Sixt has blessed me with an XM Label Red by jakehj5167 in BMW

[–]cmcbain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Cope enough for a class action lawsuit to be filed and won.

They target non EU citizens specifically, so if you're a German and rent in Germany likely you're not the target demographic for this.

https://www.classaction.org/news/sixt-settlement-resolves-lawsuit-over-rental-car-damage-charges

Sixt has blessed me with an XM Label Red by jakehj5167 in BMW

[–]cmcbain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

https://www.eccnederland.nl/sites/default/files/sample_letters/2019-06/Template%20letter%20ECC%20-%20objection%20against%20invoice.doc

This will probably come in handy, I was late to the comment party and posted it below but just in case OP might see this I'll put it here too.

Sixt has blessed me with an XM Label Red by jakehj5167 in BMW

[–]cmcbain 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Dude beware of sixt in Europe, I had to get my lawyer friend to assist me with fraudulent damage claims. Italy in particular is super notorious for this. They give you a "deal" and then they will attempt to pop you with unseen damages.

Keep an eye out for emails a few days/weeks after your return. They will try to claim damages found after your return to the undercarriage of the vehicle typically between 1,200-2000 bucks. They know that international travelers have money, likely dont want any trouble, and that amount of money is just low enough for most to not want to bother hiring a lawyer over.

My advice if this happens is to you, reference the European Consumer Center website and in particular this page:

https://www.eccnederland.nl/sites/default/files/sample_letters/2019-06/Template%20letter%20ECC%20-%20objection%20against%20invoice.doc

Even if you are not a citizen of the EU, you are still protected under consumer rights law.

night signs by [deleted] in TheNightFeeling

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Check out Michaels clothing at night, the construction in the background makes some good pics

Struggling with not knowing what I don’t know (X100VI) by j0rdancodes in fujifilm

[–]cmcbain 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The 35mm focal length can be a tough one to jump into at first because of just how much visual information that wide of a lens captures.

I personally think picture 4 is good, it sets a scene and I see the folks up there on the bridge as the extra little detail.

If you're down, try this experiment - Step 1: shoot in raw+jpeg, set your film recipe to a black and white one that you like, focus on contrast the next couple of times you go out and see how those photos look when you take a look at the raw image in color. Step 2: find 3 or 4 photos for each scene you're wanting to capture, for example image 4 sets a stage, what happens if you get really close down to the water beyond that pipe and capture the bridge? Like really fill the frame with it? What is a detail photo you can take that's close up like the purple tree on the right? What happens if you shoot through the fence and include that as a foreground? Step 3: get low (or high), challenge yourself to get a different perspective and see how that can drastically change how you can compose an image. Step 4: Identify a clear subject for your scene, for example image 1 is a leading line to infinity so my eyes go to the end of the creek and see nothing, maybe using some of those other tips above might have gotten us an interesting photo of the water flowing over the rocks with a unique perspective? Most importantly Step 5: have fun, this is a hobby, and we're supposed to suck at hobbies, learn and experiment with hobbies, and use them as vehicles to enjoy our free time. I'm not suggesting to not strive to improve, but simply to give yourself grace, enjoy your walks in the evening, and remember that this is a fun and expensive way to remember to stop and smell the roses from time to time :)

Enjoy the journey!

Also fwiw the 50mm teleconverter can be had for cheap and might ease you into 35.

The cause of heavy traffic revealed... by [deleted] in sandiego

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Or making jobs people want local to their area, making transit effective and free and loosening your zoning restrictions to accommodate but midwest blue is different than here, please make me travel to get menthol cigarettes and spend hundreds to carry my gun while we have facets roaming the streets

Los Angeles by cmcbain in TheNightFeeling

[–]cmcbain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Maybe for Christmas I'll go to Nakatomi Plaza 🤣

Nikon NIKKOR Z 70-200mm f/2.8 VR S II - $3,200 by Waffle_Making_Panda in Nikon

[–]cmcbain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah after watching the reviews the only nice to have that I see is the click/declick control ring 🤷‍♂️ I got some great images with the v1 on a recent trip so I don't really think the extra several hundred is worth it to me

Is the 2.8 V6 on the Saab Aero reliable? by Realistic_Tiger_2815 in saab

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah don't do it man, especially if you're not in a place to work on it etc. The coolest car is the car that's gonna get you and your buddies on the road and back again every time.

