watchin

Here's a sample

http://www.photo.net/photo/5870797&size=lg

I've had good luck with the 17-35 f 2.8d af-s (pre2004) some vertical distortion but easily correctable.

Used for architecture , real estate, virtual tours, events, and weddings.

<p>I've been using a Zing strap for years. If you want a neck strap it can attach as well. Usually I just use the zing as it makes the camera an extension of the hand. I've carried a Fuji S2 and a D700 all day with this and never had a problem. It's amazingly comfortable and I don't think about the camera being there.<br>

It comes with a belt clip, but I don't trust my $3K of gear to a $1.29 belt clip. If I need to free the hands I'll either use the neck strap or just put the camera down for a second. The belt clamp using the bogen mount is an idea I might try though... not bad at all.<a onclick="return amz_js_PopWin(this.href,'AmazonHelp','width=700,height=600,resizable=1,scrollbars=1,toolbar=0,status=1');" href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B0000AB4PQ/sr=8-1/qid=1243628287/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=172282&s=electronics&qid=1243628287&sr=8-1" target="AmazonHelp"><img id="prodImage" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41tq0DQbulL._SL500_AA280_.jpg" border="0" alt="Zing 580-800 SABK1 Action Strap (Black)" width="280" height="280" /></a></p>

Have 3 AB800's, the 48" brolly-box(35" diameter), one of the older 32x40 softboxes, and a couple of 40" umbrellas. Out of all that I usually use an umbrella and the brolly. The softbox is great for studio but a pain in the field, if you decide on one go for the foldable I'd say.

As for the meter Seconic 358 does everything I need.

Here's some rational to go along with the data.

The 17-35 exhibits almost no distortion and gives ~30mm POV.

Eye level - to give it the normal perspective of a person, focus for

a midpoint and adjust for farthest to be a rear edge of focus.

Flash on camera with Lightsphere gives nice even almost shadowless light

with few hotspots.

If it's on the camera and you/camera/flash are not

visible in viewfinder you'll not be in final photo (eg reflections)

PS manipulations, as Jose has shown above (nice job BTW). A good

shadow highlighter helps (I believe this was FixerLabs ).

Tripod and all natural will work sometimes but usually too dark.

The shot above would have been dark/light/realdark/light/reallight/dark

as you look down the living room into dining/sitting into back hall.

Actual exposure for above was Fuji-S2 17mm 1/45 f2.8

I've shot several of these, here's what I use

17-35AFs ED, SB-80dx on camera pointed up, Fong Lightsphere II

Other tricks, turn on all incandecents, off all the flourecents,

raise the blinds.

Lens set for 17mm, camera at eye level, 1/60 to allow for

ambient light to come into play<div></div>

Just looked at my own link again ...

and there's one for $9.95 (which is the same as the Yamaha one without the BIG name)..

Such a deal!!!

I've used a portable piano bench which works fairly well and is comfortable enough that the old folks will sit and not complain :{)

Don't know about the 30-36" tall, that's pretty high up. These are

normal sitting height and adjustable to a degree (3 settings) for $19.99

Take a look at Radio Shack (yep said RS, strange world huh?)

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=bench&origkw=bench&sr=1

Thanks Brian !!

As for the link stuff... curious my reply now has a live link in it...

I had used the <link href=... title=... > form, I'll

try the <a href=www.junk.com >some dumb link</a> approach next time

thanks for the pointer.

As for this being a scam... it's a spam collector, I've tripped it before and gotten DOZENS of emails about all kinds of trash from all

over. The sequence I saw was a) register for a prize b) attempt to

complete the hoops c) within two days your mailbox fills with junk mail, spam, porn, trojans, worms, and all the rest of the nasty stuff.

That is why I was upset and backed out as soon as I saw the actual

url location.

Greg

Brian,

The ad WAS a google ad and it appeared on this thread<br>

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00CicB&unified_p=1

But as soon as I got back to the thread it was gone from the list.

