chris_markiewicz

i've never used the 1.4, but when i was faced with the same decision, i couldn't justify the price difference just for an extra half-stop or so. the 1.8 is a great lens at a great price.

chris<div></div>

sorry i can't help with your problem. i just wanted to note that i've been an n60 user for many years now and i still love it. i keep thinking about upgrading to a high-end nikon, but this thing just never disappoints me. best of luck to you - i hope you can hang on to your camera. you and i might be the only n60 users left...

chris<div></div>

i have one of these lenses - dirt cheap. i can't imagine that you could get it fixed for less than the price of a new one. (although i admit that i have had no experiences with lens repair).

i absolutely love this lens. i bought a new one on the auction site last year (sooo inexpensive). while i would love it to be faster, aperture-wise, it has given me some fantastic results. enjoy!

chris<div></div>

i absolutely love this lens. i bought a new one on the auction site last year (sooo inexpensive). while i would love it to be faster, aperture-wise, it has given me some fantastic results. enjoy!

chris<div></div>

i love the 50/1.8. personally, i couldn't justify the extra cost just for a half-stop or so (for the 1.4). it's my favorite lens now.<div></div>

i've owned a 70-300 for a couple of years now - got it on the auction site for maybe $120. personally, i love it. i would certainly like it to be faster, but i think it's a tremendous value given the zoom and the price.

disclaimer - i'm not shooting national geographic covers, if you know what i mean. i shoot, print, and occasionally enlarge and frame. having the sharpest, contrastiest (okay, that's not a word), and most expensive lens really doesn't mean anything to me. (just want you to know where i'm coming from.)<div></div>

personally, and i'll probably get crucified for this, i'm a fan of the "don't let perfect get in the way of great" philosophy. you can constantly chase better equipment, or you can get something good and get to work. for many months i debated about whether to buy a scanner...then i spent more months debating about which scanner to buy. i recently bought a coolscan v - and i have no idea why i waited so long. i'm sure someone with a coolscan 9000 can tell me the dozens of things that my scanner lacks, but this thing is producing some fantastic scans. (it's too early for me to be writing this, really - i just sent the first scans off to be printed...so in a few days i may be cursing this thing - or at least cursing my ignorance). but i say go with the $500 scanner and be done with it.

 

best of luck

chris<div></div>

hello. if i may add a quick question to this forum...i've been watching f100s on the auction site...looks like i can get one (in excellent shape) for around $525. i'm curious what features would make me go for an f5 instead (for an extra $400-500)? (i'm an amateur photographer...not shooting any fast sports or anything...so i'm guessing the f100 is more than enough, but i thought i'd ask.)

 

thanks

chris

if you're looking for advice from a pro, don't listen to me. but i've had great success with portraits from the 105/2.8 lens. an example below...<div></div>

aaa

some small lab outside of harrisburg, pa. nice enough people, but they're getting old and i think they're just waiting for retirement. and yeah, that was the last time i'm using them for processing...

 

update - i very carefully cleaned a few more with distilled water and everything looks good.

hello. yesterday i got 2 rolls of slides back from the lab - every

slide has a bunch (anywhere from 3 to 30) of liquid drops on it. i

took them back to the lab (i have to stop using this lab - the people

are getting lazy) - they tried to clean one with pec-12, but i think

it just smeared the stuff. so this morning i decided to try to clean

one myself. i took some water on a q-tip, dabbed the spots on the

negative, then dabbed the water with a soft cloth. seems to work very

well. i check the newly cleaned slides with a loupe and they seem

fine. (note that if i just dab a spot with a q-tip, it seems to smear

it...so i guess the stuff is water-soluble, but maybe it's

concentrated a bit and it only comes off cleanly when i dilute it with

water.)

 

i've checked threads on this forum and they say that in some

situations, i should re-do the final e-6 processing steps (cleaning

and rinsing). which makes sense, although i'm not sure why my

<expletive> lab didn't recommend that.

