joseph_linzner

First thing buy a dictionary. There is no such word in the english lanuarge as "amature". The correct word is "amateur". Any potential client would deem an inability to spell as a indicating a lack of professionalism.

 

Secondly, the best thing a photographer can do is to take as many pictures as possible and gain the experience necessary to produce a credible product for his or her client. In other words a professional produces a saleable product under all circumstances and under all conditions. If you read the various essays from Ken Rockwell (Kenrockwell.com) the camea does not matter, the subject does not matter a professional has the eye and experience to produce at all times.

 

Thirdly, good luck, keep on shooting, and best wishes if you choose to make a living at photography.

 

Joseph

If I read your paragraph correctly the bride's mother paid for the wedding and I am assuming this means she also paid for your photography services. In that event she has total say on what pictures are suitable for display on your online gallery, including if any pictures are not to be shown at all. The old saying is that "who pays the piper has the ability to choose the tune". If the bride and groom paid for your services then you are right in the position you have taken with the bride's mother. Lastly are there any terms in your contract setting out parameters as to selection of photographys?

Howdy Tim. I have a camera repair business and can vouch for always checking the battery first. However, in my repair of Mamiya cameras I have found another item which is worth checking and that is the interior flocking (i.e. the anti-reflective lining in the mirror box). Firstly take off the lens and look into the mirror box, then use the manual mirror lock to raise the mirror into the focusing screen and see if the mirror binds with the flocking material. Also check when raising said mirror that it is not catching on the aperature connector. I have had serveral mirrors that would jam at these locations. If this is the case a minor adjustment will correct the problem. Good luck since the cost of any repair will exceed the cost of the camera body.

Re: The Great White North and customs et al this is the definitive answer. Firstly there is no duty on camera equipment entering from the United States. This is because of NAFTA or the North America Free Trade Agreement. However the commie pinko government here still has to get its pound of flesh. There the logic they apply is that since it is a purchase (even though made in the the US) it is subject to GST (Goods and Services Tax of 7%). Depending on which province you live in there can be additional Provincial sales tax. In Ontario this is 8% and 0% if you live in Alberta. Lastly there is a the matter of processing fee for the aforementioned taxes. Canada Post tacks on an additional $5.00 and if received via UPS of FEDEX they add whatever the feel like for a processing fee. This should put the cap on the whole issue and let us all drink a beer (Canadian of course).

Paid $227.50US for lens that had been CLA included 77mm tiffen 1a filter and mamiya lens hood. Purchased about a month ago and am please with the lens. Bye the way learn how to use the floating front element or you will be complaining that the edges are not sharp.

An extensive review/test can be found at kenrockwell.com. Ken loves the lens without reservation.

Bart at one time you were looking into buying a Seagull twin lens camera and attaching a fisheye adapter. I was the person who recommended the mamiya 645 and arsat (Russian) 30mm fish eye with Mamiya interface. You then had buyer's remorse when it did have a flash sync above 1/60th of a Second. In my intial response I stated the $200 Arsat would cost you a least $2000 to acquire in other systems. Let me ask how your photos came out with the mamiya. Did the Arsat give the fisheye results you wanted? What are the problems? My impressison is that you are looking at the situation the wrong way i.e. equipment and more equipment when the problem is really your inexperience if photography. The camera does not make the picture but rather it is the photographer to paraphrase Ken Rockwell. Take it from some who has owned a lot of cameras in his time including canon, nikon, mamiya, rollei, Kiev, and even the Hasselblad when I say the best thing is to shoot as many pictures and possible with every light and shutter configuration possible. Experience with let you adapt to any camera and you can obtain the results you want. That's my 3 cents in CDN $ i.e. 2 cents in US. Joseph

Bill. I believe the filter size can be determined by looking at the inside of your lens cap. Nikon usually imprints the filter size in that location. In any event I am informed that the the filter size is 48mm which is was common on a lot of Canon FL series lenses. I have purchased a number of filters on ebay from oldenglishchina and find they are reasonable in price and you should be able to get a 5 piece set for about $25.00. Good luck.

