simon_leung2

Dear Jason;

Try buying scrap camera parts from your local camera repair shop.

It is alot cheaper and less of a headache than E-Bay.

Dear Arthur:

If you are going to stick with Canon Speed-flash, I'd recommend the

Canon 430 EX, for the EOS 1-N. The head of this flash is movable to create a bounce flash. It is primarily the predessor of the 420-EZ, which is designed for EOS 3.

Dear Lars;

With the 10-D's magnification of 1.6 the 20 mm f2.8 simply becomes a

32 mm lens. Still considered as a wide-angle but with decreased area of view. The other way to go would be buying a 16 mm EF lens, but the cost of your lens would increase. Taken into account, the 16 mm lens

simply becomes 27 mm.

This might suit your purpose, if price is not a factor.

Dear Gary:

The drive or better yet, the booster that you are looking for

is called the PB-E1. It has a vertical shutter release and it takes

AA batteries, which makes the camera go as high as 7fps.

The external drive or booster can be removed simply by rotating the

knurled knob in the centre of the unit. It is basically a power booster that's where the PB stands for and the letters E-1 means electronic. The camera itself has a built in motor drive, and the nice thing is that you can use the camera with ot without the booster.

I have owned and used this particular camera in photo-journalism assignments in Bosnia-Hercegovina in 1994-1999, along with three

Leica M-6s.

The G-2 is a very nice user camera, if you are doing photo journalism.

One has to remember that the G series cameras has been on the market for the past ten years and that it was marketed to a particular segment of photogs. Basically a niche camera.

The main problem with the G series cameras from Contax is that lenses are extremely expensive. Currently all film cameras are taking a beating out there on the markets, because of digital. If you are going spend $900, I suggest that you seriously look into the Canon G-5 5 mega pixel digital camera. It feels like a G-2 but with a lens of 35-140 mm in 35 film equivalent and with an aperture of f2, makes this lens one of the fastest on the market.

Dear Mary:

In regards to your question about the Bronica ETR system.

The ETR is the earliest 6 X 4.5 model, then came the ETRS and finally the ETRSi. They are all the same camera with minor upgrades as the years wore on.

All Zenza Bronica lenses are leaf shutter so you get TTL flash at every shutter speed. The downside is that the lenses cost much more than that of Mamiya. The real disadvantage for the Bronica is that there is a lack of a key ISO setting for your film speed.

Dear Stephen;

Pentax no longer makes leaf shutter lenses for the 6X7. Both the 90 and 105 can still be bought new, which is good news. The 90 f2.8 is easier to hand-hold than the 105 f2.4. Keep in mind that the 90 f2.8

is not the old leaf shutter lens as it once was.

I personally like the 105 f2.4 because it is closer to a 50 mm lens in 35 mm format. Whereas the 90 is like having a 45 mm in 35 format.

Dear Peter;

Imacon makes digi-backs for both Medium Format and Large Format.

The large format version has a built in scanner that connects to your PC via USB port. It is rated at 16.4 mega-pixels.

I would check your local pro-equipment retailer first, before journeying on. The price for such a back could set you back as far as

$ 24, 000.

Dear Rob;

The RTS was introduced in 1975, it was designed by Porsche and built in Japan, by Kyocera. This camera set the pace for the aperture priority v.s. shutter priority cameras. The RTS was Contax answer to the Minolta XD-11 with aperture and shutter priority with a Leica

metal blade shutter.

Yes, the RTS can take the MM lens mount.

Dear John;

It is always better to go with factory lenses rather than aftermarkets. The main factor is that there is a lesser chance of

camera failure with the factory.

I own a Canon EF 16-35 mm f5.6 Ultra-sonic L lens, this lens allows you to "tweak" your focusing. What this means is that the ultra-sonic

motor is made up of one unit; and that the front element is part of the motor. In short, you can manually adjust the focusing of your subject, even if you set the lens to autofocus. That is where the cost lies. You need to remember that all lenses by Canon with the letter "L" is meant for professionals.