finder. I still really enjoy the technical aspects of photography, but my snapshots are turning out better than some of my best planned and meticulously exposed photos.

Sometimes I'll shop the new a7 and consider my options, humoring the thought of getting back into the game. But life goes on and I have other priorities and hobbies to attend to. My work is tangentially related to my degree, so I haven't fully abandoned the craft.

With all that said, I really don't understand how my phone is able to capture some of these images. Not because they're perfect, but because they don't show the expected imperfections. Not only was my top shot handheld, but so was the telephoto shot from the next morning. That should have motion blur from my shaky hands! It's about equivalent to a 200mm lens and 1/125 exposure. I could take a better photo with my old 210mm Nikon glass on my Sony (with a tripod), but setup would've been a pain and the outcome only marginally better.

Enough shop talk. Here's one of the last photos I've ever taken on my Sony/Nikon 50mm f1.4. It's a repost, but it's also from my first trip in the GX after I bought it in 2020. It captures the paint color better than a phone snapshot can, but again those margins are much closer than they used to be.

And here's one of my favorite shots with the same camera/lens set (the adapter pushes the focal length out to around 70mm and the chromatic aberration just adds to the charm).

Oh totally. The new Samsung camera that is a 200 MP with pixel bin-ing capability is spectacular for a smart phone, but there is no getting around the use of ****ery to simulate more color depth than it actually has. They dialed down the sharpness and over correction and it's much more consistent. I am self taught, and my photos were. Always m'eh, then I got my first piece of L glass and it re invigorated the hobby for me.
This are both with my S23(camera I had on me) and hand held, no adjustments.

hyperlapses can be fun, too. https://youtube.com/@downtownDSM?si=pu4a2ng2CTv9ycyu

 

[r2m]

Awesome.

I spent a few years and six figures earning a photography degree back at the turn of the century. One of my favorite techniques was shooting star trails because it meant driving to the mountains and spending all night playing with my camera toys. I've even used an intervalometer and telescope tripod head to shoot panning timelapse footage on film.

I still have all of my old gear, on display in my home museum of obsolete technology. My most recent camera purchase was a Sony mirrorless that could accept my ancient Nikon glass with an adapter (about a decade ago). It's been consigned to the same shelf as my old Nikon and my Grandpa's Fujica range finder. I still really enjoy the technical aspects of photography, but my snapshots are turning out better than some of my best planned and meticulously exposed photos.

Sometimes I'll shop the new a7 and consider my options, humoring the thought of getting back into the game. But life goes on and I have other priorities and hobbies to attend to. My work is tangentially related to my degree, so I haven't fully abandoned the craft.

With all that said, I really don't understand how my phone is able to capture some of these images. Not because they're perfect, but because they don't show the expected imperfections. Not only was my top shot handheld, but so was the telephoto shot from the next morning. That should have motion blur from my shaky hands! It's about equivalent to a 200mm lens and 1/125 exposure. I could take a better photo with my old 210mm Nikon glass on my Sony (with a tripod), but setup would've been a pain and the outcome only marginally better.

Enough shop talk. Here's one of the last photos I've ever taken on my Sony/Nikon 50mm f1.4. It's a repost, but it's also from my first trip in the GX after I bought it in 2020. It captures the paint color better than a phone snapshot can, but again those margins are much closer than they used to be.

And here's one of my favorite shots with the same camera/lens set (the adapter pushes the focal length out to around 70mm and the chromatic aberration just adds to the charm).

Okay you guys...
NOW we all will all be expecting MUCH better composition and photos from you both!!
Seriously, I dabbled with some surf photography back in the early 1990's and was published. Still have my old Canon EOS and lenses, one of them a 400mm. But to tell the truth, my Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which is now 3 years old has a 108MP with 5x optical zoom and 50x hybrid zoom, and up to 8K video. Heck, to purchase a dedicated camera that can do all that, I'd probably be spending twice what I paid for my phone, but then I wouldn't get spam texts, spam phone calls, spam emails, calls from the In-Laws, orders from my commanders and issues from my soldiers....
Let me think on that a while.
Wait, maybe a dedicated camera may not be such a bad idea and ditch the phone???

