Tokyo Photo Walk 1
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142)
Tue 2008/07/08 21:00
Starting a new series called "Tokyo Photo Walk" where I bring you pics from various walks around Tokyo on taken through the digital SLR.
When I first got my EOS Kiss Digital N, I used to carry it around everywhere.
After a while however, it became a pain to carry around all the lenses, dust blowers and wot not which is why I stopped bringing it around - especially on overseas trips.
After a while however, it became a pain to carry around all the lenses, dust blowers and wot not which is why I stopped bringing it around - especially on overseas trips.
Been much inspired by Hector to pick the hobby back up and have been learning a lot about photography lately.
These pics where taken in the Nishikoyama area.
Used a tripod this time (this one) to enable me to get these shots.
Camera was set to TV and most of these shots had a 15 second exposure. ISO was set to about 200 with auto white balance.
Camera was set to TV and most of these shots had a 15 second exposure. ISO was set to about 200 with auto white balance.
I still need to do more homework before I can set the camera to be completely manual.
Was thinking of buying a new SLR but decided to invest the money in a new lens instead - probably this one.
A new SLR would get me live preview, bigger/brighter LCD, self cleaning and ability to take 2 zillion frames per second and at a higher resolution - all features which are definitely nice to have but would rather spend the 100,000 yen on a new lens.
I do hear that digital SLR's have a life span of X number of shutter counts - is that true? @.@
A new SLR would get me live preview, bigger/brighter LCD, self cleaning and ability to take 2 zillion frames per second and at a higher resolution - all features which are definitely nice to have but would rather spend the 100,000 yen on a new lens.
I do hear that digital SLR's have a life span of X number of shutter counts - is that true? @.@
At the moment I have a EF-S10-22mm F3.5-4.5 USM super wide angle lens which cost 67,877 yen and a EF-S60mm F2.8 macro USM lens which cost 42,463 yen.
This means that I have both extremes but nothing in between ^^;
This means that I have both extremes but nothing in between ^^;
Reader conershots (I think he's still a reader ^^;) does some fantastic night photography which you may want to check out too.
Do you dabble in SLR shenanigans? If so, What camera/lens combination would you recommend to your fellow comrade who is thinking of taking up photography. I know that the first timer can be daunted by the amount of different lenses and camera brands.
Through these Tokyo photo walks, I want to bring you more of an idea of what life is like in Tokyo in addition to the Week in Tokyo series and will be taking pics of (in particular) bits of town that you would be walking around if you lived here - and not just the touristy places.
Not sure if these would make good wallpapers but stuck a few in the wallpaper pool anyway - will remove them after a while.
That's it for this week - until the next photo walk from somewhere in Tokyo.
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At what time did you take these shots? Its eerie how quiet things are for Tokyo.
(ID #233187) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:16
security/3d graphic artist
he took off his trooper helmet :D
(ID #233198) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:27
Director/代表取締役
At about 9PM.
(ID #233204) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:30
Student and full-time otaku
People sleep that early over there? Very nice shots indeed; I personally have no experience with advanced digital cameras though, but I am a bit glad about that as it seems to be an expensive hobby ^^
(ID #233223) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:57
No they don't sleep...they are still working! ;)
(ID #233283) Posted on 2008/07/09 00:21
Actually, Japan shuts down around like, 10 PM. And then they wake up at like 5 lol.
(ID #279713) Posted on 2008/08/27 03:36
Student & Authorized Chicken Slapper
Yeah its a little freaky how theres no one around, especially seeing as Tokyo is a big city and all.... Like all the shop photos look like the shops are open for business, nice lights, but not a single soul on the street or in sight.... Still nice photos though
(ID #233625) Posted on 2008/07/09 08:41
In some of the outer parts of Tokyo it's very easy to find calm, quiet streets any time of day, i think. People work or go to school long hours... Crowds are more downtown or near the train stations from what I've seen.
(ID #234076) Posted on 2008/07/09 23:49
Considering its basically the same way with highways and shopping complexes here in Cali, it all makes sense. (My mind: Wow, its exactly like how anime portrayed the streets. Craazy.)
(ID #383696) Posted on 2008/11/24 13:37
Edit: I would totally shoot in SLR, that is if my camera want stolen right out of my car. T-T
(ID #383699) Posted on 2008/11/24 13:39
pepsi??? (Registered on 2007/09/29 22:36)
great shots danny liked the way/angle of some of the pics, wish i had that kind of hobby too. but alas, in my place if anyone brought out an expensive camera and a tripod and start taking pictures the moment that person's going to get the 1st pic or maybe going to the person either gets robbed, robbed and killed, or vice versa...been wanting to go to japan because of the peacefulness 'cept for the recent stabbing incident, but its gonna take ma a long while to go there, planning on taking the JET programm thing u posted once but not sure when will i take ti, when i do be sure to help me out there danny
(ID #233188) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:16
security/3d graphic artist
would love to pic up this hobby.. just looks so relaxing.. :D maybe when i get more monnies..
