ken davis

Hi folks,

I'm planning a three-week trip to Ireland (and possibly Scottland) with my wife

in May. We're both avid photographers and therefore carry a good amount of gear

when we're out.

I'm concerned about all I'm hearing with regards to carry-on restrictions and

camera gear and I've heard that shipping gear to your destination is an option.

What I'm planning to take is a complete Hasselblad 500CM kit with an 80mm,

40mm,and 150mm lens, an Xpan, and a Nikon kit including a F100 and lenses from

20-200. All together this fits in a Pelican case and weighs about 35 pounds.

Is this a fair and safe way to enjoy my gear in Ireland or should I look for

another route? UPS will ship insured but it's expensive. Are there

alternatives with with airlines? Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Ken

PS Any Irish photo advice is also appreciated :-) Thanks!

The main shutter release works fine, and the lock switch is not engaged. I thought maybe it was some custom function, but I've been through the manual and I don't see anything. It seems it's a problem with the MB-15.

Thanks for the posts. This is always a great source!

Ken

Hi folks,

I'm in kind of a frustrated mood right now. I finally had my F100 shutter fixed

(it was leaving a shadow across the bottom of the frame) but now the vertical

shutter release and command dial on my MB-15 seem to not work. When I depress

the secondary shutter release the AF is initiated and I can get critical focus,

but it will not fire. The command dial does not change anything. I've tried it

in all modes, AF on and off, same thing. Any thoughts? I'm leaving tomorrow

for a long road trip and I really would like to take this camera.

Thanks in advance!

Ken

A couple of years ago I was in Melbourne on business (lovely city, by the way) and I found Michaels downtown to have a huge selection of used gear. I don't know if they got out of it or not, but I was rather impressed. I think they're on Lonsdale and Elizabeth, but I am not sure.

As mentioned, you could list it here or some other means of selling to private individuals and probably get more out of it. The stores have to sell it at a markup so they're going to pay you less.

The only experience I've had with selling/trading gear with a retailer is with KEH here in the States and I was quite happy with the result. I got $105US out of my Pentax Zx5N.

Best regards,

Ken

One other thing that has not been mentioned is dust. I got this piece of advice from a Nikon rep when I purchased my D70. The sensor, when powered on, can create a small static electric field that attracts dust. Every time you change lenses you risk getting dust inside. If the sensor is on you increase the chance of dust being attracted to the sensor. It's always better to keep it turned off when changing lenses.

Ken

Hi folks,

I am not sure if it's a camera issue, a lens issue, or the combination. I'm using

my beloved F100, MB15 battery grip, 500mm F4, and sometimes the TC14E

converter, and I've found that many of my shots are dark across the bottom

quarter of the frame.

I have not been able to track this down conistently. For instance, sometimes I

get great results with the 500, somethimes the frame is dark. Sometimes with

the teleconverter the frames are fine, sometimes not. I have not noticed it with

other lenses.

I am wondering if it's the shutter, and perhaps the shutter is out of sync on

certain speeds. Am I on the right track, and is this something that can be

fixed? Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken<div></div>

Hi Scott,

I actually got my hassy kit in Italy. My wife and I were on our honeymoon in Florence and

we walked by a place that had it in the window. The camera winked at me, my wife pulled

out the credit card, and I have my beloved Hasselblad! I carried this throughout Florence,

Tuscany, Rome, and Athens with no problem. I kept it in a backpack that I held in front of

me in crowded places. I was warned about the subways in Rome where thieves actually

cut the bottom of bags and let things fall out so while on the subway I looped the straps

from the front, letting it hang off my chest. I had no problems and except for light seals

that needed replacing I had no problems.

Have a great trip. I'd love to go back.

Ken

Hi folks,

My bellows seems to be very stiff in the adjustments. I see a hole in the bottom of the

mounting plate that I wonder if it's for lubrication. Is there some sort of lubricant I can use to

loosen it up? Silicone spray/ wd40 on the rails ok?

thanks!

ken

Hi folks,

Thanks for the help. Seems like these days I have less time for photography than I would

like, and that includes less time for photo.net. Please forgive my lateness in this reply.

For a look at what I am trying to do, my site is at www.kendavisimagery.com. The

template is from allwebco.com. I'm looking to have a set of gallery pages, with 8-10

images a piece, with the pics showing thumbnails that follow the orientation and relative

size of the originals. For instance, one image is square, one is vertical, one is horizontal,

then another vertical only slightly smaller. To me, this is what a gallery wall looks like.

I'm doing most of my work on a Mac. I have some editors and I'm able to drag and drop

WYSIWYG editing, but it seems the image area is what's really dragging me down,

specifically getting the sizes and shapes of the thumbnails right and then the size and

shape right in the popup window and slide show.

