jim_gifford

My understanding -- which may be imperfect! -- is that the data in a JPEG compressed image is subject to change and therefore subject to loss every time the file is saved.

Openeing a JPEG file requires the use of software to create the full-resolution image from the compressed data so that the image can be viewed. Saving the file as a JPEG compressed image requires the use of data compression software to create the instructions for the NEXT time the file is opened. The software does not necessarily make the same pixel-by-pixel choices every time a file is opened or closed, and that is why data is subject to loss at each retrieval.

The losses in JPEG file use are not as awful as the sort of degradation we all remember from the bad old days of analog audio copying (ever make a copy of a friend's copy of a buddy's audio cassette?). Nonetheless, saving a JPEG file is a new data manipulation every time, so it does involve some expectation of (very small) loss of data.

Be well,

Unless the indoor space is quite vast, you'll use your 12-24 to get the angle of view necessary to include all six rows of nine (plus the banner).

Your may have enough depth of field at f/5.6 with such a short focal length, or you may have to go for f/8. There are depth of field calculators online, piece of cake to run the numbers.

Also: it wouldn't hurt to bracket your exposure settings. Why not take a half-dozen shots after you and the company go to all the trouble to get everyone into position?

I would probably focus on second or third rank, depending upon how far behind the LAST rank the company banner is mounted... based on rule of thumb that your point of best focus occurs one-third of the way from the front to the back of the region of acceptable focus.

Strobe placement? Where do you want your shadows? I imagine you'll want the strobes noticeably higher than your lens axis. You're going to be on a stepladder. Got tall stands? Great. Or.... Got some strong clamps and a boom or two? Fine, clamp the strobes to the ladder on booms. I did say STRONG clamps... the Alien Bee head will of course exert significant leverage at the end of a boom.

(Let's see... high voltage electronics... check. Metal stepladder... check. Clip it all together and set it all up in a puddle on a wet machine shop floor... Y'all be sensible, y'hear?)

It does not sound like an insurmountable challenge, or even a terribly difficult assignment. The lighting and weather are not going to spin out of control on an indoor shot. You have plenty of resolution for 54 faces. It'll be wonderful.

Be well,

To my surprise, "Jennifer" opens a can of whoopass on "Angelina."

Be well,

Yes, John, but if one has a signed written contract from a customer, the dispute phase can be rather shorter. That's not legal advice; it's practical advice.

A verbal contract is much more susceptible to the parties' varying memory of the verbiage in the contract.

The very strong consensus is to get the agreement about fees, and conditions for refund of fees, in writing.

Makes sense.

Be well,

Jack, you can use the D200 in manual exposure mode and control your flash the same way you do when shooting with your FM2.

If you want to use TTL flash wizardry, you need a flash unit that "speaks" Nikon's proprietary iTTL language.

Do you want to use TTL flash? Certainly, if you spend $1,700 for a new Nikon digital body, you might at least consider the wisdom of using the iTTL capability...

Metz is great if you have multiple camera systems, because you can just buy the adapters for each system (and thereby avoid buying a new dedicated FLASH for each system). I have a Metz 45 unit and I can use it with my Nikon N90s, my FM3A or my 50-year-old Rolleiflex. For that matter, I can use it with several of my 1970s-era rangefinders... anything in the house with a PC connector. I could also hook up my SB-28 to those cameras with a PC cable... although I haven't.

Here's the real deal. If you're just going to use the Nikon digital system, the dedicated speedlight (e.g. SB800) is probably just as cost-effective and gives you the best possible compatibility for the automagical electronics.

It's also easier to keep a Nikon SB800 balenced on a bracket right above the lens axis... Metz potato mashers either live slightly to the side (shadows go the wrong way) or sit WAAAAY up on top of the bracket, which seems topheavy to me.

But photons are photons, and you already know how to work with flash calculations in your head, so perhaps the automagic stuff isn't a strong selling point for you.

Be well,

<<Should I suspect the lens or the camera?>>

Well, the lens is the prime suspect, because if the fault were in the camera, one would not expect to get autofocus at all. You say you do get autofocus when the zoom is at one end of its range.

It would probably be less expensive to buy a nice replacement lens than to fix a lens with unknown damage to the internal focusing components.

Try shopping at www.keh.com for a nice, used, replacement lens.

Be well,

Well, at a minimum, they are having a "production problem" in the sense that the there are more potential buyers today than there are lenses to sell today.

As production problems go, that's a fairly good one.

