pavelp

<p>GS-1 with film back mounted, metered prism, winder grip and 105mm lens is significantly bigger and heavier than Mamiya 330s. I've used both for several years and Mamiya is the lightweight of the two. Bronica SQ outfitted similarly as GS-1 will feel noticeably lighter and smaller. I took SQa for a trip to Europe, would not probably do that with GS-1. If you are looking into GS-1 you may as well look into Mamiya RB-67. One problem with GS-1 is that with waist level finder, the verticals are difficult to frame and you can just about forget about tracking a moving object. Mamiya RB67 (or even RZ67) has rotating back, which makes the use of WLF a lot easier (I think RZ is also a bit lighter than RB).<br>

Regarding the lenses, both GS and SQ lenses are pretty much without a flaw, image quality wise. When compared to Mamiya C330 glass (single coated Sekors), you will see more contrast and sharpness from the (multicoated) Zenzanons, assuming you can hold the camera steady (shooting handheld, I've got better success rate with Mamiya TLR than any of the GS-1, SQ or RB cameras).<br>

If you are thinking about shooting handheld, an ergonomically wise 645 system (say Pentax 645) may actually give you more noticeable increase in image quality than going with a bigger negative. </p>

<p>Mamiya's own 105DS is a Heliar type lens (often used in place of the 80mm Sekor as the "normal focal length" lens). It's not easy to find, though and I'm not sure id the plain 105mm is of the same optical design. </p>

<p>I think you have a clear picture of what you want from your website (good) but you need to edit for immediate impact. The average attention span of website visitors is measured in seconds. The opening pictures are great (may a little too much of the "old times" color effect) but you may want to consider culling them down to one (max. two) pictures per theme (and think broad themes, "Wedding", "Portraits" and such).</p>

<p>You may want to think in terms "one message per webpage" (kinda like presentation slides). Think of what is really important and what is a fine print that can be linked to so it does not dilute the main message. Your opening page is too wordy and generally you can assume that people will not read anything that is bellow the fold (if you have to scroll to it, it's a lot less likely to be seen by many). Regarding the language, a lot of different people will see your website and unless you are trying to attract a very specific clientele, keep the language as neutral as possible (otherwise you are bound to tick somebody off - unfortunately, it does not take much).</p>

<p>Avoid "kewl" language: "dead simple pricing" or "a really cool bride" are not terms conveying professionalism. I'm in general highly skeptical of online testimonies and your testimonial pages leaves me with "yeah, right" reaction because of the generic attributions (but I'm highly skeptical in general, so adjust for that). A real names would be a lot better or maybe just first names/initials and place of the wedding (if full names are not possible)? For example "Gene and Gina, Lake Geneva, July 19, 2013".</p>

<p>In conclusion, I think you are on the right path, you just need to think more like a photographer: "what is the main subject of this page" (and crop off the rest). You've got the contents but you need to improve the emphasis and organization.</p>

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<p>Beta generally means that the software already passed a QA (quality assurance) cycle and is stable enough not to become an embarrassment. Beta releases are usually to measure the response of the users (and often trigger minor interface redesigns). Beta app should not crash or cause you to lose work, but it may have usage quirks. </p>

<p>Calvin,</p>

<p>great choice: portraits are very interesting part of photography as you develop certain unique rapport with your subjects. They may not be the flashy pictures that go viral, but I personally find them an extremely satisfying endeavor.</p>

<p>To start with portraiture from the point where you are now, I'd get a fast portrait lens (prime lens (no zoom) with focal length 50-80mm on APS-C body or 80-135mm on full frame) and make sure that the lens is fast (f/1.8 or so). You want fast lens so you can open it wide and blurr the background out, the focal length will give you pleasing perspective (if a bit a boring). Prime lenses have usually a pleasing bokeh (out of focus areas). Learn about selective focus (shooting wide open).</p>

<p>I absolutely agree that you have to watch lightning of your picture, maybe starting with something as boring as overcast weather (gives you soft even light across the picture) and then learn about two light setup (main from angle, fill straight on) and slowly build up the assortment of techniques. If you do not want to fuss with lights (strobes or incandescents), try ambient portraits, say subject near the window, with light coming a bit from a side. Watch for the overall contrast, keep it not too harsh in beginnings.</p>

<p>Focus on the eyes, watch where the catchlights are (the little bright spots in subject's eyes - they give your subject life in the picture). Think of what is the necessary part of the portrait and remove everything else (crop-till-you-drop, we used to say :-) )</p>

<p>Learn some image editing program so you can retouch imperfections, add soft-glow, vignette the corners, go B&W with color accents - the possibilities are endless.</p>

