minh_thai

Doesn't look like shutter failure. That would create horizontal bands (along the long edge of the film). By any chance these frames are at the beginnings or ends of the rolls? There could be light leak as well, you might want to check the foam on the film door and replace it.

Wow, thumbs up to photo.net again. This question should be saved as I figure the issue is not specific to EOS5 bodies. M

You seems to have a lot of overlaps in your lenses. Since the 17-40 is on its way, I would say put it in the bag and take the 28-135 out for a month and see how you do. I bet you won't miss it or its replacement. The 17-40 is probably better than the 28-135 in the 28-40 range and the Sigma is better than the 28-135 in the 70-135 range. 40-70 is a really small range IMHO. Don't forget to give a full review of the 17-40L once you get it OK? :) M.

I'm no baby specialist, but I will put in my 2c. I can see the your intention of highlight the baby in the above picture. However, the fact that the mother/caregiver's head is obscured into the background gives me the impression that she was just a baby rack and there is nothing maternal about that. Maybe the sharp constrast between the dark hair and the white shirt have something to do w/ it. Try to capture some moments of the mother and her infant child. Regards. M.

Hope you don't mind pix taken w/ a Canon :).

Congrats. You should have ordered films while you were at it :). M

This discussion brings up a very good question I would like to ask veteran shooters like Mike Dixon who have a lot of experience working w/ models, pro or otherwise. Before the photo shoot, do you (the photographers) have a clear idea of how you want the models to pose, what kind of expressions you're after or what stereotype you're trying to portray, ie. like an acting job? Anyone approach this in a more spontaneous way, letting the models go about their own way, ignoring the camera, aka Austin Power as the photographer? Thanks and regards. M.

Here's my take on this:<p>

1. For Moet (a nightclub/gentlement club I assume) too much lingerie too little skin, plus I don't see the relation between fashion and nightclub,<p>

2. For the necklaces, too much skin, too little jewelry.<p>

Personally, I find these covers accomplish little why trying to cover too many things. This of course has nothing to do w/ how lovely these ladies are or how you beautifully captured their images. It's strictly in the sense of achieving your objectives. Regards, M.

You mentioned that your friend will bring the equipment from the US to you in a year or two. By that time all these digital camera will be obsolete. If you are able to order one from the US right now, I would say go for the G3. The 4x zoom lens on this thing is a gem. It's much more affordable than DSLR, and will probably hold value a lot better as well. The handling of the G3 may be different than an SLR but they are equally capable. Plus you'll never have to worry about which lenses to get. Save the money and buy a speedlight, tripod, cards... My 2 cents. M

My answer<div></div>

Low key doesn't do it for me in this case. Maybe there just isn't enough contrast in the setup for an effective low key composition. BTW, I like your second picture much more. The pose was definitely sexier. Regards.

So I own this camera for 8 years and only until today that I found

out that it has 3 focus points w/o any mean to select or indicate the

selection. Anyone has any experience w/ this? I also recently

acquired a new Sigma EF-500 DG Super w/ the hope to use the Sigma's

AF assist light, as the camera built-in light got blocked by bigger

lens and hood. However, the red assist light on the flash unit would

not turn on, but the built-in light is used instead. What gives?

Thanks.

I bet it was a case of dirty electrical contacts. Next time that happens, try to clean the contacts and see if that helps. M

My entry...<div></div>

My entry<div></div>

This thread is the proof for photographers' fascination w/ crystal ball :).<div></div>

I think the patent(s) is US specific. Outside the US, all the bell and whistle are there.

Just be care not to poke the shutter w/ the film lead when you remove it though. M

Yakim, I indeed have read Neil's EOS flash page, as well as Jim's Sigma EF-500 Super review. My question was based on my assumption that FP mode implementation did not have to be tied w/ E-TTL. Isaac said that the 1n can support this mode, that's w/o E-TTL. In FP mode, does the flash actually fire a pre-flash bust to get the exposure measurement (ie. E-TTL)? Anyway, thank you all for being so responsive so far. M

Thanks, Bill. I actually don't own any of these flash units yet, I'm just trying to compare features between the 420ex, Sigma EF-500 ST and Sigma EF-500 Super. Regards.

Done my search and not able to find an answer. So, can I run a 420ex

or 550ex in FP mode on a type B body like A2E or Rebel XS?<p>

Thanks.

I suggest to get the 420EX and a used Sunpak 383 or equivalent. When you use the flash in manual mode w/ variable power settings, you are not using TTL, but rather a flash meter or calculating GN anyway; so any flash would be fine.

alone<div></div>

IIRC, the 77mm is newer. M

A modern camera's metering system is amazingly good, available light or flash. If you want to eliminate shadow on the wall the best way is to have no walls at all, IOW move the subject away from the wall. The moment you add a slave flash, your TTL autoexposure is out the window. You would have to use your 540ez on non ttl mode along w/ the slave(s) and a handheld flash meter to have consistent results. That would be a real waste of the excellent 540ez. My suggestion is to forget about the slave flash if you can move the subject off the backdrop. If that's not possible, use your slave anyway but only on the background, leave the 540ez on TTL mode and hopefully the slave won't overpower the primary. If you're shooting slides and in doubt just underexpose 1/2 stop. Hope this help.