 

[Cold Iron]

My first "real" camera was a Canon AE-1 bought at the Exchange when we pulled into Japan in the 70's. Gave it to a nephew more than a few years ago. Held off on digital for a long time but picked up a Pentax K-3 when they first came out and built up some lenses over the last 10 years. Mainly for wildlife pictures and wanted something that can take hard knocks and extreme temperatures.

Small birds

Large birds

And dogs and birds

When I got my Samsung 20 I spent a lot of time with the camera settings and took some really great pictures with it. So much easier carrying and pulling out to take a picture when the opportunity presents itself.

Got the Samsung S23 Ultra and didn't put the work into tweaking it like I should have. One evening coming out of the woods passed a bog that I always felt should have a moose standing in it. And finally there she was, largest oldest white faced cow I have ever seen. Cost me a decent shot, ended up with the "crappy cell phone picture". But that was due to me.

These newer phones are as or more complicated than top of the line DSLR cameras. And only as good as your knowledge. I really need to spend some more time exploring what it can do.

 

[K Dub]

Since I've now thoroughly hijacked this thread, let's keep it going...

That's my aforementioned "Museum of Obsolete Technology." I've actually used a decent number of those devices professionally. The bottom right corner holds my trusty Nikon FG, given to me by my aunt as a High School graduation present. It was never a nice camera, and was almost as old as me when I arrived in California for photography school (I'd previously been shooting borrowed cameras and the Rangefinder on the left). All my classmates had current, top-of-the-line gear, and I was embarrassed by my old hand me down. I shot thousands of feet through that thing and I grew to love it. As it turned out, my old glass was better than a lot of new stuff and my girlfriend loved my 28-80 macro, if you know what I mean. No, seriously, it's a great lens.

One of my favorite classes was automotive photography, where I dragged my buddy's Audi into the studio for my final project. I had two 20' square silks hoisted up and backlit with about 10,000 Watts of lights.

Dreams of making professional ads for BMW filled my young head. A buddy of mine from that class actually got published quite a bit in Sport Compact Car, Eurotuner and others after school, but I went another way. I've got a good carrier and no regrets, but I'll always view photography as my first artistic medium and car photography as my first semi-serious carrier goal. Now, I just like to snap pics of my cars in scenic locations and post them online. Thanks for humoring me.

 

[K Dub]

Since I've now thoroughly hijacked this thread, let's keep it going...

That's my aforementioned "Museum of Obsolete Technology." I've actually used a decent number of those devices professionally. The bottom right corner holds my trusty Nikon FG, given to me by my aunt as a High School graduation present. It was never a nice camera, and was almost as old as me when I arrived in California for photography school (I'd previously been shooting borrowed cameras and the Rangefinder on the left). All my classmates had current, top-of-the-line gear, and I was embarrassed by my old hand me down. I shot thousands of feet through that thing and I grew to love it. As it turned out, my old glass was better than a lot of new stuff and my girlfriend loved my 28-80 macro, if you know what I mean. No, seriously, it's a great lens.

One of my favorite classes was automotive photography, where I dragged my buddy's Audi into the studio for my final project. I had two 20' square silks hoisted up and backlit with about 10,000 Watts of lights.

Dreams of making professional ads for BMW filled my young head. A buddy of mine from that class actually got published quite a bit in Sport Compact Car, Eurotuner and others after school, but I went another way. I've got a good carrier and no regrets, but I'll always view photography as my first artistic medium and car photography as my first semi-serious carrier goal. Now, I just like to snap pics of my cars in scenic locations and post them online. Thanks for humoring me.

Shuttup and post GX460 pictures.

Okay.

