gary_berg

What I typically do instead of burning multiple sessions (a bad idea) is to stage files to be written to the CD-R in a folder. I make backup copies of this data on CD-RW with Direct CD or Nero's InCD. When I have a full CD's worth of data I write it to a CD-R and verify the files match. I then make several copies of that CD and store 2 at work and 2 at home. I try to use two different brands of CD-Rs for the backups, too.

Actually, IBM sold the whole drive business, including microdrives to someone recently; Fujitsu??

 

Anyway, you should be able to get the drive replaced; check the IBM weh site to get started. Do be VERY careful to follow the packing instructions to the letter; I recall reading about one guy who returned one not properly packaged and they wouldn't repair/replace it.

I have a Pro 90. It is excellent for images up to 8x10 inch maximum; 11x14 is OK but it does start to break down a bit when you get close to the image (hanging on a wall they still look great).

 

A great web site for information on the Pro 90 is www.prodigi.info - there are a bunch of Pro 90 photographers who hang out there.

 

The one issue with the Pro 90 is that it is somewhat slow to focus and release the shutter. All digicams suffer from this to some extent, and I'm really not sure if the Pro 90 is worse than the Nikon or not.

 

The Nikon 5700 is another possibility, but is more expensive than either camera you are looking at. It also does not have image stabilization, which is a large advantage for the Pro 90.

 

With the Pro 90 and IS, you can handhold the camera nearly two stops slower than without. The old rule of thumb says you need a shutter speed of 1/400th to handle the Pro 90 at full zoom (370mm or so). With IS turned on you should be able to handhold that at about 1/100th - assuming subject movement isn't an issue.

Remember that BreezeBrowser displays distance in meters...

Canon 420EX. Third party flashes will not work with the G1 in automated mode (except possible using a sensor built onto the flash as the old style "auto-flash"). The G1 only supports E-TTL flashes or fully manual - no EZ flashes need apply. Most third party flashes that work E-TTL on the film bodies fail on the G1/G2/G3 - I've read of one that may, and it is more expensive than the 420EX.]

 

The 220EX will work, but it is less flexible than the 380EX.

If you shot that sky at 24mm, were you using a polarizing filter? If so, you are running into a common problem where the lens covers too wide an angle for the polarizer to be effective all the way across. The colors will be different in the corners than in the center. In your mind, think about how a polarizer is dependant on the angle to the sun; with a 24mm lens, you are covering more than a 90 degree field of view, so the angle to the sun changes significantly from one side to the other.

 

The best way to do tests is with slide film, since it eliminates any compensation by the lab, and is also hard for a lab to screw up!

My gut feel is that the HP printers are good if you don't print a lot. They handle non-use better than Epsons and probably the Canons. The disadvantage of the current HP printers is that the ink is somewhat expensive per print.

Check to see if you can get an adaptor to mount on the lens that adds some sort of standard threads. If so, you can add any standard close-up lens to the camera.

 

I think I recall that the 5700 doesn't come with front threads, but you may be able to buy some sort of an adaptor which adds them; probably the adaptor would come from a third-party.

If you _really_ want to have an SLR, don't buy the point & shoot. You will only frustrate yourself - I have gone through this with a film P&S versus an Elan II. OTOH, the P&S digitals are pretty good, with fewer limitations than film P&S cameras (instant review among others).

 

The Fuji 3800 and 602 are somewhat SLR-like - you get an electronic viewfinder to look through instead of an optical. I know the 3800 is limited as far as taking pictures in normal room light; the camera just doesn't have that bright an image when the room is dim.

 

I use a Canon Pro 90 IS, and is an excellent camera for a variety of picture-taking experiences. However, there is a significant delay between pressing the shutter and the picture being snapped. If you take action shots you should be aware that this shutter delay is common to most non-DSLR cameras.

 

It would help if you indicated what sort of images you typically take...

ThumbsPlus does a pretty good job of generating an EXE file which is just a slide show; forward/backwards, that's about it.

 

There's a program called something like Pictures2exe I've read about that seems to be popular.

 

If you want to go with HTML, ThumbsPlus and BreezeBrowser both can do this; I prefer the ones that BreezeBrowser generates better (it's why I bought the program, which is also very actively being developed).

I'm going to take a different tack here; don't spend any money until you have exhausted the abilities of your current equipment. The old manual Minolta equipment was quite good, especially the 50 f/1.7.

 

You haven't articulated what you want your new equipment to do that you can't do now. Until you can point at things that truly limit your ability to take pictures (true limits, not perceived ones) then you are in the area of "wants", not needs. Wants are fine if you can afford the expense (like if you can make enough money to pay for the equipment), but as a "poor" student I think you need to straighten out the differences between what you want and what you need.

 

Once you know what you want to be able to do that you can't do with your current equipment, then you will have a much better idea of what tool you need to purchase. Until then it's just "equipment envy" <G>, and you can't afford to give in to equipment envy.

 

For example, you might say "I want to take wide-angle landscapes". Then you have to look at your current tools and decide if they will do that. If they won't, decide what tool you need to accomplish this. Spending $50 on a used MF lens for your camera might well be cheaper long term than buying a whole new system, even if eventually you will have to throw away that lens.

BTW, if you have ThumbsPlus it can create an EXE file of the show. Also, there is a program called PicturestoEXE which does about the same.

Well, you'll have to look at the scratch in the viewfinder, but it's unlikely to affect the metering or autofocus. You can test the later by experimenting with the camera and seeing if it looks sharp when you point it at things and test focus.

