This image was taken last night as a nice rain storm was developing in the west. I could see the rain falling in the foothills so I drove out to the natural area. This allowed me to participate in the storm as it built up with wind, lightning, thunder and then the gentle rain. The image is a raw file using Adobe Landscape profile in Lightroom Classic.
I’m pleased with how solid the camera feels in my hands. The size and build are the draw even though there is a small weight increase. Also impressed with how snappy and quiet it can focus, which I would expect. The joystick is a joy!! I was pretty sure that it was going to be something I’d like.
I must admit I was overwhelmed when I first started reading the manual, even questioning my decision. There seemed so much to learn. I could not believe all the information provided in the viewfinder, to the point of almost forgetting to look at the subject when I first used it. But that has quickly died down by practicing with it. It will become second nature.
I’ve only shot with raw files so still need to look at the jpeg files. The raw files are Huge! I’ve gone from about 30 meg to 50 meg, an increase of 30%. Glad I upgraded to the 4TB drives a few months ago. I imagine I will be deleting more images because of their size.
14 Comments
Earl
Beautiful photo, Monte. The nice thing is you don’t have to know everything in the manual to begin making wonderful photos. You can add to your knowledge and “tricks” as you go along. That will keep the excitement and creative inspiration going for some time. Enjoy!!
Monte Stevens
I wouldn’t be surprised if it can make popcorn.
Tom Dills
It might make a decent latte! 😉
Monte Stevens
Now we’re talking. May need to buy a backup camera.
Tom Dills
This is a great photo, Monte. I love seeing the bands of the rain showers against the lighter sky in the background.
My approach with the manual was to figure out enough to make photos, then to go back as I need to for anything else I can’t figure out.
Does your camera have the “Lossless Raw” option? It really cuts down on the file size with no loss of quality. I figured that out and have been using it exclusively.
Monte Stevens
I just set it to lossless. I may have had my Nikon setup that way, now that I think of it. Thanks!
Cedric
Great photo Monte. It’s the kind of weather I enjoy watching. Glad to hear you are enjoying your camera. I have never seen a camera manual that was an enjoyable read so in the end I have never read one. A stupid move on my part for sure as I have no doubt I am missing out on a lot of good tech that I have paid for but I just cannot bring myself to do it. I don’t even bother to set up date and time which should give you a good idea of how lazy I am, though my daughter always ends up borrowing my camera eventually and she usually sets that up at some point 🙂
Tom Dills
It’s good to have our kids to assist with the technical stuff! 🙂
Cedric
Tom, I have to sadly admit that getting tech support from my kids is happening much more often than I’d like these days 🙂
Monte Stevens
In reality the manual is not that intimidating once I started into it. My fears were unfounded. I must also admit that I have asked young people in coffee shops to help me with technical stuff, especially with phone apps. Amazing how quickly they know what is going on, even when it’s not their phone. I read somewhere that when we get a new camera we need to read the manual, then play with the camera for awhile then reread the manual. Can you. imagine how awesome a photographer we would be if we did that. 😊
Tom Dills
Nah, there’d just be more stuff we thought we read but still can’t find in the manual! Enjoy your birthday/graduation bash!
Cedric
Well Monte, I have seen your photo galleries and let me say that “awesome” is already a level you have achieved, whereas I think that it would take more than reading a manual to turn me into the same kind of awesome, but I do agree that it would be worthwhile if only to discover all kinds of new ways of expression through the use of all that technology that is built into cameras these days. I have no doubt you will have a lot of fun exploring all these possibilities and unravelling all that potential. And happy birthday by the way. Sorry I didn’t wish you that before 🙂
Mark
Love the photo! I have never fully read my XT-2 manual. It is also quite thick. I have only used it to look up perhaps a few things on how to change some settings. THen the new stuff, like focus bracketing, was done with firmware updates, so never in the manual. Just online instructions.
Everything else I have done just playing around. Have fun and Happy Birthday.
Monte Stevens
You may be speaking for most of us. Pickup the camera and use it. Ask the questions, “Well what does this do or mean?” I doubt if I read this manual all the way through. I’ll pickup the highlights and use it for questioning. Have done the same thing with my car manual.
Thank you for the birthday wishes. Going over to my daughters for a cookout and celebrate my oldest granddaughters college graduation. I’m so grateful for my family.