Jape

hmm maybe the easiest solution is using a polarizer filter on your lens. A polarizer eliminates reflection by eliminating lightrays that are unpolarized and where the waves move in random direction. Usually this type of filters is used for eliminating reflections in glass, water and even for saturating the sky more, on bare metal is usually doesnt work depending on the type of metal. With aliminium i honestly wouldnt know for sure how it will behave when using a polarizer filter. If you try, make sure you get a circulair polarizer as a linear one will mess up the TTL and AF functions on youre (i assume) digital camera. Also hold in mind that a filter reduces the exposure by 1.5 stops so you need to compensate for that. Grtz Jape, ive looked it up and it seems indeed that a polarizer is very suitable for aluminium. quote from a polarizer manufacturer site:

hmm, i see, hate that kind of software tricks that forces you to upgrade ;(. Another way would be using the DNG converter for CS. That way you can convert youre raws to dng and open the with photoshop. little cumbersome though. http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/product.jsp?product=39&platform=Windows

Thats beceause the 350D has a new (canon)raw format wich wasnt available when CS hit the market. Luckily for you you can download an update (of camera RAw plugin for CS) wich lets you open them up. Dowloadable here --> http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop/cameraraw.html Jape,

For the sunsets i just adjusted the curves a bit to get the shadows/silhouets a little darker. I use Nikon Capture mostly for my post-processing and with most images i use some unsharp mask to get the pictures somewhat sharper and a little color-boost to saturate the colors a bit, but the last is a little personal i think, i like the strong colors that pop out. Still working with the 30-day trial of Capture but its certainly a superb program, a little slow i think but certainly worth the $149, ill probably buy it at the end of the month.

#3 The Hague centre #4 Dutch parliament

NICE! Nuno, especially the last one i like very much, crispy and sharp. Nice city you've got there btw. I've had the time to experiment a bit and came up with the next shots, i really like the third one. Fourth one has some photoshop work in it as you all can obviously see #1 Sunset #2 Sunset 2

Just made the switch to v2 also and i must say i feel the same, especially the speed of the autofocus has improved it seems, am curious about the dynamic focus upgrade, haven't had the chance to test it yet but i hope it will be good cause i had some troubles using the dynamic focus option on fast moving subjects. About the focussing issue, let me first state that im also 'catching up' on the digital realm and certainly am not a 'pro' at itm. I do have some experince in the nikon SLR's and some 'low-budget' digital cameras. As a D70 owner i do advise you to look up the 'Thom Hogans Complete guide to the Nikon D70' wich is very in-depth and technical background info on the D70. And contains nice goodies as custom d70 tonal curves to load into youre D70 (not tried it out yet though). At first i also thought my pictures lacked some sharpness but after trying it out on a sunny day i must say i was stunned by the sharpness of it. Though still some scenes en situations i feel a bit the same way as you do. For example Landscape scenes under overcast/cloudy conditions i also feel a little unsure about the sharpness of the pics. But that just as well could be me. The nikon statement about watching photos in CS is a bit true cause you are looking at a magnified portion of your photo when looking at it at 100%, A pc screen (and especially the lousy one i have hear ;( ) will never be as sharp and clear as when you print the picture out (gonna print my first photos this week so im curious). But the whole focus issue is a little suscepticle(dont know the right word/spelling but otherwise influenced would be the right word i guess) by the whole attention it got with the whole backfocus issue wich must have been revised by now though the hype about the whole focus thing still continues. I've taken a quick glance at the dpreview.com forums on the D70 and noticed a big 'two-camp' stance on the focus thing, some say its there others denie it. I myself am still not sure but am leaning towards the last. Maybe if there are no privacy issues (wich im sure are there in surgical scenes) you can post some pics, if you like (i already have some photos posted in mine and Dennis's thread) i can post some to (Raws pereferably)and you can compare, maybe it is beceause your D70 is older then mine and it hasn't been revised yet. About the workflow im not sure if upping the sharpening parameter is always better/usefull, it still remains a post-processing feauture wich roughly is the same thing when you do it in Photoshop and will only sharpen edges and not details. Also it can cause some color-shifting to occur (read this in the Thom hogans book) and it will NOT be applied when shooting in NEF/RAW mode. Also a general rule of thumb is that the narrowest apperture will not give you the most sharp images, it is recommended that you take a 1 or 2 stop less narrow aperture for the sharpest images and that is what i usually do. Another thing that may help you get better focus in youre picture is using the 'hyperfocal technique' by keeping in mind the the DOF's range is 1/3 in front of your focus point and 2/3 behind, so focus on a 1/3 distance in your shot, use the AF lock and recompose your scene to get the longest DOF range in your photo. Hope this helps a bit, Jape,

