HDR Showdown

If you have been following my blog, you will know I am a big fan of train interior shots.  I have always considered the below train interior image one of my best pictures.  Originally it was taken as a 3 shot bracketed HDR edited with Photomatix.

I have been using Photomatix for my HDR work for over a year but I haven't really been happy with the "softness" that the images produce.  Today I purchased a copy of HDR Efex Pro and re-edited the image.  The difference in quality is stunning. HDR Efex Pro left a brighter, more realistic image that is sharp and clean.  Look at the details in the train ceiling. Look at the richness of the wall colors.

I am hooked. HDR Efex Pro rocks. The editing controls are simple and clear. The detail it produces is fantastic. But at the same time, it is far from perfect. I tried to re-edit a bracketed landscape image from last year and the Photomatix results are fantastic while HDR Efex Pro really made a mess out of the image.  I think both products are great to have, depending on the image type.

I played around with some bracketed image of Vasco Caves and found that Efex Pro did a nice job. You can see the image is slightly sharper.

Photomatix HDR

HDR Efex Pro

Photomatix

HDR Efex Pro

D600 repair status

Just giving an update on my repair.  Nikon received my package on Wednesday. Saturday morning they sent me an email with my service number and details:

1) Covered under warranty. No cost

2) Problem Description from Nikon: • EXPOSURE OFF -- OVEREXPOSURE • CHECK SENSOR - CLN -

3) Category is a B2: Moderate Repair-Major parts replacement.

Wonder what would qualify for major parts replacement?

New Online Store

Yes, I have tried this in the past but I think I finally found a really simple and fast online store for photographers who may not need a fancy custom store.

The store comes from Image Kind, which appears to be the same company that owns CafePress.

Setup is easy. You can login with your Flickr account and you can import your images directly from Flickr.

They have pricing options from free to under $99 a year. You pick your pricing and markup for the items you sell.

So go ahead and check out my store. And of course buy something:

http://rhmimages.imagekind.com/store/

D600 Sensor spots

After 2000 images on my D600 I decided it was time to send it into Nikon to have the sensor professionally cleaned.  The amount of dirt was just out of control and it was becoming too hard to "repair" every spot.

Below is an cropped example of the upper left corner of an enhanced image that shows off the amount of dirt/oil/dust that is stuck to the sensor. If you look at a larger view of the image, you can see at least 15 spots.

I took about 500 more "junk" shots to get the count to 2500, packed up the camera and shipped it off for repair. I hope Nikon is fast.