Playing with a ZR1100

[Urbanito]

Hi Eric:

I think that I was one of the first to use Clearviewer. I am using it with Panasonic TZ 40, LX5 (special made) and also a Canon SX220 (specially made, after sending the measurements to Gary).

I love it, specially the best lens one) and they are always mounted on my cameras. Keep talking about it, since it is one of the best accessories we can buy.

Kind regards,

Joao

 

[Guy Parsons]

You gave as a good flavor of your Casio capabilities.

I will not use HDR at all and prefer the P ones.

The ZR200 is my wife's only camera at the moment and when we travel the HDR mode is used often to capture those scenes that may be both bathed in sunlight and also have deep shadows. Used at a low setting the results are very good indeed.

To get similar results with my Micro 4/3 camera I need to use RAW and tinker a lot with curves or with HDR sliders.

Don't be put off buy those horrible overcooked HDR shots that some people like, they can be made to be quite natural in appearance.

Meanwhile while I was waiting for the line tech to fix our dead phone and internet connection, I was playing with the ZR1000 and seeing what digital zoom can do.

It is surprisingly good at delivering a 1200mm equivalent image, but it needs to be on the mode dial SR zoom where it takes multiple shots and recombines them, plus it MUST be on a tripod and 2 or 12 second delay release as there's no way on earth that any living human can hold a camera steady enough at that 1200mm equivalent.

The aside is that I find the ZR1000 a pain to use after playing with the ZR200, that silly "dial" thing on the ZR1000 screen means that there's a lot more button presses to get anything done. I would never buy that model (or similar) again, the "lesser" ZR models are better to use for me.

Regards..... Guy

 

[RayUK]

Whilst waiting for my ZR800 to arrive, I am wondering how I will cope without a viewfinder again. I saw a customer review of an earlier model which claimed that the screen was visible in bright sun, any experiences of recent models to share in this regard ? I've got a Delkin hood which I've had for some time but never used, otherwise I suppose it's another import of the Clearviewer.

Ray

 

[Guy Parsons]

Whilst waiting for my ZR800 to arrive, I am wondering how I will cope without a viewfinder again. I saw a customer review of an earlier model which claimed that the screen was visible in bright sun, any experiences of recent models to share in this regard ? I've got a Delkin hood which I've had for some time but never used, otherwise I suppose it's another import of the Clearviewer.

Ray

I gave up on viewfinders ages ago as a non-natural way to use a camera. Only use the screens now. Sure, sometimes it's hard to see but framing is usually no problem. That's with Olympus Micro4/3 cameras and also the Casio ZR200 and ZR1000 and Panasonic LX3.

I use some cameras with tilt screens and some without, and the tilt screens definitely make reflections off the screen less of a problem. Wearing a dark shirt is also a good idea as a white shirt reflects too much off the screen at times.

Regards...... Guy

 

[Urbanito]

Hi Guy:

Thank you very much for your information about Casio HDR. When I get my camera, I will try it.

Clearviewer is a very different device. It is really fantastic and once you use it, you will never regret, I am quite sure.

Have a nice day.

Kind regards

Joao

 

[robbo2]

The main reason I got my first Casio (FH20) and then the ZR100 and the ZR1100, was the 40 (30) FPS. In good light, it's ideal for analyzing a movement in baseball, soccer, track and field (particularly the 110m high hurdles. It doesn't have the picture quality of some other (almost all much more expensive) cameras, but you can get great 8" X 10" prints. Nighttime baseball is not the ideal situation - pitchers are throwing over 90 MPH and balls are flying off the bat at up to 130 MPH. I wish I had an EX-100, but for the time being the ZR1100 is fine. Here's a shot from a nighttime baseball game last week in Seattle.




ISO 800, I think.

 

[Urbanito]

Great shot robbo2.

Best regards,

 

[robbo2]

Dear all,

I previouslyu posted a picture taken with my FZ200 (Panasonic) at the same game. That's why I was able to get 1/400 second shutter speed at a night game. I do have some other shots taken with the Casio and will try to post them later. Sorry.

