craig_shearman1

<p>You have some great images there and it looks like you know what you're doing. What were they shot with?<br /><br />I had an opportunity to buy a pair of D2 bodies a year or so ago and passed on it in favor of a D7000 (I already had a D200) since I shoot jobs where I need low-light/high ISO capability. But the D2 was very tempting. I like it's heft and substantial feel etc.<br /><br />If you've had a D2 before and you liked it and it will shoot what you want to shoot, by all means go for it. Just because it's not a current camera doesn't mean it's not a good camera. Many excellent pictures were made with a D2 and as long as you get one in good shape they can still produce good images. And you will certainly be able to save a bundle over the price of a D3 or D4.<br /><br /></p>

<p>Since you mention the Canon G12, I picked up a G15 this summer for a trip to Europe where I didn't to carry my serious gear but wanted more than snapshots. Doesn't have a big sensor but otherwise does what you describe. Now that the G16 is out, the price has dropped dramatically.</p>

<p>Movie studios contracting with Kodak to supply film to shoot movies won't save Kodak. The bigger problem is that movie theaters have largely switched to digital projection and more are doing it every day. I believe there are a couple of studios no longer releasing on film at all, which will prompt even more theaters to make the switch.<br /><br />The amount of film used to shoot a movie is miniscule compared with the amount of film involved in making the hundreds or thousands of prints that used to be made of each movie. That is a big factor in the decline of movie film sales shown in this article.<br /><br />As the directors of photography who were brought up on film retire and more who were brought up on digital take over, the number of cinematographers who even think about shooting on film is going to decline sharply.<br /><br />I suspect film will still be around for a while in still photography but I fully expect to see the demise of film in movies within my lifetime (and I'm 53). I'm the grandson of a theater owner and I have a pair of 35mm movie theater projectors and a couple dozen feature length films on 35mm in my basement, so I'm not anti-film. Just facing reality.</p>

<p>Did you just buy this camera? Then return it and get your money back. Have you had it for a while? Then trash it. It's not worth the cost of repair, if anyone repairs them at all.<br /><br />Holgas (in 35mm, 120 or otherwise) are intentionally bad cameras. They are designed that way. They have light leaks, poor quality control and other flaws intended to appeal to those looking for something quirky with unpredictable, unreliable results.<br /><br />If you understand what a Holga is and you want to use one for the very specialized purpose it serves, but all means get another one and experiment with it. But if you are going on a trip to china and want a camera that will let you do serious photography or even just take good snapshots to remember the trip by, this is not the camera. You are correct -- even a disposable camera is more reliable. The camera is your cellphone is also a better camera.<br /><br />There are any number of cameras that would be good for a trip to China ranging from point and shoots to DSLRs. I would not go on a trip like this a Holga as my only camera.</p>

<p>Go to <a href="http://www.strobist.com">www.strobist.com</a> and in either the Lighting 101 section or the Assignments section he has a complete description of exactly how to do this with almost the exact same flashes down to the f-stop, power setting and ISO.<br /><br />The short version is you trigger them with radio slaves and you concentrate them on one end of the arena or the other (in the Strobist example, the game was basketball) since there's not enough power to light an entire gym at once. <br /><br />Leave the umbrella at home. It would just waste light and wouldn't help anything at the distances you're talking about.</p>

<p>My experience both as a photographer and sometimes-photo editor is that jpg is the standard file for publication. I shoot everything in raw, edit in raw and save final output in raw, then use jpg to send to clients or to the lab to be printed. Clients and labs get a high resolution jpg is what goes to clients. That's whatever resolution the camera can provide, but a minimum of 300 ppi at 8x10. I never downsize the resolution, although I will compress as low as 8 on the 1-12 compression scale in Photoshop, when emailing a file. I've provided photos for newspapers, magazines and books around the world and never had anyone even ask for anything other than a jpg.</p>

<p>I would never put developed film in a freezer or refrigerator. Even if you pack it in something, too much chance of damage from moisture, and there's generally no need to do it. <br /><br />Since energy costs/impacts are not a problem in your situation, leave the air conditioning on. In my home, we typically keep the thermostat at about 76 year-round. I might bump it up to 78 if we're not going to be home for a couple of weeks in the summer but I never shut if off entirely. Film aside, that means you come home to an oven and there are other things in the house besides film that extreme heat is not good for.</p>

