eastonphotography

Somthing else to consider.. I don't thing the 2000WS pack has the built in Pocket Wizard.. only the 1000WS packs and 500WS packs..

I didn't see a light meter in you list, unless you already have one? I have the M1000wi with the built in pocket wizard, two 4040's and a Sekonic L-358(also with the built in pocket wizard). The whole cordless stuff RULES.. makes things soooooo much easier, no fumbling with cords when taking measurments, switching bodies etc.

OK.. Here is what I ended up doing.

2 strobes in opposite corners of the room set up with Shoot Thru umbrellas pointed at a White dropped ceiling. I went around the room taking flash Meter readings and adjusting lights to get about F4 around the whole room (Good basic wash of light). OK First part done. Then I set my camera to Aperture Priority with TTL metering and connected my Flash (On a bracket) to my Hot Shoe with Nikon SC-17 cord (Keeps TTL). Then Connected a Pocket wizard transmitter to the PC socket on my Nikon F100(Stobes in corners had the receivers)

Walked around room shooting with either F5.6 or F11 depending on the DOF I wanted.

Now for the results.. Any shot that I used F11 for was dark while the ones at 5.6 were fine. I assumed (Wrongly) that since I was using TTL and Aperture Priority when I changed my F-Stop the on-camera flash would expose properly while the Strobes provided a general wash background fill. Now I am thinking that Plugging in the PW to the PC socket may override the TTL and my on camera flash was not being control properly by the camera??

I am going to hook everything up again tonight in my house and do some testing??

-Craig

Ahhh Edward.. You are the man!!!!

Thanks, that is EXACTLY what I was looking to do, just give a soft fill background with the strobes... I just didn't realize I could hook up my Pocket Wizard to the PC at the same time as having my SB-28 attached to the hot-shoe(I shoot with a Nikon F100). I was thinking of getting a nice wash of like F4 around the whole room, and when I shoot just make sure I choose apertures greater than F4..(Probably mostly F8 - F11 I will be shooting)

The Shoot is Monday and I will post some of the results.

-Craig

OK.. I hope I can explain this properly..

I am shooting a small dance studio(poorly light) situation this week

and I want to use my Monolights (2 calumet 750ws units) tucked away in

corners or behind curtains bounced against the white ceiling as

background fill(Set at or below the minimum F stop I will actually be

shooting at). These units will be triggered with Pocket Wizard Plus

Receivers (Hopefully). The Main light is going to be my Nikon SB-28

speedlight mounted on a bracket(Connected to camera with Nikon SC-17,

keeps auto exposure TTL functionality).

Here is my question.. I want to use Aperture Priority and have the

local flash controlled by the camera, but have a pocket wizard

transmitter attached as well, to fire my background fill strobes.

I would prefer not to have to rely on the flash slaves built into the

units. And if I just stick the PW into my Hot shoe and connect my

place with a PC cord to the transmitter I loose all the TTL metering?

If this makes sense to anyone and know if I can hook up my PW

transmitter like that, please let me know how to do it?

Thanks

Craig

Hi all;

Well my Epson 1200 finally died and I am in the market for a new

printer.

Over the weekend I went to the Photo Expo here in New York and was

able to get an image I brought in on a CD printed on Both the Canon

Pixma ip8500 and the Epson R800. (Close Portrait, beauty shot, of a

young woman, with dark hair)

Here is my question... On the print from the R800 the detail in the

hair is all black(No detail) and the colors are off, while the print

from the canon has all the detail(but does have some horizontal

banding). Here is where it gets tricky... I also had the same print

done on a Epson 2200 at the Kodak booth with the new Kodak Pro

Luster paper, and the detail in the hair is AWESOME! and the color

matches perfectly with the Canon and original image. Do you think

when the person at Epson loaded my image up, he assigned a wrong

Color profile in Photoshop and THAT messed up the detail in the hair

and color? The reason I say that is the Epson 2200 uses the same

inks and the detail and color is perfect(Different paper though,

Epson printed on Premium Glossy as opposed to Kodak Paper)?

Do any R800 users find loss of detail in dark areas or shadows??

Thanks and any input is well welcomed -Craig

I agree with John Kim (First Reply). I have been using batteries from <a href="http://www.thomas-distributing.com">www.thomas-distributing.com</a> for a couple of years now... Their MAHA batteries and charges are always rated very high in reviews.<br><br>

I got their <a href="http://www.thomas-distributing.com/mh-4aa220.htm">2200 mAH batteries</a> instead of the top of the line 2300's, a little bit cheaper for just about the same performance.

