bob_h

<p>Here is a link about her life and work. She left about 100,000 negatives and slides. They talk about her camera here as well. Some of the prints I saw were like 6ft x 6ft, the majority were 6" x 6". This link also talks about a movie released about her this year. I would like to see it too.</p> <p>http://www.vivianmaier.com/frequently-asked-questions/</p>

<p>Just because you are shooting outdoors does not mean that including the sky in the background is mandatory. Get creative, look about for a few different places to shoot where the background does not have the sky in view.</p>

<p>If any of you happen to be near Chicago, there is an excellent exhibit of the black and white work of Vivian Maier's Chicago at the Chicago History Museum. I was there recently to see the 1968 exhibit, which was very good, but while touring the rest of the museum, saw this great black and white exhibit of images that she made in the 50's. She worked as a nanny in the suburbs, and went to make her images in the city during her free time. They are well worth seeing if you are nearby.</p>

<p>Harry, if you are near a city you may have better luck finding one on Craigslist where you can go and see the camera in person. eBay is a crapshoot. KEH is also honest and has a good warranty on their used cameras. There are many options, but I would only use eBay as a last resort. Also I might tend to avoid the C body due to non user interchangeable screens, and the C lens parts are getting to be in short supply.Enjoy learning your new to you Blad, they are still a lot of fun even if it seems like the rest of the world forgot about film.</p>

<p>Andrew mentioned a DX version of the Df. Can not think of a good reason that Nikon would make that product. The Df is designed as an FX body in part so that old time shooters can use and enjoy their older AIs and AI glass. In going retro, I believe that they made the correct decision with FX. It looks to me like DX development seems to have been placed upon the back burner.</p>

<p>Don't be paranoid, buy the camera that you like. The odds are in your favor. In addition to thinking about the D3300 or D5300 think about a D7000, there are some amazing deals on them right now.</p>

<p>Blake for this wedding, have you ever considered renting the Nikkor 85 1.4G? It will give you a look<br> that none of the lenses you have listed can compare to. Just a thought. Enjoy the trip!</p>

<p>People see that I still shoot some film in addition to the digital work that I do. Neighbors, friends and relatives have given me a Pentax ME Super with 4 Pentax M and A lenses. A friend who went vegan sent me Canon A-1 and AL-1 bodies, with 5 FD lenses. A relative proffered a Nikon FA with two Nikkor AIS lenses, and another neighbor lady gave me her late husbands Leica R4s body with a Summicron 35, a Summicron 50, and the Elmarit 100/2.8 apo macro, all in a Perrin leather bag. Total investment so far, lots of smiles and thank you's. Need Leitax adaptors for the apo macro for sure. The only lenses not usable for digital are the FD's so they see some Ektar 100 from time to time. Life is amazingly good.</p>

<p>Leapfrogging technology as in megapixels.... more megapixels do not always make for a better image. I know a woman who uses a D300 and a D300s that she knows inside out, forward and backward and that knowledge means that she usually gets the exact image that she wants. There is only one camera that she has interest in at the moment, and that would be the Df body. Many people think that because a camera like the D3200 or D3300 has 24 megapixels that is all they need. Maybe for someone who does not own legacy glass. There is a reason that an entry level camera is priced lower than a used D300s. The demand is still there for the used D300 by a certain group of shooters, and they are people will accept no less than what they need.</p>

<p>Martin if you find another better copy of the 180/2.8 take a chance on it. It is a very nice sharp lens.</p>

<p>The D7000 will hunt and not fire at some settings when you are closer that the nearest focus range. The 2 button reset should get you back on track. My D7000 will autofocus in near total darkness with just the built in focus assist light. If you have an 18-55, an 18-70, or an 18-105 they would be a better choice for a dinner function. Did you have a back up camera available?</p>

<p>Larry if you are serious about your D610 replacing your MF film, and buying an 85mm lens, the 85 1.4G is noticeably better than the 85 1.8D, yes a thousand dollars more expensive, but it will help to make your work in that range stand above the others. Rent them both and your eyes will say "keep saving, get the good one".</p>

<p>If you already have the 100/2.8, for the 1/2 stop difference I would just use the 100. Unless the 85 is an unbelievable bargain.</p>

<p>First, his painting of the inside of the lens shades Desert Lizard Gold makes zero sense to me at all. Glad to see that his equipment pretty well withstood the storms. However if I were going to do that I might like to give the new weatherproof Pentax 645Z or older D with its weatherproof 55 lens a go for time lapse in the storms. I have seen a D dunked in a river on purpose and it came out still shooting like the old Timex that takes a licking but keeps on ticking. </p>

<p>Hi John, I looked at your images and they are very nice. With that said, buying used 10 year old digital bodies would seem to me to be a risky proposition at best. In my mind a D7000 or D7100 would be much more likely to be around for the long run, with the benefit of the ability of set it and forget it focus adjustment for each of your chosen lenses.<br> Now as for your lens choices, the 17-55 2.8 is a great lens, and along with your 70-200 2.8VR tend to make your 18-200 superfluous. There is a lens that I like a lot, although it is not widely popular that fits in the middle. It is the older AF Nikkor 35-105mm 3.5-4.5 a nice middle range lens that is very sharp, not much money as it is from the pre-digital era.<br> In the long run though, it is your money and your images to be made and you will ultimately make your own decision. How about a "compromise with time" for the bodies, one of your D2 style and one D7000 or D7100? <br> However you choose, enjoy your pictures, but it looks like you already do that now.</p> <p>Keep shooting John, and don't let equipment get in the way!</p>

<p>Dan, you may want to get to talk with a working pro who uses tethering with the Nikon system. The D5000, while capable of making very nice images is a mid grade consumer oriented body, maybe not suited to what you want to achieve. Your larger lcd idea is admirable, yet I have to question whether it might also make your portrait subjects more self conscious as they look at their image in the lcd. If you work to engage your subject without them being conscious of their appearance in the lcd, I believe that you will be better served in getting the expressions that you are looking for. If the lcd preview is for your eyes only, try it so you are looking down at it as if it was a waist level finder, sometimes that will loosen your subject into more relaxing due to no direct eye contact. Either way have fun with your experiment!</p>

<p>Very nice! I have not seen this lens yet, but it is interesting to me.</p>

<p>You can accomplish similar results using a snoot and higher shutter speeds to reduce the available light, resulting in a more concentrated light on the subject.</p>

<p>Very nice, but what about the square format? It is popular with instagram and the like, kind of sad that there are few native square options around. If well composed can really set you apart from the run of the mill.</p>

<p>I like all of this months photos and the variety of cameras, lenses and films used. It would be great if more showed what they were scanned with. </p>

<p>Dave, how do you like the 645D? Did you have a film 645 before the D?<br> Glad that you got your screen changed.</p>

<p>Even as recently as just 2 years ago this forum seemed to be significantly more active than it is currently. My question would be, have that many medium format shooters abandoned ship for digital, or have they moved on to other forums?</p>