02 Merc C32 AMG (Second try w/DLSR..gettin better ;))

[01bluecls]

Today’s detail was an Exterior only on a 2002 Mercedes C32 AMG. Car roughly has 55k on it, some suspension and some engine modifications. It was time to modify the exterior! Pretty rough swirls, tons of contamination, etc. The brake dust was baked in on the wheels. Even though in the pics they look clean, up close you will see a bunch of black particles that won’t come out.



This is the second detail with my new camera (Nikon D40x). I have gotten the hang of a few things better than the last outing, but some things I still messed up on. Some of my direct sun shots flared in a star pattern pretty bad, I think the aperture was set too high. Also, it seems when I have the lens at 18mm it’s a wide angle which I didn’t know before (my first SLR camera). That’s why some of the after pics the car looks a little “bulgy.� Other shots I zoomed around 35mm which made it look back to normal.



This detail also marked the first time using SIP (Menzerna Super Intensive Polish). Let me say this, WHERE HAS THIS POLISH BEEN ALL MY LIFE!!! As some have already reviewed. The polish kicks some serious butt, cuts more then IP, less dusting, and way better finish left!!!! I actually ordered it from detailersdomain.com a week ago or so but never tried it out yet. I was going to order the P-something-85 106FF finishes down fine enough for me.



Process:

Wheels cleaned with Meg’s Wheel Brightener 2:1 x2.

Car washed and clayed.

Top surfaces – EC with foamed wool pad @ 1800rpms.

Whole car received Super Intensive Polish with orange cut pad @ 1800rpms.

Whole car received Menzerna 106FF with blue finesse pad @ 1500 rpms.

Car re-washed.

LSP = Souveran

Tires dressed with Mothers FX tire shine.

Glass cleaned with Sprayaway.





PICS!!



Before Wash:



Hood:





Front bumper with a lovely cemetery:





Embedded Brake Dust:





Another Hood Before







These are the pics that “starred� on me





Left side un-polished, right side polished:





Hood All Polished After:





Hood All Polished After:





Trunk under halogens before:





Trunk Half polished: (Kind of bad picture, but look hard enough and you can see the tape line)





Trunk Before Under the Sun:





Trunk After Under the Sun:





Passenger Quarter Before:





Passenger Quarter Before Close-up:





Passenger Quarter After:





Passenger Rear Door before:





Passenger Rear Door Half Close up half done:





Passenger Front Door Polished, Fender Unpolished:

[tod071]

Is it just me or are the pics not there?

[01bluecls]

Is it just me or are the pics not there?

Sorry, I posted it before I put the links in doh....its fixed now.

[01bluecls]

After Pics outside…Sun was down. The car is staying at my house for the and if I have time I will take pics tomorrow for some sun shots.



These were taken with the lens at 18mm (I believe that’s why they look “bulgy�)



















These taken at roughly 35mm zoom:

































Questions and Comments welcomed as always!

[cjv998]

Amazing work, I particularly like the half-done shot of the hood where the sun is right in the middle (5th pic down). Also, wanna know something funny? I thought the wheels were gunmetal-colored until I saw the after pics! :LOLOL

[01bluecls]

Amazing work, I particularly like the half-done shot of the hood where the sun is right in the middle (5th pic down). Also, wanna know something funny? I thought the wheels were gunmetal-colored until I saw the after pics! :LOLOL

lol - they looked worse in person. They were such a PITA to clean, even though the design is relatively easy, the brake accumulation was set in!

[Evenflow]

Huuuuge turn around. Definitely deep wet looking paint. Great job on the wheels too :goodjob

[Jmiller07]

Looks great, really needed that polish. Nice red on a sick benz.

[tod071]

Very impressive! Love your work!



As far as taking the pics, they`re actually pretty good. When working with the wider angle (18mm), I believe the trick is to get an even shot, like parallel with the subject, same plane, or something like that. I`ve been learning for about 1 1/2 yrs myself and have a 11-18mm to play with too.