<br><br>

I would Highly recommend rechargeable... I use them in my Flash, my Nikon F100, and my Digital Camera. Plus I carry spares... SOOOO much cheaper than buying new batteries each time.<br>

<br>

-Craig

Yes Filter Diameter will be 72mm<br><br>Here is the site I am getting it from:

<a href="http://www.nextphoto.net/5700.htm">Adapters Site</a>

<br><br>

-Craig

Might be kind of far for you, but here is a place that I use.. for Color. (I do my own black and White)

http://www.kleinulmes.com/

As for Rental Labs, this isn't that close, but if you REALLY Need it:

http://www.thedarkroomstudios.com/index.html

Steve...

Thanks for you response... I will be ordering it today.. But I think I am going to the UR-E8 adapter with the Bernies 72mm Adapter to protect the lens

Thanks Again

Craig

I am looking to purchase a New Nikon 5700, but I hear some talk on

the forums about the "Lens Error" problem. And the lens gears are

pretty delicate, if you tap the lens or it has problems extending

the lens while turning on, the gears will strip..

Does anyone know if this is still an issue?

It got great reviews on D-Preview, plus with rebate now it is less

than $500

Thanks

Craig

I am sorry, I may be wrong on the Calumet = Red-Wing thing I said above.

But when I checked them both out... them seem IDENTICAL in every way except for the red stripe around the edge, also the speed rings with the calumet name for the calumet softboxes.. you take the part numbers and they ARE Red-Wing part numbers. So I ASSUMED Red-Wing was making the Nova's as well.

-Craig

Hi Leonard...<br>

<br>

I have a Photoflex Multidome (Large)... Very good construction and I like the gold and silver inserts. Also easy to take apart... I have not worked with any chimera ones but I hear they are top notch. But personally for the money I like my Photoflex.<br>

<br>

In addition I just pick up one of the Calument ones.. plus there is a special where if you buy any Nova soft box you get a FREE small softbox. Check it out: <a href="http://www.calumetphoto.com/syrinx/ctl?PAGE=Controller&ac.ui.pn=cat.CatItemDetail&ac.item.itemNo=RM1016K&ac.cat.CatTree.detail=y&type=PRDINDEX"> Nova Softbox </a><br>

<br>

The calument ones are pretty nice, I think I like my Photoflex a little better, but for the price I could not pass it up. By the way, the Calument Softboxes are made by Red-Wing...<br>

<br>

Hope this helps<br>

Craig

Ronnie's Pictures are worth a 1000 words as the old saying goes...<br>

<br>

But I hope to summarize...<br>

<br>

1 - Main Monolight, connected to PW Receiver with short Sync Cord. (Slave Eye Turned off)<br>

2 - Second Monolight, Only pluged into AC Wall socket for power with its Slave Eye turned on. (Not sure if you have to turn the slave eye on, on my Lights it has a on off switch)<br>

3 - During normal shooting, PW Transmitter is sitting in your hot shoe.<br>

4 - When you want to take a meter reading (This is what I would do). Take the Transmitter out of your hot shoe. and connect the PW Transmitter to your L-608 with a short sync Cord. (With your meter in Corded mode). When you are done taking readings place the transmitter back on the hot shoe of your camera.<br>

<br>

Hope this helps<br>

Craig

Hello all;<br>

<br>

Well I just ordered my first set of chemicals to process B+W at home

(Ordered all Ilford stuff).<br>

<br>

Anyway my question is about Working Solution life time. The Ilford

documents say for the Stop(ILFOSTOP) and Washaid(ILFOTOL)

the "Storage and solution life" for the "Working Strengh" is 7

*WORKING* days.<br>

<br>

What is a working day?<br>

<br>

Does that mean I can only use it 7 times(7 developing sessions, Use

it.. wait a week or two, use it again, wait.. use.. wait.. use..

etc) or from the time I make a working solution, it is bad after 7

total days (Make it on sunday, throw out next sunday) (Basically one

time use for me).<br>

<br>

Here is the document it is mentioned in: <a

href="http://www.ilford.com/html/us_english/pdf/Chemical%

20sundries.pdf">Ilford Doc</a> Page 2 right hand column.<br>

<br>

Thanks for your help.<br>

Craig

You have many options here.. Some cheap some expensive<br><br>

<a href="http://www.weinproducts.com/photo.htm">Wein Products</a> makes some cheaper Wireless ($200) systems and more expensive versions as well. But you can also get away with something like this: <a href=http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=245292&is=REG">Wein Safe-Sync</a>, not wireless, but will protect your camera and fire your strobes no problem.<br><br>

But if you have money to burn, this is an option: <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=221277&is=REG">Pocket Wizard Multimax</a>.<br><br>

Hope this helps<br>

-Craig

Thank you all for your contributions...