Looking back in my history list (why didn't I think of that?? duh.)

the URL appears to be

http://www.everyfreegift.com/landings/ups_search_shipping.jsp?

pixel=6&p1=2&p2=2&p3=2&category_id=&email=nospam_skipper@

yahoo.com&product_id=4316&pid=1844165673&cid=4316&lid=&ofpath=&bid=47

Hope that's enough information to help.

Greg

Note - because of the crippled html rules here the above links are

text even though I tried to put this in HTML...

I was just looking at a forum entry. At the bottom there was one

of the flag ads for "Free copies of Photoshop CS". Like an idiot

I clicked on the URL, it is a scam ad for "we'll ship you a Photoshop CS

upgrade IF you are a smoker and allow us to send you all the shit in

the world." type of ad.

WHY ARE THESE ON PHOTO.NET?? Now I can't even trust this site to

be shit free! Come on guys, I know it takes funding to run the site,

but why do we permit this. If this is a google ad then you need to get

google to clean up thier act or dump them. If everyone did this then

the junk spam would STOP.

Please do something about this and don't bother with the platitudes.

Thanks,

Greg

Mike - I think we are in violent agreement :{D

I meant that it would cut the maximum covered distance in half,

which I didn't say very well, and that in turn would be the same

as doubling the distance to the subject, which you did say very well.

Although that is a WAG and very generalized, it gets across the idea

that you have to take into account the maximum distance a flash will

cover AND the total distance the light must travel PLUS the loss caused

by the reflective surface you are using.

Obviousely there are a lot of factors here and the only way to get

an absolutely correct answer is to use the setup and a flash meter

to read what the camera setting should be.

Thanks for clearing me up ... I'm a bit foggy once in a while...

Listen to Michael...good answers<br>

2. additional information - bounce will cut distance approximately in half.

I've gotten natural muslin backdrops from

<br>

<b><url>http://www.creativedesignbackgrounds.com</url></b></br>

Brian and his crew are a pleasure to work with and thier prices are good, and they stand behind thier product.

<p>

I've also gotten a velour/velveteen backdrop from

<br>

<b><url>http://www.photekusa.com</url></b><br>

The quality is good, the price are reasonable, and they are good<br>

people to deal with as well.

<br>

Hope that helps,

If you are doing primarily B & W then don't get the Canon.

The FUD about the Canon inks fading are just that; from what I've seen over

the last 2 years of use. For color printing and reliability I'd go with the

Canon, and for economy. The HP are the most expensive on supplies as

the cartridges are WAY overpriced and have a shelf life built in from

what I've seen (why I got rid of all of mine). The Epson's are good

quality but if you don't use them regularly be prepared for nozzle clog

problems.

JMHO... good luck Greg

forgot to answer some of your questions...

ISO - I'd go with 400 (higher speed low noise) or if you're shooting

raw you might try 800. Shutter try 1/30 and work up, you'll get

different results with each major step. Flash EV I'd give it +1 at least or go for max like I said above.

Actually if it's a one time shoot. Try as many as you can get away with.

Use your main settings (that you believe will get what you want), then

experiment like hell :{O

Sounds like fun!

If you are going to use bounce flash, might try the Lightsphere II

if you can get your hands on one. It will provide an additional

softening of the overall light.

Like was said the predominate source

will dictate the white balance, although the flash will probably dominate it.

You might try using the flash in manual mode (to get full power) and

adjust your f-stop accordingly, I'd use a midpoint distance as the start.

If there is enough light try a couple without the flash, or just

use the flash (off-camera) as a fill.

oppps - meant to say

I've got the Sto-Fen and the pocket bounce...

and it still beats both :{)

Gary Fong's LightSphere II

I've got the Sto-Fen, and the Omni-bounce. It beats both and doesn't

require a flash bracket to use. It's reasonable at ~$40.

On the control issue - I have the AB-800s and the remote control units.

Here's the pro's and con's as I see it having used them for a while...

