[karaoke]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this site and having had a good look around it looks like an excelent forum. I'm the proud owner of a K10D that my brother very kindly bought me and I use it to shot karaoke singers (sometime I wish it was a gun). I then put them up on the internet at http://www.lenskaraoke.com

I've recently found that I'd be better uploading square photos rather the standard size the K10D produces and I've searched the net and the instruction book that came with the camera to see if I can set the K10D to take square photos but to no avail. At the moment it looks like I'll have to crop all my photos to put on the site unless someone out there knows better.

Hope someone can help.

Cheers, Len

[konraDarnok]

As far as I know, there is no in-camera square formatting option.

If you have photoshop, it's relatively easy to automate the process of cropping your photos.

Actions automate repetitive Photoshop tasks

That link will tell you how to create an action in photoshop to automate the process.

[Peter Zack]

There's no way 'in camera' to have the camera crop the shot to a square format. If it could, the effect would be the same as a Post Processing crop anyway. The chip would have some form of crop setting that would turn off the pick-up of light on the sides. If the lens had a reduced crop image circle the effect would also be the same. So you wouldn't get more MP per shot with a square image over a square crop. Just have an auto setting in your software to crop those images the same way. Fast and simple.

Just shoot RAW (and not bullets) so you have as much data to work with later.

Welcome to PF!

[Mike Cash]

If you want square photos straight out of the camera.....you got the wrong camera.

[NaClH2O]

Mike, what a lovely piece of machinery! And if I'm not mistaken, it's got Live View too!

NaCl(who said film is old fashioned!)H2O

[simons-photography]

crop in post processing at least you have something to play with

[karaoke]

Thanks for that everyone

I thought it may be the case that I couldn't use a square format but I guess it was worth asking.
I have an apple laptop with iPhoto on it and I've found a very simple way to crop my pictures, repeating the same crop on all the photos that I upload.

The reason I wanted to do it in camera was to avoid Post Processing cropping. I much prefer to take the photos that I want and not do any editing work on the computer because of the time involved just doing the site on its own, let alone having to do extra work to the photos. I'm not looking for more MPs per shot as I shot in raw and I am happy with the result of the cropped photo quality.

I like the Yashica idea but it just wouldn't work in the fast world we live in today (sad isn't it)

At the end of the day throughout my photographic life I've always strived to take photos in a fast efficient manner, filling the frame with what I want on the photo. That was in the film day's, and. today I don't see why it should be any different with a digital camera, but having said that I can't afford a square format digital so I'll just have to carry on the way I do it now cos I can't see my brother buying me another camera, still, I can live in hope.

Len

[bymy141]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this site and having had a good look around it looks like an excelent forum. I'm the proud owner of a K10D that my brother very kindly bought me and I use it to shot karaoke singers (sometime I wish it was a gun). I then put them up on the internet at http://www.lenskaraoke.com

I've recently found that I'd be better uploading square photos rather the standard size the K10D produces and I've searched the net and the instruction book that came with the camera to see if I can set the K10D to take square photos but to no avail. At the moment it looks like I'll have to crop all my photos to put on the site unless someone out there knows better.

Hope someone can help.

Cheers, Len

Hi,

The K10D has an APS-C size sensor, that has the same aspect ratio (3:2) as a "normal" 35mm film camera.
Cameras that let you can change the aspect ratio (16:9, 4:3, 3:2, 1:1 or something else), will just cut the sensor generated image to a crop of this ratio and ignores the rest of the image generated. They loose image information that you may want to have saved to later move around with your crop.
You can use very many software packages to do the same on your PC and decide just then what part of the picture you'd like to have.

No, there is no such feature in the camera. However, it's better to create this square image in post processing.

- Bert

[davemdsn]

Len, I see by your web site that you have access to applications like Automator and Preview. These tools let you automate the process of cropping the images very quickly, without having to purchase a new program. In Automator, start with a custom process and select 'photos' in the left hand column. In the middle column find 'crop images' and drag it to the left column. You will be prompted to add a copy files action, which I recommend. Select the pixel dimensions you want your new square photo to be, then save the process as an application. When using this application you will want to make sure that your subject is centered since all the crops will be in the exact same place.

[BBear]

I'm the proud owner of a K10D that my brother very kindly bought me and I use it to shot karaoke singers (sometime I wish it was a gun).

As mentioned by others, photoshop can do what you want... But in case you dont have Photoshop, there is a free and actually much easier solution: Microsoft Office Picture Manager


I dont ever recommend MS software, but this little Office Pic Manager actually crops in like 2-steps and even converts/compress JPEGs..


not even my ACDSee can crop photos that easily... Props to MS on this one.


It comes with the latest MS Office bundle... so maybe you have it already in ur PC.


Later

[karaoke]

Hello again,

I've just had a quick look at doing this job in Automator and it does look very interesting so I'll play with it when I have some time free. At the moment I change 1 page of 12 singers per week and I can actually update my web software in about 25 mins whilst I run a karaoke show on the same laptop, which, doesn't sound like a long time, but there are times when I need to create 6 to 10 pages on the night and that is when I need shortcuts.

I used to use photoshop but I found iphoto easier to use for the results I need, but I will look at Microsoft Office Picture Manager, again when I have a little time

Cheers, Len.

[Mike Cash]

I like the Yashica idea but it just wouldn't work in the fast world we live in today (sad isn't it)

Sometimes you have to stand up against the world and insist that it move at your pace. Don't you ever feel like slowing down and smelling the roses? That's what I use the TLRs for.

[karaoke]

How right you are, just thinking about makes me want a TLR, but I wonder when one becomes nostalgic and it becomes a reality (I actually get my hands back on a TLR) will I wish I'd left it to fond memories. I always believed in leaving something behind and wanting more rather than leaving something behind and being glad I did because I've over done it. I think the slowness of life pictured does appeal in todays mad and fast world, but then I have always been impatient for the results, (thats why I go to a fishmongers rather than going fishing) so, on total reflection, I'll leave to my fond nostalgic and very happy memories.

PS I've just read your post again and I'm not going to read it again because I'm beginning to hanker for days gone by, too much. What a wonderful life.

Len

[Mike Cash]

Interesting that you mention fishing. I used to have a friend with whom I went fishing every Thursday. We'd take my boat and go out on a lake or river for the whole day....from sunrise to sunset. As often as not we'd come home empty-handed. My wife asked if it wasn't discouraging to not catch anything. I informed her that catching fish was not the point or purpose of going fishing. By any rational or economic assessment, were the fish themselves the goal I would have been far, far better off purchasing them.

Recently, I went for a nice long photo-hike in town and she asked me if I got any nice photos. I told her that if I had as my goal going after a nice photo I would have driven to a specific, pre-determined site, done the shoot, and come straight home.

Photography was the excuse for the hike. And the hike was the excuse for the photography. I would have done neither without the other. And I had a grand time, aimlessly wandering about and shooting what I wanted, when I wanted, and at as leisurely a pace as I felt like it.

It doesn't have to to be TLR. Do it with your DSLR if you like. They pick up the scent of roses just as well....if you slow down enough.

[karaoke]

Thanks davemdsn for that.

I've got round to understanding Automator now and instead of using it for my original query, I've started to use it to build the website, now THAT is saving me loads of time and it means I can manually resize my photos in iPhoto and I get to see the image thats going up in the net plus, the way I've discovered to do it in iPhoto is very fast, it's just a case of clicking forward to the next photo and if no adjustment is needed I click forward again and again and again till I've finished.

Anyway thanks again

Len