Zooming In On A Raw File

[Ripley]

Not sure about this, hoping PS experts or RAW conversion experts can help.

Last week I shot some wild ospreys in Scotland but I only had my 200mm lens with me, so they aren't close ups. I shot in RAW. Can I sort of digitally zoom as it's such a large file to make them appear closer without losing image quality? The lens I used is a very good lens - a Canon L series but it doesn't have IS, however I kept the shutter speed fast. A DOL photographer here told me something about a 100% crop once but I didn't fully understand how you do it. The ospreys aren't specks on the photo, when I zoom in 100% they appear much larger in the frame.

I have realised two things from my trip. I need an IS 200mm. With the 1.4 teleconverter attached and hand holding it, I was wavering about the place like a night coming home for the pub. My shots of seals on rocks aren't the sharpest as a result and wasn't going to cart a tripod down to slippery seaweed covered rocks in a changing tide. So when I pay off my trip (!) I will maybe sell the Canon L 200mm and upgrade to one with IS in it.

Edited October 9, 2008 by Ripley

[Luke W]

Not sure about this, hoping PS experts or RAW conversion experts can help.

Last week I shot some wild ospreys in Scotland but I only had my 200mm lens with me, so they aren't close ups. I shot in RAW. Can I sort of digitally zoom as it's such a large file to make them appear closer without losing image quality? The lens I used is a very good lens - a Canon L series but it doesn't have IS, however I kept the shutter speed fast. A DOL photographer here told me something about a 100% crop once but I didn't fully understand how you do it. The ospreys aren't specks on the photo, when I zoom in 100% they appear much larger in the frame.

I have realised two things from my trip. I need an IS 200mm. With the 1.4 teleconverter attached and hand holding it, I was wavering about the place like a night coming home for the pub. My shots of seals on rocks aren't the sharpest as a result and wasn't going to cart a tripod down to slippery seaweed covered rocks in a changing tide. So when I pay off my trip (!) I will maybe sell the Canon L 200mm and upgrade to one with IS in it.

In your RAW processor (I assume Adobe Camera RAW) - just crop the image how you want it (using the crop tool).

[Ripley]

At 100%? My raw converter (have Elements) defaults photos to 33%.

[Luke W]

At 100%? My raw converter (have Elements) defaults photos to 33%.

The 33% is just the view size on the screen.

Crop it how you want it, then save it as a JPG - that'll be a 100% crop.

[Ashanali]

yep... what luke said.

With the lenses... unless you have steady hands, you will need IS over about 100mm ("either IS or a monopod - IS is less cumbersome though :rolleyes: ). while our $ is crap, look at purchasing through photobuff.com.au - works out around the same as importing.

[Ripley]

Ah, thanks. I can't help but think that some of the bird shots I took would be sharper had I not hand held the lens. Who carts a tripod around when they are stopping off for coffee somewhere and there happens to be wild birds around though?

[Ashanali]

Lots of wildlife photographers will have monopods to steady gear. Either that or they spend tens of thousands on super fast lenses. :rolleyes:

[Ripley]

OK, here's a hand holding 200mm lens example. I haven't even looked at all my trip photos yet, but this I posted on my facebook while on hols where I was putting up photos as I uploaded my memory card every few days, just to show friends. So this shot is unaltered in PS - hasn't been sharpened or anything yet.

Day was rainy, light was low, hand held the 200 mm, can't remember shutter speed, photos are on OH's laptop and he's at work. The lens only stops to f/4, it's not a fast lens. This little guy is a male chaffinch - the woman at the roadside cafe leaves seed out for the wild birds. I wanted to stay longer but OH got impatient and I missed a woodpecker shot as it started to rain and had no plastic camera cover, dammit. After that, I used a hotel shower cap - handy hints for photography: a plastic shower cap makes a great wet weather cover for your camera. :rolleyes:

I do remember I had the ISO to 400 though for all birdie shots.

edited for typos, I'm jetlagged

Edited October 8, 2008 by Ripley

[chezzyr]

Ripley: if you ever decide to go for a IS, try before you buy!

Some can give people a feeling of motion sickness.

I have used a Canon 70-300 IS and felt fine, tried a

70-200/2.8 IS and felt sick as a dog :rolleyes:

[Ripley]

Motion sickness is how I felt with a 200mm and 1.4 teleconverter attached, chezzyr.

I think I saw that lens you mention. I was taking a photo the other week of the guards at Buck Palace and eased it through the bars of the gates and this American guy had to stand right next to me (when there was space on either side of the gate) and put his longer lens through. It was the same Canon lens, but longer and looked heavier. He then turned to me, looked at my shorter lens and smiled. I thought, "Why must men compare sizes, even with women?"

[Luke W]

PS - What shutter speed?

A 200mm with a 1.4X, I'd be shooting at 1/500 minimum (without IS).

I drink too much coffee.

Edited October 8, 2008 by Luke W

[chezzyr]

Ripley: don't get me started on men and lenses.

