andrew_pike1

Your lack of sharpness is probably due to too little depth of field. Whatever you intended to focus on is (I hope-if it isn't, you have other problems) probably sharp, but due to the fact that you may be using a large aperature, not much closer or farther away from it is not because there is not enough depth of field. Try stopping down your lens more in the future.

 

If that dosn't solve it, then maybe you have a moron at the lab who screwed up the enlarging process some way (if you're shooting prints). I've had cases where the enlarger wasn't focused properly, and the negatives had to be re-printed.

 

If you're shooting slides, then perhaps you have bigger problems. Maybe you have the diopter set to an incorrect setting, and if you focus manually this will cause your images to be silghtly out of focus.

 

Beyond that, I can't help you to much. Maybe if you showed us a couple of examples?

I wonder if they ship less popular films (such as Kodachrome 200 or Ektachrome 400x) to you in the box. I don't think certain types come in big 20-roll pro packs (at least I can't order them if they do), only bricks of the individual boxes. If so then it would make economic sense for them to have only the small boxes on hand, and ship that to the consumer without taking it out of it's packaging.

 

I for one like having the box-it lets me know what the film is at a glance without having to read small print or open the canister. I was a little puzzled when I ordered 5 rolls of Fujicolor Press 400 from B&H a while back and it came in a little plastic bag with a sticker identifying the film, quantity, expiration date, and a barcode (incidentially, all my film was cooked on that trip to D.C as a result of the multiple X-ray scanners it had to go through-they all looked brown when they came out. Not B&H's fault, though.). I prefer having the box on hand.

Go to agfaphoto.com and look for the link to Scala labs on the Scala page. Should be under professional films.

My mom also wants to do some B&W. I just told her to use Kodak Plus-X. The grain is fine enough, and I love the tones. I took pictures of my newborn cousin with this, and they came out great.

OK then, I'll reccomend NPH and Portra 160/400NC to her.

 

But I'm still curious as to how Agfa Portrait 160 looks in daylight printed on Agfa paper.

But it's being printed on Agfa papers-what is the best film for that?

Those lenses don't sound too heavy, and if memory serves, the Sears camera body you have has a Nikon F-mount to it (I believe it's a copy of the Nikkorex F-I may be wrong), and in which case the lenses you state don't sound too heavy.

 

I just got a Velbon Ultra MAXi F for Christmas. It's max. height is 60", min. is 6.5". It's very light in weight, and has the independant legs you want. It comes with a pan head and a quick-release plate to it. I plan on using it with my F100, 28-200mm and macro 60mm AF-Nikkors. It supports the camera well, and is stable. I also have a Nikkormat, similar in mass to your body, and when I mounted it with a Tamron 80-210mm zoom, it was stable.

 

It's also dirt cheap at $129.95 from B&H.

 

It is in my decidedly unprofessional opinion that this tripod would be a good match for you. It's a great deal waiting to be had.

 

Good luck.

In regards to the lab, it is Dodd Camera in Mentor, a branch of the big Dodd store in downtown Cleveland. They are very good-a pro lab in my opinion.

My mother has offered to do some outdoor, existing-light, family

portraits for her hairdresser. She has asked me to suggest a good

existing light portrait film for her.

 

Problem is, I do slides of nature stuff (flowers, etc.), so I have

no idea what to tell her. I'm just fine with Kodachrome's skin

tones, but she reels at them ("It's too yellow-orange!" she

says. "They look like paste!" she says. I politely ignore her.) And

she would rather have negative film because negative film is easier

and less expensive to make prints from.

 

The weather on the day of the shoot will most likely be overcast

(what else would you expect in January in NE Ohio?), or completely

clear. I don't know if it will be in the sun or the shade, so the

film should be as adaptable as possible. If you could suggest to me

two or three good negative films for use in those lighting

conditions, then it would be greatly appreciatied.

 

I have tried some of the Agfa Portrait 160 with a flash to take

pictures of my newborn cousin at the hospital. Let's just say that

the results were...less than I'd expected. Is this film any better

in natural lighting than with a flash?

 

If it matters, she'll most likely be using a Nikon N65 with a 28-

80mm f/3.3-5.6 AF-Nikkor G-lens. She might also use my 28-200mm

f/3.5-5.6 AF-Nikkor G-lens also if she wants. But the AF with that

lens isn't so great on the N65, so I think she'll leave it.