(ID #233196) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:26
Director/Technical Director, Cameraman
Long exposure pictures always look really good, and these are some nice shots. You might want to look into HDR photos danny, they come out really crazy, and theyre pretty easy to do. All you need is a tripod. Would look really good in tokyo. For new people getting a dslr, the nikon d40/d40x is a pretty good one, and its fairly cheap. I regret not getting a dslr when I was in japan, cause they way overpriced here, but now with the xsi and live preview, I'll probably end up getting it. Live preview = awesomeness in a dslr : D
(ID #233201) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:29
Director/代表取締役
I still don't get HDR photos as I find that you can achieve the same effect (ish) in photoshop - http://www.haklabs.com/2007/getting-a-hdr-effect-using-photoshop/
(ID #233208) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:35
Yeah I do similar things if I didn't take a few shots to make a HDR. If you shoot in RAW you can do the same but get slightly better results as RAW will record around 1 stop +/- of what you shot.
(ID #233299) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:00
Director/Technical Director, Cameraman
Yea, theres always ways to photoshop things but all you need to do to make HDR is just bracket +2 and -2 exposure, along with the original photo. Then just run it through a photoshop plugin, and you get the results. But long exposures still look pretty nice, similar to HDR.
(ID #233621) Posted on 2008/07/09 08:38
There's nothing better than purely merged unedited photographs.
(ID #234012) Posted on 2008/07/09 21:45
looking forward to the next photo walks, another nice way to 'visit' tokyo... thanks.
(ID #233206) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:31
Part human, part student, 100% loser
Wow cool... BUt why isn't there anyone walkingabout on the streets? Bedtime already?
(ID #233209) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:38
Nice photos. Some of them look a little over-exposed and unnatrual, but some have great colours. Nice wide angle lens though. Im tempted to get a new camera for my upcoming month in China, but i think ill give it a miss. My canon powershot already has (almost) full manual control and suits my needs as i rarely tinker with the many settings on it. I quite like the look of the Panasonic lumix camera as it has a wide angle lens, 10X zoom, and HD video recording. My camera supports switchable lenses - i could just buy a wide angle lens for it, but like you said, i dont know if i can be arsed lugging it around and changing it. I rarely get chance to stop and take a proper photo - usually just point and shoot, so i dont think i would benefit from an SLR really.
(ID #233210) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:38
As Danny said, for a first timer the number of lenses and brands seems a bit confusing. Another thing that raises questions is the cost, photographing isn't a cheap hobby. But still, seeing nice shots like these makes me want to buy a dslr and try it out.
(ID #233217) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:45
Mechanical Engineering student
I had no idea what you were talking about in this post but what I'm sure though is that these are great pictures! I like to buy an SLR myself but I am too inexperienced to use one, hell I don't even know how changing the lens of the camera would affect the picture O_o
(ID #233222) Posted on 2008/07/08 21:54
Medical Research and Design
The light seems to have such a strange and surreal effect in some of the photos. Like in the first one, the tiled floor almost looks like it's textured, as in from some first person game or something. Same thing with the entry-to-park photo you did. It's kind of funny cause the lyrics to Radiohead's 'Fake Plastic Trees' came to mind. XD When I look at the pic, the colors glint so oddly, don't get me wrong, I do like the pictures quite a bit. I'm intrigued at how this lens digs into light, it's pretty cool.
(ID #233238) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:21
TK-8316 / 宅男 Otaku / 工程师 Engineer
the pics sure looks surreal. O_O i have my eyes on the EOS 450D.
(ID #233239) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:23
Medical Research and Design
Also: RE Shutter count life I don't think this is true at all, if so, I'd have multiple friends that would have burned through their nikon and canon units something fierce. They take an insane amount of pictures a day, since it's their work, and they haven't had any shutter-issues. While prone to the usual wear-tear as any other electronic device with complex moving parts, I wouldn't think it has a sort of Mean-time-before-failure type arrangement. Then again, bringing your camera in for a checkup and cleaning is probably a good idea to keep your investment working solid.
(ID #233240) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:25
Sony Alpha 700 is rated at shutter life of 100,000 shots. It's in the manual. This is consistent with known shutter lifespans of film cameras, for example Nikon F3 150,000 shots. The thing is, people with digital SLRs tend to shoot a lot more shots than film users do.