Hi Dennis, Sorry for the late reply but jus been on a trip (hence the new camera buy). I think you made a good choice with the canon, for me it was also between the canon and the nikon but the fact that i could get an 'old' (but very good) 70-200mm AF lens from my old man for the nikon made my choice much easier. Concerning the filters, according to what i have read you can best go with a 2-stop filter (i believe they range from 1-stop to 3-stop) as they will be the most practical in most situations. I also havent bought any but i will in the near future, so let me now how your filters are working for you. Im curious at your Rotterdam nigt shots, took the liberty of hasseling you guys with some more of my photos again. two night shots (Exposure times res. 11min. and 30min. for the startrail photo) Had to buy the remote control for it. 26 Euro for a tiny thingy with just a shutter release button though but necesarry for exposure times longer then 30secs ) Only the night shots have some post-processing in it, mostly a little noise reduction and color balance.

This must be the first nighshots (w/o flash) i did in my life. Took them with a Nikon D70 all shot in The Hague/Scheveningen without any flash or moonlight. I posted my three best shots, i took me a couple cause no tripod was used so getting it sharp was hard. Beside that my worst enemy was noise beceause of the high ISO setting but a little post-photoshop work reduced it a bit. The Boulevard ISO : 800 Shutter : 4" Aperture : F3.5 Focal lenght : 18mm http://www.venviz.nl/Boulevard.jpg The Lighthouse ISO : 800 Shutter : 1/1.3 Aperture : F4 Focal lenght : 18mm http://www.venviz.nl/Vuurtoren.jpg The Museum ISO : 800 Shutter : 1.3" Aperture : F4.5 Focal lenght : 48mm http://www.venviz.nl/Museon.jpg Any tips and crits welcome and post your own night shots !

It actually looks good to me, if you had problem with the backfocus bug, i think the focus would have shifted more to the back as normal the focusrange is 1/3 in front of the focuspoint en 2/3 behind it. Maybe decrease the DOF (set it to Aperture mode and pick lowest f-stop number)to a maximum and try again, if the center focuspoint on the page is still in focus and not to much shifted i think you are ok.

First of all, i did not read the entire thread, so sorry if im stating something that has already been said. But included with your d70 there is nikon capture 4 on a disc. You can use that program to automatically erase dust off pictures according to your reference dust picture. Downside is that its a 30day trial version, but it must also be possible to do using photoshop and some clone/healing techniques. I must say id wait a while before cleaning my d70 cause however carefull you are it still has risks with it. Though eventually it probably be a necessity and sending it to a repair centre isnt an option in mho.

I dont know when you have bought the camera but its a known fact that some early d70 productions has an 'back focussing' issue that, i must underline, only was a problem with a small percentage of the produced cameras. Quote from a site concerning this issue I copy pasted this alinea from a site that is about this issue, go to the link and youll find a test that will help you see if it really is the 'back focus issue' Link --> http://md.co.za/d70/chart.html [Off-topic]I have just got the d70 for about a week now and i must say i truly love it. Lots of customizable options and really nice colors compared to my last (lowbudget) ixxus camera. Am just about to try some night shots at the beach [off-topic]

type vob2avi in google and you'll find a whole range of software that will do the job. You do probably need some codecs (divx or xvid), check divx-digest.com for those

Same here, i guess you didnt do the iso sections but i wonder wich technique is used (CAD/PS maybe sketchup??), very nice images btw..

Nice image, but maybe add light to the trafficlight in the bottomleft ?