Barry Thomas

<p>Gotta gee with Larry. A 2nd hand D30 will get you used to digital, you get to keep your lenses and if you decide to upgrade to a D60/10D/whatever, you know what you are getting into. Oddly enough, though my D30 is now apparently "obsolete", it still takes great pictures, it hasn't spontaneously combusted since newer models came out and I'll be hanging onto it.

 

<p>Meryl: Please, please, please, try to listen to yourself:

 

<p><i>As much as they try to pretend, the instant image preview available on a digital camera does NOT lead to 'instant learning'.</i>

 

<p>Excuse me? Maybe you didn't learn from your digital cameras - were they point and shoots? But I've learned a huge amount from seeing what works and what doesn't though that little LCD, then by looking through the results on the computer. Just because you didn't learn from an experience you had, don't extrapolate that the rest of the entire camera owning world, you might find you sound like a crazy person with an irrational hatred of digital cameras.

 

<p>And that would never do.

 

<P><i>The shoot-check-delete-reshoot routine isn't learning but 'trial and error'.."Click! Did I get it now?..Nope....Click...Did I get it NOW?...Nope."</i>

 

<p>You see, there you go again. You might have used that trial and error technique, some of use look at the LCD and learn from what we see, or if that isn't a good enough view of the shot, we learn by looking at the shots on the computer.

 

<P>That's (on my D30) the <b>800</b> shots on one 1gb card which (UK) now costs £117 plus tax, fill it three times or so and the cost of the card versus buying film and processing (still no prints) breaks even, never mind carrying 20 rolls of film around...

 

<P>We are going to Argentina, Bolivia and Peru this year and last time we went I brought back 500 shots from my Nikon 950. This time, for the sake of a hundred quid or so, I'll probably add another 1gb card and bring back 1600 shots, unless I go for the 2nd best quality settings (we're talking holiday shots here, not studio work, so I won't bother with RAW) and get 3200 shots. Don't think that's much of a limitation personally.

 

<p>Now believe it or not this isn't a film vs digital rant on my part, I've had film cameras for over 20 years, I've still got them all, including a (cheap) 6x6, so don't try to paint me as a "give me digital or give me death" type, but really, your input round here can be really valuable if only you'd drop the digital-is-crappy stance.

 

<p>Either that or you need to drink less coffee.

<p>I guess the elves can help you there, but I'd be sorry to see you go - your work is superb.

 

<p>Meanwhile I find suicide such a deep vein (geddit!) of humour - I find it especially rib-tickling that four children under twenty commit suicide with a firearm every day in the USA (<a href="http://www.kidsandguns.org/study/web_resources.asp?topic=Suicide">www.kidsandguns.org</a>). What a scream. I gotta go laugh until I puke.

<p>Type I are 3.3mm thick. Type II are 5mm thick. Definitive answers <a href="http://www.compactflash.org/faqs/faq.htm">here</a>.

 

<p>Canon told me when I first got my D30 that only SanDisk were officially supported (I had problems with a Microtech 128mb) and back then even Microdrives were not officially supported:

 

<p><a href="http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=789529">http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=789529</a>

 

<p>However, I've used Microdrives in the D30 and D60 with no problems from the combination... except I got the click of death from one (1gb) drive and had it replaced under warranty.

There's a variation in all camera meters, but 1/2 a stop under on a DSLR is no bad thing. Blown highlights can't be reclaimed, but there's a lot of initially unseen detail down in the shadows which can be reclaimed with a tweak in photoshop or your preferred image editor. Bumping the contrast and/or brightness slightly (which a film shooter <i>never</i> does - heh heh) is easy, quick and lets you keep the highlights just as you like them.

The easy way is tell the bureau what you want, tell them that you're aware that the individual pixels will cross several "cells" on their printer and that you're OK with that. In theory you'll get on pixel stretched over say 2 or 3 cells which could each print one pixel, so in theory you'll be able to see pixelation.

 

In fact it will depend how much smaller than optimum your images really are - your one pixel may equate to one and a half of their cells - so the effect might not be as stark as highly visible individual blocks on the paper.

 

Their printer driver will sort out the difference in size if they just tell it to print the image as X inches wide - and it means your files are smaller and easier to manage, process and transmit.

