Response to the Future of NikonGear.net/.com/.org

[Michael Erlewine]

Dear Michael!
I do not see the difference between you and Karl, except for the wording.
You got your style of imaging which is a kind of a spiritual journey as you have often described in the past.
I never quite understood your obcession with gear, because as you say, MEANING is what you aim for.
Love
Frank

I don't have an 'obsession with gear', thank you very much. What does interest me is what the kind of gear we have can do as far the resulting photos we produce.  I started learning about equipment years ago, of course, but got a huge boost from Birna's early site and learning about what makes lenses useful or not.

Trying to find (for me) the proper use of cameras and lenses has been important, but not at the expense of taking photographs. I have taken over a million images, and got very much into APO (apochromatic) lenses and how they add to the quality of my work. And they add a lot.

Photo by Nikon mirrorless Z7II and the APO El Nikkor 105mm f/5.6 lens on the Cambo Actus Mini.

I also have created about 15,000 AI graphic illustrations and am getting pretty good at it. Here is one I created for an article on mudras I wrote today for my Facebook blog. In this AI system, you can specify camera body by brand, and various lenses, so this is also coming, ready or not.

[golunvolo]

I don't have an 'obsession with gear', thank you very much. What does interest me is what the kind of gear we have can do as far the resulting photos we produce.  I started learning about equipment years ago, of course, but got a huge boost from Birna's early site and learning about what makes lenses useful or not.

Trying to find (for me) the proper use of cameras and lenses has been important, but not at the expense of taking photographs. I have taken over a million images, and got very much into APO (apochromatic) lenses and how they add to the quality of my work. And they add a lot.

Photo by Nikon mirrorless Z7II and the APO El Nikkor 105mm f/5.6 lens on the Cambo Actus Mini.

I also have created about 15,000 AI graphic illustrations and am getting pretty good at it. Here is one I created for an article on mudras I wrote today for my Facebook blog. In this AI system, you can specify camera body by brand, and various lenses, so this is also coming, ready or not.

  Michael, is the second image AI generated?

[Michael Erlewine]

  Michael, is the second image AI generated?

Of course it is. I pointed out that it is one of about 15,000 AI graphic images I have prompted and shaped. It is not easy to make great AI graphics, either.

It's coming and I like being on top of it rather thanbehind the 8-ball.  A really good AI model, similar but better (IMO) to ChatGPT is Grok. Try it out.

[golunvolo]

Of course it is. I pointed out that it is one of about 15,000 AI graphic images I have prompted and shaped. It is not easy to make great AI graphics, either.

It's coming and I like being on top of it rather thanbehind the 8-ball.  A really good AI model, similar but better (IMO) to ChatGPT is Grok. Try it out.

  Impressive, again. That's why I asked even after reading your comment. I'm sure it can not be easy. Most images I see generated with AI are not even close to what you achieve

[Michael Erlewine]

  Impressive, again. That's why I asked even after reading your comment. I'm sure it can not be easy. Most images I see generated with AI are not even close to what you achieve

Well, I have been on Midjourney AI graphic engine since it first became available a couple years ago. I have done some 15,000 separate images, often taking many attempts to correctly prompt an image I find acceptable. It has save me many dollars from having to licence images online. I blog to around 20,000 folks and I like to illustrate my essays with an appropriate image. Licensing brought sub-standard images, while prompting properly produces good images. These are illustrations and not attempt at fine art, but they help a lot.

I don't make a big deal of my AI graphics. These are just illustrations and I don't worry over them as I do photographs. It is just easier to get reasonably good at prompting useful illusttrations than it is to sort through hundreds of thousands of commerical images, looking for one that will more-or-less go with my blog or essay, and then have to pay for it.

By creating my own images, I get illustrations that are much closer to what I need than any licenseable images. My readers can't even tell that many are not actual photographs although on each AI image that I post I clearly state:

[Midjourney graphic prompted by me.]

In a couple more years, we will not be able to tell the difference between AI illustrations of camera born images.  Both are constructs. As they say, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." Also, I am kind of keeping up with what's happening in image creating.

[Frank Fremerey]

Nikon Z7II, Nikon "O" CRT 55mm f/1.5 lens

Is this a single shot image or a "painting from several shots" as you like to do it in the past?


If it is a single shot I understand your sentiment about the lens because rendering is so beautiful.


If not than I am stunned and confused as always.

[Frank Fremerey]

You are on the cutting edge with this picture / illustration.


Question:


Is that Grok or Midjourney?
Did you promt a lens version?


just wow

[Frank Fremerey]

this is a photo I have taken today but in 2017. How would you prompt it, Michael?


You can take away the reflection from the window in the eye if you want and yes, the lens is the 1.4/35mm Nikkor Ai-S made in Japan in 2006

[Michael Erlewine]

this is a photo I have taken today but in 2017. How would you prompt it, Michael?


You can take away the reflection from the window in the eye if you want and yes, the lens is the 1.4/35mm Nikkor Ai-S made in Japan in 2006

As I find time, I will write an introdution as to how to get into prompting graphic images. It's not trivial, but like anything else requires our attention and there is a learning curve.

Like so many things, the only way to learn, IMO, is to have something you need, in my case an illustration to go along with an essay or blog. That's what drives me. I need illustrations on a daily basis.

Here is a Midjourney graphic I prompted for an article about the return of the sun in spring; it is cold here in northern Michigan.

[Fons Baerken]

I have been taking meaningful photos since 1956. If this is what NikonGear has become, so be it. I am not interested in what you describe above, a sorry end to a great forum.  If this is the general tone of this forum, may it RIP.

Nikon Z7II, Nikon "O" CRT 55mm f/1.5 lens

Michael which lens adapter do you use here?

[Michael Erlewine]

Michael which lens adapter do you use here?

I don't remember, but it is simply an adapter for, I believe, 39 mm.

Here is another image taken with the same CRT 55mm f/15 Nikkor.

[Michael Erlewine]

Discussion of AI Illustrations should have a place of its own. Here is an article about how to get started in AI graphics.

https://nikongear.net/revival/index.php?topic=11185.0

[Frank Fremerey]

Thank You

As I find time, I will write an introdution as to how to get into prompting graphic images. It's not trivial, but like anything else requires our attention and there is a learning curve.

Like so many things, the only way to learn, IMO, is to have something you need, in my case an illustration to go along with an essay or blog. That's what drives me. I need illustrations on a daily basis.

Here is a Midjourney graphic I prompted for an article about the return of the sun in spring; it is cold here in northern Michigan.