joe g

I just bought an LX2 and I haven?t used it much yet, so here?s my prelim. impression:

 

1. Shutter lag:

 

If the camera is pre-focused, then shutter lag is imperceptible. You can pre-focus by:

 

-- being in manual focus mode, or

 

-- when using AF lock (pre-focus) in autofocus mode ( this is done by hitting the AF/AE lock button, or half pressing the shutter release button).

 

Otherwise: yes, there is a lag while autofocusing takes place; but isn?t this the case with any autofocus camera, whether digital or analog, SLR or compact?

 

Keith: I suspect this might be your problem. Have you tried pre-focusing first?

 

 

2. Speed while composing:

 

The joystick seems to be very fast, and the main parameters are easy to get to. In manual mode and with manual focus on, the aperture, speed, and focus distance appear at the bottom of the screen; moving (more like clicking) the joystick Left or Right toggles which of the three is highlighted; moving the joystick Up and Down changes its value.

 

So for example, if the camera is set to F2.8, 1/125, 15ft, and you want to change to F3.4, 1/100, infinity, you would move the joystick UP (changes F2.8 to F3.4), RIGHT (highlights shutter speed), DOWN (changes 1/125 to 1/100), RIGHT (brings up the distance scale), UP (hold for a bit to move the indicator to inf) ... all of which takes less than a second.

 

Also, pushing the joystick in brings up more parameters at the top of the screen: AF mode, metering mode, white balance mode, ISO, image size and image quality/raw. Changing the values of these parameters is as above, so its all very fast, and you don?t have to use the main set-up buttons (i.e. you don?t have to take your thumb off the joystick).

 

My only big complaint about usage is that the exposure indicator appears only after half-pressing the shutter release button, and then disappears after about 10 sec., so you have to keep pressing the button or joystick while you compose the shot. Does anyone know how to get around this?

 

Ray: I hope this helps, but it would probably be more useful to try it yourself; are there any stores nearby that carry it? I?ll post some more comments after I get a chance to use the camera and figure out a bit more how it works (the user manual is awful).

I know many people are opting for the "convenience" of optical mice, but aren't we losing something by discarding the old roller ball mice?

 

Isn't there something to be said for that organic, physical link between mouse and curser?

 

What will happen to the craft -- the art -- of mousing when mousing is reduced to nothing more than photons and bits and algorithms?

 

You can keep your fancy optics with their cold precision -- I'll take the warmth of my roller ball mouse any day, lint and all.

Do you have numbers for this film? Would they be similar to Ilford FP4? Thanks.

Richard: have you tried using different film and developer? Tri-X is apparently formulated to be grainy (Kodak refers to its "distinctive" grain structure). I would suggest a smoother/fine grained film such as Plus X, and XTOL instead of D76.

If anyone tries this out could you please tell us the results!

I'm not sure if this belongs in this forum: just wondering, but has

anyone tried making contact prints using a computer monitor?

 

This would entail basically taping photo paper to your monitor,

turning the monitor on (with the image displayed) to expose the

paper, then developing the paper as normally.

 

Would a CRT or LCD monitor work better? One would need to experiment

to find the best combination of exposure time and monitor settings

(brightness, contrast, etc.)

 

How would the results compare to inkjext? or to a regular enlarger

with, say, 35mm negs?

But his image (especially the Large one) is larger and seem to have higher detail than the AP photo.

Ok, maybe he sold it to them it and they didn't credit him.

Someone has posted a

 

<A HREF="http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo?

photo_id=2111773">photo</A>

 

that is the same as an

 

<A href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?

tmpl=story&u=/040207/481/xem10102071449">

 

AP photo

 

</A>.

 

<P>

 

Is it the same photographer?<br>

<I>Maybe he just really like mediocre work...</I>

 

The Ellesworth Toohey of photography criticism! LOL!

<I>therefore, I propose that PN add a TP search choice by "more than 2 years" to give users and subscribers access to view these photos.</I><P>

 

Or, alternatively, display more than just the 300 top photos.<P>

 

Searches over a time period from One Week to All displays only 300 photos; why can't thousands be displayed, as is done for a one- or three-day search?<P>

 

(I'm referring to originality-, esthetics-, or ratings-based searches)<P>

 

How does one systematically get at all the older photos?<P>

<I>therefore, I propose that PN add a TP search choice by "more than 2 years" to give users and subscribers access to view these photos.</I>

 

Or, alternatively, display more than just the 300 top photos.

 

Searches over a time period from One Week to All displays only 300 photos; why can't thousands be displayed, as is done for a one- or three-day search?

 

(I'm referring to originality-, esthetics-, or ratings-based searches)

 

How does one systematically get at all the older photos?