Galerie seems to do the closest of the tools I've tried (thanks for the suggestion, John) as I

am on a Mac. The Photoshop galleries are ok, but not as clean as the other tools unless

I'm doing something wrong. I hope to get to this later this week and I will post here so

you can see.

I may get to the Coppermine approach later, when I have time to set up the SQL stuff, but

for now I think I just want to post some images and be able to build additional galleries as

I get them.

Patrick, there's several sites that I've seen that I really like, including several here. Simply

creating the page with thumbnails that match to originals is a chore, then making sure the

originals are the right size in the pop up window when clicked...yada yada yada.. I think

the Gallery 1 on my site listed above will be a big help.

I'm rambling...sorry. Thanks for the time and all the great suggestions. I'll keep you

posted.

Ken

Hello all,

I've recently been building a new site to promote my work and I've found that web

development should not be taken lightly. On the advice of a friend, I purchased a

template and that seemed to help with some things, but complicated others. I've mostly

got the site and the text the way I want after hours and hours of frustration with text

editors and various WYSIWYG software. What I really want to do is build different galleries

with between 6-12 images, with clickable thumbnails that open the image in a popup

window. What's happened is a slew of broken links, images that are doing very strange

things size-wise, image thumbnails being skewed and distorted, and hours and hours of

therapy to recover from the stress.

So, after all that whining (sorry), here's the question. Is there some software that can help

me at least generate some gallery pages (I supply the full sized images, the software

generates a web gallery page with thumbnails) that I can then add to my site? I heard that

there were some packages available that do this. Tell me that all you folks out there that

have these awesome pages don't have to do all this sizing and resizing, editing code,

fixing file names, etc, to just get photos online. Helllp !

Thanks!

Ken

Hi Bill, et.al,

Just a word of warning on the canned air approach. If you shake the can or get it tilted it can spit out liquid on the sensor. It's better to use either a Rocket Air Blower or other bulb blower that has enough umph to get the sensor clean. If you have stubborn specks, try either sensor swabs or one of the sensor brushes. I would avoid the aerosol canned air at all costs for sensor cleaning. Glad to hear you're spot free once again :-)

Ken

Thanks for the tips, folks. Here's a couple of new twists in the plot. I've tried the camera with my 20mm f2.8 and my 50 F1.8, and it "seems" to focus fine, even on the side focus points. I then tried my 70-300, and it will focus using side points from 70mm to about 210mm, then it does the same thing as the 24-120. That lens does the same thing. At 24-90mm it does seem to find focus, beyond that it seems to focus short. Tried all lenses on the D70 and there's no problems. I have turned off the closest subject in all settings with no change. Daylight and dimly lit interior lighting yield the same result. Although I don't use them as often as the center, there's been times that in my wildlife work I've not been able to focus. Yet, here's another twist....continuous/dynamic seems to work....I'm baffled.

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll just live with it for now, and perhaps look toward saving my pennies for an upgrade.

Greatly appreciated friends!

Ken

Hi friends,

I keep hoping some day I can contribute to this forum as much as it's

helped me. I'm still learning Nikon though (Pentax/Hassy user for

almost 20 years prior) so I'm kind of a newbie with the equipment.

Thanks for your help.

I've noticed a problem with my beloved F100 that I want to see if

someone else has experienced. I notice it most often with my 24-120

VR lens. The center AF sensor works fine, as does the top and

bottom, but when trying to use the side sensors (when focusing off

center for comp purposes) it seems to search and then focus well in

front of the subject. The same lens works fine on my D70. I've

noticed it happens sometimes with my other lenses. Doesn't matter if

it's vertical or horizontal or if in closest subject AF, dynamic AF,

etc. I got the camera about a year ago from KEH and this is the first

I've noticed?

Is this a characteristic of the F100? Is the AF malfunctioning? Can

it be repaired?

Thanks in advance.

Thanks, Walter! Can't wait to see it the colors, the wildlife, and meet the people. We're actually staying on a ranch, and my aunt and uncle know several families there, so I'm sure we'll be able to find some spots.

Wishing you the best,

Ken

Hello friends,

Thank you in advance for your help. My wife and I are heading to Wyoming for two weeks,

for a reunion and then some photo excursions. While it might be obvious to go to

Yellowstone and Teton NPs, which we're sure to go, I'm also interested in other stops in

around the area.

What kind of photography do you ask? Well, landscape and wildlife. My wife shoots with

an XPan, and sometimes in 6x6. I shoot with Hasselblad and lenses from 40-150, 4x5,

and my Nikon kit (D70 and f100) from 20mm to 500mm.