(ID #233245) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:39
Medical Research and Design
Hm... I didn't see anything like this in the XTi manual. I mean, I don't think I'll take 150,000 shots in my lifetime but I had no idea shutters had an expected failure rate.
(ID #233247) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:44
PhysicsMajor/Someting/Photo/Pharm Tech
I use a 20 year old Maxxum 9000. No problems with shutter at all and seems to have no regular maintenance done to it. I know it's shutter is designed past 100,000 shots. Really like to see Sony make a pro level camera like the 9000. I would buy one in a heartbeat.
(ID #234411) Posted on 2008/07/10 09:16
Shutter life is very true, and it depends on the camera. Some cameras exceed their shutter life-spans, others die much sooner. For example, Danny's camera has a shutter that should be good for at least 50,000 shutter actuations. Although, it may surpass that.
(ID #233316) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:18
These can generally be repaired though right?
(ID #233959) Posted on 2008/07/09 19:53
I'm thinking it would be costly..
(ID #234182) Posted on 2008/07/10 01:50
Sure, you can replace the shutter, but by that time you'd probably want to upgrade your camera.
(ID #234217) Posted on 2008/07/10 02:12
Physical Therapist
Nice pictures Danny! They have some kind of surreal paralell Universe where the whole humanity vanished from earth leaving everything as it is feeling to it. Im Looking forward to the other Pics
(ID #233242) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:35
Danny, have you tried taking with your aperture closed to the max (Around F20+)? It'll give you that colourful and "Starry" effects to the lights. You would probably need to adjust the exposure longer with this set up ^^; Result will be something like this one: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v507/wcloudx/events/DSC_0439.jpg Some of the lights in your photos were a little bit too bright, but otherwise all of them are nice photos ^^
(ID #233244) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:36
Although looking at your photos closely, you probably have done that XD
(ID #233246) Posted on 2008/07/08 22:42
Don't think he did that, because at high f-number, it will be sharp and long starbust. High f-numbers like f32 are good for dark scenes with many point lights, giving the fascinating effect, but in normal "bright" places it will give poorer contrast and less vibrant picture.
(ID #233308) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:11
Director/代表取締役
Aperture? Whats that? ^^; I need to look for a look online tutorial ^^; I just turn the knobs and see what happens.
(ID #233639) Posted on 2008/07/09 09:15
Photographer/Night Auditor
lol, yup that's what I do too. Turn knob take picture repeat and see what comes out. When you see something good look at the exif data to see what worked.
(ID #233854) Posted on 2008/07/09 16:24
Aperture is the opening in the camera's body before the light reaches the sensor. The higher the F value, the smaller the aperture will be causing less light to enter. The lower the F value, the larger the aperture will be causing more light to enter. When you set your camera mode to TV, the camera will find the corresponding aperture for the exposure level selected. Its like a see-saw. In order to get a normally exposed picture either the shutter speed must be fast while the aperture is large or the shutter speed is slow while the aperture is small. Hope this helps ^^
(ID #234207) Posted on 2008/07/10 02:05
have the interest but not the money... you cant collect figure while being crazy with photography at the same time orz orz
(ID #233257) Posted on 2008/07/08 23:08
i second that! but sooner or later after you get a point and shoot to take pics of your figures, you realise that only a dslr would do justice to them orz
(ID #233407) Posted on 2008/07/09 03:17
PhysicsMajor/Someting/Photo/Pharm Tech
Buy a cheap film SLR to cut your teeth on. I suggest get a Minolta Maxxum series(the "9" series are pro level bought mine for less than $100 USD). Cheap as hell, and you can use all of the fine Minolta glass on a Sony DSLR for cheap. I don't trust Zeiss Icon for lenses for 35mm SLR cameras since they are made my Cosina.
(ID #234413) Posted on 2008/07/10 09:22
Student
Telling someone which camera and lens they should get it's really hard because there are more and more camera brands being the three biggest Canon, Sony and Nikon, each has has its own number of lenses and it depends on you which one to choose. Choosing the lens depends on what type of photography you want to do, don't forget that this is really an expensive hobby. Doing HDR photos is not that hard Danny, you got two choices either take three pictures or more with a tripod with different exposures or simply create copies of the picture you want and change their (copies) exposure.
(ID #233260) Posted on 2008/07/08 23:15
Hmhm, eerie indeed. Especially with the semi lighted sky at night, Dawn of the Dead anyone? =P Photography seems brilliant, a fulfilling hobby, and you get around aswell. ^^ I've been reading some FAQs about camera's and such, which to buy, etc. Though to be realistic, the scenery over here is pathetic so to get some nice shots I'd need to go abroad.
