martin_patek_strutsky

The test provides no information at all about what workflow and what camera settings have been used for creating the test pictures. Did he shoot JPEG or RAW? What degree of sharpening was used? What Raw converter has been used?

 

In my opinion this test tells nothing more than that the author still needs to learn a lot about digital.

"A Leica M8 will have a much shorter lifespan than a film based Leica-M. What's your opinion?"

 

You are of course right. But still I think Leica did the right thing by developing a M8 for a fairly affordable price.

 

The alternative would be a completely modular camera, which allows to exchange the electronics whenever some new technolgy becomes available. Everyone would love to have such a camera but who would be willing to pay a hefty premium for it?

MP is not everything. Looking at the M8 specs (16bit, no AA filter) I would expect that the files play in the same league as Canon full frame cameras. It should be no problem at all to upsize the files to A3.

 

It looks very much like I will come back in the Leica camp if the M8 will deliver according to my expectations.

Usually carry 4 batteries with my 5D. Two in the battery grip and another two in the bag. Can't remember a day where I had to use my spare batteries. Have no precise figures available but would guess that two batteries are at least good for 1000 shots.

Would add a 50mm/2.5 Macro to the list. Image quality is perfect, good AF speed (similar to 50/1.4), nice price, it is just a little more noisy as it has no USM.

In issue 270 they compared the performance of 8 lenses on the 1DSII and the 20D. However the choice of lenses was quite strange: 28-70/2.8L, 20/2.8, 24/3.5, 28/1.8, 28/2.8, 50/1.4, 50/1.8 and 100/2.8 (w/o USM).

 

They did not provide any star rating just a brief comparison. In short stepped down two stops all lenses delivered good quality with the 1DSII. Just two contenders stood out significantly. They found the 28/2.8 to be quite mediocre and the 100mm Macro to be really excellent.

 

Overall I would assume that this test is not delivering anything you don't know already.

Be aware that Visatec is not compatible with Bron as they decided to introduce a different bajonett for it. As a result it could be difficult to locate accessoires.

 

Also it is my impression that the Visatec line has not been updated for quite some time. For example Bowens, Elinchrom or Hensel seem to offer as well more current features and a better price.

 

Personally I would look at an Elinchrom RX600 or a Hensel Integra kit.

Someone should tell Mr. Puts to gather some experience with digital before trying to write about it. In the film days I enjoyed his writings but his current findings are not even funny

Ellis,

 

it really puzzles me that in the U.S. every slightly experienced photographer owns a carload of high end camera gear but at the same time is satisfied with something like Alien Bees just to save the equivalent of a midpriced lens. And now also you start to promote this mediocre stuff!

 

Personally I would get in the right mood only if I use a Holga or maybe a Praktica in conjunction with Alien Bees.

 

Martin (Austria)

"I can't seem to find much information on the new Hensels particularly regarding the radio control. Can you tell me something about how it works"

 

http://www.henselusa.com/content/integrapro.pdf

 

The catalogue shows only the external radio receiver but the specs for the build-in version seem to be identical.

 

"(or how it might work hooked to my Hasselblad)?"

 

As long as your camera has a hot shoe or a X socket it makes no difference what type of camera you use. I use it as well with a DSLR and a decades old large format camera without any problems

David,

agree with some of your points but still prefer the Integra Pro. The 1/10 step regulation is a joy to use and the radio control is addictive too.

 

Also it is my impression that the cooling system works now more efficient. Maybe this has been the reason for increasing the dimensions.

 

Regards

Martin

"buy the older contra e series not the nex expert pro !! the older flashes are cheaper lighter smaller faster have more power and less useless gimicks"

 

David,

what do you mean by "useless gimmicks"? The radio control? Or the light regulation over 6 stops in 1/10 steps? Isn't everyting else roughly the same?

If recycle time is very important for you Elinchrom would beat Hensel. In all other aspects I found Hensel to offer a better price/quality ratio. I especially like the build quality, the user interface and the bajonett for reflectors.

 

Profoto is in a different class. For being fair you would need to compare it with something like a Hensel Tria 1500 Speed.

Thx Ellis,

 

flashclinic seems to offer their own line of fresnels, but the website gives no specs or prices.

I had the opportunity to play for the first time with a 6000ws fresnel

spot and was very pleased by its even light with sharp defined shadows.

 

Unfortunately Hensel does not offer an add-on fresnel for my 500ws

monoblocs. Is there still any chance to copy this effect?

 

Within my current accessories my closest bet is a 7" standard

reflector with a 20 deg. grid and some softening foil.

Thanks for your help.

 

Just managed to plug in my old Windows 2000 machine and it shows exactly the same problem. Will ship the scanner to Epson today.

Thanks Doug, checked the cable but it seems to be ok.

 

Tried other drivers and they don't work either. Maybe this is a hardware problem that just coincidentially showed up after switching the operating system.

My Epson 4870 scanner worked flawlessly with Windows 2000 but after

upgrading to Windows XP SP2 the TPU unit is not working properly. Has

anyone experienced a similar problem?

 

Upgrading to the latest european twain driver (v2.6v build 03/14/2005)

did not help. Would the latest U.S driver (v2.65a build 04/15/05)

maybe solve the problem?

 

Thanks

Just made a little calculation: With a 4x5 camera I use a 240mm lens for the results I have in mind. On a 1,6 crop body this translates to a focal lengths of 45mm. So it looks like the 2.5/50 Macro is what I should look for.

 

Still it would be very interesting to hear first hand comments regarding TSE lenses on crop bodies...

I'm not sure why you are quite so concerned about focal length as you appear to be. At 70mm' date=' you get 1:20 at about 1.5m working distance, whereas at 100mm it would be about 2.1m. [/quote']<p>

 

Well, in a small home studio like mine the difference between 1.5 and 2.1m could be the deciding factor for being able to get a shot or not. <p>

 

A better choice might be a TS-E lens

<p>

 

Of course theoretically a tilt/shift lens would be perfect for this task. Have you ever tried to use a TSE 2.8/45 together with a 1.6 crop camera for table-top stuff? I guess the viewfinder is simply not up to that task.

 

My preferred kit would be a 1DSII with a 90mm TSE lens. Unfortunately this combination is slightly outside my price range...

Plan to get a dedicated macro lens for taking product shots with my

20D. According to the focal length I short listed the ancient EF

2.5/50 as the otherwise favourable EF 2.8/100 seems to be definitely

too long for this purpose.

 

Now I learnt that the 2.8/100 is in fact a 70mm lens at 1:1 as the

focal length is changing with the magnification used. Could anyone

tell me what would be the effective focal length at magnifications

between 1:2 and 1:20? Is it more like 70mm or more like 100mm?

 

Thanks

Ernst,

have in mind that Hensel just released the new Integra Pro Plus line before you go for the older Integras. You get build in radio control and some other nice features for about the same price.

 

Before switching to the new Integras I used some more than 30 years old Hensel monolights which never let me down.

Federico,

the main advantage of the FX line is that you can reduce the output power to 25 w/s (FX400) compared to around 60 w/s (EL500). This is very important if you plan to shoot portraits or table tops with small DOF and large apertures.

 

Would also check the new Hensel expert pro line (see www.hensel.de) before making a decision.

<A HREF="http://www.cps.canon-europe.com/articles/article.jsp?

article.articleId=100300">H E R E</A> is an article from the current

Canon CPS magazine discussing a workflow for creating digital blow

ups.

 

Any comments are welcome

Thanks for your hints. Will give it a try...