1 and 5: Either should be fine, especially if the seller is reputable and has reviews. Many sells will have a store on multiple sites, but in some cases people will resell other people’s work. See if you can track down the original creator to support them 2: I suspect everyone will want STLs they won’t have to do any processing on. What do I mean? Well, I could give you a STL for a piece that’s massively too large and would need to be split into pieces or a different STL that will be impossible to print well. I suspect print services won’t want to deal with this, will charge for it, and/or you might not be happy with the final outcome 3: If you’re paying someone to print the parts, they will likely have larger format printers. However, this might cost some $$ 5: It depends how thick the designs are and how strong you want them to be (more perimeters = stronger), but keep in mind that you’re also paying for machine time and potentially processing (eg surface finishing, support removal, etc). To get a feel for a quote without buying this design, find some cosplay armor on something like printables and use that for quotes

I think I have two general responses.

I think you’re right in that photography and the style of photographs has evolved with technology. Each of those technological steps has been partially shaped by art (what makes it to market) and taste (what succeeds in the market). Additionally, darkrooms gave a lot of leeway for the look of the final image. This also ties into what makes for a compelling image - you’re often looking for a dramatic scene, a subject that’s a bit out of the norm, and/or unique lighting. Yeah, there are street photographs of everyday people doing everyday things in normal lighting, but they often aren’t that compelling.

In other words, photography is often stylized. I personally think that’s OK, especially when you consider how flat lightly processed photos are.

The good news in today’s world: if you shoot digital you can shoot raw + jpeg and change the look of the image pretty drastically with non-destructive edits. I’ve re-edited photos I’ve taken over a decade ago and changed their look significantly. I can do the same again in another 10 years if it strikes my fancy.

In my experience, recognizing when there is an opportunity for a good photo and framing are the most important components of getting a good shot. Everything else only helps make getting that shot easier.

A dedicated camera with a fast lens won’t make zoo lights a clinch, but it sure does make life a lot easier.

I’ve commented along these lines before, but here it is again.

First, the best camera in the world is the one you have on you. Have an urge? Take the photo with what ya got, even if that is your phone. On the other hand, try to be more intentional about bringing your camera with you when you venture into the world. This will probably take finding the right lens and overall package size, but I bring my camera and a compact lens with me on most family activities as a result.

Second, for well lit subjects that aren’t moving much and aren’t that far away modern cellphones are generally fine. Yeah, a dedicated camera with a fast lens can create a nicer looking background if you’re simply sharing photos on the web it’s not going to matter a ton. Don’t get discouraged if this is the kind of photography you prefer.

A dedicated camera will blow a cellphone out of the water in a couple key areas. Those include:

• focus speed and control. Even with my old Nikon D40 and D5300 I feel way more confident in my ability to get focus where I want it than either my work iPhone 15 or my personal OnePlus 12. Modern mirrorless are in a league of their own, especially when you pair them with a lens that can keep up with their focusing algorithms
• the ability to capture sharp photos of things in motion thanks to more light gathering, which lets you use faster shutter speeds
• low light. I’m shooting full frame these days and with a fast lens I have no problem hand holding and taking photos of human subjects in really low light conditions
• interchangeable lenses. A long telephoto will give you way better results than a cellphone digitally zooming
• burst rates. Not all dedicated cameras have nuts frame rates, but a portion do. This makes it really easy to capture the precise moment. Yes, cellphones can do this too but since they’re sacrificing light their image quality might not be great

Four examples where I adore my gear:

1. I am the unofficial team photographer for my kids’ youth sports teams. They’re both currently doing baseball. I can sit at the end of the backstop fence, about 100 or so feet from home plate, and fill the frame with the kids batting. Thanks to high burst rates I can basically guarantee a photo of the ball hitting and just leaving the bat
2. We hang out at a lot of museums and go to night events like zoo lights. My gear lets me get great sharp photos, without blur from my family moving around, thanks to a mix of modern camera sensors being fairly low noise, fast glass, and shooting full frame
3. My older kid did a figure skating show this spring. I rented a 70-200 f/2.8 and was really impressed by the photos it was able to capture. Excellent focusing, kids filling the frame, basically no noise, tack sharp photos
4. Absolute control over exposure and a very easy shooting experience makes it a lot easier to get cool shots, like panning photos at a racetrack or even a panning shot of my kid on their bike

Happy shooting! If you have questions, make another post!

I had no idea this was even going on, so that’s a potential plus.

Stratasys filed the two lawsuits against Bambu Lab in the Eastern District of Texas, Marshall Division, in August 2024. The company claims that Bambu Lab’s X1C, X1E, P1S, P1P, A1, and A1 mini 3D printers violate ten of its patents. These patents cover common 3D printing features, including purge towers, heated build plates, tool head force detection, and networking capabilities.

I had heard that Stratasys was a bit of a patent troll, but some of those claims are news to me.

Can confirm, klipper does this too. Sincerely, someone who had a few thermistor related wire breaks.

Adding encoders to your steppers, or buying stepper motors with built in encoders, can help a lot but it’s not a cheap solution. It can also be a bit bulky, so packaging them a printer not designed for them can be tricky.

Nice! Cross post to !beebutts@lemmy.world

I also free hand. Every once in a while I wish they were more perfectly square, but then I realize I don’t actually care enough to print a fixture and have to deal with attaching/detaching my Weller.

Are these straight out of the camera JPEGs? If yes, the camera does quite a bit of onboard post processing, which can result in very different final results. If you happen to have the raw files and process both identically you’ll likely get a very similar look between the two photos.

I am a die hard laptop/desktop person but the majority of my outside of work ‘computer’ time is on my phone these days :(

Nice photo! Why would you delete it?

I suggest checking out this post. I have quite a few replies about the voron experience.

TL;DR - agree that a Voron can be a start and walk away printer. Building it will take some time, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but know what you’re getting into. It will take some configuration and tuning to get it printing, but the Voron initial setup guide and Ellis’s print tuning guide are very easy to follow.

From a 2.4 owner.

Vampire photog confirmed

I feel extremely sorry for you of there’s actually zero green space around you other than shopping. Heck, even if you’re in NYC you’re not that far from a park.

Haha, how do you manage to do this?

Being outside should be free?

I dunno, I live in suburbia and our kids manage to spend a lot of time outside with neighborhood kids. It’s a nice change of pace over the same neighborhood 10 years ago. The neighborhood is starting to turn over generationally and there are a lot more people outside now.

Have a conversation? Go for a walk? Play one of many different types of non-sport or sport games? Generally hang out. The possibility are endless.

I upgraded from my pixel 3a last December after 5 years. To be honest, most of the performance gains are unnoticeable to me as I don’t game and use pretty light apps.