(ID #233262) Posted on 2008/07/08 23:19
Gamer/Lecturer
Very nice photos! Wish i have a decent camera and skills :|
(ID #233276) Posted on 2008/07/09 00:02
wow, nice shot.
(ID #233284) Posted on 2008/07/09 00:21
Horror☆Star
Wow, all the photo look so real! I love these shots.
(ID #233285) Posted on 2008/07/09 00:23
WebDesign, Coding, Administration
Uh, i got a EOS 450D, with kit lens though lol 18-55, so nothing special. Didnt get around to get other lenses yet due... figmas... *cough*. The 18-55 however works so far okay for me, but for sure need something else sometime soon like a 18-200 too so this posting helps me as well, thanks. *leeches information* :D Nice pictures though Danny! I need a tripod too... would love something compact and not bulgy. *_*
(ID #233290) Posted on 2008/07/09 00:37
Enginner, Photographer
I have a 400D and got a 50mm 1.4 and the kit lens. i think is a good camera, not the best, i want a 5D for the full frame capable or maybe a 40D for liveview and more ISO. I think the best option is buy a new lens (maybe a Tokina 11-22 in wide or a Tamron 17-50 2.8). I recomend U think in all the situations: Wideshoots : U have a EF-S Canon 10-20mm (not work in fullframe cameras) Normal : EF-S 60mm Macro (fixed, not work in fullframe) Telephoto : EF 70-300 IS (is nice and not much expensive)
(ID #233300) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:00
Loving the new feature, Danny; as impressive as they are, one can only see Hachiko Crossing so many times before wanting to move on to something different. It's nice to experience the more realistic side of life in Tokyo through your lens. Keep 'em coming!
(ID #233302) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:03
I am using a Nikon with a 18-200mm f3.2-5.6 Vibration reduction for travel and is excellent. I just came back from my 25days Japan trip bring only that lens and I took 26gb of 8mp jpgs. Recommend you get that lens for your Canon, and I'm sure it will be enough motivation to bring your camera around and take lots of photos.
(ID #233307) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:06
Director/代表取締役
Thanks - will have a look into it.
(ID #233604) Posted on 2008/07/09 08:03
And now tech envy ensues... but I just got me a new Power Shot, so I need to chill :)
(ID #233313) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:17
Online Shop
Wow, these are really crisp photos. Almost feels like they are from some 3-D game @_@
(ID #233321) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:20
The photos look very futuristic.
(ID #233325) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:25
they all look so good! doesnt seem your learning at all to me. the shots all look so pro! im not sure if lens renting is available at your side. normally before we want to make the purchase, we'll rent the lens to shoot our hearts out. looking forward to see more photo walks!
(ID #233328) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:26
Photographer/Night Auditor
Renting lens is a great idea especially when you consider the wider assortment of lens that you can use at any given time without having to actually own the pricy things.
(ID #233861) Posted on 2008/07/09 16:30
Nice pictures, especially the 10th one. Seems so calming.
(ID #233330) Posted on 2008/07/09 01:27
So this is what night life in a small neighboorhood is like. My camera sucks taking pictures at night. I want a DSLR camera so bad. Sadly it cost a butt load to get one. Hoping for more Tokyo Walking...
(ID #233400) Posted on 2008/07/09 02:47
Wannabe Designer
Dabble around a bit, but nowhere near enough to go reccomending rigs to anyone. I'd hazard a guess the shutter life thing is true. It's a moving part (unlike a regular digital camera, which just saves an image) and mechanical things tend to wear out after awhile. Best guess is you could probably extend the life by replacing the shutter spring or something. Man, that uber-wide angle lense really warps the perspective, looks cool.
(ID #233401) Posted on 2008/07/09 02:52
Full-time student へへ
nice shots. instead of carrying a full tripod out, sometimes i only bring my gorillapod. you have one too?
(ID #233408) Posted on 2008/07/09 03:18
Director/代表取締役
gorillapod?
(ID #233602) Posted on 2008/07/09 08:02
Director/Technical Director, Cameraman
Gorillapods are really cool. Its kinda like a tripod, except it can wrap around things. Like a pole, or a bench, or pretty much anything. Check them out at http://www.joby.com/ , theyre pretty neat and cheap.
(ID #233623) Posted on 2008/07/09 08:39
Photographer/Night Auditor
That's pretty cool actually.
(ID #233864) Posted on 2008/07/09 16:35
Just a note, gorillapods may not be able to support a DSLR weight if a heavy lens is attached.
(ID #234107) Posted on 2008/07/10 00:38