Favorite Kodak

My good eyes and your sharp lens. ;-)

Here's another effort from my Z712

.... john

Very nice. When enlarged you can see the breakdown in the coloration of the wings. Very interesting. They rarely sit still for me. Nice catch.

Hi Wayne,

Yes, it takes nice shots. I have many insect photos, they seem to be willing to sit for me. I've even had dragonflies land on me, especially in the fall when they're looking for heat. Here's another picture that shows an interesting effect of this lens (or software, I'm not sure which). Notice that the lights show a star pattern. I have many cameras and none of them do this. It's a very nice effect.

Stamfordborn said:

Very nice. When enlarged you can see the breakdown in the coloration of the wings. Very interesting. They rarely sit still for me. Nice catch.

Click to expand...

1 word. WOW !

Hey, John. That is an interesting effect. It must have something to do with the aperture but it escapes me just how this is done. It certainly makes for a great Holiday image.

Hi Wayne,

Yes. I have no idea how it's done. I believe there are software programs that do it, but I'm not sure which one. I ran through the scenes to see if it's specific to one of them, but I didn't see anything. I'll have to try it with a string of Christmas lights. I never noticed the effect until a couple of day later when I was looking at the pictures.

... john

Stamfordborn said:

Hey, John. That is an interesting effect. It must have something to do with the aperture but it escapes me just how this is done. It certainly makes for a great Holiday image.

Click to expand...

Yes. That's what I thought, when I noticed it.

.... john

chiue said:

1 word. WOW !

Click to expand...

Shinnen said:

Hi Wayne,

Yes. I have no idea how it's done. I believe there are software programs that do it, but I'm not sure which one. I ran through the scenes to see if it's specific to one of them, but I didn't see anything. I'll have to try it with a string of Christmas lights. I never noticed the effect until a couple of day later when I was looking at the pictures.

... john

Stamfordborn said:

Hey, John. That is an interesting effect. It must have something to do with the aperture but it escapes me just how this is done. It certainly makes for a great Holiday image.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I have gotten this effect with other Kodak models. I never use PP and always considered it an aperture blade result. I know that a specific number of blades results in specific effects. This is a night shot I took across the lake at the lights reflecting on the water. My Z990 produced the same "star" effect.



I was also shooting a Nikon D60 with 18-55mm kit lens. It didn't produce the "stars" but it did a better job on the reflections, the cross on the hill and the detail of the lights in the background.



But, for daylight shots I prefer the Z990 to the D60 for OOC IQ!

--
...Wes...
Hike Pics: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143811888@N02
Digital Low-Tech: https://www.lomography.com/homes/wesrichmond

Hi Wes,

Well, that's very interesting. So, you suspect it's the aperture blades; not a software related phenomenon? Could it be the lens? I have no clue what causes it; but it's very nice.

... john

Hike Pics said:

Shinnen said:

Hi Wayne,

Yes. I have no idea how it's done. I believe there are software programs that do it, but I'm not sure which one. I ran through the scenes to see if it's specific to one of them, but I didn't see anything. I'll have to try it with a string of Christmas lights. I never noticed the effect until a couple of day later when I was looking at the pictures.

... john

Stamfordborn said:

Hey, John. That is an interesting effect. It must have something to do with the aperture but it escapes me just how this is done. It certainly makes for a great Holiday image.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

I have gotten this effect with other Kodak models. I never use PP and always considered it an aperture blade result. I know that a specific number of blades results in specific effects. This is a night shot I took across the lake at the lights reflecting on the water. My Z990 produced the same "star" effect.



I was also shooting a Nikon D60 with 18-55mm kit lens. It didn't produce the "stars" but it did a better job on the reflections, the cross on the hill and the detail of the lights in the background.



But, for daylight shots I prefer the Z990 to the D60 for OOC IQ!

Click to expand...

The Z712 has a beautiful star effect. I am tempted to try and get hold of one for myself.