 

It will not show up on the final picture since the SLR mirror moves out of the light path when the picture is taken, so the screen is blocked out of the light path.

 

The best way to clean out this sort of thing is to use a blower-brush. Canned/compressed air has the danger of spitting cold fluids at the wrong moment, which could damage the camera. So look for a squeezable blower brush, even one of those ear cleaning syringes would work.

Well, the "standard" answer would be the Canon 100mm macro, but it costs a fortune, way more than your camera.

 

A couple of other suggestions:

 

1) Assuming you have a fairly good lens already, consider buying one of the 2-element close-up lenses like the Canon 500D or 250D (Nikon makes some too). These work pretty well. Check Canon's web site for which to use depending on lens focal length.

 

2) Vivitar, Phoenix, Promaster (and probably at least one other) all sell the same 100mm macro lens. It goes to 1:2 (half life size) by itself and comes with a matched close-up lens to go to 1:1. The build quality is terrible; it feels very plastic. But the optics generally get a fairly good rating. You could go to the Photodo web site and compare the ratings of the lenses to see what you think.

You can determine if the filter is coated or not by holding it at an angle to a strong light and looking at the reflection. I believe that no coating will look white, single-coated will have a single color, and multi-coated will have several colors.

 

The web site www.2filter.com has some information on checking this, I think.

You say 250/300 dpi but you don't specify a size - that is _rather_ important! At 1600x1200 (2MP) you'll get about a 4x5 size, which is probably find for many cases. At 2048x15xx (3MP) you can get about a 5x8 out of it. Do you need images larger than that? I suspect that you would be best off to "rez-up" (interpolate) to a larger size if you need it. I just had images from my Canon Pro 90 IS printed 8x10 - the originals are 18XXx13XX, so the resolution is closer to 200DPI, but they sure look great.

 

What about zoom? What kind of distances are you going to be from the people you are taking pictures of?

 

What about flash? I would expect that most of your images are going to be beyond the distance you can take with the built-in flash. Built-in flash is only good for a distance of 7-10 feet typically, and a school is the worst environment for flash (because it's large/open rooms so no bounce-back at all). You are almost going to have to get a camera with external flash.

 

Which probably puts the whole concept out of range. If you can find a Canon Pro 90, which has 10X zoom, it'll blow your budget all by itself. And adding a flash is another $200. The same is true if you look down the Nikon path, with a 990/995/4500 series machine. A 5700, with the longer zoom would be great, but it's >$1K.

 

Be sure to consider the type of pictures you want. I think, from my memory of years ago printing images from 2-1/4" negatives, that you need flash range and zoom range to do it right.

I suspect the added cost of the lenses for these cameras will push both systems out of your price range. You might be able to snag a used D30 for $1200 - $1300 is more typical. But that is just a body; no lens.

Actually, I think the most critical thing with the Omnibounce is to get the flash out of its "centered and locked" position. This forces it to test things out better before taking the picture. Now perhaps the E-TTL flashes, which preflash anyway, don't matter about this but I know the A-TTL/TTL flashes behaved differently.

I'd start out by trying to decided if it's the camera or the card. Try another card - even the card that came with the camera might help. Indeed, if the card that came with the camera fails then that makes it really easy to toss the whole problem into Canon's lap and say "fix it!".

Take them to someplace like Walmart, Sam's Club, Costco, or your local camera store to get them printed, probably on a Fuji Frontier.

 

Cost will depend on the size of the prints; for 4x6 you will probably be unable to print these on your 1280 for less. For an 8x10 the cost at one of these places might be greater than for ink/paper for a single print. If you make any errors, you'll save on sending out even the big stuff.

The whole Canon 35mm AF camera line is compatible with your lenses; relax about that.

 

You might look at the Elan 7/7E - it is a better body than the Rebel. Look at Canon's web site for comparisons. Philip reviewed the Elan 7 here: http://www.photo.net/canon/elan-7

 

There is also a review of the Rebel 2000 at http://www.photo.net/canon/eos-300 which should let you compare.

 

Or look for a used Elan II/II-E.

I believe that www.2filter.com has a description of how to see if the

filter is MRC.

 

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http://www.2filter.com/faq/multicoatedfaq.html

 

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Basically, uncoated will reflect a light as white, mono-coated as a

single color, and multi-coated as many different colors...

The 420 has both tilt and swivel, allowing you to bounce the flash

off the ceiling for a vertical picture. However, the 420EZ (note, EZ)

is a bit out of date; the current model is the 420EX. Your camera can

take advantage of all of the capabilities of EX flashes, I believe.

 

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Given that your Rebel can presumably work with the 420EZ, I'd say

it's a better choice than the 380EX. However, the 420EX is a better

choice than either of them.

 

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Note that the Canon digital cameras, G1/G2/Pro 90 do not function

except with an EX family flash.

I live in Dayton. There are a few random trees which have been stressed enough that they have started to turn a little, but there's really nothing much happening yet. Unlike past years we never had long periods of time with little to no rain, so things have not been subjected to the stress of an August with practically no rain.

 

There are a number of parks, both local (the Metropark system) and state around Dayton. The Hicking Hills area (SE of Columbus, about a 2.5 hour drive) is very pretty in the fall.

 

The state DNR has a web page with fall color reports: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/odnr/color/

 

They don't expect to start posting information until 9/28/00.