wilbur_wong

<p>I use the standard square Lee filter with only one slot attached. I have cut off 2 pleats from the smaller end of the bellows which still allows me sun shading on my longer lenses. I find that with the relatively small amount of movement afforded by the 65mm there isn't much issue with vignetting. Cutting off 2 pleats and reattaching the bellows to the frame allows me to use as much as a graduated ND in the single slot, and stack it on top of a thin line polarizer, and allow the full movement of the lens.</p>

<p>I looked at and immediately did not consider buying Lee's wide angle bellows shade as I found it is too large for me to consider carrying in my pack and would be nearly useless on my longer lenses.</p>

<p>Enjoy your 65mm it is an excellent lens.</p>

Astronomers have used really long lens hoods, on the order of a length extending twice the diameter of the objective lens. Of course they use this with very narrow field of view lenses (telescopes). This way, all the dew forms on the extended hood while the front element stays dry from dew.

 

For more than a passive approach, there are also mildly heated approaches which actually would work better for short exposures than it does for hours long exposures. For telescope work, the heated air causes diffraction of the air and causes the focus to shift constantly.

 

Depending on how severe the dew issue is, you might get enough heat to last most of the night by setting a 5 gallon bucket of hot water under the tripod. . . . .

William,

 

I am guessing that you are not able to "see" an image near the corners of your ground glass. The image is probably there, but to see it you need to be looking at the g g from an oblique angle (move your head so that you are looking at the ground glass, like you are looking directly through the lens.)

 

This is why fresnel (wide angle viewing accessory) are used. With a fresnel on, you can see the entire image from a straight on position rather than moving your head around.

In regard to the use of extension tubes, my personal experience didn't work too well using them in conjunction with zoom lenses. I believe that this approach will work reasonably well with fixed focal length lenses short of their design limitations.

 

With zoom lenses, most appear to have varying relationships of lens groups as they are zoomed and are specifically designed for the flange distance of the lens from the focal plane. Upsetting the flange distance made my attempt at this very fuzzy at the edges.

 

I had better luck with the Canon close up "filters" which fit on the front of the lens. YMMV. Of course my ultimate would be to pop for a properly designed macro which I would adopt if I did considerable work in this area. My experience was for doing some very casual copying of some old photographs from my parents and was not for critical work and for that purpose was fine.

I don't understand, your last post in conflict to the first as you are indicating film vs the 5d which is digital.

 

If you are interested in lighting ratios, answers depend on your lighting set-up. Studio lighting is completely a different animal from the ETTL (through the camera)capabilities. This may invovlve ST-E2's and multiple remote Canon flash units which will allow many adjustments from the camera position, but is a huge subject all by itself.

 

If shooting in the field, you can get a pretty fair idea from the LCD if you magnify and move around the image, presuming you aren't in a super bright area. For studio shoots, I recommend shooting tethered and immediately seeing it on screen.

Calumet Photo. Actually in Cambridge (across the river), I would guess they should have one in stock and they are open tomorrow the 21st.

Dan, the corded releases come plain, simply a button on the end of a meter long cord, or with self timer, intervalometer settings etc. Either of these relieves things like shaking the camera when on tripod, etc.

 

To be "radio" cordless remote requires the LC 5 which runs $400. There are numberous aftermarket radio remotes which if you search this site, you will find many experienced comments both positive and negative.

 

If you want to use the "shutter release and engage the mirror lock" to stop any camera shake, any of the corded ones will do fine.

 

Another possibility is that you can trigger the camera from your computer if you shoot tethered with the USB cable, and you don't need to buy anything at all.

The preview button for stopping down a lens on the 5D is not easy for me to

reach intuitively, whether I am hand held or on a tripod. Working with the left

hand palm down is a bit better than palm up, but for me still less than a

smooth action.

 

If the "set" button in the center of the rotary dial could be programed for

this, I would like that solution. Alternatively if the preview button was

pressed once for preview, and pressed again to disengage, this could be a

workable solution. I find it difficult to impossible to simultaneously preview

and turn the focusing ring on a lens.

 

I would like to hear how others feel about the ergonomics of this function, and

how they might like future bodies configured.

 

(This is a no brainer issue on a view camera, the preview is wherever I set the

lens opening, and I can proceed to evaluate the image without having my left

elbow flapping for air like a chicken.)

Does the Sigma flash utilize the ETTL procedure of the Canon? There should be a preflash which is used by the TTL sensors and processed to determine the proper main flash strength.

 

Maybe the pre-flash doesn't fire on the quick succession possibly due to an exhausted capacitor? As an experiment, try the same as you are doing but boost film speed to 1600, or something else to force the flash not to fire at full power.

I use mine on a MT2000 all of the time, haven't had any problems. The flange focal length is 290mm so it's not a telephoto. Perhaps I don't use it to shoot as close to a subject as you would like to do. As frank mentioned, the image circle is enormous for a 4 x 5 user.

If you are trying to find something ultra light to carry, I use http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/322191-REG/Velbon_ULTRALUXIF_Ultra_LUXiF_Tripod_with.html with a 5D. I wouldn't leave this unattended for a great length time, but I find it stable enough even with a 70 - 300 DO. One big thing to note about this particular tripod is that the head on it, places the camera body a couple of inches back from the center of the tripod, effectively that means that the camera-lens combination has it's overall weight balance close to centered over the tripod.

 

(I use gitzo carbon fiber and linhof ball heads for other cameras, read 4 figures $$$$) But for a walk about camera usage that my 5D is meant for, this Velbon which weighs under 3 pounds will get carried versus left back in the trunk. Please note that of this overall Velbon series this is the ONLY one which I consider strong enough for this application.