 

It should also be noted that the lab we go to uses an Agfa machine

(d-Lab, I think they're called) to make the prints.

 

Thanks ahead of time.

Yeah, it'll work. Just don't give Fuji Kodachrome.

Gee, Scott-had you ever considered that he may just possibly not want to scan it? Hard as it may be to believe, there are still people out there who prefer to make traditional silver prints from thier slides, or want to project them. Irrational as it may sound to you, some people may do things the way they do and not the way you do because they prefer it. Chew on that for a while.

 

As to Daniel's post...

 

I still say you should call them, and in the meantime use another lab. There are three in the US. Give one of the others a try-you may have slower turn-around, but the improved quality should be worth it.

 

My two cents anyways.

 

Good luck.

Call them and ask what gives. That is certainly not normal, and you deserve an explination.

Sheesh! Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Give the guy a break-it happens to the best of us.

 

And why does the fact that he isn't a sponsor of Photo.net determine how nice you are to him? This site is a great resource, and while I'd like to be a sponsor, I just can't afford it. Maybe he can't either.

 

The point is, get a grip. Your behavior isn't helping anyone.

Hmmm. I'd have to give a vote for an N90s. Though not fully compatable with G-mount lenses, there are still plenty of other AF-Nikkors out there to suit your purpose with adjustable aperature rings. You may have some already.

 

If you have to have compatability with G-mount lenses, then I'd say an N80, but if you can afford it definately a good condition F100. The F100 blows the N80 out of the water, and is worth the extra couple hundred bucks.

 

I'd also keep the Minoltas if you can. I've handled a friend's manual-focus Minolta, and they really aren't all that bad. It's always good to have a good MF body on reserve, even if you won't use it much.

 

Good luck.

For color slide film, I use Fujichrome Velvia 50 and Provia 100F, along with Kodak Kodachrome 64. I like Velvia because of its punch colors, Provia because it's a good general purpose slide film, and Kodachrome just because there isn't any other film out there that looks the same. It's very distinct, and I like it.

 

I don't use color print that much, but when I do it's usually Agfa Vista 200/400. It's cheap, and gives me good results.

 

For B&W negative, I prefer Kodak Plus-X Pan.

 

Though I've never used it, I'm itching to try some Agfa Scala 200x. Only B&W slide film left that I know of, and I've heard good things about it.

 

Well, that's my two cents.

Try mutilating a gallon-sized ziplock bag with scissors until you get a nice wind/sand proof bag for your camera and lens.

 

Good luck!

Well, I'd assume that the Fuji mail-order lab in Arizona uses Fuji equipment. But they're for slides only, and as you mention negatives, I'm going to assume you want prints.

 

Kodak obviously uses Kodak equipment, so you'd have to try A&I or the Adorama Pro Lab. I have no experiences with these, so you'd have to try them yourself to find out.

Oh honestly-what are the odds that the shutter on his F80 is going to blow up? That's practically a freak accident.

 

Seriously, this man is going on a family vacation, and should travel lightly. I wouldn't want to be hunkered down by all the equipment he lists above-and I'm sure his wife wouldn't exactly appreciate it either.

 

As I've already made a suggestion as to what to bring, I'll say no more.

Bah. Humbug! There are plenty of reasons to shoot film, foremost in my mind is the fact that a negative/slide is actually a hard copy of a photograph, not a collection of 0's and 1's stored magnetically or on a CD.

 

What happens in 5 years when computers can't read CD's anymore? What will happen to all your old digital family pictures? I almost pity you, but am more inclined to laugh at your lack of foresight. Whereas I and my film-shooting counterparts will still enjoy looking back at (and getting prints from) slides taken 30 years ago or Kodachromes shot in the '40's, you will be hunting around for a photo shop that can convert your old memory cards and CD's to the new format, costing you money, only to have to do it again in another 5 years.

 

There are other reasons, too. Herbert Kepeler just wrote an excellent article in the "SLR" column of Popular Photography. Pick one up. It shows the pros of digital, too, so don't be afraid of it.

 

Kudos to you, Dan, and have fun with your N90s. It's a great camera.

I would take the F80, the 24-85mm f/2.8-4 AF lens, the 80-200 f/2.8 (MF?) lens, and the SB24 Speedlight. You'll have a full range of focal lengths, autofocus, and a flash. Leave the FE2 at home.