Salespeople will bend and stretch the truth as required, to keep you from being upset at THEM. There's always some other problem, caused by some other person, that is keeping them from giving you what you want when you want it. I'm not trying to insult salespeople. As a group, they feel a genuine NEED to invent or modify facts in that way, because they also genuinely NEED you to be favorably inclined toward them.

Few salespeople have the self-confidence to just say, "If I had that lens here I'd sell it to you instantly. I do not have that lens in stock, and although it is on order, I am not entirely sure when I will get one in the store for you. It's scarce at the moment."

Credit where credit is due: I did encounter a salesperson at Penn Camera (D.C. area) who gave me that sort of answer recently. Good for him. I had asked about a body-only D200. We're coming up on the salesperson's guesstimate for when they would have body-only D200s to sell... but no joy yet.

Be well,

It appears you're only looking at the f/1.8 versions of the AIS 50mm lens.

Which one performs the best? I believe we are entering "how many angels can rhumba on the head of a pin" territory, as the differences in optical performance are not large. Even the Series E lens does well.

Several versions have the same optical formula, in terms of elements and groups... but beyond that simple count I honestly do not know if the specs of the various elements and groups are identical.

I have used the Series E, the AIS version that focuses to 0.6 meters and the current AF-D. Hard to see differences in their performances, frankly.

Multicoating on newer versions will be better.

Some versions have a deeper recess for the front element, thereby at least theoretically reducing the opportunities for flare.

I use a hood intended for 35mm lenses. That is not ideal for angular coverage... but it is a screw-in metal hood, and I prefer that variety to the clip-on or rubber hoods. Just personal taste there.

There are a couple of web sites that catalog the various versions and comment on them... links to those sites should be easy to dig up using the search function at photo.net to find some earlier threads on your topic.

Be well,

The shot you post is a defining one for the role of second shooter.

Be well,

<<wanted: F5 for under $650...F100 for under $400 and this is from VENDORS.>>

... so they expect to resell the equipment, and therefore need to buy at below used-market retail prices from you. That's understandable.

<<Not wanted...AF 80-200mm AF_S for $900>>

That's a lovely lens, well regarded and even a wee bit scarce... but people can get a new 80-200 (without AF-S motor) for less money, or a new 70-200 with VR as well as AF-S for maybe $1,400, so I'm not surprised your nice used AF-S zoom failed to leap off your table.

<<It may just be that I have to really study my manual more... >>

That would be a good use of some of your time as you switch from familiar film technology to digital. Digital SLRs have many control setting options that are not intuitive.

<<I have been having problems with auto focus with my 50mm 1.4 Tonight at a wedding, I decided to just manually focus as auto could not be trusted, it seemed to focus on the background if I wanted foreground and vice versa.>>

Yep, it is time to look through the manual and become expert at the focus control options for your D70. Manual focus is not the camera's strong point, because the viewfinder is not large, nor bright, nor crisp like those in film cameras. Meanwhile, the AF 50/1.4 is not optimised for manual focusing. It works, but there isnt much tactile feedback and you get a lot of focus point movement for very little radial motion of the focus ring. Meanwhile, a miss is as good as a mile if you're working indoors in low light with the lens at f/1.4 because the depth of field is so shallow.

<<I don't rmember having this issue with this lens on my film cam, though without the instant feedback, maybe I didn't realize it was a problem as easily and thought it was just me.>>

Well, out of focus is out of focus, whether you find out today or next week.

<<My other problem is that the meter doesn't seem right. I am constantly opening up and slowing the shuuter to get what appears to be the right exposure by the meter. However, I have tried instead going with what I think the settings should be despite what the meter says and the histogram ofetn says the exposure is ok.>>

And the images that result are.... okay? Then keep doing what works. Good for you. Light is light, whether captured by your D70 or a Rolleiflex or an Instamatic... so your acquired knowledge of ISO, shutter speed and f-stop settings for various light levels is a blessing whichever camera you hold.

<<Also, with flash set to TTL (sb600), the meter doesn't change wheteher or not the flash is on. Shouldn't it read that there is more light because the flash is ready to fire?>>

Nope. Nikon meters read (and indicate expoure settings for) ambient light. That's a GOOD thing, because it lets you know how best to drag the shutter (to get brighter backgrounds) or tweak your fill flash ratio, etc.

Think it through... if the meter told you what the ambient PLUS flash reading would wind up being, then for any subject in range of your automagic TTL flash, the meter would always read "Relax; it's perfect; everything under control here." That wouldn't be as helpful, in my opinion.

