_________2

richard, try this - http://www.nikonlinks.com/ruether/posts_html/85mm%20z.html

it answers your question to a "T", AND DR uses the example of the

85mm 1.4 vs. the 1.8.

out of the dozen SLR lenses i use (4 are autofocus)

only the 105M AFD and the old 2-touch 80-200 are 2.8's

and while they focus in AF reasonably well

neither is built for rapid AF focussing.

i can't comment about differing results (images quality) in using

f1.4 as opposed to slower lenses but i can comment about the process.

what i mean is that i often find it easier to manually focus a 2.8

lens than a much faster one - the exception being an AIS85/1.4 which

is the lens i focus with most easily. this is likely a function of the

camera's viewfinder which might lend itself to better focussing with

a "slower" lens. i use 3 SLR cameras: F100 and F3 about equally, and

an F801 occasionally. i definitely find it easier to focus the f2.8 -

f4 lenses with the F3 and F801. i don't recall it mattering too

much with the F100.

if it is true that i can manually focus better with an f2.8 lens then

it might follow that i'd get a better resulting image. i can't

honestly claim this to be so in real world examples.

if memory serves, David Ruether had written a piece or a post on

this some time ago. i'm sure you'd find his opinion worthwhile.

mr kaplan,

you know such a great deal about photography and apparently nothing

of import concerning the history of the jews' return to their homeland.

nothing of historic worth, at any rate.

your son entered israel after having been in syria. syria and israel

are technically "at war", a peace treaty never having been signed.

and lest we forget, syria currently occupies the lebanon. so the nine

hours of his being held up at the airport might be understood in this light.

the suffering endured by the israelis and palestinians is terrible

and seemingly unending. i don't believe your uninformed remarks

made much of a contribution.

thank you for listening.

thanks, zora, for getting out a "heads-up" on this photographer.

her portrait of frank mCcourt and the first "tango" pic are

terrific. many others on her site are wonderful as well.

i'll keep an eye out for her work in future.

my domke F3X flap does not extend to the edges of the

bag and offers little protection from rain or dust.

the heavier/bulkier the equipment, the worse the problem becomes.

in my case, i refer to the

main compartment flap on my bag and not the pocket covers. they are

adequate - if only just.

but it's a great shooters' bag. easy to work out of and easy to bear

if not overloaded. i lay down a piece of old canvas on top of the gear

and below the cover which extends to the edges and this does

the trick. plastic sheeting - even one of those garbage pail liners

would do.

i believe i have seen this complaint voiced by others as well.

i use an f4af as well and there's a bit less of a problem with that

bag. but i use the f3x a good deal more as it's smaller and suits

my kit better.

lex -

quite good bokeh bokeh.

OT - i never responded to your DW-4 question (though i frequently use the F3[HP] together with the 6X) because with your orthopedic problems i felt

it would be irresponsible of me no matter how i answered you.

i use mine for tabletop photography mostly with a 105M, a 180 and

a 300mm lens, and outdoors at limited camera angles. your photo

above provides you with an extreme example (and answer) of how best

to use a DW-4 with an F3. and when one should not.

personally, i never leave home without the DW-4 and vioxx and

glucosamine and MSM. all essential photo gear for me.

how we suffer for our art.

jef,

i'm going to give this my best shot by describing to you my worst-case

scenario with a Hakuba 6240C i recently purchased and have used now

perhaps a dozen times.

i mounted a large leica ball-head on this tripod,and on this an F100,

a TC-E 1.4, and a 300 AFS f4 lens. i wedged a doo-hickey rubber thing

between the lens and tripod leg to better stabilise the lens and with this done i can go slower than 1/60 for a crisp image. with the lens now better stabilised, the competence of the tripod/head comes into play.

the tripod is very good. the head is very good. while i don't feel that i'm coming to the end of the capacity of this rig with

this kind of weight, i would be reluctant to go much heavier with it.

the 6240C is rated at 25 pounds, the ball-head i don't know, but it

definitely feels solid enough and locks down tight.

if you believe as i do that you get what you pay (for camera support

systems, at any rate) then the Hakuba 6240C is a good value. and the

leica ball-head is a good value.

there are better tripod/head combinations and they are more costly

for the initial outlay.

the 504MX i know nothing about. good hunting.

voigtlander has indeed NOT disappeared from RW's site nor from any other

site where it was located. a casual perusal of RW, B&H, Cameraquest,

Adorama sites will verify the presence of voigtlander and all of their

[growing] product line.

robert,

the TC-14B works well for me. your one-touch is not new; get a 2nd

hand TC from KEH, B&H, locally or whatever. it's usable at [effective ap]

f4 - at f5.5 - f11 there is very little image (contrast) degradation.

sometimes none that i can see. i cannot speak for other brands or

powers of magnification but i can state with certainty that this TC

is quite well-matched to this lens. good luck.

alex -

purchased from robert white (UK) this past august whilst in london

(shipped to my hotel room) an R2, with 15, 21, 35 1.7. and 75mm lenses

together with billingham bag (hadley pro).

i wanted/needed a light(er) weight kit to take pics in urban landscapes.

i wanted an entry into a decent rangefinder system which would be at

least as good as my f3/f801 outfits with their excellent but heavy glass (i have 11 lenses and typically might take 3-4 with me on a

tour through a city). i'm getting along and my bones can't take

the punishment of humping 5 or 6 kgms in a photopack around a city

all day. auto trip - why sure! but not all day on foot.

the camera is fine. the lenses and the vf's for the 15 and 21

are wonderful - all of them. the meter is accurate (i shoot mostly

positive film so its accuracy is important). the only problems i've

encountered were framing problems with the 15mm lens - less than about

3 meters from the subject and you'd better be paying attention. my

learning curve was about 5 rolls of film.

this kit does just what i want it to do for what i want it for. i

suspect it's 20% the weight of any f3 kit i'd lug through a city.

my reference is to nikon slr's and not to leica "M" cameras and certainly the optics compare favorably to my nikkors.

so i use the slr's for those times that an slr answers my needs,

and the rangefinder for those other times.

yoni