 

It's best to travel as light as possible when on vacation. You don't want to get tired our carrying all that stuff around, especially with three kids.

 

Have fun and don't forget to post some pictures up for us when you get back.

If you're going to go Minox, then remember that you have to buy processing mailers from somewhere (I'd reccommend B&H) in order to get the photos developed.

Ah, such is the beauty of Nikon. It's just such a compatable system.

 

Anyways, as long as your lens is AI (it must have a meter coupling ridge on the aperature ring-all AF lenses excluding G-lenses have this feature), it will function properly. Non-AI lenses (lenses with a solid prong and no meter coupling ridge) may or may not work with stopped down metering. It depends upon wheather or not the meter coupling lever that connects to the ridge can be flipped up out of the way or not. If not, then if you mount any old Non-AI lens, you risk damaging the camera.

 

Nevertheless, you are still left with a huge choice of lenses. So to recap, the lenses that will work with your camera are...

 

AI Nikkors

 

AIS Nikkors

 

AF Nikkors

 

and

 

Non-G AF-D Nikkors

 

There are also a large number of 3rd party lenses available.

 

Often, the old AI lense can be had for peanuts used. They're still great optically, too.

 

Have fun!

NO! 110 is not a viable option for taking photographs anymore. The quality stinks, and you have almost no choice of films.

 

110 film is so much smaller than a 35mm frame that you get terrible results. As any medium-format user will tell you, the bigger the negative/slide, the better the quality, and vice-versa.

 

Also, as 110 film comes in a cartridge, there is no way to make sure the film lies flat against the backing. This can result in out-of-focus images.

 

You have almost no choices of film. There is the 400-speed Kodak film, a 200-speed Ferriana Solaris (I think) film, and the Fuji 200-speed. All are color print. The black and white and color slide films were discontinued years ago. The emulsions currently offered aren't really that great, either.

 

Also, even though the negatives might be processed well, your prints will quite possibly look like crap. This is because your stupid, run of the mill, minimum-wage lab technician dosen't know how to print anything but 35mm frames. The enlarger won't be focused correctly, and all your prints will be out of focus.

 

Trust me-I have an old Argus 110 that I sometimes use on field trips as a sort of "reloadable disposable" (I don't care if it gets lost or destroyed), and I always end up wishing I'd just bought a disposable camera. It's terrible.

 

Your most basic 35mm camera will do better in taking photographs than a 110 camera ever will. I reccomend you follow the advice above and buy an Olympus Stylus Epic, or a similar camera. They're small, and your pictures will acutally come out.

 

There's also Minox, but that can be expensive and I have no experience with it. The Minox is an actual "Spy-camera". Spies actually use it to copy documents. But again, I have no idea what the quality is like.

 

But whatever you do, DON'T go 110!

Here's the address to a photo I took with this lens. It's not a great photo, but it shows what this lens can do.

 

Sorry, but I don't know how to post a link. You'll have to copy and paste this into your address bar.

 

http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?topic_id=1481&msg_id=00AED8&photo_id=2907689&photo_sel_index=0

I got this lens when I bought my first Nikon AF body (an F100) about a year ago. My budget is tight, and I can't afford multiple lenses (I did get a 60mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor in September for my birthday though. I love that lens too).

 

I can tell you from experience that the 28-200 is not a bad lens. While it is a super-zoom, so the optics are not quite top-notch, the addition of the ED glass and aspherical elements takes care of this very well. Pictures taken with the new version of this lens (the G-mount type) look better than those taken with the old (with manual aperature ring).

 

You'll see noticable distortion in the viewfinder at the extreme ends of the zoom range. It isn't that fast a lens, either (f/3.5-5.6), and were it not for the internal focusing, it would AF much more slowly. It's quite fast on an F100 though. Don't know about a D70.

 

Still, though, it's a good performer, and I would reccomend it to anyone looking for an all-in-one lens, and wants to stay with Nikon. (Sigma and Tamron both make 28-300mm zooms, though at 300mm they're slow as rocks at f/6.3. The Nikkor has better glass, too).

 

It's a close-focuser too. It has a focus-limiter switch to speed up AF times if you know you'll be working within a set distance range, and a switch to lock the zoom at 28mm for compactness.

 

Mine was about $350, so it won't burn too large a hole in your pockets.

 

I enjoy mine, and use it regularly. Take it seriously. I reccomend it.