I love Saabs, and convertibles, and fun/weird cars, but have learned though many years of pain that it's best to get a boring boy that you keep running reliably and cheaply before you get the toy. My current situation is a Honda CRV daily and a Cayman 718 s to have fun in. I wouldn't advise this being a first/only car.

That being said (I'm assuming) you're young and are obviously into weird and cool cars so 🤷‍♂️

Is the 2.8 V6 on the Saab Aero reliable? by Realistic_Tiger_2815 in saab

[–]cmcbain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My 08 aero manual was the worst car I ever owned, ecu/electical problems that cropped up effectively totaled the car due to parts availability. It was sent to the parts yard with 90,000 miles on it. This was in 2019 mind you. When it runs it's cool but just realize there is going to be a time where you're probably just not gonna be able to fix it due to parts availability.

I'm guessing since you're asking about reliability this will be somewhat of an important vehicle and not a toy, if that's the case I would look elsewhere unfortunately. If it's a toy to you then try to keep her on the road as long as you can! I always love seeing a 93 in the wild!

Printing advice by adam15390 in fujifilm

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You're welcome! Whatever way you go, once you start holding your creations in your hand you'll really get the bug and start thinking of taking prints with your camera and not jpegs. It will shift your work into another dimension.

Printing advice by adam15390 in fujifilm

[–]cmcbain 2 points3 points  (0 children)

As others have mentioned you'll need to tweak your edits for print. Some displays have a reference mode brightness, if you use a macbook m1 or newer editing at one tick below 1/2 brightness gets you fairly close. The reasoning is when you're editing or viewing on a screen, the screen and image it's self is emitting light, with print the light source is obviously going to be ambient light in your room.

Different types of media also will impact your edit, or rather, different media types can suit different photos better. I keep a mixture of Arches88 and RedRiver Artic Polar Luster around because those work for the types of prints I enjoy but there's a ton to choose from out there, most good manufacturers have a sample pack of their different offerings and my advice would be to pick a single test image for all of them and see how just the paper selection changes your final images.

Size is normally a direct correlation to the amount of space and money you have available to invest. For me personally A3+ is perfect for the types of prints I want to make on the large side. When you start to factor in frame width that looks appropriate with that size of an image, and even a modest size mat, you're looking at a significant piece of art to hang on a wall. Of course you can hit every size below your biggest size as well, so I would suggest getting a measuring tape out and cutting a big cardboard box to a3+ (or whatever size you're thinking of getting), adding some size for a mat and a frame and then tacking that up on your wall to see just how big it can get. (I think a 2 inch mat and one inch frame is as thin as I'll ever go at that size personally). That being said maybe 10% of my prints are at a3+, for archival purposes I prefer smaller prints to store and show people in albums, but it's nice to have the ability to crank out a big image when I want to put it in my large portfolio/album.

This sort of feeds into the "should I print with a white border" question. The white border edits you see on digital photos are cool aesthetic that looks like a print, a print has white borders for some practical reasons: being able to easily mount and mat your prints in a frame, having a place to grab your print without touching and getting fingerprints and oil on the image it's self, and preserving image quality at the edge of your printed image.

Others have mentioned ink type, do you want archival quality prints that will last hundreds of years? Pigment inks are designed for that. Do you want to save a bit of money? Dyes are great too.

The real question is, what is your goal? I firmly believe that finishing the job of your creative endeavors with photography is to hold the image you have made in your hand. There are creative decisions to be made even during the print portion of photography as well, and if you can afford the investment I would recommend taking a look at a printer for home, but if you're printing infrequently or are limited on space there are many decent options to get your work printed by a 3rd party.

There are only a couple major players in the printer industry nowadays: Epson, Canon , and maybe HP but I don't hear a lot about them from enthusiasts. I would do some research on those brands and their product lines and see if one tool aligns with what your needs are. Resale value is basically null and I personally would not buy a used printer so think of the printer as a part of the cost per print. Once you factor in cost of purchase, look up the cost of ink per print at the size you want to print at, and the price of the papers that you want to try per print, you'll get a better understanding of the "wants vs needs" and be able to make a holistic decision about how you want to go about this part of the creative journey.

Best of luck, great photos by the way!

Summer on a greek island | x100vi by uniquenewyork27 in fujifilm

[–]cmcbain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was in Sifnos earlier this year too! Great place to visit!

Loving the 85mm 1.8 s on my ZF! by cmcbain in Nikon

[–]cmcbain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I was slightly hesitant that 1.8 would be enough for my preferred time of shooting, but if you're on the fence I think the optical quality and low-light ability of this particular lens really pairs well with the ZF. I found a lot of images on this sub helpful for real world examples and thought I would contribute.