Although making the pictures right is the goal, you could use post-processing to fix alot of things, ie: over exposure when shooting against the sun, low-light, etc., with software programs like photoshop elements. If I`m not mistaken, Nikon has a RAW software that comes with the camera, right? I`ve heard that works pretty good. Are you shooting in RAW?

[imported_rydawg]

Great job! I love the SIP and have had it for a couple of months now and have the 3.02 which is a tad stronger but very similar.



Just make sure you wipe the oils off after each panel. If the polish lube is left on too long it can be a pain to get off if the sun hits it through a window or if you are outside.



I have the 85rd and find myself using the 106ff more. Personally I think 106ff has more of a purpose. The 85 has more lube oils in it that are a pain to get off. I just had to buy some prep-solve to remove them before I wash. You may even want to pick some up yourself.

[01bluecls]

Very impressive! Love your work!



As far as taking the pics, they`re actually pretty good. When working with the wider angle (18mm), I believe the trick is to get an even shot, like parallel with the subject, same plane, or something like that. I`ve been learning for about 1 1/2 yrs myself and have a 11-18mm to play with too.



Although making the pictures right is the goal, you could use post-processing to fix alot of things, ie: over exposure when shooting against the sun, low-light, etc., with software programs like photoshop elements. If I`m not mistaken, Nikon has a RAW software that comes with the camera, right? I`ve heard that works pretty good. Are you shooting in RAW?

Actually I used Photo Elements to resize the pics and I did -5 on saturation since some of the photos were a little over saturated. Nikon is actually one of the only camera company that does NOT include a RAW editor!! :angry My dad has PhotoShop (what ever the newest one is with RAW editing) and I will use his when needed. Im actually just shooting full size JPEGS at the highest quality allowed. When I took the pics I used shutter priority on all of them and adjusted to eash lighting situation, whether it was the shutter speed or the EV. Aperture was automatically adjusted. I`m still learning, but I feel im getting better slowly but surely. 90% of these pics were taken with autofocus and some were manual focus.

[01bluecls]

Still have to figure out why I got the sun shots with a star!?!? Does it mean my shutter speed was too low or high? Or was the f-stop too low or high?

[tod071]

Actually I used Photo Elements to resize the pics and I did -5 on saturation since some of the photos were a little over saturated. Nikon is actually one of the only camera company that does NOT include a RAW editor!! :angry My dad has PhotoShop (what ever the newest one is with RAW editing) and I will use his when needed. Im actually just shooting full size JPEGS at the highest quality allowed. When I took the pics I used shutter priority on all of them and adjusted to eash lighting situation, whether it was the shutter speed or the EV. Aperture was automatically adjusted. I`m still learning, but I feel im getting better slowly but surely. 90% of these pics were taken with autofocus and some were manual focus.

Wow, hard to believe Nikon doesn`t have a RAW editor. Have you tried using Av or P mode? I was told to start with P, then Av, then Tv, Then M. I usually use Av and don`t even bother M unless I`m shooting the moon. Cool, we can learn together :2thumbs:

[01bluecls]

Wow, hard to believe Nikon doesn`t have a RAW editor. Have you tried using Av or P mode? I was told to start with P, then Av, then Tv, Then M. I usually use Av and don`t even bother M unless I`m shooting the moon. Cool, we can learn together :2thumbs:

Not sure what Av or Tv you are referring to. I have used a little of each mode I have which is P (Programmed), S (Shutter Priority), A (Apeture Priority), and briefly with M (Full Manual Mode). The rest of the settings are Auto with specific parameters (portraits, landscapes, etc).

[tod071]

Still have to figure out why I got the sun shots with a star!?!? Does it mean my shutter speed was too low or high? Or was the f-stop too low or high?

Can`t do much with the star. Either physically move or underexpose. But underexposure will leave the car looking dark. I usually play with shadows/highlights in PS CS2. You could speed up your shutter, but I think it might darken the picture too much. Frustrating, I know, but you might need to just play around and check it with the viewer. I believe its called "bracketing", where you take multiple shots using different settings.