charles_wood

<p>Be sure to bring polarizers for all of the lens you're likely to use. Haze and particulate atmospheric pollution is a fact of life now here in the southwest, thanks to automobiles, coal fired power plants and proximity to Las Vegas, S. CA., as well as from dust blown into the air by desert winds. Any time we have a weather situation with a stagnant high pressure area, the haze builds quickly and if that happens, you'll be lucky to see across from the south rim to the north rim.</p>

<p>As Don Bright suggested, MF owners tend to be more 'settled', for lack of a better term. I pretty much gave up 35mm film twenty-five years ago when I realized the large prints I was seeing in nature and landscape galleries were being captured by MF and large format film systems. I shot M and LF film for quite a number of years, with a Pentax 645N being my MF equivalent of a travel camera when I could not lug the LF system around. Even today, having given up film because of the lack of high quality labs, many of my best selling images remain from my film days.</p> <p>I shot my last MF film three years ago when the lab I used, recognized as one of the best in the country and located in Los Angeles, announced they would no longer process E6. I still owned my 645n and all the lenses, and made the move to the 645D, with absolutely no regrets. In spite of the nitpicks about processing speed, etc., it is a stunning performer. For situations where more speed and agility is required I use a Pentax K3.</p> <p>I think that successful photographers achieve a level of self-confidence about their photography, work flow, skill set, etc, that after a period of time enables them to recognize what is required to capture an image they have pre-visualized. Typically the latest Canikon body is not the solution. Photography, as a serious hobby, as opposed to a business, is much like high end audio. Audiophiles are always looking for the holy grail (reproducing a live performance in the home) and of course, it will never happen, although it can come very close if you have a couple of hundred K$ to spend and the appropriate acoustic environment. Likewise, the latest body with the newest sensor is not a guarantee your photography will jump to the next level, aside from some improvements at the pixel level.</p> <p>As for for MF discussion forums, I find WWW.GETDPI.COM to be a bit more useful for digital MF shooters than this site. </p> <p> </p>

<p>I agree that using a roller for coating canvas is a pain. I'm able to spray coat my canvas outdoors using a HVLP system and I have no problems or complaints. Judging from the website and 'call for price', I have to assume it's a fairly expensive system. The quoted speed of two feet per minute plus a coating layer only 20 microns in thickness would be the show stoppers for me. I usually coat my prints once a week at most. I can coat a dozen or more large prints in an hour including prep and cleanup, using the HVLP sprayer. Also, 20 microns is a pretty thin coating in terms of offering scratch protection, in my opinion.</p>

<p>I've used PCs and Apple products over the years. I currently use MacPros (desktops and laptop) along with two Windows machines on a daily basis. I'm pretty agnostic about computer brands. Each has strengths and weaknesses. A couple of years ago I purchased an Asus laptop. It was a disaster in terms of mechanical reliability. I won't go into details but my customer service, or lack of, experience with Asus was such I would never own one of their products again.</p> <p>I have a MacBook Pro 13" and it is light, reliable, fast, and way more than your stated budget cost-wise. If I didn't own the MBP, I would be seriously looking at the Microsoft Surface Pro tablet. They're discounted heavily and probably have most, if not all the features you want, including enough real horsepower to deal with Light Room and PhotoShop. Amazon is selling them in the $500+700 range. I would suggest checking the Surface out and reading some of the reviews. It might be the option you're looking for.</p> <p>http://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Surface-Tablet-Drive-Windows/dp/B00BE5T2TA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1399855441&sr=8-1&keywords=microsoft+surface+pro</p>

<p>The defacto forum for Phase One products and support is www.getdpi.com. Ask your question there and you'll get a huge amount of opinion and fact.</p>