With me the motion sickness came from the 'whirring'

and IS mechanism, not the extra focal length of the lens.

It was a strange sensation.

I shoot all the time without IS (don't have any IS lenses

at the moment). But I do keep a monopod in the car

if I want to shoot 400mm + in crap weather!

[Ripley]

After a month using the lens I got in May, I'm thinking of selling the Canon 70-200 and getting the exact same lens - Canon L 70-200 f/4 again, but with IS so when I attach the teleconverter I can still hand hold it. Even using a fast shutter speed, I can't hold it still enough with the teleconverter attached as it's heavy and my hands are narrow. My 70-200 has a 3 year international warranty and I think I can get good money for it now the AUD has plummeted (not so cheap to buy them in the US now) and then I can pay a few hundred dollars and get the one with IS without breaking the bank. Plus, OH owes me a birthday present from Aug which I haven't got yet.

Thoughts? I'm very happy with the 70-200 L and can hand hold it fine without the converter, but with the converter I can't do it and not a fan of carting tripods on hikes.

[Luke W]

After a month using the lens I got in May, I'm thinking of selling the Canon 70-200 and getting the exact same lens - Canon L 70-200 f/4 again, but with IS so when I attach the teleconverter I can still hand hold it. Even using a fast shutter speed, I can't hold it still enough with the teleconverter attached as it's heavy and my hands are narrow. My 70-200 has a 3 year international warranty and I think I can get good money for it now the AUD has plummeted (not so cheap to buy them in the US now) and then I can pay a few hundred dollars and get the one with IS without breaking the bank. Plus, OH owes me a birthday present from Aug which I ven't got yet.

Thoughts? I'm very happy with the 70-200 L and can hand hold it fine without the converter, but with the converter I can't do it and not a fan of carting tripods on hikes.

How's your hand holding technique?

Are you holding the camera and lens properly?

Some good tips here:

http://www.google.com/search?num=100&h...que&spell=1

Still getting camera shake at 1/500? What about 1/750? At 1/1000?

Just because it seems to shake through the viewfinder - at fast shutter speeds it won't necessarily affect the shot.

IS is still the bees knees though (for non moving objects).

[Ripley]

Haven't truly viewed the shots, Luke. Just uploaded them while o/s and they are all still on OH's laptop. His laptop is at work . I was taking some shots of seals lying on a rock just offshore and tried my best to handhold, had a high shutter speed and all. To be honest, I shoot in AV mode when photographing wildlife and then make sure the shutter speed is fast enough, but it usually is if the light is good.

My husband was getting annoyed at my constant, "Stop the car!" as on this particular island, there was a raptor or seal or heron on just about every drive we did and a single track road meant no room to stop anywhere, so I had to jump out, grab a shot and jump back in the car before another car came. No time for a tripod. So viewed most of the wildlife through my fantastic Nikon binoculars. Maybe sometimes the best shots are in your memory and not on file? Nah, that's a load of crap.

Just looked at the price of the lens like mine but with IS. Oops, more expensive than I thought. Maybe next year.

Edited October 9, 2008 by Ripley

[Ripley]

The shot of the chaffinch above I posted was hand holding in low light. Can't remember the shutter speed as I copied that file to my FB page so the details were lost. It hasn't been sharpened as it's straight out of the camera. Didn't have the teleconverter affixed, this little fella was wild but allowed me to get close enough with my 200mm, he's a well fed wild bird

[chezzyr]

Ripley, seriously, your hand holding/long lens technique will get better the more you practice.

Now I KNOW you didn't have that lens for long (a little birdie told me) and you didn't have

all that much practice with it before you went away. Patience girl

I would be getting it out every opportunity, go visit the dobies again, go on

a pelagic...whatever (actually a pelagic would sort you out LOL)

Spring/summer is a good time to practice

IS can also be a big drain on batteries - so I believe.

[PossumCorner]

...hand holding/long lens technique will get better the more you practice. ...

Wish that worked for me even with shorter lenses, no such luck. My hands/shoulder are not super-steady. So I rely on a monopod or tripod rather than anti-shake lenses. But you can get caught out: at the Buckskin Show at the weekend I was on my own and moving back and forth between two rings and the tripod made it a tad slow to move around so I hand-held quite a bit. And here's the result until fixed in photoshop: horizons so off level, one of my total pet pet hates. Back to the tripod for me.

ETA:

And Ripley, did you get the shot I ordered of Greyfriars Bobby statue?? Enjoying your shots and trip reports.

Edited October 9, 2008 by PossumCorner

[chezzyr]

PC: that horizon might be dodgy but boy what a gorgeous colour on the horse.

And lovely weather for the show.

Another benefit to 'pods' (monopod or tripod) is that it can take the

strain off the neck and shoulders and I will be making sure I use

them this trip (actually they were the first thing packed).

[ruthless]

go visit the dobies

Or the staffies