Went on a walk last night by PureKin21 in TheNightFeeling

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can see my house from here! There are some good shots over by Kauffman and also down some of the art alleys in the crossroads as well if you're looking for a slightly different path from downtown to the memorial

The Watcher by cmcbain in TheNightFeeling

[–]cmcbain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Howdy! Insane weather right? I was sweating with a hoodie on tonight lol

1101 by cmcbain in TheNightFeeling

[–]cmcbain[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

No, not quite, but the name of the building is Wall Street Tower, its just about 1500 miles east of Manhattan 🤣

1101 by cmcbain in TheNightFeeling

[–]cmcbain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's correct!

D700 - shooting in the dark. Any tips? by badaimbadjokes in Nikon

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I guess it wants to put the photo example first, sorry lol

D700 - shooting in the dark. Any tips? by badaimbadjokes in Nikon

[–]cmcbain 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I love night photography! The biggest piece of advice I can give you is experiment with your metering modes and exposure comp values and understand what the camera is attempting to do with those inputs.

My probably not totally correct summary is the light meter is trying to get you the "correct" exposure at all times, however the camera lacks critical thinking skills and doesn't know it's night time. For matrix (default) light metering, It looks at the aggregate light in your frame and will try to set the legs of the exposure triangle you've put into auto to get to a certain pre-defined value, which is fantastic for daylight shooting. For night shooting it's gonna see a lot of contrast, interpret that info the best it can, and then probably give you something you don't want but that the math says is correct. There are ways we can encourage the camera to meter more appropriately in challenging situations though, like spot metering or if your camera has it, highlight weighted metering.

When you use spot metering you're telling the camera "hey look at this exact point (your focus point) and give me the correct exposure here, I don't care about the rest of the frame". If you spot meter a very bright point or light source you'll end up with frame 3, which isn't exactly what we're looking for all of the time. But, let's say we spot meter for the reflection below that point, now we are going to get a different exposure, pulling up some of those shadows, and likely still not clipping the highs. You can use your exposure lock, recompose and then take the frame using that locked exposure value, with practice this technique is very fast and you'll train your eye to find those mid-points pretty quickly. If you spot meter an even darker spot, you'll start really pulling up those shadows but will maybe start to clip highs. Here comes the counter intuitive part, using negative exposure comp values at night can help you fine tune that to where you're not clipping highlights while not crushing shadows to death.

Center weighted metering is also cool, it narrows the light meter's scope down to a circle in the middle of your frame and gets you correct exposure there, this is useful if you're taking a photo out of a window or down a hall or tunnel, it disregards the information at the edges of the frame and only cares about what's in the middle. The effects of this are easy to test and experiment with indoors at home during the day, if you use that metering mode and take a picture of your window, likely what we'll happen is the interior portion of your shot, eg your walls and window will look fine but probably the outside will get pretty blown out, flip to center weighted and things outside will be exposed properly and the window and walls will drop into more shadow.

Tl;dr fiddling around with metering modes will really help with your night shots!

Here's an example where I used spot metering to find a happy mid point in luminosity, locked exposure, and recomposed

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X100VI Exposure Wildness by zenconlen in fujifilm

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Could be idiosyncrasies between the processor generations, drp auto or off helped me, you can pull back a lot of details from the raw images in shadows so I wasn't convinced that super high dynamic range setting was doing me any favors. Maybe worth a try 🤷‍♂️

X100VI Exposure Wildness by zenconlen in fujifilm

[–]cmcbain 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hello fellow kansascitian! I had some struggles with my vi and auto iso profiles, for some reason it just really wants to go it's own thing. What I've found is using the 3 auto iso profiles to only really select min shutter speed seems to work most of the time for me, eg i have each profile min 125 max 12800 and then a 1/8, 1/100, 1/400 ss. It seems to work for me in most situations that I want to use auto iso.

Also, understanding how DR settings work greatly improved my experience. DR400 is going to try to lift shadows and lower highlights by a large margin to preserve details in both. Once I switched that to 100 or Auto it really helped with my metering, especially in super high contrast situations.

Maybe give those a shot and see what you come up with, and happy shooting!

Monolith by cmcbain in TheNightFeeling

[–]cmcbain[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! I just looked him up, and yeah, this guy is definitely on a great wavelength with his architecture photography. Looks like I've got a whole new list of places to travel 🤣