<<Admitedly, I don't know which meter setting I should be using to begin with and exactly how to use it... This is all for wedding shooting.>>

Seeing those two statements together does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

You do want to be something of an expert on the operation of the central tool of your trade when shooting weddings...

So I'll conclude with a gentle nudge toward your operator's manual. A nice cup of coffee or tea, some Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies and an hour spent reading and test shooting would be an excellent way to boldter your confidence. It might serve to banish those uncomfortable "Oh, no... what is the camera doing NOW?" moments.

Be well,

Kelly: nice allusion.

To the original poster: even if you start with the idea of making a "digital F80," by the time you take out all the film transport guts, and put in the digital capture guts, and then install the LCD panel and the necessary controls for digital photography, there isn't much of the film SLR left.

I'm not sure it will increase in value, and that is a big criterion for the phrase "good investment."

If you are wiling to consider the camera a depreciating asset, I think an N90s is a good *value* today, because prices of used film cameras are so low.

I have an N90s and enjoy using it.

Be well,

Anyone have an actual repair (as opposed to just a replaced part, for example) at Nikon recently that was billed at LESS than $200?

Be well,

It is unlikely she will ask you to return any money. The client probably paid her (and, through her, paid you and various other vendors), and has written off those fees as costs of scheduling and then cancelling an event.

You did all that you would have, should have and could have done to perform as contracted. It is reasonable, in a business sense, that you be paid for that effort, just as it would have been reasonable for you to be paid if the CLIENT had been there at the agreed upon time.

You do not need an attorney for this transaction. You won't need one unless you wind up in a dispute you cannot resolve without an attorney.

You attempted to contact the event coordinator last night, from the venue. The soft thumping sound you hear is the ball landing, and bouncing, in HER court. You can proceed to your next client... and unless the event coordinator calls you, you're done with last night's booking.

Be well,

Mary:

** applause **

Do you live near Denali or were you just lucky enough to get those not-a-cloud-in-the-sky shots on a short visit?

Be well,

Colors in Kodak UC films seem more subtle to me than colors in Reala. I've found Reala consistently delivers vibrant color, leaning almost all the way to lurid for magentas and violets.

I like both films a lot.

A quick look at e-bay shows one or two recent FM2n sales have gone for about the price you paid... but the majority are closer to $200-225.

Be well,

The main problem with getting a nice used F2AS is that you have to pay the collector-driven price in today's market, but you want a daily use camera, not a collector's camera.

The "put it in a safe deposit box" folks are elbowing each other aside to get at the nice, clean, functional examples of the prism-and-meter that makes the F2AS.

But if the price doesn't bother you, why not get one and use it the way it was always intended to be used: day in and day out, a journeyman's tool for accurate available light photogoraphy.

One more thing -- Reconsider the widsom of selling your FM2n, because it is NOT the subject of a feeding frenzy among collectors, and therefore is suffering the same sort of malaise in prices as most film cameras. The market is flooded with 35mm SLRs as a couple of million people per year move to digital bodies.

Be well,

<<Don't think I've ever encountered a flash that has sat without batteries where the capacitator was "dead" from lack of use. >>

I have, and Metz repaired the unit for, oh, pretty darn close to the cost of a new one. Hence my advice to the original poster.

But the suggestion of cleaning the contacts is a good one: it costs nothing but time and a wee bit of pencil eraser... and may help.

Be well,

<<After I put a new set of batteries into it and tried to test fire, the flash did not respond at all.>>

I would try a different set of new batteries, just in case...

<<It did not even seem to charge. Am I correct in assuming that the capacitor is likely dead?>>

Could well be the problem.

<<Is there any way to fix it cheaply?>>

No, especially given the going rate on E-bay for a nice SB-15. Cheaper to replace than to repair.

One might grouse that Nikon has changed its TTL flash technology several times since the SB-15 came out. There was matrix balanced fill flash, then d-TTL, now i-TTL a.k.a. "Creative Lighting System," so the perfect speedlight for an F100 would not work on a D100, and then with the advent of the next series of bodies (D2H, D2X, D70 and the new D200) the flash one bought for a D100 was shelf fodder again.

But the GREAT news is, for people like you who want a TTL flash that works on a 35mm film body, the used market is awash in what once were top-of-the-line speedlights at great prices.

Happy shopping.

Be well,

Yes but Edwin said the price for camera-plus lens was HIGHER than the separate prices of camera and lens... which does seem to run counter to the trend.

Be well,

Actually, you see less than what the sensor records (the D200 does not have a 100 percent finder). It's not like a rangefinder window that extends way beyond the image frame for long lenses.

Be well,