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From: Better Info on 15 Jan 2010 13:44
On 15 Jan 2010 02:27:42 GMT, Chris Malcolm <cam(a)holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

>Mike Eisenstadt <michaele(a)ando.pair.com> wrote:
>
>> I have been doing art documentation in 35mm slide film and I want to
>> upgrade to digital AS INEXPENSIVELY AS POSSIBLE. I already own a Canon
>> EOS 50mm macro lens which would argue for getting a Canon 10D or the
>> like. But art photography really requires having a grid in the
>> viewfinder to keep from keystoning rectangular paintings. The Nikon
>> D70s has the option of enabling an on-demand grid in the viewfinder,
>> although I could not find this option in the manual for the Nikon D40
>> or D60. The Canon 10D manual does not seem to offer on-demand gridding
>> the viewfinder, however it describes an option of illuminating the 7
>> automatic focusing points in the viewfinder. Their arrangement is
>> similar to a cross-hair grid, according to the illustration in the
>> manual.
>
>> I am writing to ask Canon owners if illuminating the focusing points
>> is feasible as a substitute for
>> the Nikon option of an on-demand grid in the viewfinder. I know that
>> after market focusing screens for Canon cameras with different grid
>> options are available, but they seem very pricey.
>
>The cheapest way of getting a grid would probably be either to buy a
>shade for your camera's LCD, and build a fine wire grid into it. Or
>with a fine mapping pen and appropriate ink draw fine lines on a
>plastic LCD screen protector.

Or use any of the high-quality P&S Canon cameras that are supported by the
free CHDK programming add-on. Their contrast-detection focusing in them is
much more accurate than any phase-contrast focusing method in a DSLR too.

http://chdk.wikia.com/wiki/Grids

Then he can load any grid alignment pattern he wants, or even simply design
his own with an easy graphics drawing programming language (see that page
for examples). Keep all these small grid-definition files on your SD card
in a /Grids/ sub-folder and load them as needed with a few button presses.

Plus many of the zoom lenses on P&S cameras have less barrel and pincushion
distortion than the very best DSLR glass available. Good examples: the
Canon Powershot S2, S3, and S5 cameras' 12X zoom-lenses have less than 1%
barrel distortion at wide-angle and less than 0.1% pincushion distortion at
full zoom, with a large central range of focal-lengths where the distortion
is undetectable. You can get all that for less than the cost of one custom
DSLR focusing-screen alone.

From: MikeWhy on 15 Jan 2010 17:50
"David J Taylor"
<david-taylor(a)blueyonder.delete-this-bit.and-this-part.co.uk.invalid> wrote
in message news:2RV3n.26422$Ym4.9398(a)text.news.virginmedia.com...
> "ransley" <Mark_Ransley(a)Yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:8f6972b8-14f1-4883-b488-0421c1b70b20(a)21g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
> []
>> My T1i has a grid and I bet alot of other models do
>
> Yes, the Nikon D5000 does as well.

The 7D has an electronic level in the VF. As well as a grid if you want. The
LCD can have both also, plus aspect masks for 16:9, 4:5, 6:6, 6:7, and a few
others. (Mine's bigger; lasts longer.)


From: Robert Coe on 17 Jan 2010 16:15
On Fri, 15 Jan 2010 02:28:50 +0100, Ofnuts <o.f.n.u.t.s(a)la.poste.net> wrote:
: On 15/01/2010 00:38, Nervous Nick wrote:
:
: > And since you are going digital, any minimal perspective imperfections
: > are easily rectified with software.
:
: This may however require a bit more pixels than the 6Mpix of the 10D.

So get an XS or a used XTi.

Bob
From: Wolfgang Weisselberg on 21 Jan 2010 16:10
Chris Malcolm <cam(a)holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

> The losses of software corrections have quite understandably been
> exaggerated by the people in camera shops who hope to persuade you to
> buy a lens which won't need to be corrected, plus all those people who
> bought one :-)

That myth is carried by people who have too much free time or
don't shoot more than 5 exposures a month.

Not only will the serious shooter repeat each digital step for
each photograph (which gets old real soon), it also costs time
better spend relaxing or shooting. But for the right gear you
only pay once and then have far more joy using it.

-Wolfgang
From: Chris Malcolm on 21 Jan 2010 20:19
Wolfgang Weisselberg <ozcvgtt02(a)sneakemail.com> wrote:
> Chris Malcolm <cam(a)holyrood.ed.ac.uk> wrote:

>> The losses of software corrections have quite understandably been
>> exaggerated by the people in camera shops who hope to persuade you to
>> buy a lens which won't need to be corrected, plus all those people who
>> bought one :-)

> That myth is carried by people who have too much free time or
> don't shoot more than 5 exposures a month.

It's not a myth. I've measured it. But you're right that it takes a
lot of extra post processing time. So if you do a lot of perspective
adjusted shooting a shift lens might be the better choice.

> Not only will the serious shooter repeat each digital step for
> each photograph (which gets old real soon), it also costs time
> better spend relaxing or shooting. But for the right gear you
> only pay once and then have far more joy using it.

Well, I probably only shoot a few shots I want to shift perspective on
a week. And if I wanted to do it optically I'd probably have to buy at
least two shift lenses, since I like to do perspective adjustment over
quite a range of focal lengths.

--
Chris Malcolm
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