angel_o.

February 13, 2004

"Thus, I am wondering if setting the Nikon F70 to Matrix mode to use with the flash was a mistake"

No. Your mistake was to choose a very small aperture in combination with bouncing off the ceiling. Therefore, the flash ist not powerful enough to light the subject at distances greater than aprox. 1.5 meters (~ 5 feet). Remember that bouncing costs about 1-2 stops of power. The solution is to open-up a couple of stops the diaphragm and you'll be fine.

Hope this helps further.

February 1, 2004

Nikon doesn't explicitely write about D-TTL in its brochures.

Thom Hogan writes in his review of the D70 (<A

href="http://www.bythom.com/D70.htm">link</A>):

"... However, note that D-TTL is NOT supported if you use an SB-28DX, SB-50DX, or SB-80DX..."

It looks like D-TTL flashes were built to be thrown away after an upgrade to digital...what a long sight policy!

December 18, 2003

"I handheld the flash about 5 inches from my subjects..."

5 inches from the subject? The meter of the camera is fooled by the flash assuming that you're not using plain TTL, the wide-angle diffusor on the flash and at least f/32 as aperture. Check the manual of the SB-28, there you'll find a formula to calculate a minimum aperture for macro shots at a given flash-subject distance. For ISO100 the formula is:

aperture=13/distance in feet (or if you prefer the metric system: aperture= 4/meters)

Hope this helps further.

December 15, 2003

Hi Kim,

I'm currently using the Magic Ball.

The positive aspects are:

- works very smoothly

- very maneuverable

- solid build

- once it's tighten, nothing moves

- not sensitive to dirt and ambient conditions (frost, dust, dew, etc.)

The negative aspects are:

- friction setting is not reliable (it's better to tighten the ball and beeing aware of the lens not hitting the tripod leg)

- expensive

If you are considering the Novoflex Quick Connect, check out that your equipment doesn't "rotate" on it.

Hope this helps a little further.

Regards

December 1, 2003

The F80's bracket function shoots either three frames (normal, under-, over-exposure) or two frames (normal, over-exp. / normal, under-exp.). For details, check the included file (p.62 of the manual).

Regards

November 29, 2003

Forgot to add that DOF depends on the focussing distance too.

Regards

November 29, 2003

Depth of field depends on the effective focal lenght and aperture, its "look" (="bokeh") depends on the construction of the lens (e.g. shape of the diaphragm blades and their number).

If a lens is called for a specific format "normal" or not depends if its focal lenght is close to the hypothenuse of the frame (e.g. the hypothenuse for the 35mm frame is ~43mm, which is very close to 50mm). In other words, the 50/1.8 can be considered as a small tele and the 35/2 as a "normal" lens if they're used with e.g. a D100.

November 23, 2003

Dilip,

learn how to use your current equipment first.

To change the aperture, select either "M"- or "A"-Mode and turn the command dial. The N80 does it the same way.

BTW, there's a battery grip for the N65 as well.

November 22, 2003

Darren,

theoretically you're right. From the practical point of view, there's not really a power loss. Check your manual: for the SB-28 in the range between 18mm-28mm the difference in GN between two focal lenghts are 2 meters; the most "critical" range is between 35mm and 50mm with a delta of 6 meters. That means that in worst case you "loose" max. 15% of the available power. Nevertheless, if the flash fires at maximum power, you're still getting the advertised guide number. For saving batteries the most effective way (without changing to an higher-speed film) is to open-up the aperture.

BTW, I seriously doubt that 3rd party manufactures know the Nikon flash system better than Nikon itself.

November 9, 2003

Zeiss Ikon Contaflex with its Tessar lenses comes to my mind.

Here are some links:

<A

href="http://www.pacificrimcamera.com/pp/zeiss/zeiss.htm">Pacific Rim Camera</A>

<A

href="http://www.zeiss.com/C125679B0029303C/EmbedTitelIntern/inno11e_3233/$File/inno11e_3233.pdf">100

years of Carl Zeiss Tessar (PDF-file)</A>

Have fun!

October 27, 2003

You'll find the manual for the F80 at:

<A

href="http://www.nikon-euro.com/kdb/download/manuals/film/F80rm.htm">http://www.nikon-euro.com/kdb/download/manuals/film/F80rm.htm</A>

Regards

October 12, 2003

Personally, I prefer to push Elite Chrome 100 rather than using the ISO 200 variant. To me the colors of the pushed ISO-100 film look better and the grain is definitely lower than the one of its ISO-200 counterpart.

September 16, 2003

The 28-80D/3.5-5.6 is a fairly cheap lens meant for amateur use wich was replaced by it's aperture ring-less brother, the AF 28-80G/3.3-5.6. The optical quality is okay but is not comparable to the more expensive lenses.

BTW, in fact there were two versions: one with a thick focus-ring and a thinner focus-ring, but that didn't have an effect on the build-quality.

September 10, 2003

Desmond,

for overexposing the background 2 stops just add +2 stops exposure-compensation on the camera and -2 stops flash-compensation for not overexposing the foreground.

Exposure compensation on the camera controls the total amount of light exposing the film, flash comp. controls only the flash-output. Therefore, if you want to overexpose the background in dim light-conditions and don't want to overexpose the foreground with the flash-light, you have to increase the exposure and reduce the flash-output.

Have fun shooting!

August 25, 2003

"Yeah, the inclusion of the StoFen-like device with the 80DX surprised me, but I figured that with the 80DX they added some kind of micro-switch to sense that the diffuser was there."

It's really quite interesting to recognize how complicated this flash system is and to see how well it works.