I find that adjusting aperture dramatically reduces or increases this effect. I'm sure that there are a number of factors coming into play here including glass and blades. Dirty glass, clean glass, bright lights, stronger bright lights, different types of lights... lights that flicker! Also, softer out of focus areas around the edges of the lens, the amount of elements inside the lens, atmosphere etc. There are so many variables and you have opened a can of worms.

Stopping down the aperture dramatically increases this effect. To point where it's quite ugly even. It's been a challenge recently for myself personally trying to find the right balance, at least that I'm happy with.




Aperture closed. Too much and quite ugly. A ten pointed flared star.




Aperture open. More of an intense glow and not as uniform. Still not pretty. Lights are probably too bright and too close.





I find personally, with multiple lights, I find the best results where you get some stars and some glows. A mixture which creates interest, I find to be the most beautiful.

The image below I like because the lights are far enough away not to be ugly and obtrusive as well as having a nice mixture of stars and bokeh glows. I would love to see this same image taken with the beautiful six pointed star of the Z712.




Still not ideal but more of a mix with better control of the flares in the centre of the lens. Notice the difference between the centre and the edges and the larger and smaller lights.

Great explanation, Sean. I expect that the lens closed down causes the light to bend more as it passes through the blades but exactly how that produces a star effect is still escaping me.

Shinnen said:

Hi Wes,

Well, that's very interesting. So, you suspect it's the aperture blades; not a software related phenomenon? Could it be the lens? I have no clue what causes it; but it's very nice.

... john

Click to expand...

Take a look at these 2 articles:

Why Do The Number Of Aperture Blades Matter?

Diffraction, Aperture and Starburst Effect

Well now, that's very interesting. I never imagined there were so many factors in play here. I guess I just lucked out when shooting my Christmas tree.

Luck o' the Irish.

..... john

Sean from Perth said:

The Z712 has a beautiful star effect. I am tempted to try and get hold of one for myself.

I find that adjusting aperture dramatically reduces or increases this effect. I'm sure that there are a number of factors coming into play here including glass and blades. Dirty glass, clean glass, bright lights, stronger bright lights, different types of lights... lights that flicker! Also, softer out of focus areas around the edges of the lens, the amount of elements inside the lens, atmosphere etc. There are so many variables and you have opened a can of worms.

Stopping down the aperture dramatically increases this effect. To point where it's quite ugly even. It's been a challenge recently for myself personally trying to find the right balance, at least that I'm happy with.


Aperture closed. Too much and quite ugly. A ten pointed flared star.


Aperture open. More of an intense glow and not as uniform. Still not pretty. Lights are probably too bright and too close.

I find personally, with multiple lights, I find the best results where you get some stars and some glows. A mixture which creates interest, I find to be the most beautiful.

The image below I like because the lights are far enough away not to be ugly and obtrusive as well as having a nice mixture of stars and bokeh glows. I would love to see this same image taken with the beautiful six pointed star of the Z712.


Still not ideal but more of a mix with better control of the flares in the centre of the lens. Notice the difference between the centre and the edges and the larger and smaller lights.

Click to expand...

The other thing I like about this camera (z712) is the low iso (64) setting. I find this iso much more forgiving, with respect to bringing out dark areas, and sharpening, without introducing too much noise.

.... john

Shinnen said:

The other thing I like about this camera (z712) is the low iso (64) setting. I find this iso much more forgiving, with respect to bringing out dark areas, and sharpening, without introducing too much noise.

.... john

Click to expand...

Dreamy

Nice article. Wanted to show this to others to entice them over to it. Thanks.





--
Happy Snappin'
Wayne46 (aka: JamesD)

Great lens, nice reach, easy to carry, and it took this:


Superintendent's Award, Iowa State Fair Photo Salon

Hi Wayne,

Why put aside the P-series?

........ john

Shinnen said:

Hi Wayne,

Why put aside the P-series?

........ john

Click to expand...

Hi John,

I had to think hard about your question since the thread was started a month or so ago. It was my belief that the P-series is pretty much agreed upon to be the best that Kodak produced for its digital consumer market so it would be a given that anyone having a P-series camera would simply opt for it. My question was: beyond the P-series, what would be your favorite Kodak?