Howdy Elliott. This may seem rather obvious, but, did you adjust the floating element in the front of your lens? The reason I am asking is that a lot of people purchase this lens from a previous owner and fail to get the instructions on the use of the floting element. I find that the proper adjustment makes a world of difference on my negatives. Other possible concerns are use of poor quality filters and lastly there is a matter of the lens hood. Are you using an original Mamiya hood which is shaped to give coverage for the 6x7 negative. I have a similar lens and have no problems in getting 20x24 inch prints in sharp focus.

David I believe the soligor is the same model as the capital model 2. you can use the following to obtain a manual on line.

http://www.butkus.org/chinon/capital_spot_meter/spot_meter-splash.htm

To the best of my knowledge the units are identical. In the alternative you can purchase a copy of the original soligor manual for $12.00 from Craig or one of the other manual services.

Bart in my opinion the Seagull is unsuitable for use with a fish eye adapters. Firstly there is the matter of trying to get an adapter from the fisheye to a bayonet I. Secondly, there is the matter of not being able to see through the viewing lens with the fisheye attached to the taking lens. Lastly there is the matter that the seagull on the whole is a lousy camera for a price of $279.00 retail. In the alternative I suggest buying a Mamiya 645 camera. Saw one a Keh for about $75.00 and can be found for same price (M645J) on ebay for $75.00. You can then use an Arsat 30MM lens with adapter to Mamiya 645. The Arsat is $200 and the adapter $25.00. I have one of these combinations and the fisheye is outstandoing. Blows away anything under $2000.00. I produce 30x40 inch photos without problems. Other mamiya lens can be found on ebay at reasonable prices. I have a 45mm wide, 80 normal, 150 portrait and find these to be good value.

Try kievcamera.com in Atlanta. They have adapters for all Pentacon lenses to Mamiya 645. About $25.00. I have one to mount my Arsat 30mm and it works like a charm on my Mamiya 1000s.

30 to 35 years

Carl. Buy a RB67 proS and magicially the frames will appear. Time to read your manual.

Howdy Andrew. There is no idicator in the viewfinder that you are using the 645 back. Remember that the film will be exposed with a preference for the vertical. What I have done is make a cardboard template with a cutout for the 4.5x6 negative and fit this to the ground glass in the wl finder. Not very pretty but works for me. The rb67 Pro S. has a red mask under the ground glass but this is only availabe when shooting horizontal; this disappears if you rotate the back.

The best and most reliable method is to purchase a shutter speed tester. There are a number available on ebay in the $50.00 range. I personally have a calumet tester and can vouch for its accuracy and usefulness. I have a lot of cameras and like to know the precise skew in the speed in order to compensate in exposure. If the finances are not there is a homemde audio tester which is suitable for checking shutter speed by hooking same to your sound card and then making the calculations. If you google "shutter speed tester" you will find diagrams available. Everything comes down to what your time and effort are worth and if you like to exploit your own creativity.

I recommend the Hasselblad Manual by Ernest Wildi can be obtained from www.focalpress.com for $59.95. This is the definitive work on all forms of Hasselblad from thed 1949 model on. Price may be steep but if you amortize it over the lifetime of owning a blad it is worth it. Consider it the gold plated bible.

Howdy My name is Joseph. Kindly email with a location to send postage. My email is megabytecomputer@rogers.com

 

 

Joseph

Sally: the appropriate size of lens for the 6x7 is a 90mm. This is not as common as the 50mm and 80mm for 35mm and 6x6 respectively. If you have a good quality 80mm lens i.e. el-nikkor or schneider componon lens you will find that it has sufficient coverage to barely cover the 6x7 format. It is not perfect and you should check the edges for loss of light. I have a mamiya rb67 pro S and find that my nikkor 80mm does provide coverage. Good luck.