Thanks for your patience!

August 24, 2003

"...you can't use an Omni Bounce, without tilt, in 3D Matrix mode because of the D pre-flash..."

While I don't own an Omni Bounce, I would like to understand why the pre-flashes can't go through it and allow a proper exposure at three feet. IMO, if the Omni Bounce is not tilted, it shouldn't have any strong effect on the quality of the light except throttling the light-output.

Can someone explain why proper 3D-TTL exposure is possible with the SB-28's "on-board" diffuser and not with the Omni Bounce? What's the magic behind it?

Thanks for your explanation!

August 24, 2003

The SB-80DX is a great flash for the N80. If money is tight, I would take a look at used SB-28 (DX or non-DX) or SB-26 Speedlights. They definitely support all "whistles and bells" of the N80 and if you're thinking about bouncing the flash (to a ceiling, umbrella, etc.) you'll need power.

August 24, 2003

Actually, it should work perfectly. I first thought that maybe you're too far away, but 8 feet at F/2.8 aren't nothing for an SB-28.

I guess that you have a problem, either an electrical problem, a camera failure or a flash failure. Have you tried cleaning the contacts of the flash and camera? The next thing I would do is changing the batteries of the flash and the camera (at least, take them out and reinsert them -> sort of an hw-reset) and trying again without the omni-bounce.

BTW, you should check that the settings of the camera are transmitted correctly to the flash (ISO, aperture, focal lenght, 3D-TTL symbol: the one with the four sectors and the dot in the center)

Good luck!

August 23, 2003

Ernest,

remembering the manual, it says that the F80 will support AF up to a lens luminosity of F/5.6. It might be that the 28-300 still works with the F80 at the 300/6.3 end but it's still challenging the limits of the AF module. Another thing to consider, is that a zoom lens covering such a wide focal-lenght range wil be rather soft than sharp, and you will definitely need a tripod or fast film to use it at the long end. It's always said that the differences between optics is only seen on big enlargements. From my experience, the differences can be seen even on 1 hour-lab standard prints and definitely when the exposed slides are projected on a screen.

For myself, I've realized that it's more pleasant to see the results of photos shot with some few limited focal lenghts (e.g. a lens like the AFD 50/1.8) than with long range optics (therefore, I'm moving now step by step back to primes again).

In your situation I would stay with the Nikkor zoom and maybe,if you want to go for the longer focal lengths, add a tele-zoom (e.g. an AF 75-300/4.5-5.6 with tripod collar).

Have fun shooting!

August 21, 2003

Raymond,

changing the lab isn't a bad idea but it won't solve the problems of this photo (nor would a filter do): the light is too harsh, there're no details in the shadows, the dog is out of focus and looks uncomfortable.

For the light problems you have to shoot either in the early morning, late afternoon or on an overcast day. In addition, fill-flash might help to bring some details in the shadows. For the metering, you have to meter on the dog's fur and probably you'll need to bracket to know the right exposure comp. for your dog. BTW, lower speed film (e.g. ISO 100) will handle high contrast much better, and for blurring out the background at 80mm, using an aperture of F/5.6, you need to get really close to the subject.

For cheering up the dog, play with him first; let him think that the "photo-session" is part of the game and enjoy the game yourself. Otherwise, he might fall asleep prior shooting the first frame. ;-)

Good luck!

August 15, 2003

My biggest mistake in buying equipment?

Listening to store clerks prior knowing this site.

Therefore, the purchase of a Sigma 28-200 zoom and a "Novoflex MultiConnect" quick-release were for me not the best deals. The first one "lasted" three years (focussing gears broke and after that it had to be rechipped to work with my new camera); the second one lasted three months (the system wasn't reliable in keeping my 75-300 lens with tripod mount or camera from twisting around - I sold it after the lens hit once the tripod legs badly).

August 10, 2003

Vishal,

in addition to Fazal's comment, the flash duration is very short. According to the manual of the SB-28, the flash duration of this flash varies between 1/8700 sec and 1/830 sec. I don't know the specs of the SB-23 but the flash duration will be much shorter than 1/250 sec. Therefore, slower shutter speeds have only an effect on the ambient exposure and not on the flash-exposure.

Regards,

July 27, 2003

Steven,

Rainer Emling shows on his site (<A

href="http://www.emling-online.de/digital/ringlicht2.html"> link </A>) a self-made ring-light that looks pretty interesting to me. Maybe it helps you further.

BTW, the page is in German but the pics are IMHO self-explaining.

July 5, 2003

Roger,

you're not telling us the shutter-speed and the aperture. Nevertheless, keep in mind that when you switch to manual the F55 switches from matrix-metering to center-weighted and this behaviour cannot be modified (manual-mode: CW; automatic-modes: matrix metering). If you use a different focal length, the average exposure of the whole scene is going to vary. Therefore, if you want to compare exposure settings you've to compare the EV values of specific items using the same focal lenght and the same metering-mode.

June 19, 2003

David,

there's a misunderstanding here. You can bounce the flash-light in every mode of the F80.

The manual recommends using A-mode because whenever you bounce the flash you'll loose 1 stop and more of light. Therefore, to keep power reserves it's recommended to open up the diafragm by more than one stop. This way, you ensure that the flash will lit the same distance as if the light was not bounced. Keep in mind that when you use a flash you want to have control over the exposure; therefore, P-mode is not a really good choice.

The main difference between bouncing and not bouncing (besides the light characteriscs) is that when the flash-head is tilted, 3D matrix metering is being disabled and normal TTL is enabled.

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Posts posted by angel_o.