timberwulf

My 8008s has a fairly narrow vertical field of view on the LCD display, I would think yours is probably normal.

 

I never really noticed it back when I was shooting regularly with this body, you'll probably get used to it pretty quickly.

If you're in a Cessna, sometimes the wings will shadow your window. :)

 

Anyhow, you want a fast shutter speed because of the vibration more than the turbulence. You'll be mainly unable to rest arms, lenses, etc on much of anything due to vibration.

 

Warming filter is nice probably because of haze I'd assume, things get a little blue up there.

 

You'll have a blast!

I've heard of a number of friendships ruined over this.

 

I think you've answered your own question though, you're not comfortable with your current camera yet, you don't feel you have the equipment (or experience to use that equipment if you were to rent it), and you're generally unsure.

 

Offer (if you can) to pay part of the cost of hiring a pro as a wedding gift (you can find people that do decent work without spending thousands of dollars). Help them to choose a photog if you like as part of that gift (remember to ask to see photos from one entire wedding from a photographer, don't just look at the highlight photos from different weddings).

 

If you decide you'll do the event anyways, see if you can practice a ton before the event. Spend your evenings in your home with very few lights on photographing another person, a pet, anything that moves to gain familiarity with your gear.

 

Best of luck to you. :)

Not just wedding photography either. While I'm sure many of us have relatives that groan when we pull out an SLR, some of those images can quickly become very sought after and priceless.

 

While visiting with my mother's family a few years ago, I yanked out my SLR while everyone was visiting on a back porch in the late afternoon. I played around with a long zoom shooting some candids. A couple of years later, an aunt died of cancer, and it turned out an image I had taken that day of her laughing from across the yard was one of the only ones the family had of her where they felt she truly looked like they remembered her.

 

Keep on shooting. :)

You can also try using a pencil eraser to gently buff the metal contacts on the lens and body collar.

My gear goes to the venue with me in a large shoulder bag, which I stash in a secured area (if no secured area, I lock the bag in my trunk).

 

For running around the wedding, I use a Tamrac belt system with three lens pouches, a card/battery wallet, and a flash pouch. I usually have my backup camera slung on a shoulder with a different lens on it. :)

You can still get some side shadows, you just have to account for that and shoot accordingly.

 

I rather like my Clear LS, but I also use the omni bounce, and a bare flash head with and w/o bounce card, it all just depends on the situation and my needs at the time.

The Tokina has gotten excellent reviews here and elsewhere. It should do the trick if you can pony up the $500.

 

I have the Nikkor myself, and it is the lens I leave on my D200 in the bag, I love it. :)

I wouldn't say it's a D50 killer.

 

I wonder how much the use of the screen for the status is going to shorten battery life, I also rely on the status screen a lot to doublecheck settings while shooting. The lack of an autofocus drive coupling would also seriously limit utility for me.

 

But then, I'm not the target market either. ;) It does look like a very nice camera, and there are definite improvements over the D50, but people should definitely consider the functions of both cameras to establish which will serve their needs better before buying one or the other.

<p>Honestly, if the box to order a download isn't automatically checked (from a usability standpoint it should not be), and there is a confirmation that must be clicked when the box is checked, I don't think the Bride's mother has a leg to stand on.

 

<p>If you want to offer them a CD instead and refund the difference, that's ok, I'd really recommend that approach. But I would not offer a full refund for this, period, assuming the above is true.

 

<p>Referrals or not (and I understand you have said it was a destination wedding and this is not an issue, but I think this needs to be said), the customer is <b>not</b> <u>always</u> right. I've always thought that was a very silly saying and can be quite damaging to your business. If you have a customer trying to take advantage of you, giving in to them because they might not refer another client to you means they may tell their dishonest friends "use this photographer, and if you want free stuff do this this and this and then complain!" Do you *really* want referrals of people that have that knowledge and think that it is acceptable behavior?

I have to agree with W. Smith. I'm sure the clients are very nice, and I'm also sure that they'd be happy to pay a reasonable fee to have you at the rehearsal dinner. I wouldn't comp it, but if you really feel like they need a price break, give them a reduced rate or something, but do definitely charge for it.

Bogdan, many work computers these days are sound capable, even if the sound is coming out of an internal computer speaker. People leave the sound on for reasons other than music, such as chirps or other incoming message notifications, program event notifications, or to occasionally play their own music when their office door is shut or when sharing with other people.

 

When a site forces music on you, it can be at an inopportune time when you're not wanting a bunch of sound coming out of your computer, maybe due to a conference call going on in the next cube, or even the bride's fiance sleeping in the next (or same) room. By defaulting to off, you provide the user the option of choosing their experience. When defaulting to on, you force the user to endure the music blasting until they can go for the stop button every time they hit that page (unless you're savvy enough to save their preference in a session or persistent cookie).

 

Marc is correct, this is not a photographer question, it's a user question. And people do very much enjoy slideshows with music. But people going to your site's home page are not looking immediately for a slideshow with music. They'd like some information first. Once they hit the gallery, then maybe it's time for a slideshow with optional music, because now they might be seeking a deeper experience. But give users a chance to see your site and the information on it without playing music at them every time they load the page. The 12th time you get to hear that song while you're showing the site to another friend/family member/bride's maid/whatever is going to start to grate a bit.