<p><em>"An Olympus Stylus/Mju/Epic with the 35m/2.8 Zuiko would be the safe bet and should be cheap. There were millions of them sold during the point and shoot film era.</em><br> Most of them are now in landfills. They're poor value since they're all but impossible to get fixed."<br /><br />The one I have is about 15 years old and is still going strong. One of the most reliable cameras I've ever had. The Olympus Stylus Epic -- the one with the fixed 35mm 2.8 lens, not the zoom models -- was highly regarded as a professional photographer's point and shoot. The camera that many pros carried for family snapshots and sometimes used to make a money shot when a picture popped up in front of them when they didn't have a "real" camera at hand. I've never seen a bad review of this camera. I would agree that almost no point and shoot camera with worth the cost of repairs when you can just buy a used one in working condition. But to call this classic of the genre a poor value is sacrilegious. </p>

<p>What to take depends more on what you shoot than where you're going. I would take the four lenses you already have and if I left anything at home it would be the 50. That would be comparable to the 12-24. 24-70, 70-200 Nikon lineup that is my basic outfit regardless of where I am going.<br /><br />As far as needing long lenses, this summer I was in Athens with only a point and shoot (I was there on vacation, not as a photographer). Consequently I missed what could have been a great money shot of a hang glider over the Pathenon at sunset. We were watching from the restaurant on top of the King George hotel and I could have had perfect shots with my 70-200. Likewise, there's a church on top of a hill across town where I could have shot the Parthenon from with a long lens (200 good, longer even better). In Rome, forgive me for not remember the names but with a long lens you can shoot St. Peters from the long boulevard out in front of it and compress everything in between.<br /><br />Sometimes it's about pulling things close together and picking out detail, not just getting everything in.</p>

<p>"An obvious question comes to mind and that is why would you hire a photographer with limited experience in lighting for this shot? These kinds of shots are all about the lighting, styling and propping."<br /><br />My thoughts exactly. Catalog work is highly specialized and there are people who do it every day. I've been both a photographer and an editor hiring photographers. If I were hiring for a catalog shoot and the photographer told me he "doesn't work with a lot of artificial lighting" I would move on to the next photographer on my list.</p>

<p>For iPhone chargers, Home Depot has a white "triple" adaptor that lets three of them be plugged in side-by-side and then the adaptor takes up only one outlet space. The iPhone chargers are so small they fit perfectly on this adaptor.<br /><br />For larger wall-warts, some are now being made that hang horizontally rather than vertically so you can get two on a standard outlet and each takes up only one space on an outlet strip. Hopefully this is a trend for the future. For regular ones, there are outlet strips made with the outlets rotated 90 degrees and spaced so they only take up one position, and other variations that make them easier.<br /><br />I have a couple of outlet strips that came with 6-inch extension cords so you could plug in wall-warts and it doesn't matter was size or shape they are. You can also buy those short extensions separately. Unfortunately, they cost more than a standard 6-foot household extension cord.<br /><br />I also use 6-foot household cords. On the kind with a triple outlet, you can usually mount at least two wall-warts, one on each side (with one covering up the second outlet on its side.)</p>

<p>Given that infrared is a different animal than other films, it doesn't surprise me that you had a problem with it. But I would expect refrigerated color slide film to be reasonably OK (I'm assuming its expiration date to be the same 2009.) Rather than shoot an entire roll at a different speed, I would shoot one roll and bracket your shots in one-third or one-half stop increments for up to a stop or two and see what you get. Shoot something standard, like outdoors in bright sun in mid-day, where the sunny f/16 rule should give you f/16 at 1/60 if the film is still on-speed.</p>

<p>Haven't bought lens tissue in 20 years and only use microfiber cloth on my eyeglasses. For camera lenses, I blow on them to get rid of dust and use a clean 100 percent cotton T-shirt to rub off any smudges. I have some Kodak lens cleaner somewhere if it's really needed but fogging them with my breath is usually adequate.</p>

<p>"do you always shoot at maximum resolution"<br />Yes<br /><br />"are there times that shooting at lower resolutions is more appropriate"<br />Never, at least not in my opinion.<br> As others have said, you can always reduce the file size for uploading, email, web, etc., but you can't go the other way.<br /><br />When shooting news photos for publications, I shoot at maximum resolution. If I know I need to send the photo immediately on deadline, I might set the camera to shoot in raw and jpg at the same time so that I have a jpg file immediately available. But even then it's highest-quality jpg in the camera, then I drop it usually to an 8 on the 1-12 compression scale in Photoshop before emailing it to the publication. But that's always done after shooting, not during shooting.<br /><br />IMHO, there's no such thing as a photo just for the web. You just never know what use might pop up for an image five minutes or five years after you've shot it. And why pay for a 16-24 mp camera and only use 5 mp?</p>

