mtwhite

<p>The short version is that I'm interested in developing 35mm B&W at

home, but I have absolutely no way to build a proper darkroom. Long

story short, there's not a single room in the house that can be made

light-tight. Anyway, according to the beginner instructions in a PDF

I downloaded from Kodak's website (got the link from searching the

B&W forum archives), a changing bag is adequate for loading the film

into the developing tank. That's fine with me, I'm accustomed to

using changing bags at work (small photo lab). The problem is that

I'm unclear on what the instructions mean by draining the tank. Can

it be done in light?

<p>I'm planning on ordering <a

href="http://www.henrys.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ItemsDisplay?catalogId=10101&departmentId=10403&itemID=42190&categoryId=10431">this

tank</a>. Is this okay for working without a darkroom, or is there

something better out there? Or am I simply out of luck?

I think you're refering to Canon's Powershot S1. Beautiful machine. A

little low on the megapixel side (3MP), but all in all a pretty damn

good buy for those looking to do image stabilized telephoto on the

cheap.

 

In a similiar vein, there's also Kodak's 6490. No IS, but costs less,

has a 4MP sensor, 38-380mm equivalent zoom and also allows full

manual overrides. Don't listen to the anti-Kodak digicam prejudices,

the 6490 ain't no cheapie 6200. Nice build quality and flat black

color. One could file off the Kodak logo and glue on a Nikon logo and

you'd probably fool most of the "I do not buy equipment from the

plebian brands" snob crowd. :)

The computer geek in me wants to point out that not only do these

good folks have excellent taste in lenses, but also in operating

systems.

<p>Absolutely. The only camcorders that are small enough not to

require a big shoulder bag are way out of my price range. 'Course,

I'm just a poor student. Someone with more spare cash than I have on

hand would tell you differently.

<p>I suppose I could technically afford a nice little Canon Elura or

the like, but textbooks don't pay for themselves and I have a Portra

addiction to feed.

<p>Either the 2000 or the Ti, and he'd best decide only after trying

both of them in his hands. The Ti has a pretty unique grip. Some

people find it really uncomfortable. Most of my customers with big

hands (retail sales monkey speaking here, btw) opt for the 2000 with

a battery grip.

<p>The K2's not bad, but also has the Ti's grip, isn't as good as the

2000 in some ways (no DOF preview!), and typically retails for the

same price as the 2000. Also, the autofocus in the K2 is really

irritating. There's no confirm beep or illuminated points, so you

only know you've focused if you take your eyes off the scene and look

in the bottom right of the viewfinder for the green dot, or if you

listen really, really carefully to the lens.

<p>No point in buying the G's at all, unless he can get them at a

<i>really</i> good discount. The 2000 has the same body shape and is

just plain better all-around.

<p><i>Definitely</i> the wrong kind of paper. If it's a Kodak-using

lab, their B&W paper should read "Kodak Professional" on the back. It

could have been an honest mistake on their part, things happen.

Returning the photos and politely asking for reprints is your best

bet. Of course, I work at that sort of lab, so I'd naturally

sympathise with the staff there. :)

<p>I doubt they don't have B&W paper available to them; even the

smallest semi-pro labs, such as the one I work at, keep well stocked

with it. I've heard that some kinds of printer chemistry (SM

chemistry in Noritsu printers, specifically) doen't work with B&W

paper, but I couldn't say of my own knowledge if that's accurate.

<p>Hard to say without physically using it myself. If you were one of

my customers, I'd suggest taking it in to my store so I could have a

look, but that's a little tricky for this situation. :)

<p>What model of camera is it?

<p>If memory serves, the story of the Dakota camera hackers was on <A

href="http://slashdot.org/articles/03/11/12/2354206.shtml?tid=152&tid=185&tid=188">Slashdot</a>

a while back.

<p>The short version is that the memory inside the camera is a

built-in smartmedia card, and the image format is ordinary JPG.

Powering off a camera or pulling out the card before the camera's

finished writing to the card can do that. It'll corrupt the

filesystem, but very rarely physically damage the card, so an

ordinary format is the usual solution.