 

[Erik Ohlson]

You gave as a good flavor of your Casio capabilities.

I will not use HDR at all and prefer the P ones.

The ZR200 is my wife's only camera at the moment and when we travel the HDR mode is used often to capture those scenes that may be both bathed in sunlight and also have deep shadows. Used at a low setting the results are very good indeed.

To get similar results with my Micro 4/3 camera I need to use RAW and tinker a lot with curves or with HDR sliders.

Don't be put off buy those horrible overcooked HDR shots that some people like, they can be made to be quite natural in appearance.

Meanwhile while I was waiting for the line tech to fix our dead phone and internet connection, I was playing with the ZR1000 and seeing what digital zoom can do.

It is surprisingly good at delivering a 1200mm equivalent image, but it needs to be on the mode dial SR zoom where it takes multiple shots and recombines them, plus it MUST be on a tripod and 2 or 12 second delay release as there's no way on earth that any living human can hold a camera steady enough at that 1200mm equivalent.

The aside is that I find the ZR1000 a pain to use after playing with the ZR200, that silly "dial" thing on the ZR1000 screen means that there's a lot more button presses to get anything done. I would never buy that model (or similar) again, the "lesser" ZR models are better to use for me.

Regards..... Guy

I was just looking in the PDF Manual for my ZS700, and noticed this on Page 93:





If I'm not mistaken, that means one gets an HDR + a regular shot of the scene.







--
"Measure wealth not by things you have but by things for which you would not take money"
www.flickr.com/ohlsonmh/ [email protected]

 

[Erik Ohlson]

Whilst waiting for my ZR800 to arrive, I am wondering how I will cope without a viewfinder again. I saw a customer review of an earlier model which claimed that the screen was visible in bright sun, any experiences of recent models to share in this regard ? I've got a Delkin hood which I've had for some time but never used, otherwise I suppose it's another import of the Clearviewer.

Ray

I gave up on viewfinders ages ago as a non-natural way to use a camera. Only use the screens now. Sure, sometimes it's hard to see but framing is usually no problem. That's with Olympus Micro4/3 cameras and also the Casio ZR200 and ZR1000 and Panasonic LX3.

I use some cameras with tilt screens and some without, and the tilt screens definitely make reflections off the screen less of a problem. Wearing a dark shirt is also a good idea as a white shirt reflects too much off the screen at times.

Regards...... Guy

OK, the solution to this problem is called "Clearviewer": MUCH better viewfinder, and solves all the "Glare" problems:



A folding magnifier that attaches to the tripod socket. You look right into the lens like looking through a telescope (my thumb is pushed away by my nose) and the hands shade the screen from glare. What you see is a HUGE version of the screen, Icons and all, I recently got a Panasonic ZS40 (TZ 60 in OZ & EU) with it's built-in EVF, which I used for a couple of shots and then went back to the Clearviewer - there is no way I'd give up this beautiful eye-level viewfinder for that tiny EVF.

It folds up to about 6-7mm against the back of the camera when not in use - and serves as bump protection for the LCD:

As Urbanito has said (on the top of this page:

"I think that I was one of the first to use Clearviewer. I am using it with Panasonic TZ 40, LX5 (special made) and also a Canon SX220 (specially made, after sending the measurements to Gary).

I love it, specially the best lens one) and they are always mounted on my cameras. Keep talking about it, since it is one of the best accessories we can buy."

Kind regards,

Joao

If you want to see before you buy, any moderate power magnifier, or a 50mm lens from your old film SLR will show the effect pretty well. Mine is on my camera - in my pocket, 24/7/365, and has been for a number of years.







--
"Measure wealth not by things you have but by things for which you would not take money"
www.flickr.com/ohlsonmh/ [email protected]

 

[Guy Parsons]

Erik Ohlson wrote: ...... I was just looking in the PDF Manual for my ZS700, and noticed this on Page 93: [pic snip]

If I'm not mistaken, that means one gets an HDR + a regular shot of the scene.

