qiang_lin

Well I love my Nikon FE and Canon Elan7E. Both are great cameras. FE has better viewfinder, but 7E allows me to access reasonably priced lenses. I just hope Canon will put better viewfinders on their low end and middle range cameras to make them more attractive than their competitors.

 

Puppy Face, I couldn't believe what I discovered either at the beginning, so I compared D80 with 5D again and again. I DID feel that D80's viewfinder was at least comparable with 5D's. You can go to a store to look at them. That's why I said it was unbelievable.

Still couldn't make a decision on which Canon DSLR to buy, I walked into a

BestBuy today to get some feeling. There was a Nikon D80 next to Canon DSLRs.

Out of curiosity, I picked it up. I was shocked! The viewfinder was so big and

bright! Although 5D has a full frame sensor, I felt the viewfinder on D80 was

bigger. The price was lower than a 30D. I'm so jealous of Nikon users for their

lower price camera having such a great viewfinder.

 

Anyone have the same feeling?

Unless someone points laser to it. What you can safely watch with your naked eyes don't have that much power/energy to destroy a sensor.

Larry, how is your experience with this vendor photosuperia.com? The price really looks great, but I'm tired of dealing with dishonest "discount" stores.

I'm using an Elan7E and I love it. Rebel Ti is also pretty good and cheaper, but I haven't used it myself. I did not pay attention to the recommendations on the 50mm f1.8 lens at the beginning. When I started to use it, I fell in love with it! It's cheap, small, light, and bright. Life without a zoom isn't bad at all. Therefore I recommend you get one of those.

 

Ever since I started using 50mm, I bought an 24mm f2.8 and a 135mm f2.8SF. All of them work very well and much cheaper than zooms with similar quality and speed. 28mm f2.8 is cheaper than 24mm, if budget is very limited.

 

I used to be a poor student myself, I understand that the fixed focal length doesn't sound efficient economical wise, but it would cost me much more If I get zooms with similar optical quality. And I learned a lot from forcing myself using one focal length at a time.

 

Happy shooting!

Qiang

I remember reading somewhere that Dell and Apple are made by the same company. The performance is also the same. You may want to find out more information on this.

Superia 400 is kind of grainy in my experience. If it is more severe in dark areas, it might be caused by under exposure.

 

As for color, try scan as 16bit linear, then invert it in photoshop and adjust. Auto level, etc. might get fooled sometimes.

 

I wouldn't lower the resolution. Because the higher the sampling rate (in this case, the resolution) is, the less the aliasing is.

 

Good luck!

I bought an F30 for my sister. It worked on her WinXP without any extra software either.

Rob,

 

I was replying to Robert Lee above. I appreciate your comments, especially you used similar film cameras. I hope I can adapt to the smaller and dimmer view finder so that I can save money and enjoy the lighter camera.

 

Thanks,

Qiang

Robert,

 

For a person that does not have much talent/creativity like me, it is hard to capture a good image if I don't see it clearly.

 

Maybe it is not a talent issue, I just need to get used to it. That's why I'm asking the question here.

Thank you for the feedback.

 

Jose, I tried them in a store, that's why I have these concerns.

 

Rob, I totally agree with you that money on lens is better investment provided that I can get used to XTi.

 

Puppy Face, you comment on VF matchs with my feeling exactly. I did notice that 30D finder is a down-grade compare to 7E, which I think is already worse than Nikon FE.

 

Actually VF on 5D is lovely, but 5D is way beyond my photography skill, I think it deserves a better user.

I used to use a Nikon FE when I was a teenager. I've been using Elan 7E in

recent years. I am thinking of purchasing a DSLR lately because I will have a

baby soon. Based on my experience with my nephew many years ago, shooting film

probably cost too much money and time (processing, scanning, etc.).

 

I am debating between XT/XTi and 30D at this moment. Functionality wise, XT/XTi

fits 99% of my needs. But the smaller and darker view finder is a big concern,

since I?m so used to bigger and brighter view finders. Also I love the wheel on

the back of my Elan 7E, which is so convenient.

 

I?d like to ask those of you have experience in old cameras like mine whether it

is really a big deal of the view finder. Is it easy to get used to it or it is

really a draw back. I definitely like the lighter weight and lower price of XT,

while I can afford 30D for sure (with wife?s approval many months ago). How do

you find out life without the wheel on the back of the camera, does that slow

you down? Is the slow down minor or severe enough to annoy you?

 

Thanks,

Qiang

Isn't 6T out of production? I was searching for it months ago, but couldn't find them anywhere in either US or Japan. One dealer in Japan accepted the order, but later informed me that 6T was no longer in production.

Please, not another plastic vs metal argument again. Engineers pick the material for many good reasons.

 

I remember stone was the best material in stone age.

Just want to share this information with you, I got Corel Paintshop Pro X from

Fry's at $60. It will be free after two $30 rebates. You can also get this from

their website.

 

For hobbist like me that don't want to spend too much on Photoshop, this could

be a good alternative. It doesn't hurt to try for free.

Jeff,

 

Leica is still there because of the collectors as you are, exist. Zeiss is making lenses for Nikon, because their own cameras don't sell.

 

It's a joke someone can tell a German lens by playing it in a store.

Alice,

 

While it may not be as good as the lenses recommended, you can also try it with your zoom lens coming with the camera. Since your baby is very small (at this moment), if you get close enough using the maximum focal lenght of the zoom, so that the background is relatively far away, it should be blurred. It's free to try on digital.

WeiYang, If the flash does the exposure, does it matter how slow the shutter is? There is no light other than the flahs anyway.

Thanks for the great information, every one.

 

I am trying to learn to use wide angle with a prime. It seems that 28mm f2.8 is a good lens if the user knows how to use it. I will also consider 24mm f2.8 and 35mm f2.0 as alternatives.

I'm considering EF 28mm f2.8 for my Elan 7 for it small size, light weight and

low price. But there are so many people trashing this lens, saying it's even

worse than kit lenses on other web sites such as the-digital-picture.com and

fredmiranda.com. Usually I believe such negative comments on a prime lens is due

to the user error, but some guy said it was softer than the kit lens at every

aperture.

<p> Does anyone have experience with this lens? How does it compare to my

beloved 50mm f1.8?

<p> Thanks, Qiang

Mike,

 

If the charger says 110-240V, it is OK. Make sure to bring some conversion plugs with you since I remember UK is using some giant power outlet incompatible with the ones we use in the US.

 

Storage devices use power from the reader that they are plugged into, no need to worry about AC voltage.

 

Ian,

 

Actually Japan is using 100V, not 110V. They are perfectionists. US is using 117V (approx 120V). There are some other counties using 110V, but I don't have the list with me.

I kind of doubt that dual core will buy you anything. Most desktop applications are not designed to be run one multiple processors. I don't see how a big image can be divided into small pieces, thus don't believe you can actually use the 2 processors to work on the image simultaniously.

Did you evaluate it on the monitor at 100% cropping? The resolution of a monitor is fixed to about 70 to 100 dpi. The higher resolution you use, the larger the image size should be. It wouldn't supprise me if a larger image looks softer.

Defrag does not hurt data on the disk.

 

Did you run a lot of other applications when you burned the CD? Burning CD requires accurate timing, it's better to close other applications and wait till it finishes.

 

Connection from CF reader to the PC is kind of slow. It's better to copy the files to your hard drive first, then burn the CD.

 

Good Luck!

Don't understand your question here. If you want "reflective" mode, which means the light source is reflected by the object, why do you need to turn the light lid on?