Ah, thanks. I was just idly curious. Like I said, I'm an idiot when

it comes to medium format. :)

<p>I just saw one of my regular customers today, and he had some

photos he had taken with his medium format camera. A Yashicamat, I

think he called it. I was blown away by the resolution. It got me

thinking into trying it myself. My worry is the cost if it turns out

that I don't have the skill to make it worthwhile. I don't have a lot

of spare cash to throw around on a whole raft of new lenses.

<p>Then it hit me. I have a half-dozen nice old Pentax 42mm

screw-mount lenses sitting on a shelf at home; they were

hand-me-downs from relatives. Are there any medium format bodies that

can use these?

<p>I will be the first to admit that I'm an <b>absolute idiot</b>

when it comes to medium format, so please don't flame me too badly if

this is a stupid question.

<p>Yeah, until the 2200/3200/3700, all Nikons used CF.

<p>Nice little P&S's. Very compact, great image quality for the

price. What I love most about them is how they've got a white balance

setting for the flash itself. The colours in shots taken with the

flash look very natural. I normally hate flashes of any kind, and I

was pleasantly surprised. Also, there's an ungodly number of presets

built in. The 3200 is pretty much the perfect inexpensive P&S to keep

in your pocket. The 3700 is worth looking into, too. A bit more

money, and uses a lithium-ion battery instead of plain AA's, but it's

even smaller, and the body feels a little tougher.

<p>I was debating between the 3200 and the Canon A75 for myself as a

complement to my film SLR today. (Can't afford a digital SLR yet.) It

was close, but in the end my need for manual overrides won out and I

chose the A75. If I wasn't such a fussy manual freak, then the 3200

would have been perfect.

<p>Caveat: I <b>don't</b> own a ZX-60/MZ-60, I merely sell them where

I work. This is from the point of view of someone who merely

demonstrates them, and doesn't actually use them on a daily basis.

<p>It's a pretty capable machine, and the price is really great on

them these days, but I've found that the command dial is irritating

to use. It's not a wheel, it's more like a three-position switch that

automatically bounces back to the center position. (It's hard to

describe in text.) You'll be constantly twitching your finger when

changing settings or modes for precise control, or else you'll just

hold down the switch for quick selection and usually overshoot the

setting you wanted.

<p>Sorry, Jirka, I should have been more specific. When I said I was

frustrated with the metering, I meant that I was frustrated with the

way that metering is automatically selected with the exposure modes.

There's no way to use, for an example, evaluative metering in manual.

Also, partial metering can only be selected with a seperate button

for a few seconds at a time, not full-time. I wish I could afford a

Canon body with true spot metering, but that will have to wait for a

few years.

<p>I also know that the grip lacks a dial, but I mostly want it

because I like AA's. For the price of two disposable 123's, I can get

a pack of four NiMH rechargeables. The grip on my Rebel paid for

itself in terms of battery cost within just months. I can't imagine

how I'd get along without one.

<p>Due to a nice dealer employee discount, I have the chance to get a

brand new Elan 7N or 7NE for a song in April. I've grown frustrated

with the metering system in the 2000, and I'd like to get something

better.

<p>The problem is that I've never used an Elan body with eye control

before. All I've used is a friend's 7, which was a joy to use. I'm

curious how well the eye control really works. The sales brochure

claims it to be the second coming, but I'm wondering what people who

actually have IIE and 7E bodies think about it. If it's not too

useful, I'd rather use the difference in price to pay for a battery

grip. I'm on a bit of a tight budget.

<p>Thoughts?

I have nothing worthwhile to contribute, but I just think that the

term "tranny films" is funny as hell. I had this mental image of

oversized Fuji and Kodak canisters, dressed in high heels and pink

feather boas, dancing down a New Orleans street.

Kodak once tried the low-res LCD post-view on one of their APS

cameras, I forget the exact model. It failed, mostly because it was

vastly overpriced, and partly because it was APS.

<p>Trying talking directly to your store's rep. It's a slightly more

informal program than Nikon's. A well-connected rep can swing some

pretty good deals, especially if your store is doing a good job

selling Canon gear. Just be careful, and *don't* buy for other

people. Canon'll yank that privilege pretty damn fast if they think

you're helping to take money away from their regular sales. That

program is mostly there so that they get advertising when a customer

asks you, "So what do you use?"