Absolutely. It can yield a normal shot as well as the often excruciating HDR Art shot. Found the same feature on my ZR1000 but is absent on my wife's ZR200.

Usually Lyn takes a normal shot, then and HDR shot if needed, and then if we think it could work at all also take an HDR Art shot just to have a laugh. She often uses the HDR feature to good effect but keeps it low so the result looks normal.

I found some filters in Nik Colour Efex Pro 3 (a "freebie" with PaintShop Pro X5 Ultimate) that cab do a better looking job that HDR Art from the camera, plus of course the Nik filters are fully adjustable.

Regards....... Guy

 

[Guy Parsons]

Well aware of the Clearviewer and saw the early days when Gary was developing it. Previously with an Olympus C-5060 I had crunched a 35mm slide viewer as a viewer for the LCD with great success.

In my case I don't use eye level viewfinders any more at all now, I find them highly annoying and unnatural. Only use LCD view and held at height where needed to shoot from.

In my early days with Panasonic LX3 I was plagued by reflections off the LCD and contemplated the Clearviewer but didn't want to add bulk and was already off using viewfinders. So I added a Boxwave anti-glare film to the LCD and that made framing possible at the expense of slight diffusion and slight loss of resolution on the LCD.

Since then all my cameras have had screens that did not reflect so much so no screen covers are needed for Casio and Olympus.

When totally desperate to see the LCD clearly (has happened only once in near year and a half with my Oly E-PL5) on a highly reflective pebble beach, I just threw my jacket over my head and camera and copied old time plate photography for a perfect view of the LCD.

Regards.... Guy

 

[Erik Ohlson]

Bulk ?

¿ What "bulk":

? - ;-)



--

"Measure wealth not by things you have but by things for which you would not take money"
www.flickr.com/ohlsonmh/ [email protected]

 

[robbo2]

Attached is the picture I had intended to post.

 

[Guy Parsons]

Bulk ?

¿ What "bulk":

Well it adds enough to body fatness to make it too squeezy with some belt pouches and certain cameras. Need to maybe get a slightly bigger pouch in some cases. Besides, the bulk is not so much a worry as the fact that I hate viewfinder style viewing now.

Regards...... Guy

 

[rube39]

You would love the EX-100 (just available in some Asian countries after the initial Japanese release, is in the database here, but not announced in the main page): 1/1.7" sensor, 28-300 mm , constant 2.8 aperture, dual bracketing http://www.casio-intl.com/asia-mea/en/dc/ex_100/ (one shutter press -> 9 resultant images), using two bracketing variables.

http://www.casio-intl.com/asia-mea/en/dc/ex_100/expression/

And comes with tilting LCD. DPR seems to have waiting for one to review

But would be much more expensive than the ZR100 / ZR1200

They are going for ¥77,000 plus right now in Japan, but have only been out for 2 months. Hopefully the price will drop.

カシオ HIGH SPEED EXILIM EX-100 価格比較

■最安価格(税込)：価格情報の登録がありません　■価格.com売れ筋ランキング：-位　■満足度レビュー：4.84(6人)　■クチコミ：380件 （※11月8日時点）

kakaku.com

 

[robbo2]

Here's an art shot taken from near where I work.

 

[Urbanito]

Hello:

As nobody looks to Casio Forum, I would like to say that my EX-ZR800 just arrived. As I said there, I am flirting with that white beauty.

I am sorry to express on this thread my joy and hope, since nobody reads my thread.

Thanks a lot for your understanding.

Joao

 

[robbo2]

Congratulations! I look forward to seeing your pictures. I debated over whether to get the ZR800 or the ZR1100. I chose the ZR1100 because I wanted to be able to take some time lapse videos without a tripod.

We are all waiting for your pictures! Fire away!

 

[Urbanito]

I just ordered a Clearviewer to my new Casio. I hope that Gary can do one. My first experience is that, for me, the amount of glare is not tolerable.

Best regards

Joao