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To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).

Started Jun 26, 2016 | Discussions
They call me Hans
They call me Hans Regular Member • Posts: 468
To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).
13

"Dream of the Wild." - Lost lake, Oregon.

Last week I went on a camping trip with my girlfriend to Lost Lake, just North of Mount Hood in Oregon. I haven't been since I was a kid, and I was really excited to go with my camera gear.

I brought along My Nikon F2A and some lenses, and my new Samsung NX300. I decided that at least one of the nights I should try for some star trails. Of course, it happened to be the night of the fool moon...lol.

but the results, IMO, were fantastic. I'm amazed with how well this sensor functions in low light, and clearly it's damn good with long exposures. I'm a recent Micro 4/3 migrant (from Olympus EM1), and I don't think I'd ever taken a photo as good as this one with that camera.

Critique is welcome! I don't often do night or astro photography, so any insight is appreciated.

A couple notes about the photo:

- Yes, I wish the log was in focus, but it was almost pitch black and couldn't get the focus right, so I opted for the trees just under the moon instead.

- De-noising was at max, and even tried doing more in photo shop after light room, but alas. This was the best I could get.

- I had two edits of this photo that I really liked. A darker one, which had a more mysterious effect to it, and a much lighter version where at a glance it looked like it was broad daylight. In the end I opted to try and meet in the middle.

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"You buy an (Mazda RX-7) FD for the same reason that you shoot with a manual lens, when an auto focus will do just fine...you do it because it's hard. Because it's a challenge."
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 They call me Hans's gear list:They call me Hans's gear list
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Dakitess Regular Member • Posts: 129
Re: To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).

Very nice, quite original actually !

So this is a single shot ? Not a stacking ?

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bancika
bancika Regular Member • Posts: 421
Re: To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).

at first I thought it was shot in the middle of the day

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jimrpdx
jimrpdx Veteran Member • Posts: 3,954
Re: To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).

Excellent shot of a beautiful scene. Other than cloning out the magenta moon-echo, I don't see much room for improvement.

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Jim near Kelso: µ43 & NX, friend of Pentax - - http://granitix.blogspot.com

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They call me Hans
OP They call me Hans Regular Member • Posts: 468
Re: To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).

Dakitess wrote:

Very nice, quite original actually !

So this is a single shot ? Not a stacking ?

Thank you!

Yes, just one 30 second exposure at f 3.5 if i remember correctly.

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"You buy an (Mazda RX-7) FD for the same reason that you shoot with a manual lens, when an auto focus will do just fine...you do it because it's hard. Because it's a challenge."
-Regular Car reviews

 They call me Hans's gear list:They call me Hans's gear list
Sony RX100 Olympus E-M5 II Olympus 14-150 F4-5.6 II Rokinon 12mm F2.0 NCS CS Google Pixel 2
jimrpdx
jimrpdx Veteran Member • Posts: 3,954
Re: To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).

It definitely shows that timing and a creative eye can do great things with a basic kit lens in today's world. The f/2-2.8 monster zoom would be great fun and perhaps better under extreme scrutiny - but you saw the image and captured it just fine.

Love Lost Lake by the way; we used to stay in the cabins back in the late '60s. I still remember a trip where my mom was stung by a late-season wasp while cooking some meaty meal for her family.

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Jim near Kelso: µ43 & NX, friend of Pentax - - http://granitix.blogspot.com

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Harleysoftail
Harleysoftail Contributing Member • Posts: 506
Re: To date, the best photo I've taken (NX300).

jimrpdx wrote:

Excellent shot of a beautiful scene. Other than cloning out the magenta moon-echo, I don't see much room for improvement.

My thoughts exactly!

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Ben Herrmann
Ben Herrmann Forum Pro • Posts: 21,163
As an avid multi-brand camera user...
1

I can definitely agree with your OP.  I enjoy shooting with a variety of brands and up until 3-4 years ago, I always discounted the NX line of cameras.  After all, I thought, Samsung was for appliances and TV sets - not serious cameras...sigh.

But the lure of a great deal on both the enthusiast EX2F, and an NX300 kit made me jump into the fray - and I'm very glad that I did.  As a result, the NX system was added to my list of wonderful photographic toys.  I love the ergonomics of the likes of the NX300, NX30, and NX500 and they are staying in my collection until they go "kaput."

The NX300 has pleasantly surprised me with its gorgeous color tonality and its high definition files really stand out of the crowd (for those properly taken and expertedly PP'd).  I don't shoot in JPG mode - only RAW - and I've been able to coax some wonderful files from those conversions.  Now, I personally don't share your admiration for the high ISO capabilities of the NX300, other than the fact that I keep that camera handy for ISO 2500 and below.  Now the NX500 bests it in that arena - by a long time (IMO, that is).

That evening lake shot you provided us is wonderful - it evokes feeling of calm and peace (something that we all need now-a-days).  Sh_t - now I'm miffed again at Samsung for depriving us of their future R&D within the NX line!!!!!!

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Semper Fidelis...
Bernd ("Ben") W. Herrmann
Master Gunnery Sergeant
US Marine Corps (Retired)
North Carolina, USA

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ThomasJP New Member • Posts: 1
Re: As an avid multi-brand camera user...
3

Great Shot! If you go back to Lost Lake on a clear new moon this summer, you can get Mt. Hood with the Milky Way behind it. I took this late last summer so the lighting wasn't perfect but you get the idea.

Veducci Senior Member • Posts: 1,359
Re: As an avid multi-brand camera user...

And the bonus is the currently fire sale prices of the Samsung NX `s.

I had seller`s remorse a week after I sold my NX300 so I just picked up another (like new) NX300 w/18-55 f/3.5 complete kit for $184.00.

I don`t know of anything else that could beat this value.

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They call me Hans
OP They call me Hans Regular Member • Posts: 468
Re: As an avid multi-brand camera user...

ThomasJP wrote:

Great Shot! If you go back to Lost Lake on a clear new moon this summer, you can get Mt. Hood with the Milky Way behind it. I took this late last summer so the lighting wasn't perfect but you get the idea.

Wow....About what time was this?

I'm definitely heading back up there sometime this summer, but I've hopped back on the Olympus train (Sorry guys :/)

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"You buy an (Mazda RX-7) FD for the same reason that you shoot with a manual lens, when an auto focus will do just fine...you do it because it's hard. Because it's a challenge."
-Regular Car reviews

 They call me Hans's gear list:They call me Hans's gear list
Sony RX100 Olympus E-M5 II Olympus 14-150 F4-5.6 II Rokinon 12mm F2.0 NCS CS Google Pixel 2
nitrokill
nitrokill Regular Member • Posts: 118
Re: As an avid multi-brand camera user...
1

here is my best shot OF the NX 500

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