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Tesla Model 3

I had to wake up early – around 5am – for the unveiling of the new Tesla Model 3 as I couldn’t wait to finally see an affordable version of a Tesla car. Finally just after watching Elon Musk`s presentation and seeing the first images of the Tesla Model 3 on the live videostream from the Tesla Designstudios in Hawthorne, Los Angeles, my decision was clear. I simply “had to” make a reservation as a design, gadget and technology maniac.

Tesla Model 3 Live Video
Tesla Model 3 Live Video

I have the feeling Elon Musk wrote automobile history today… in his speech he reported already 115.000 reservations in a  24h timeframe …wow. I`m thinking the Tesla “3” might gonna be ‘the iPhone’ of the car industry.
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Yesterday I posted a night shot from Gordes, Provence taken with the Canon 5DSR. Today it`s time to compare this same night scene with the results made with a Nikon D810 camera. They were shot ‘neck on neck’ on this location. The settings of the Nikon D810 were ISO100 with a 15s exposure at an aperture of f8.0 on a Nikon AF-S 24-120mm f4 VR lens. Mirror Lock-Up enabled from a Tripod to avoid any possible shake.
Mlenny-Gorges-Small-Nikon
I tried within Lightroom CC2015 to get the same ‘all around’ colors from the Canon/Nikon RAW files in this scene. It`s a bit tricky as you have to play around with the color settings of those cameras differently. Both cameras have their ‘own behavior’ with color renderings, same with ACR interpretation. But I think I came quiete close.
NIKON-LR.SCRRENSHOT
I raised in LR the exposure by +1.10, reduced the highlights and shadows, modified the Nikon Raw color settings to match with the look of the processed image from the Canon 5DSR. The Dynamic Range of the Nikon D810 is simply stunning. A ton of reserve to raise shadows or reduce highlights. I think in regards of DR nothing beats the D810 as of today. You simply can`t underexpose a shot as there is that much reserve in the DR of the D810 RAW Files. So this baby is a real ‘fire and forget’ camera. Regarding exposure settings it`s really hard to shot an unrecoverable image. In opposite to the Canon 5DSR or Canon 5D MK III (and also Canon 1DS MK II) to achieve the best dynamic range with the Nikon D810 it`s better to expose to the left side of the luminance histogram. So a tick of underexposing helps to have the maximum flexibility, as you can raise dark areas with the D810 drastically in post processing from RAW files.

With the Canon 5DSR and the other Canon Pro cameras its in my experience much better to expose towards the right side of the histogram. Which means a bit of over exposure. With Canon RAW in Lightroom it`s easier to recover highlights, than to push up shadows! So a simple rule to achieve the best results is: Nikon D810 exposure towards the left side of the histogram – Canon 5DSR/MKIII/1DSMKII expose to the right side of the histogram. It`s like how they mount their lenses in different directions to the camera body :)

I was also surprised by the sharpness of the image! The Nikon 24-120 VR f4 is not well known as the best lens ever made, but I simply love this lens for it`s focal length flexibility and VR stabilization etc. A perfect travel companion. I stopped down the lens to f8 to have a sweet spot aperture. Within the post processing I applied the same amount of clarity +33 and the exact same sharpening settings I used for the Canon 5DSR file yesterday, same curve too.

Here are the side by side shots: Canon 5DSR:
Canon-5DSR
and Nikon D810:
Mlenny-Gorges-D810

To see the 100% images yourself and compare them, you can download the full resolution jpgs here:
Gordes, France – Canon 5DSR
Gordes, France – Nikon D810

Again this is not a scientific comparison. It`s more a personal real world comparison for my shooting style. The 50.1 MPixel of the Canon 5DSR are stunning, but the Nikon D810 is not far behind. If you downsize the 5DSR files to 36.1 Pixel of the D810, the advantage of the Canon is a bit more obvious. BUT 36.1 Pixel is more than enough for most usages. So if you already have a Nikon D810 imho there is no need to even think about switching into the Canon 5DSR Camp. Both cameras are neck on neck, with a slight advantage to Canon in terms of resolution.

I`d like to add that with using Lightroom CC2015 I prefer the colors of the Canon Raws compared to the Nikon RAW. In ACR Canon Raws are a bit more vibrant, more ‘blueish’, where the Nikon RAWS then to be a bit more “green-yellowish’. Shooting People and Portraits the Nikon & Canon are fine. In regards of Landscapes and Architecture, Nightshot Scenes etc. I prefer the Canon RAW. Anyway as you see with the samples it possible to get close to the same result with both cameras – but with the Nikon i need more time to achieve the desired style.

Whats your opinion comparing the files? I love both cameras. In regards of – bang for the buck – of this combo : Nikon D810 + Nikon AF-S 24-120 VR f4 vs. Canon 5DSR + Canon EF 24-70 f2.8 II the clear winner is the Nikon D810 in this Nightshot Usage.

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There are zillion of different reviews about the new cameras of Mid 2015. The Canon 5DSR, the Sony A7RII and Nikon D810. Right now i`m testing this ‘Holy Trinity’ of cameras for my usage.