I don't project, but if I were to do so, I'd want to project at a nice large size on the wall where it is easily seen, and leave the discussion of "how big is an 8x10 really?" to existing prints that are on the table/wall.

 

It is an interesting idea though.

I'm not a fan of music on web sites, unless it starts paused and you must make an affirmative click to play it. While it can add something to a page, it prevents people that are at work, or in other environments where they must keep things quiet, from browsing your site, as the first thing you'll do to stop music on a site instinctively is to close the browser or hit the back button - neither of which will put your site into their minds fondly.

I've been very happy with my Lightsphere II clear model. It's not for every situation, but I always reach for it when I need it and haven't regretted buying it for a moment.

 

The chromedome looks interesting, but it's for the opaque cloud model, which I don't own.

 

A funny aside - I was shooting a wedding a couple of weekends ago that was being held at the client's house. The ceremony was outside, and the rest of the proceedings were occurring inside and outside the house. As I went out into the back yard to shoot the ceremony, I placed the LS on a table just outside the door. Afterwards, I was headed back inside for the license signing and it was gone. When asked, one of the bridesmaids said "oh! I thought it was a container for the food and put it in the sink". Lo and behold, there it was in the kitchen sink happily sitting with the rest of the containers the food had been in. ;)

It's all about blending and what the client wants. Some things like the cake cutting I was always taught to pause a moment to take a few shots from some different angles, others like the ceremony are never interrupted (though as mentioned, a restage of a missed shot due to circumstances outside your control is a good thing if needed). While I mostly sit back and let things happen (sit back, that's a laugh), and enjoy shooting candids, I'll also lean in and tap a dancing couple, get them both looking my way, and then take a quick couple of shots of them dancing. I've never seen anyone mind me doing that, and the image looks so much better with them both smiling and looking at me instead of only having a shot of them in profile with funny looks on their faces.

 

Read your client, determine your style, and I guarantee you'll find clients either way. Some want very structured and ordered photos and others that just don't care. I guarantee whatever your style, you'll find clients that want it. Maybe you can even shoot both ways. ;)

 

In my limited experience (I'm a part time shooter), I've found that when a staged shot was necessary or requested, everyone involved is always thrilled to be a part of it. Guests and the wedding party very often really enjoy getting a special role to fill for a moment, they love to help make the day even better and be "officially" a part of making the wedding happen. Using the confetti example, it may not be a gestapo "no one throws confetti unless I say so!", but more of a "hey, would you like to help us to get a neat shot" off to the side, stage and shoot it, then have the real walk to the limo with spontaneous confetti throwing by everyone (which you shoot as well).

 

Summary - it is all in how you present it, and what the client wants. If you approach it in a very fun and positive manner, you'll get a very fun and positive result, and an excellent shot that the couple can keep forever. :)

I love my 8008s, it replaced a FM2 that I miss a lot. ;)

 

Look at both the F100 and 8008s, either one will do you great, you just need to answer some of the questions asked above to make sure you get the right model.

Is it possible the 10D damaged the last one and you only noticed after using it in the dRebel?

 

If this is the second one that is acting very strangely, I'd start to look towards your other equipment you're using the card with as a potential cause.

While I don't know in your particular case, it is often much less expensive and less of a hassle to just buy a new digital camera than to try and repair something like a CCD.

 

Best of luck to you.

Did you purchase it with a credit card, or a debit card with a credit card logo on it? If so, check with your credit card company. Some cards have buyer's protection programs on them that will allow you to replace the camera no matter who's fault the damage/loss was.

As mentioned, any of the Nikon dSLRs should be able to at least take a photograph with your current lenses. The question will be can you use the matrix metering or other features of the camera with those lenses.

 

Which to get will mainly depend on your budget. The minimum that will meter and work with pre-AF lenses is the D200. If all of your lenses are AF capable, as was said above you could choose most any Nikon dSLR and get good results.

 

I do agree with the previous poster though, if you're used to using any of the manual or more advanced features of your current camera, the D40 may be a little too restrictive for you. Look at the D50 as a minimum, and work up from there depending on your budget.

 

Good luck!

I believe you should explain the issue, apologize profusely, and explain that everything else is fine, and offer a few 8x10s. I wouldn't offer a really significant refund since it is such a small part of the wedding, and was not due to your negligence.

 

While the processional is important, it is not THE kiss or the first dance, etc. Offering to restage would be good as well if the client gets upset or doesn't like the thought of a few extra 8x10s.

Just to make absolutely sure, you tried software solutions such as the programs that come with Sandisk Extreme III cards? You've also called the card manufacturer and discussed options with them as well?

 

If you wouldn't mind, for reference, what was the manufacturer and model of the card that failed?

I believe you're right as well Chris. I've noticed catchlights in eyes that shouldn't have been there from time to time while using the onboard on the D200 to trigger remote flashes with the menu set to -- for the onboard.

Oh, and the D70's write speed is slower than for the D70s. It looks like he's removed the D70 writeup, but it's still in the archive at:

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7700-6816

 

Since the Elite Pro 1gb was towards the top of the grid, I would think you'd be pretty good on performance with the 2gb (probably a little slower, but not noticeably so). So I think you could buy that card with confidence that it would perform well write speed wise in your D70. :)