photomd

Dear friends,

 

I couldn't find a better place to post this basic question. What

does IMO (occasionally written as IMHO) mean?

 

Regards,

 

Nabil

Dear Friends--

 

I use Canon D10 with two 550EX kit. I want to control the amount of

fill flash added to the shadows that are casted by ambient natural

light. My dilemma is how Ican figure out the flash:ambient light

ratio so I can get a darker background for example or a soft balanced

illumination of the subject, etc. How Can I tell that this flash

setting will render the subject 2+ overexposed (i.e the background 2-

underexosed) without using a separate meter? Is there a function on

the 550EX to set the ratio of F:A light similar to the function that

set the ratio between flash A and B?

 

Thank you

Hi everyone--

 

I am new to macro lighting. I have Canon 10D with two 550EXs, flash

bracket and two macro plates (that I hooked perpendicularily so that

to allow movement of the camera in the horizontal plain) Now, the

problem that I face is two folds. 1- I cannot get max DOF with

resonalble shutter speed (faster than 1/60) to prevent hand tremors

(I am a shaky guy!) 2- this set doesn't allow for creative lighting.

I need your advice regarding affordable, flexible and versatile

lighting kit that allow me to lighten macros in additon to creat

spot lights....etc. Can the same kit be used for portaits (1-2

person portraits)?

 

Thank you for your help and advise.

Dear friends--

 

I have recently received JTL kit consists of 2-300w strobs (an

umbrella and a softbox). As I went through the manual I realized that

its GN is 54m (ISO 100). I already have canon 550EX kit (2 flashes

and an on-camera transmitter). Its GN is 55m (ISO 100). Should I

prefer the JTL kit on the 550EX for portraits and small objects still

life. Do you recommend that I buy stands and two 44'' umbrellas for

the 550EX kit and return the JTL kit.

BTW, be adviced that the sync cord of the JTL kit does not match my

camera (Canon 10D) nor my light meter (Sekonic L- 358).

 

Do you konw what I need to buy to trigger the strobes wirelessly from

the camera and the light meter?

 

Thanks

Regarding all the responses about the exposure part of my comment... I went outside during the last hour of a sunny day. I pointed 10D to trees where the tonality are midtone to -1. The picture in the viewfinder was +1 to +1.5 overexposed. Should I redo it using the rebel (and I did it before) it appears midtone (provided in both cases the shot was with EC set at 0) I will repeat the test tomorrow using 18% gray card and I will let you know.

Thank you all for you quick and informative responses.

Dear friends -

 

I have finally received my 10D yesterday and I am so excited about

it!

 

I want to share the following thoughts with you, hopefully, to open

a useful discussion -

 

1- Regarding the 1.6 "telephoto" effect. I am afraid that this

statement can be misleading. "Telephoto effect" as a term gives me

the impression of CROPPING+MAGNIFICATION. But my simple, primitive

tests confirm the cropping but not the MAGNIFICATION. I pointed my

Canon 75-300 on an object big enough to exactly fit between the

upper and lower AF points that appears in the viewfinder. I noticed

that the object fits between the two points at 75mm (on 10d) and

around 85mm (on Rebel 2000) not 120mm (75X1.6) as I expected. I

initially concluded that even though the image is further cropped

the objects are not bigger. please try it and let me know.

 

2- I noticed that the Exposure compensation (EC) mechanism in 10D is

the opposite to its counterpart in Rebel 2000. I learned that the

first rule in exposure (in analog cameras) that the meter "tries" to

make the object "look" midtone. So if I shoot a bright object I have

to compensated by moving the EC indicator to + and if I am shooting

a dark object I have to move it to -. I noticed that the

compensation on 10D is rather the opposite. Excuse me, if this fact

is taken for granted. After all, I am still a novice (D)photographer.

 

3- Last but not least, I have to thank photo.net for the good advice

about the 10D and Ritzcamera. The 10D: $1500. Ritzcamera courtious

service: PRICELESS.