Antonio I am aware you a steering away from the Kiev product. However, the Hasselblad pm-2 prism at Adorama is $1,175.00 and that is more than the entire value of a 500. I have found that nc-2 from Kiev Camera at $99.00 works for me it is clean, bright and a reasonably good copy of the hasselblad product. Furthermore, I purchased a bunch of the Hartblei 1006 series backs at $80 each and find they work perfectly on my 500C. Compare this to a cost of $875.00 for an A-12. When you win the lottery you can by the real thing but until that day I find that if you carefully examine some of the kiev product you fill out your camera line and spend the money where is really matters i.e. the great Zeiss lenses. This is only an opinion and not written in stone.

MILES HECKER R.I.P. I heard from a friend of mine who was passing through Jackson Hole on a business trip. He found a local newspaper on the counter of a diner. While waiting for his breakfast order he managed to browse through the paper. Maybe it's just a coincidence but while checking the obituary column he ran into MILES HECKER recently deceased. It appears that he was run over by a herd of bison. I have asked my friend to e-mail a copy of the obituary to Mamiya.com which is up and running alive and well.

Jim the Paw Shop Laws vary with Jurisdiction. In Toronto, Ontario the government has legislated that a pawn shop owner must record a dailing intake sheet including serial numbers of all items and with identification of the person leaving the goods. This is collected daily by the police and entered into their stolen items computer. This is the reason behind the fact that goods can not be sold in the first 30 days. Secondly a buyer from a pawn shop is protected under the Sale of Goods Act (varies with State/Province) which all contain a provision that "a bona fide purchaser for value without notice" is protected in case there is a title problem later on. Your choice whether to purchase will also depend on the purchase price. I recently purchased a Mamiya RB Pro S with 90mm lens, wl viewinder and 120mm back with an extra chimney finder for $225.00US on E-bay. It appears that there is a massive dump of the bulky 6x7 cameras in favour of digital ones. This is especially true with wedding photographers. If the pawn shop offers you a good deal go for it and pay for it via Visa which can be reversed if there is a problem.

Paul you can get a great light seal/refoaming kit from Jon Goodman who is a Photo.net contributor. He sells his fantastic kit on that auction site under the name of Interslice at a cost of $6-10 depending on quantity of material needed. I have purchased a couple of kits and find that you can do about 10 cameras per kit. You should also replace the seals on the film door as well as the mirror damper. A four page instruction sheet as well as the bamboo tool is included. Bye the way Jon is located in lovely downtown Texas and does not charge much for shipping e.g. to Canada he charged me only $1.50 postage.

Todd I am glad that your creative engergies are still going; at 63 you are still young enough to enjoy the thrill of photography and smart enough to know your limitations. I have a couple of things to ruminate upon. Firstly, as to marketing: You have been doing wedding and special occasion photography since the 1980's therefore the second genertion i.e. the children of the original bridges and grooms must be ready for their own weddings. If have a way of reaching these original clients it may provide an echo set of weddings. Another possible source are you own comtemparies. Friends, employees et all are either getting re-married or there are anniversary photos. My experience shows that there are photo opportunities at births, marriages, re-marriages and deaths. Secondly you mention charging $800 gross and having to edit 700 shots. I photographed weddings in the early 80's and at that time I shot 10 to 12 rolls of 120mm film on that trusty Mamiya C220. Out of the 120-144 pictures one could expect to get 48-60 decent shots for a proof album. Taking 700 shots its nuts. You have a wealth of experience and 700 shots is a shotgun approach to photography hoping to get every possible and enane pose possible at a wedding. Careful composition and planning the must have shots saves a lot of editing later as well as saving you from a photoshop nightmare. This is only my humble opinion. I gave up the wedding business when I could no longer stand the pressure to be perfect every time and I wanted to have my Saturdays with my family. Good luck and keep on shooting as long as you get personal enjoyment and satisfaction in what you are doing.

Pablo I repair cameras for a living. The stuck mirror situation is quite common. Usual cause is the dampening foam strip along the edge of the viewing screening turning into a gooey mess and quite sticky. With a toothpick gently try and pry the mirror from the viewing screen in the pentaprism. If it does not release immediately, stop! The mirrior is very delicate and the return mechanism on the mirror box is likewise. Lastly take the batteries out for a minute. Then re-insert carefully. The mirror/shutter should release. Failing this is is time to visit the nikon repair centre.