<p>Get a book about portraiture and don't be afraid to start with classical portrait techniques (you can always get hippy and trendy after you learn the basic techniques). As you learn, you will develop your style and who knows, maybe one day you will be famous (and filthy rich) for shooting harshly lit portraits shot with 4mm fisheye lens and crossprocessed beyond recognition.</p>

<p>Learn the rules first, then break them as you wish.</p>

<p>Yep, you can't really go wrong with Mamiya - even my coffee mugs are Mamiya (from the days when they had a boutique section on their website). The mugs are the only Mamiya hardware I bought new. OK, off the tangent and back to topic:<br>

C330 lenses are generally single coated, RZ lenses are multicoated. C330 shutter is mechanical (speeds not guaranteed), RZ shutter is electronic (unless using RB lenses). The camera is a beast, about 6 lbs (3kg) with the normal 90mm lens and waist level finder (add a pound or so for the prism finder). I have C330 and RB and when shooting handheld, I get better results with C330 because RB is heavy and generally not suited for handheld operation. Once on a proper tripod (big), RB lenses have a noticeable edge over C330 lenses (and RZ lenses are probably even better that RB lenses). BTW, you can use RB lenses (cheaper) on an RZ camera (that may be of some consideration). The main problem with C330 lenses if that they are a bit prone to flare.<br>

RB/RZ is significantly bigger than Bronica SQ. Bronica also has a 6x7 system (GS-1) but unlike RB/RZ there's no rotating back and that makes shooting verticals a nuisance.<br>

If you are thinking about going RZ67 route (in other words - tripod mounted), you may also want to take a look at Fuji 680 system. It's even bigger than RZ, bigger negative and Fujinon lenses are legendary for their image quality.</p>

<p>I'd say it worked out pretty well :-) Great illusion of movement, hard to look at the picture for extended period of time.</p>

<p>This feature was important for film cameras and to use it, you needed some patience. When you stop the lens down, you need to give your eye some time to adjust and then you will see something (not much though, if you are talking f/11 or above). I generally just remembered what kind of DOF I'm going to get at which aperture and if it was important, I bracketed the aperture (and thus DOF). <br>

With digital cameras, you just take the picture and see if it's in the ballpark of desirability. </p>

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<p>The minimum requirements posted on the website are usually not very telling (there's absolutely no guarantee that there are up-to-date or accurate). For image editing program, I'd go with 4GB RAM (pretty standard, 2GB will probably do as well, may squeak a bit), dual or quad core laptop (i3 will work). Disk specs are not very important unless you expect to do a lot of batch processing, but you can run that overnight. I'd emphasize RAM over disk. Screen resolution at least 1024x768, most likely you'll be able to get 1400x900 (or a little bit less, whatever that number is). Win7 is probably a better choice for budget-constrained system, Win8 has a lot of screen effects and most likely eats more resources. <br>

I have successfully used Photoshop CS4 on a netbook with 1024x600 and 1GB of RAM. It was not much fun, but I edited over 1000 pictures on that thing. </p>

<p>If I remember it right and if it's indeed the method you are looking for, for B&W negative film it's like this: meter the shadows and you can underexpose them by two stops and still get some detail in them. This means that you can underexpose two stops to get your highlights a bit lower and recover some detail.<br>

In case of digital sensor, you will meter the highlights and probably have 1 stop of latitude to pull the shadows before the highlights are completely blown (can overexpose 1 to help shadows). <br>

That's how I remember it. It's a lot easier with digital when you can trial-and-error with instant feedback. </p>

<p>I backup on my laptop and an external drive and also keep the images on the cards until I run out and then only format cards one at a time - or buy a new card (they are readily available and not that expensive). <br>

I never delete duplicates and duds while on the road, it's just asking for a regrettable mistake. </p>

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<p>One thing I heard of and never believed until I saw it actually work is to immerse the device in a bag of rice and let the rice to absorb the moisture. I had a student jump in the swimming pool with her phone in her pocket and she used this method, which to my utter shock, did work.<br>

Generally, the electronics will survive moisture, if you don't power it up too soon. Patience (48-72 hours at least).</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Walgreens prices used to be OK, like $2-$4 per roll developed and scanned. Last I used them (years ago), their scanners were outputting 2MP, usually very well corrected and color balanced). This may have changed but I know they still have the C41 color negative film service running (and may be worth checking into).<br>

But generally, yes - shooting film has become quite a hassle. </p>

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<p>Sony P&S (not sure about the actual model number, but pretty sure it does not have a mirror), 4,000ft AGL, Hwy 142 in Wisconsin (near interesection with Hwy 75).<br /><img src="http://glasseyeproductions.org/tmp/mixies/ehw.jpg" alt="" /></p>

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