antonrussell

How about the holy quail?

The cheapest place in NZ is probably <a href="http://www.parallelimported.co.nz/search.php?category=Lens&main_category=Cameras&mid=1&m2id=2&&make=Nikon">Parallel Imported</a>. They have some store outlets in Auckland. It's all grey market stuff - I haven't used them myself (I don't buy new camera gear!) but I've heard they're very good.

And after 10 minutes: well, not great results just yet - the girl on the right maybe can't be retrieved!

Another trick is to duplicate the image as a new layer. Desaturate the top layer and apply a large radius gaussian blur (radius about 100 maybe). Set the top layer's mode to multiply. Then play with levels, curves etc on the bottom layer while the top layer still sits there in multiply mode. Also play with the opacity of that top layer. If you get something approaching a decent image flatten it and apply final tweaks. This can appear to restore detail to highlights because the gaussian blur creates a light-dark gradation about the edges of a blown-out section, but you might have to spend a long time tweaking the method to get good results for a specific photo.

Calumet Photographic has European outlets, and you can buy single rolls of pro film from them. www.calumetphoto.com

8

There are several issues here.</p>1. Film choice - you've already received a lot of recommendations for good film.</p>2. Lighting - dull, overcast weather does not usually make for lush colours in scenery. Just be aware of the lighting conditions and the potential it offers, and adjust your choice of shot accordingly.</p>3. Prints from a negative will look very variable depending on the equipment and expertise of the lab, the paper they use, the degree of digital post-processing they like to perform on your pictures. Some (most?) labs will always give back lousy prints - a good lab can do your shots much better justice.</p>4. Exposure - in the image you posted your camera's light meter correctly exposed for the sky and the background, leaving the foreground underexposed. The trees in the foreground were backlit and so to expose them properly you would have had to adjust the exposure by +1 or +2 stops (wider aperture or slower shutter speed). Note that negative film usually tolerates overexposure better than underexposure when it comes to capturing the colour and detail in an image.</p>5. Experience, practice, just keep snapping away & have fun!

Irfanview can do this: www.irfanview.com </P>

So can GIMP: www.gimp.org</P>

Irfanview is an image viewing programme with basic editing; the gimp is a much more sophisticated package and worth having a look at if you don't have fully-featured photo editing software on your computer. Both are free to download.

Work out what focal length you need before deciding. The 55 and 60mm micro nikkors are good value but a lot of people go for the longer focal length because it gives them a greater lens-subject distance and cuts out more background. Also AF or manual?

The B3 and E3 screens for FM3A are slightly brighter and clearer than the B2/E2. If you use them with your FE2 the camera's light meter will tend to underexpose by about 1/3 stop due to the increased brightness of the screen, so you will have to compensate for this. I use an E3 screen and don't find the etched lines distracting.

Some older threads:</P>

 

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=0078z6">Boots</a></P>

 

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=006m7l">Jessops b&w</a></P>

 

<a href="http://www.photokb.com/Uwe/Forum.aspx/photo-uk/788/Jessops-Film">Jessops colour</a>

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OT: does Nikon still make the 6mm f2.8? :-)

Kiron 105mm f2.8

I think you'll be lucky to find Canon EF telephotos to rent, but you should probably try Photo & Video in Merivale for starters. www.photo.co.nz

I've also had some very low contrast negs using the Vivitar 6000AF on my Nikon FM3a. It's true that ringflashes generally flatten the contrast but this seemed to be an underexposure problem. I changed the batteries in the flash and started rating the film a stop slower in the camera and the problem was solved but I don't know which of the two actions solved the problem. </P>

Holding the flash close the subject and to one side, with the camera on a tripod, gives better results IMO so I mostly just use the ringflash when I don't want to carry a tripod around. </P>

Best wishes

Thanks very much for the replies, sarcastic comments about paid employment notwithstanding :)

Especially thanks for recommending the Hexar AF - I'd never heard of it before but it looks amazing and I think I need one! Downside is it doesn't seem to have a built-in flash which I tend to need when I'm taking pictures of my mates down the pub (although as GS rightly points out my bean diet might solve this problem). This also applies to all the seventies rangefinders I've looked at, although they tend to be dead cute I have to admit.

Hello everyone. I've had an Olympus mju-II (fixed focal length 35mm

f2.8) for a few years and I absolutely adore it except in one

respect: I just find the viewfinder window too small for comfort,

especially as I wear glasses. This is now bugging me quite a bit. I'm

thinking of getting a second-hand Yashica T3 as a replacement as they

seem to be going pretty cheap and have exactly the same fixed focal

length and aperture as the mju 2. The main limiting factor is money:

whatever I get I probably can't afford it and will be forced to live

entirely on baked beans for the forseeable future. Does anybody have

any comments or suggestions on the Yashica T3 or alternative P&S's

that fit my budget of approximately $0 and have a nice comfy

viewfinder? Thanks for reading my question.

Hm... sorry, got a bit carried away for a moment there...

Dunno about legally, but ethically... you being in a public place doesn't entitle someone to come up to you and start taking pictures. I'd be mighty pissed off. If they ask you first, that's fine. If they know you're not happy about it or just don't bother asking, that's harrassment or exploitation or something... and if being photographed is against someone's beliefs but you just carry on anyway then its clearly pretty unpleasant behaviour.

Mine is less optimistic<div></div>

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I agree with all of the above. Fjordland will be stunning regardless of the weather - can be absolutely awesome when its bucketing down as all that water just flows off the mountainsides in sheets. Since the area gets 5000-6000mm rain annually you might want to expect that kind of thing actually! With just one week you should probably stick to the west coast from Greymouth to Te Anau, and go to Milford Sound as a day trip or two. There's so many stunning places along that route: Glaciers, Haast, Wanaka, Remarkables, and so on. From the glaciers you can take side roads towards the coast for better views of the mountains. If the weather's clear there's some incredible short walks in fjordland on the road to Milford Sound. I think some of the long overnight walks you're supposed to get a permit from the Dept of Conservation before hand and they can get booked up in advance, but I'm not sure.

I think only the FM3a can use K3/E3/B3 screens without exposure compensation - and yes

they are very bright compared to older MF screens.