<p>Nikon's program is also excellent. Up here, I could get a D70 with

that nice but overpriced 18-70mm for Can$1400, about US$1000 or so.

(Notices the forum he's in, sweats) Err. Of course, the 10D is

better. :)

<p>I'll have to check with my store's Pentax rep the next time he's

in, to see if they've got a purchase program. They've got a good

sales spiff program, about as good as Nikon and way better than

Canon, but I don't know if they've got good deals for salespeople. I

don't even know if we have a Minolta rep. I've never seen one in the

two years I've been working here. Minolta just doesn't seem to care.

<p>(Bitter rant time) Thanks for not giving spiffs on A70's, Canon! I

must have sold hundreds of them last Christmas.

<p>In a nutshell, this is

yet-another-cheap-good-film-scanner-question, but with a twist: I need

something that works with Linux, through USB. Preferably using a <A

href="http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html">SANE backend</a>,

but anything supported by Vuescan would be okay as well.

<p>I'm currently using an Epson 1260-Photo right now. It's fine for

photos, but awful for negatives. Even just a real (ie:

non-interpolated) 2400dpi would be fine for me. Cost is a concern, but

I'm willing to pay for quality. Any suggestions? I am totally

unwilling to return to Windows, but need something better than my

Epson.

You're right, Ron. Except for the lack of the AF comfirm beep and DOF preview, the K2 (EOS3000V) is just a 2000 (EOS300) packed into the body of a Ti. Decent camera, but the 2000 is still a better value for those of us on a tight budget. The only advantage the K2 has is the slightly smaller size, and how one can use it one-handed if you've got a lightweight lens.

<a href="http://www.henrys.com">Henry's</a> and <A href="http://www.vistek.ca/">Vistek</a> are pretty reputable. They're usually the first on the ball when price drops hit.

Canon had damn well better lower prices to match US prices! I work in a retail store in Canada, and even though I can get equipment at cost, it's STILL cheaper to buy from B&H!

 

Case in point: 420EX flash. Retails for Can$349.95, US$179.99. With current currency value of US$0.77/Can$1.00, that works out to about Can$233. That's BELOW the Canadian list price. I'm all for supporting my employer, he's a great guy, but I'm not rich. Just a poor student. I'm seeing the same from customers. Even after shipping and duties, it's still vastly cheaper to buy new from the US. On that flash, I'm going to save almost $200. That will cover the cost of two entire brand-new textbooks.

 

As for where the equipment is made, a lot of parts and some complete units are made in Taiwan. They don't fix their currency to the US dollar, like mainland China does. The Taiwanese dollar has been fairly steady against the US dollar, compared to other currencies. If it were rising like the Euro or Canadian dollar, I'd be worried about Canon raising US list prices, but... I dunno. I suppose it all depends on how badly Canon wants to sell to non-US retailers.

The lenses, in no particular order:

 

Asahi Bellows-Takumar 100mm/4, Asahi Super-Takumar 50mm/1.4, Asahi Super-Takumar 35mm/3.5, Asahi Takumar 135mm/3.5, Asahi Takumar 200mm/3.5, Practika 135mm/2.8, Pentacon 50mm/1.8

 

And while technically not a lens, there's also an "Asahi Pentax Bellows II".

 

The 50mm/1.4 really caught my eye. I'm a student on a very tight budget, and have been wanting the EOS equivalent for my Rebel 2000, but I'm always outbid on ebay for used ones and I can't afford a new one. I'd love to have a working M42-compatible body to put these to good use.

 

Thanks for the Spotmatic recommendation! I'm going to start scouring Ebay now.

I've just been given my parents' load of old police forensics

equipment, mostly 1975-1980 era stuff for shooting fingerprints and

accident scenes.

 

The short version is this: one of the bodies in the kit, a Practika

MTL5, has a damaged rewind mechanism. The pin to rewind and pop the

back open is simply not there anymore. The half-dozen lenses and the

bellows that came with it seem to be in perfect shape. I'm sending it

to a repair shop that my workplace deals with, to have an estimate

done, but if it costs more to repair than it's worth, what should I

look for to replace it?