I chose the DO for it's compact size and non intrusiveness despite the possible compromises in quality. Flare is pronounced if there is direct sun onto the lens of course, a good photographer should be aware of this and be careful with their photography.

 

Yes, there may be "slightly" better image quality with the non DO version, all of which I consider worthless if the lens is back in my closet or in my trunk! And for the privledge I paid the price.

I may be all wet here, but I thought that the 580 with a 5d was capable of high speed sync (the flash pulses repeated lightings continuously while the shutter "slit" passes in front of the film/sensor?

 

Maybe something needs to be set for "high speed synch", perhaps not achieveable with non Canon components.

Doug,

 

The essential difference of using either the 580EX or ST-E2, versus other wired and/or wireless aftermarket solutions, is that the first two allows for TTL exposure settings along with losing the flash from the camera position.

 

Getting the flash off of the camera is the most important step of losing the deer caught in the headlights look. Using wireless TTL control is great for lazy togs like me. Without going back to where the flash units are set up, I can control ambient light setting of the camera, and dial flash (fill) up and down right from my camera.

 

The "strobist" has some pretty concise info about many different lighting conditions.

Your built in flash can not act as the master. You must use either the 580 as the master or alternatively purchase and use a speedlite transmitter ST E2.

 

These units will instruct the remote units to fire different banks of light (at low power) your camera analyzes the actual output and then instructs all of the remotes to fire the resultant calculated power output at the time of exposure. This instruction set is separate from what your built in flash can do.

I should add when the file loads to the computer, the photo shows is displayed automatically in addition to being downloaded.

You can shoot tethered to your computer or laptop using the EOS utility which is part of Digital Photo Professional. The program came on the 5D CD.

 

It works very well, however the white USB cable provided by Canon is probably only 3 feet long. To extend the length, I use a Trip Lite self powered USB extension. Note that most USB powered devices do not like long lengths, and a non powered USB extension is probably a little dicey.

 

You can shoot from the camera using the camera controls, and the file automatically loads directly to your computer, (bypasses the CF card) or you can control the camera from the EOS utility, including changing exposure settings even things like white balance etc. and firing the actual shot from the keyboard. When I am in a tethered shoot, I am always on a tripod, and I prefer to fire the camera with a remote switch (I use the TC-80N3)

J,

 

I don't see a straight forward answer for the full range that you present.

 

You have it right that 5 x 7 is "nice" for platinum.

 

With experience, the Technika is a very versatile and compact camera to carry, use and set-up. The Deardorf is probably easier to learn on.

 

Film and printing may be a different play. The choices color film is of course limited at 5 x 7, hence the reducing back is an advantage. Enlargers for 5 x 7 require more space etc. However if you plan on scanning negs, that might be a non issue. You could consider producing digital negs from the scans for platinum printing.

 

If the last is the case, I would go for the Linhof, a good book on technique and then spend 2 hours a day for a month rehearsing going through every movement and adjustment (dry without shooting) so you aren't trying to learn these while in the field.

 

Be forwarned, the 75 schneider can be a little difficult to completely utilize on a tech IV. I assume it comes with a special lens board to allow focus. Full movements are somewhat limited (even true on the latest tech versions, but improved.) I do use a 65mm but on a MT2000.

 

Some deardorfs did not have front swing, which might be a factor for you depending on your needs which you haven't experienced yet. Rear swing controls perspective and focus. Front swing will control focus without changing the perspective of convergence.

I would think so for tilt control of focus.

 

Shift and tilt both affect "perspective" (vanishing points, vertical and horizontals for example).

 

Tilt additionally and more importantly affects focus, particularly the plane of focus. (Google scheimflug for deeper explanations)

 

Large format photographers while viewing their ground glass which may range from 2 x 3 up to and beyond 8 x 10 additionally magnify what is on the ground glass with loupes ranging from 3.8X power up to 8X ! When I do it I am magnifying only a small part of a 4 x 5 inch view.

 

You don't stand a chance of seeing this detail through the pentaprism, especially with a less than full frame camera. Live view if it allows you to magnify only a portion, may be sufficient.

I bought a 12 mm extension tube to use with my 24 - 105 and 70 - 300 zooms. I found the combination performs poorly at any f stop. I had intended to use it for some copy work and found poor performance at the edges, perhaps partly due to enhanced curvature of field.

 

Perhaps more to the point, modern zooms have floating and other moving elements involved. Extensions really mess up the relationship to the focal plane. Close up lenses do their work prior to entering the zoom or fixed lens.

 

After much research, I ordered a 500d close up lens which is under $90 for the 58 mm, I'll use it only with my longer zoom, I think the combo will give me working distance and the 58mm filter size cost, is a relief to the non existant discretionary spending account.

I have the Nikkor f4.5 and I am on a constant lookout to replace it with the f8.

Depending on the camera model, I can't speak for all, however the controls you want can be controlled from my computer via Canon's Digital Photo Professional software on my Canon 5D. Connection can be made via the supplied USB cable if you do this and extend the cable be sure to use a powered cable.

I think this is normal. The shorter the lens the more the light is at an angle to the ground glass at the edges. Near the center, things will be at a common (straight through) angle and appear as "sharp" however you will be looking at a smaller image of course.

I have tried using a 12mm canon extension tube with my 24-105 as well as a 70-300 to copy some very old photographs. My experience with this leaves me thinking that these combinations do not produce a flat plane of focus. Can anyone comment?

 

I have wondered if using Canon's dedicated 250D and 500D close up lenses are a better solution given a flat subject matter, I know that the OP is interested in shooting 3D subjects and I don't mean to hijack or derail the original questions but would like to hear about these alternatives.

"As I understand it the 1D series cameras do 1/3 stops in hardware rather than software and don't suffer from the same problems."

 

Bob, do you or anyone have any idea about intermediate ASA implementation on the 5D?