This is all great information, thanks for taking the time to answer me.

-Craig

Hi All;

I am pretty new to processing my own film (Current taking a B+W

class at a local college). I am looking into getting my own

chemicals so I can do it at home.

I will mostly be developing Ilford HP5, Delta 400 and 100. I am not

planning on doing anything fancy with changing development times,

just trying to get a good consistent process down.

So here is my question, what is the difference between DD-X and HC.

The DD-X is a 4:1 ratio while the HC is much greater (therefore the

HC would be MUCH cheaper). I don't mind mixing a stock solution

from the HC, so that is not a concern for me. What is the advantage

of the DD-X.... do the Negatives come out THAT much better. What is

the extra $$ getting me.

Thanks

Craig

I would like to use my SB-28 in full manual mode on a light stand

with an umbrella, sounds easy right. Connect the camera to the

flash via a pc cord right??? No so fast.... the flash and the

camera both accept male pc connectors, so why can't I find a 10 or

15 foot Male PC to Male PC Sync cord??? I figured if B&H doesn't

have it, who will ??(Don't want ttl, so I don't really need the SC-

17)

Do I need a special cable, or am I missing something.

Or, is there a better way using a Wein Product that I attach to the

bottom of my flash (Need something like that anyway so I can put the

flash on my light stand anyway) that takes PC Female??

Any help would be appreciated.

-Craig

I removed and replaced the Flash tub in my Travelite 750's. I would suggest unwinding the trigger wire from the support brace(180 Degress from where the Main posts are), NOT FROM THE TUBE ITSELF. The posts should slide in pretty easily and seat the tube until it rests on the Tube Support. Then Wrap the trigger wire around the support post firmly to lock it in place.

Don't know if this helps at all, but if you have any question that I may be able to answer just contact me.

-Craig

Thanks for the quick responses...

These are my first set of lights, and I really didn't realize that the flash tubes last that long.

Also I shoot mostly slide film and was thinking about getting the UV coated Flash Tubes, but I think I am going to pass on that and not worry too much about it. Have to do more tests to see if I notice a color cast.

I am very glad to hear that the tubes last so long thought !!!

Thanks again

-Craig

Why is it that there is such a Big discrepancy in the cost of

replacement flash tubes from Mfg to Mfg.<br><br>

<ul>Example:<li>Alienbees and White-Lightning about $30 (US)</li>

<li>Photogenic PL1250's about $85 - $90 bucks</li>

<li>Novatron about $85</li>

<li>Sp-Systems (Excalibur) about $60 bucks.</li>

<li>And of course mine are the most expensive at about $125 for std

and $145 for UV coated. (Calumet Travelites, made by Bowens)</li>

</ul>

Why Such the big range from $30 to $145 ??? I don't get it....<br>

<br>

Do I have to use the Calumet flash tubes or is there a general

supplier of flash tubes that has the model I need without the big $

premium.<br>

<br>

Also Since my lights are actually made by Bowens, can I use the

Bowens replacement tubes... they are in the $85 dollar range.(Better

than $130)<br>

<br>

Any comments welcome.<br>

<br>

Thanks<br>

Craig

I have a Stroboframe Pro-T with a F100 and SB-28 with the Lumiquest Promax System.

I usually use the Lumiquest with the white insert and the diffuser in place on the front.

I would definitely recommend it. I personally think it makes a big difference. Softens the light and generally improves the lighting of the photo.

The only bad part is when I hold my camera vertically (And flip the flash). I have the vertical grip mounted to my F100 and wrapping my hand around the base of the Stroboframe plus the vertical grip is a little awarkard(Makes for a VERY big Grip). But I don't think you will have to deal with any of that with the Camera Flip Version.

Overall I think this combination will make a big difference in the light quality.

Hope this helps

I just found this place on the net, I haven't been there yet, but plan on taking a workshop that is hosted there.<BR>

<BR>

This place looks AWESOME.. Located in Central NJ.<BR>

<BR>

I don't know what the pricing is, but I bet it isn't cheap<BR>

<BR>

<a href="http://www.factorystudios.com">Studio</a>

<BR><BR>

Hope this Helps<BR>

-Craig

I just found this place on the net, I haven't been there yet, but plan on taking a workshop that is hosted there.<BR>

<BR>

This place looks AWESOME.. Located in Central NJ.<BR>

<BR>

I don't know what the pricing is, but I bet it isn't cheap<BR>

<BR>

<a herf="http://www.factorystudios.com">Studio</a>

<BR><BR>

Hope this Helps<BR>

-Craig