We are staying in a family cabin outside of Dubois, mostly because of the reuinon and the

family dog is with us. We'll probably have to day trip out for most things, hopefully

getting some of the family to watch dear Daisy while we're out for a couple of days.

Anyone feel like contributing your favorite places in this area?

I really appreciate your input! Thanks!

Ken

My thanks to all of you. This is truly the best resource for information I have found to

date. I'm going to try to put some summary to this, some thanks, and some other

questions in a post that is as comprehensive and concise as possible.

Thanks to all of you for your responses. The glass on the lens is flawless inspite of some

heavy wear on the barrel. Everything seems to work great, except the first few images are

coming a little over exposed on my D70. I can compensate for that. The lens includes the

case, the drop in filter holder, and the 39mm UV filter. I'm looking for a polarizer next.

Looks like a keeper.

With respect to your feedback, I'm considering the following:

send back the TC 301, get the TC-1.4E and modify it. I'm also going to look into the

Kenko teleconverters. I use one on my Hasselblad with a 150mm when I need a bit more

reach and I've been quite happy with it. thanks for the notes on modifying the Nikon TCs

and the Kenko recommendations.

get at least a 25mm (or near equivalent) extension tube. I'm a big fan of extension tubes

in my medium format work, so it's a natural progression. Looking at the set of three at

the moment.

Great photos, Greg. Thanks for posting. All of you have tremendous work, and I

appreciate you sharing.

Matthew, stay tuned and I'll let you know how I fare with the TCs.

A couple of quick questions, if I may. First, if I modify the TC-14E, can I still use it later

with an AF, or do I lose that with this modification?

Second, can I use any 39mm screw in filter with the drop in filter holder, or do they have

to be a specific kind? BH has the circular polarizer for this holder for $220 bucks and that

seems like a lot. I usually shoot with heliopan or b+w, so I'm used to good quality.

Ok, a longer post than I hoped. I will post the fruits of my labor when I return. Thanks for

your help all of you. I hope I can repay the favor someday.

Ken

Hi gang,

First, thanks for all your help here. Recently I posted a query concerning the Nikon

800mm f 5.6 MF lens, and I got overwhelming responses, most of which directed me to

the above mentioned lens or the 300mm f4 or f2.8. I went with the above mentioned lens

because I can't really afford the 500mm AF lens, and I already had a 300 that just didn't

get me quite close enough for what I wanted to do. So, your expert advice led me to this

lens, which I purchased from KEH for about $1500. It looks good as far as the optics, but

the case and barrel have some scrapes and blemishes. Ok, all that said, here's three

questions for you...be nice to me, as I'm rather new to Nikon and exotic optics. :-)

First, is this a good deal? The optics seem clean (I can post photos if needed, but I'm

waiting for my ball head)

Second, what accessories come with this new? I have a single UV drop in filter. Can I get

these from anywhere? I don't have any docs on this (thus the price I suppose).

Third, does the TC-14 or TC 301 series teleconverters have models that provide metering

with the F100 or D70? I sprung for a used TC-301(B, I think) and no dice on metering. I'd

like a teleconverter that provides metering as well.

Again, thanks for the help. I'm off to Wyoming for a couple of weeks and I'm looking

forward to putting myself through the paces with this lens. One day I'll be a guru here

too. Shun, Lex, you can let me have it now :-)

Thx,

Ken

Hmmm, a single walk around lens on a D70. Do I have to just chose one? :-)

I like the 24-120/VR for the VR and the focal length works for most things, but I wish it

was a bit faster. I'm buying a 70-200 VR this weekend, so I can't really comment on it

except for it's probably a big lens for (walking around the city. On a hike in the back

country, maybe different.

A real understated gem is the 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 D lens ( a bargain at $300). it's light,

fairly fast on autofocus, very sharp, and gives a good focal range in addition to the kit

18-70.

I used te 28-200 G ED IF lens for a while and sold it shortly there after because I just

didn't like the quality of images I was gettng. Take a look at the equivalent Tamron lens

and save som $$$ as I didn't see any difference in quality. It is difficult to ask a lens to

cover so much without some problems.

All that said, my "walking around" kit for travel currently is the 24-120VR and the 70-300

D lenses. Now, if I can just find a good deal on a 200-400 VR...

Good luck with your decision.

Ken

Thanks again, folks for all your replies. I'm sorry for my late response but I've been out of

commission the last few weeks...long story.

First, to clarify some things. I purchased the F100 ater the D70 for a couple of reasons,

one of them being to use for wildlife (birds) photography. Some day maybe a D2x will find

its way into my bag, but this is what I have for now. I like the D70 for snapshots, some

serious work, etc. but the viewfinder is challenging. The F100 is my bread and butter

camera at the moment and would be the companion to the long lens in the beginning.