 

[jdam]

OH yay photography nerds. Cell phone cameras have great processing, which is why they work so well. Pixel binning like you said with the super high density sensors, but honestly nothing beats a big sensor. Every time I used my APS-C over a full frame, I always feel like I'm missing something. I'm currently on Canon and primarily use a 6D, 5DMk4, and 7DMk2, with a 50mm f/1.4 and a 70-200 f/2.8. Fast lenses are the best.

 

[Hiluxforever]

Yea, I have a weakness for tube amps, and American made stereo equipment.

OH yay photography nerds. Cell phone cameras have great processing, which is why they work so well. Pixel binning like you said with the super high density sensors, but honestly nothing beats a big sensor. Every time I used my APS-C over a full frame, I always feel like I'm missing something. I'm currently on Canon and primarily use a 6D, 5DMk4, and 7DMk2, with a 50mm f/1.4 and a 70-200 f/2.8. Fast lenses are the best.

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No argument here, I had gone mirrorless with Fuji only to go back to a DSLR when high shutter count 1DXIIs dropped to $1100. I have a m6 ii with a pancake lens as a tiny hiking setup and an X-H1 when I need to be as quiet as possible. It's the exact opposite of the 1DX in every way making it fun to go back and forth. The Fuji is surprisingly good for astro. XTrans 3 and newer do well and the GFX is in a whole different league for that stuff. I am watching GFXs come down in price and hope to have one within 24 months even if I have to part with the 1DX

 

[K Dub]

I just continued this conversation with a client all morning. I showed him some examples of my recent night photos, particularly the one above where my running boards and interior are lit up but don't blow out or clip despite exposing for the night exterior. That really should be an impossible exposure, and I believe that Google is using multiple exposures and even AI trickery to pull it off.

The conversation got really deep in the weeds about "realism" in photography. I argued, like I always do, that strict realism isn't even the objective of photography any more than it would be for watercolor paintings. We look back fondly on Kodachrome without acknowledging that our real world and visual systems look nothing like that! So, I argued that the overly noise reduced and wide dynamic range of these pics might not be aesthetically pleasing to everyone's tastes, but they're no more "wrong" than Kodachrome was.

The funniest part is that he comes to me to add film grain, halation, chromatic aberration, and lense distortion to the impeccably created shots they've made so that it'll be more reminiscent of classical film looks instead of strictly "realistic." With that in mind I got him to agree that realism isn't the goal, but he still doesn't like the aesthetic of "over processed" images. Nostalgia is a hell of a drug.

Here's a pic to keep this on topic.

 

[r2m]

My first "real" camera was a Canon AE-1 bought at the Exchange when we pulled into Japan in the 70's. Gave it to a nephew more than a few years ago. Held off on digital for a long time but picked up a Pentax K-3 when they first came out and built up some lenses over the last 10 years. Mainly for wildlife pictures and wanted something that can take hard knocks and extreme temperatures.

Small birds

Large birds

And dogs and birds

When I got my Samsung 20 I spent a lot of time with the camera settings and took some really great pictures with it. So much easier carrying and pulling out to take a picture when the opportunity presents itself.

Got the Samsung S23 Ultra and didn't put the work into tweaking it like I should have. One evening coming out of the woods passed a bog that I always felt should have a moose standing in it. And finally there she was, largest oldest white faced cow I have ever seen. Cost me a decent shot, ended up with the "crappy cell phone picture". But that was due to me.

These newer phones are as or more complicated than top of the line DSLR cameras. And only as good as your knowledge. I really need to spend some more time exploring what it can do.

Some amazing photos, sans the last one...
But you're right, the new phones camera abilities are off the hook! But one has to take the time to learn them and then take the time to get all the camera settings right before you lose the shot.
Can be a little daunting. I mostly use just the regular camera and panorama and if I'm at the beach (or??) with an awesome sunset, I'll take the time and play with shutter timing and aperture.
I know these are not that great, but a couple of my pic's.

The bottom photo was taken last week.