Well I must be doing <i>everything</i> wrong then... I'm not using a professional and I don't have a view camera... (Yup, I'm an <a href="http://www.barrythomas.co.uk/">amateur</a>).

 

<p>I suspect your budget doesn't run to paying a pro just yet, so that's out, and a view camera would also bust your budget a bit I guess. Use the camera you have, try a couple of cheap "work" lights (builders' supply stores have them) and a roll of background paper (white). Go for the biggest room you can find to work in, doing this seems to eat space. Use a tripod, cable release, aperture priority to set the DOF you want.

 

<p>If you find a) it is more difficult than it looks or b) you don't have the time to do it well, try paying a pro for a half day and watch very carefully what they do - you may well pick up a few tips for the next time you try.

<img src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=1211862&size=md">

<p>Tom, I assume from your answer that there isn't an off the shelf answer to what I need. Making up what you describe would be no problem, but I just fancied a retail solution (being bone idle).

 

<p>Kaa, yup, I'm REALLY concerned about reflections (photographing silver is all about little else - check out <a href="http://www.barrythomas.co.uk/">my silver</a> for samples!) and I was thinking of getting the flash OFF the shoe mount and in place of one of the Bowens - trouble is with the Trilites they are not very powerful - I'd like something with a bit more power - I imagined the 550EX in a (maybe home made) softbox.

 

<p>Hal, I'm guessing we're up to speed with the difference between AC and DC (:), but as I said to Tom it looks like there isn't an off the shelf solution, so I'm probably best sticking with what I have. Either that or get one of the retail battery packs to power the 550.

 

<p>Thanks again for the replies.

 

<p>Baz

Currently using a pair of Bowens Trilites when shooting my silver in

the studio, but I'd like to try using my (one!) 550EX, maybe in

conjunction with a hotlight? dunno. I'm a silversmith not a

photographer, so feel free to shoot me down.

 

The question is, is there a mains power lead for the 550 which

doesn't go through a battery pack? The manual mentions the TP and CP-

E2 - but a straight mains connection would seem sensible?... or maybe

the capacitor effect is needed to enable a burst of power to the

light. Any advice welcome. I know I can just keep recharging NiMHs

temporarily, but I'm jumping ahead a bit.

 

Many thanks.

<img src="http://www.photo.net/photodb/image-display?photo_id=536689&size=md">

See <a href="http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=789529">here</a>. Canon say they support only Sandisk. At the time I had problems with a Microtech card the support guy said unofficially he used a Microdrive and he'd had no problems, but it was not policy back then to come out and officially support the MD. It may be different for the D30 now. I got a refund on my 128mb card and put it towards a 1gb microdrive which has been flawless...but my wife's MD in her D60 failed after 6 months with the click of death. ymmv.

<p><i>Who will want to buy or use cruddy lo-res digital cameras within 2 years when there will be 30-50 megapixel CCD's?</i>

<p>I'm an amateur, I have a D30. My wife finally snapped and went digital this year and got the D60. Oddly enough though, my D30 isn't obsolete at all! It still does exactly what it did on day 1 - just because there's another better, faster, bigger, higher res camera/computer/whatever released next week won't stop you using and enjoying your D30 or whatever. I print up to 12 x 8 on an Epson 1270 (which has also been superceded but amazingly hasn't self-destructed) and bigger with a bit of up-ressing or images from the D60 and (as an amateur) they still knock me out every time.

<p><i> I don't know what state of the art will be for digital, but a good starting point will be consumer digital SLR's with true 35mm quality</i>

<p>It is also worth reading <a href="http://www.normankoren.com/Tutorials/MTF7.html">this</a> which talks about the grainlessness of digital images, even tho resolving power of 35mm film is still higher than most 35mm format digitals.

<p>I had 35mm film cameras for 20odd years, but I take the D30 almost everywhere I go now and get a lot more fun out of photography than I have in many years.

<p>Professionals who need better results than say the D60 can produce will need film, at 35mm or larger. For an amateur where the enjoyment is as much a part of the equation as the cost, digital seems to me to have the lead.

<p>YMMV.

<p>

I dropped mine and the same thing happened. The red cover was all in one piece except a couple of the tabs broke off. I used superglue to put it back in place and it works perfectly. And I promise I won't drop it again and do even more damage...

 

Baz