11845148_10153050151242688_7115114711650894343_o

It`s not gonna be a scientific review, just my personal impressions i`d like to share while using those cameras. Today I post my thoughts on the Image Quality of the Canon 5DSR. I was really amazed from the results the Canon 5DSR gave me. The image below shows the Village of Gordes in Provence, France. It’s taken with the Canon 5DS R together with the Canon EF 24-70 f2.8 Version II Zoom lens on a Tripod, with ‘Mirror Lock Up’ setting to avoid any shake. Exposure Time 10 seconds on ISO 200 with an aperture of f5.6 to avoid a possible diffraction effect.

Canon-5DSR-Gordes-Night

To judge the quality it is of course the best and easiest way to ‘do it by yourself’.
So just download the full 50MPixel JPG Image by clicking here.

The RAW was processed within Lightroom CC 2015:
Lightroom-CC-2015
Added some Clarity +33, Reduced Highlights & Pumped up Shadows – Also raised the ‘Black Level’ as right now LRCC2015 ACR renders the RAW from the 5DSR with a too high black level..compared to e.g.. Capture One or DPP Raw Converters. Also played around with color saturation settings and more. I like to demonstrate how “forgiving” those Canon 5DSR files are. Shot with ISO200 you can raise or reduce nearly any bar in LR without loosing quality.. That is really amazing. As long as you stay below ISO1600 there more than plenty of room to play around in post processing.

In my ‘non scientific’ test the Dynamic Range advantage of the 5DSR is around 1-2f (exposure) stops better than the DR of my older Canon 5D Mark III. Anyway in the Dynamic Range possibilities, the Canon 5DSR can´t compete with the Nikon D810! I`m coming back on the Nikon D810 in a future post, as both were shot ‘neck on neck’ in this night scene in Gordes, Provence, France.

To sum it up: In regards of Shapness, Resolution, MPixel (possibilities to crop) in my opionion no DSLR or Mirrorless beats the Canon 5DSR as of today – but wait for the Sony A7RII wrap up coming soon….with some surprises.
If you like to play around with the RAW file by yourself of the image above, give me a shout as a comment or drop me an email. If the full size jpg is enough – download it here.

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Photoshop Tutorial 2009

Create Drama with Smoke and Mist.

What a beautiful surprising morning. Today I received a voucher copy of the UK Magazine Photoshop Creative Issue 45. Some weeks ago the magazine contacted me about an image they like to use in the magazine and include it in on the CD-ROM which comes together with the print issue. And today i saw the result – just awesome.

Photoshop Creative Cover Issue 45
Photoshop Creative Cover March 2009 Issue 45

In the march issue 45 Photoshop Creative Magazine used one of my images I took in Marseille of Model Agathe Rolland at the Palais Longchamps for an Adobe Photoshop Tutorial about ‘How to add atomespheric mist and smoke’ into an image. It`s really amazing to see my image in an ‘before’ and ‘after applying the effect’ on a large full size printed magazine page. For the tutorial the magazine licenced this photo out of my portfolio from istockphoto:

Walk of Fashion - Mlenny Portfolio on iStockphoto
Before: Original Image from my iStockphoto Portfolio. Click to download.

The Photoshop Creative Tutorial from Tim Shelbourne shows in 15 easy steps how to adjust the original image and how to add smoke and mist into this image. The result is really cool. Even on the large full size print of the magazine I couldn`t see that the smoke was added ‘artificial’ with Photoshop CS4. So here you can see (a bad scan) of the result (page 55 of the magazine). The quality of my scan below is really much worser then the original in the magazine.

Create Drama with Smoke and Mist Page 55

After Effect: Create Drama with Smoke and Mist Page 55 Photoshop Creative Magazin Issue 45
You can go through all of the 15 steps to achieve the result above. Click on the thumnails below to see the larger, readable scans of the tutorial pages 54-57:

Photoshop Creative Create Drama with Smoke and Mist Tutorial 54-55

Photoshop Creative Create Drama with Smoke and Mist Tutorial Page 56-57
Photoshop Creative Create Drama with Smoke and Mist Tutorial Page 56-57 Photoshop Creative Magazin Issue 45 – Click to see large, readable jpg.

The better and more comfortable way is to buy the magazine. The Photoshop Creative Magazine includes a CD-ROM, where all images (before/after) are availabe together with a lot more tips – more  tutorials + Custom Adobe Brushes, actions etc. And there’s also a tutorial video (Smoke_Effects.mov) included how to apply the effect on the image.

Here is an overview:

Techniques
All the latest and greatest techniques including;
– Make colours pop with selective lack and white techniques
– Give dull skies a makeover using texture
– Use the Warp tool to create a distorted glass effect

Creative Tutorials
Easy-to-follow creative tutorials including;
– Learn how to add dramatic smoke to your photos
– Easy tips to transform flat illustrations into vibrant artwork
– Create beautiful mixed media designs in Photoshop

Also Featured
– Turn your photos in to stunning watercolour paintings
– Restore old photos using Channels
– Create a Picasso-style portrait from photographs

This Magazine is really worth the 6 UK Pound.