<br>

Pro's

<br>

<list>

<li>complete control - you can set everything remotely for each light, for a bank (group) of lights, for all lights

<li>ease of setup- no scrambling around to each light, just set them up

as you think they should be and then adjust from the camera

<li>remote firing-either by hand, by cord from camera or meter

<li>no interference from other remotes - it has enough channels and groups to make yours unique, even in an AB convention hall (well almost :{)

<li> no wires - each light is standalone with 1 power cord

<li> transmitter doesn't hang on the camera (I put a snap button swivle from a cell phone on mine and clip it to my belt or tripod),

some units unbalance the camera with a topheavy unit.

<li>price - $550 (approx) get transmiter and 4 slave units (about 1/2 cost of Pocket Wizard setup).

<li>P Buff service - had one reciever go out, no questions, sent me a replacement overnight said send the bad one when I got a chance, 10 min phone call (most of that just shooting the bull with nice people :)

</list>

<p>

Con's

<list>

<li>light weight construction - these aren't pocket wizard in construct, nor in price. With reasonable TLC they'll last a while.

<li>battery life - if you leave in the batteries they'll be dead

the next time you need them. The receivers come with a power brick

so you don't need batteries in them (unless you want it). The tranmitter is strickly batteries. NiMh work well.

<li>proprietary (sp?) - they only work with WL and AB units.

<li>no radio trigger for flash meter. Sekonics have an addin trigger for the pocketwizard units.

</list>

<p>

End analysis - if you are shooting on site, get a

remote control setup, the wires will drive you nuts, and the photo

slaves are useless with other flashes going off. Make sure

it's a coded IR or radio RF unit, uncoded units are as useless as

photo slaves at the WRONG times.

If you are doing sports - look into pocket wizards. Some locations

require them in order to work there.

<I>I don't believe for a second that you ran an AB THIRTY EIGHT HOURS STRAIGHT @ full power firing every three seconds, that sounds like <b>total bullshit</b>, I defy you to show that to me, do this in front of me, and I'll pay you the cost of the, lights, put your money where mouth is, if this class of lights could withstand that kind of punishment AND on a consistent basis, nobody would even consider buying anything else.</I> <Br>(emphasis is mine)

<p>

Saying that someones assertions is <b>total bullshit</b>, IS calling that person a liar (apologies for the misspelling earlier) where I

come from... I did read you diatribe, so please do not assert something that is not in evidence.

<p>

I'm out of this thread it's gone down the troll hole. Jennifer I hope

you have the answers you need, apologies for contributing to the hijack.

358 is more meter than most need... but that said - if your subject

will be more than 15 feet away and you are doing a lot of natural light

then you'll need a spot meter.

I haven't found a need for a spot meter (other than what is in the camera) in a long time, so I got the 358 and am tickled purple with it :D

You could also try a form bounce flash.

I've used AB-800 bounced off a white ceiling and my Nikon SB80dx

with a lightsphereII, both will give a flatter less glaring light.

The LSII still gives a point light but less intense.

With the 5100 you'll be a little more challenged as it doesn't have

any external flash connect points. You'll need a slave tripper (the

SB80 has one built-in) and I'd put a 3x5 index card in from of the

on-camera flash to mute and diffuse it.

Using the big yellow bulb will work as well, but you'll need to

fashion a go-bo as mentioned.

Jonathan - I'm 58, experienced, sometimes not so healthy, but

one thing I learned a long time ago ...

If you are going to play in the mud on weekends, you don't need

to drive a Hummer.. a jeep CJ will do just fine! and with the

difference you can get a real nice Caddy for the weekdays :D

Lighten up (pun intended), overspending when you first start out

can make you equipment poor (both money wise and depth of equipment wise).

Between myself and several other photographers I know/work with I've

seen AB's take a lot of punishment, and I've seen real expensive

"Pro packs" bite the dust; the difference is that most of us who

have the AB's (or the WL's) have several backups, the beginners with

the packs don't because they can't afford them. As for the duty cycle

stuff - if you cannot refute it with proof (your rantings and gut feelings are not proof) please don't call someone a lier. You are entitled to disbelief but not disparagement.

JMHO..