 

so my question is - what's my best move? i'm guessing that water

isn't it (or i should at least be using distilled water)? should i

take them back to the lab and have them unmount and clean them properly?

 

your comments are greatly appreciated.

chris

one more<div></div>

two more...<div></div>

hello. last month (january 2005) i posted a few questions to this

group. my brother was getting married in mid-january in a small and

not particularly well-lit house. i pretty much think about nothing

but photography all day, so he and the bride said they'd appreciate it

if i'd shoot at their wedding. i was planning to take plenty of

photos anyway, so no complaints from me. anyway - i've never been

good with flash photography, but people who answered my questions gave

me ideas about flash techniques, as well as film choices, etc etc. so

i went through about 14 rolls of film - a variety, actually - tmax

400, delta 400, and scala (at 400) - mostly 35mm, some 120. i had a

lot of fun doing it (becuase there was no pressure, i'm sure), and i'm

very happy with my results. (and i'm not longer phobic about flash

photography.)

 

three things i learned. 1) everything - esp the ceremony itself -

moves very quickly. 2) always have film within your reach (for some

reason i kept it in a camera bag in another room. 3) think about the

poses you want beforehand - there are a few group shots that i'm

kicking myself for not getting.

 

anywho, so this is just a follow-up 'thank you' to everyone that

helped. i'll post a couple of the photos that i've scanned (having

some scanner problems...).

 

chris<div></div>

hello eric - thanks for the follow-up. for whatever reason, the scanner was working perfectly last night. no problems at all. i'm thinking i should exchange it just to be safe, but yeah - i'm happy with the results. in my opinion, the software for the scanner itself is a little weak, but i've started just scanning and doing everything in photoshop.

thanks again.

chris<div></div>

eric - interesting - i'll give that a shot. i guess my concern though is the consistency with which this happens. i scanned 3 negative strips and on slide and this flaw appears at exactly the same place every time. on the batch scan, on the prescan, and on the final scan - it's exactly the same, which makes me think it's some issue with the scanner itself. i posted a question on the minolta scanner yahoo group and emailed the manufacturer directly. i'll contact b&h today.

thanks

chris<div></div>

hello. i just received my brand new minolta dimage scan dual iv from

b&h. tried my first scan (with a good negative) - but the scan is

very odd. it appears to be divided into two sections. one section

looks perfect (bottom 2/3 of scan) - the other section looks lighter

(top 1/3).

the scan is of xp2. scanned as a color neg, desaturated.

am i doing something wrong or is this a scanner issue? note that when

it does the index scans, all of the scans have this same appearance to

them.

thanks for your time

chris<div></div>

heh - i like the range of answers. thanks to everyone that responded. i hadn't seen the kyphoto site before - looks like a great resource.

thanks again.

chris

Hello. I have an old rolleicord whose slower shutter speeds are

dragging a bit. Is this something that can be adjusted/fixed by a

tinkerer or is it definitely a job for a skilled CLA person? Are

there sites that describe the procedure?

 

thanks

chris

QGdB - two quick notes to your response. first, the auction had not ended yet. second, you could perhaps read into my post that the difference at the time (i think it was about $12 after shipping, so less than a 5% difference in price), was hardly worth the risk of buying a used item from an auction and losing the warranty.

chris

if i can ask a separate question - i'm looking to rent some older equipment when i'm down there in march (old mf tlr or maybe a 35mm rangefinder). someone recommended penn photo, but they only rent new stuff, as far as i know. any suggestions?

thanks

chris

as if this thread needed another example - i was looking for a film scanner - i saw an auction for a slightly used dimage iv. the auction when i saw it was 252 + 15s/h. i just bought a brand new one (with a years limited warranty) from b&h for 264 + 12s/h. as others have said, i think people assume they'll get a lower price at auction so they don't bother with retail.

chris

yeah - i think humdidity is, generally speaking, a good thing when developing film...