The reason for the post was to get some advice on long lenses (looking into the 300f/4

now as well) but to also find out if $2,800 for this beast was a good purchase. It seems

like a bargain to me.

I do appreciate all the advice on support systems as well. I'm shopping heads and pods

now. The Wimberly Gimbal looks pretty cool, we'll see.

Going to Wyoming/Montana/Colorado in July, hoping to get some shots with what ever

system I come up with and the surfers can wait for now. I'll come back to the forum once I

get the setup. Thanks again!

Ken

Greetings all,

I'm getting ready to drop some coin on a long lens for bird,

wildlife, and some surf photography. I've been contemplating this

for a long time, have rented some of the equipment I'm considering,

and I've gotten the wife to buy in on it, somewhat. This is the

beginning of a life long dream.

So, I'm now going to you, the greatest minds on the topic, for your

input.

First, there's a local merchant that has a beautiful 800 f/5.6 lens

that is just awesome. The price is very reasonable, at least for

what I can tell, at <$3K US. It's a bit long, but it's an awesome

lens. Everthing else from 500 and up seems to be the same price or

higher. I know that the 500 f/4 P lens gives me some metering

capability with the D70, I'm quite comfortable with a spot meter so

I'm not sure if it's a trade off giving up millimeters.

Second, I'm not independently wealthy, so I'm a bit out of the

running for something like the 200-400 AF-S lens or some of the new

glass. I'd like to do something for around $2,500 tops.

So, I'm asking...should I just go for the 800 because it appears to

be a great deal (I think this lens was used twice...no marks

anywhere) or go shorter? Looking for any input on field use,

sharpness, value, etc. Thanks for the help!

Ken

Hi Bob, et.al.

I've been using a Scan Dual IV for about 7 months now and here's a summary

of my findings. Let me tell you first I'm on a Mac G4 467MHz running OS X

v10.2.8.

1. The set up and use is a piece of cake. It's easy to get started. I had some

software glitches on my computer later on where it would freeze with no

warning, then everytime I tried to restart the software, I got this cryptic

message that stated the software was already running. Very frustrating. Fix in

number 3

2. Slides are usually great color as long as they are balanced contrast.

Shadows need some work on high contrast or dark images. Negatives,

another story. I've not had much success with the package software. Again,

see number 3.

3. Vuescan...you will se a lot of folks recommend this product and for good

reason. It's like getting an $800 scanner for $250. It does what the software

packaged software should do in offering more control and stability. It's the

best $90 I have spent. I could also recommend SilverFast, which does the

same thing, except it's a lot more money.

If you have any other questions specific about the scanner let me know. I can

tell you in my opinion there's not another scanner in that price range that can

touch it. Have fun and good luck.

Ken

Thanks to all for your very informative replies. Looks like I should drink Photoflo, rinse the negs in Grey Goose, and share some wine with my iBook...no, wait, I read that all wrong...

Seriously, I have tons of Photoflo, but I've never used it on color negs so I wasn't sure on that. Gee that stuff is concentrated. Used two drops from an eye dropper in a half gallon of water and the negs are soaking now. I will let you know of the results.

Be well, my fellow photo.net friends, and thanks for the help.

Ken

A quiet night with my wife, cold beer, going through honeymoon

memories...sounds nice eh? Sure, until the scanner ejects the

negative holder into my beer, dumping it all over my

negatives...yuck!

I tried wiping them off but there is still a film of stuff on the

negs, and some of them I missed in my cleaning. I tried PEC-12 but

after reading the bottle it says it's not for water soluable

stains. Before I get served for divorce, what's the best way to

clean these negs?

Thanks from the dog house,

Ken

Thanks for wealth of info here, friends. I do appreciate it. A couple of things are coming to mind after this post.

First, when "stitching" two sides of a Xpan image, it seems to me, based on my film carrier, that there would be a gap represented by the bar that separates the two frames in the carrier, thus when you overlap the two frames when stitching there would be about 3/32" of the frame not scanned...am I missing something?

Second, I mentioned the Microtek scanner above and no one commented on it, which leads me to believe that perhaps it isn't a good scanner? How does the Coolscan, Scan MultiPro, etc. compare? An Imacon would be awesome but a bit out of my league at the moment.

Third, I have yet to write to VueScan, but it seems to me that unless the firmware of the scanner supports user selection of the scan area there would not be much that application software could provide. My Scan Dual IV would not allow me to scan this format would be my guess. So, given I shoot a lot of MF, perhaps I need a new scanner which leads us back to my first point...

I like the idea of the Epson 4870/4990 as I do 4x5 as well, but I would like to get the best quality I can afford from these images.

Thanks again for your kindness and participation. I hope I can help in kind some day.

Ken