<p>I love the Synchro Sunlight booklet. Is that a DTLR in the illustration? Digital Twin Lens Reflex. :)<br /><br />Actually these are very useful. Since they are all pre-digital, pre-TTL they are very straightforward.</p>

<p>I don't think there's anything to worry about. I've played with my 124G many times with no film in it with no problems and never heard of there being any problem with doing so. As far as an empty spool in the takeup position being a problem, I've never heard that. But if it makes you feel better remove it.<br /><br />Enjoy your new camera. I've used three or four Yashicamats over the years and love them.</p>

<p>The Lighting 101 section on the Strobist website recommended by Jon has probably the most straightforward explanations of how to use flash that I've ever seen anywhere. And it's done with a focus on using low-cost gear and following the keep-it-simple philosophy. While it emphasizes speedlights, almost everything there also applies to studio lights when and if you make that move.</p>

<p>When I have a lot of gear to haul I drive my Honda Pilot. But years ago all I had was a Hyundai Excel hatchback and was able to fit quite a lot into that. I would think just about any hatchback would work (do they still make hatchbacks?) Some sedans have back seats that either fold down or have a middle piece in the center that opens up, so long things can extend from the trunk into the interior of the car.</p>

<p>Living in suburban Baltimore, Bodine is a legend around here. I used to try to copy his style as a young newspaper photographer. I have two or three of his books but have never seen this picture before. He is probably best known around here for his photos of the Chesapeake Bay. I was in a restaurant in Washington this weekend that had one of his shots of a sailboat under the Bay Bridge on the wall. His daughter has been selling prints of his images in the past few years, helping keep up the interest.</p>

<p>I agree with using flash. It isn't going to light up a whole building or mountain but it can put light into faces that would otherwise just be silhouettes and it can open up shadows.</p>

<p>I shoot both for money and for fun. But I think my biggest sense of accomplishment is in my family photos. My wife sits down at the end of each year and creates a calendar for the coming year that goes out to family members. It includes shots from vacations, graduations, birthdays, etc., throughout the year, each matching the appropriate month for the upcoming year. There's a lot of satisfaction in seeing that myself, and knowing the pleasure that the grandmothers and others get out of it hanging on their wall all year long.</p>

<p>I don't have a Yashica Lynx but I do have a Canonet GIII QL17 which is similar in that it is a generic fixed-lens 35mm rangefinder. I've always carried it on its original neckstrap but I haven't done anything to protect it other than put a UV filter over the lens (or a yellow or red filter when shooting B&W). It goes into a backpack along with whatever else we're carrying around if on vacation, or can be stuffed into the pocket of a large jacket during cold weather. I don't see cameras like these as needing any special protection. A filter or lenscap can protect the lens, there's no big LCD screen to scratch or crack, and there's not a lot of protruding parts to snap off.<br /><br />I think the Canonet came with a fitted "never ready" case but I threw it away years ago. I'm more of a user than a collector, so IMHO a little brassing and other cosmetic wear and tear on a camera adds character.</p>

<p>I agree with what Shun found that it is possible to use multiple filters with minimum problems. But it's something that should be done only when there is a reason to use multiple filters. As Nick says, the UV doesn't really add anything that the CPL isn't already doing, so I would remove it.<br /><br />If you do stack filters and use a hood to minimize flare, keep in mind that you are talking about not only stacked filters but the added thickness of the step-up ring. At some point, you end up with so much thickness that the hood sticks out so far that it begins to vignette (cut into the corner of the image).</p>

<p>If "local" was a small town with no repair shop, I'd say send it off to Nikon or a major independent repair shop. But since local is LA, you can send it to Nikon and your choice of local repair shops. But first try Rodeo's suggestion. If it does need repair, you need to go to an actual camera repair shop not just a camera store. With a few exceptions, camera stores don't necessarily do repairs themselves. Most these days ship it off to someone else.</p>

<p>You are correct in leaving your camera at its highest-quality setting. As Lex says, you can always reduce the file size later in Photoshop or other editing programs.<br /><br />Given how large the capacity is on memory cards now and how they have fallen in price, I'm amazed that cameras still have the option for anything other than their highest quality setting. Back when cards were small and expensive and computers were slow, there might have been a reason, but I don't see one today.</p>