 

Thank you and I hope to receive some comments.

 

Dr. Nabil Majid

Dear Brian and Bob:

 

No doubt that Photo.net is a great asset to online photography. I

like everything it brings home - tutorials, forums, reviews, and

best of all, photos from all around the world and from pros and

amateurs alike.

 

I have two suggestions to further improve this site. Probably you've

dealt with them in the past and my opinion would then be just a

reminder.

 

1- I believe that the default setting of high-rated photos (highest

ratings in the last three days) can be more meaningful and would

more closely refect the outstanding status of the photo if we take

both the number of ratings and the average of O&A into account. I,

therefor, suggests the Photo Index number that is calculated as (A+O)

*n (where n is the number of ratings). In this case, we will prevent

a photo that is less "outstanding" to be ranked higher merely

because more people saw it and prevent photo to be ranked higher (as

per higher rating setting) only because of two odd 7s.

 

2- I also suggest to activate the search engine. It is so difficult

to follow someone's work without these search engines. You can

disable the rating ability to prevent biased rating if this is a

concern (last time I checked the search engines they were disabled)

 

Lastly, I highly recommend to put "home" URL from all the pages

and "High-rated photos" URL from the "add a comment" page. When I

need to check my portfolio I cannot go back to the front page

directly. I have to go to "my workshop" then I find "home" URL

there. Going back from "add a comment" page is even a bigger hassle.

I either have to go to high-rated photo and scroll through the pages

from the beginning or I have to keep pressing the "back" arrow.

 

Well, it turned to be three or four suggestion. Not bad.

 

Thank you for you attention to these matters.

 

Nabil Majid

Dear friends:

 

I have a Rebel 2000 and a Sunpak PZ4000AF mounted on a Strobo camera

flip bracket. As you may know, the creative zone offers five modes -

A-DEP, M, Av, Tv and P. I noticed that, when the flash is on, A-DEP

and P set the camera on 1/90 and largest available shutter. Exposure

compensation only change the pointer location against the exposure

meter but not the f/stop or the time. In M mode I can set everything

manually. While in Av and Tv modes, the f/stop will be set to the

largest available.

I have two questions.

1- Which mode utilizes the flash as fill in and which does make it

the main source of light?

2- How can I darken the background? is there a certain distance the

background should be at to be darkened?

 

Thank you

Dear Friends:

 

I bought Canoscan FS2720.I was disappointed of the color saturation

of the scanned picture. It looked on the monitor as if I am looking

at the slide through a foggy/cloudy glass. I tried digital

corrections (that I hate). I was not successful so I returned it

back. I am thinking of buying Nikon scanner. The price is daunting

though. I wonder if anyone has an advice - a scanner that is

reasonablly priced yet gives very high quality color sat and details.

Thank you

Dear friends:

 

I have a Rebel 2000 and a Bogen/Manfrotto 3001. I had a pan/tilt

head. It was inconvenient. I bought a Bogen 3055 ball head. It was

better (and heavier!)but more practical. I noticed that in order to

unlock the ball I have to (almost) kick the lock open which always

resulted in sudden drop of the camera. The pan lock was not that

tight though. I returned this head back. My search led me to Kirk B1

head. As much praises there are, the price does force for a

thoughtful reconsideration. Do you think I need Kirk B1 for semi-

serious nature and macro photography? Is there another ball head out

there with same performance?

Thank you.

Dear Friends:

 

I bought Canoscan FS2720.I was disappointed of the color saturation

of the scanned picture. It looked on the monitor as if I am looking

at the slide through a foggy/cloudy glass. I tried digital

corrections (that I hate). I was not successful so I returned it

back. I am thinking of buying Nikon scanner. The price is daunting

though. I wonder if anyone has an advice - a scanner that is

reasonablly priced yet gives very high quality color sat and details.

Thank you