philip_jeffrie

Brian, thanks for your answer. Sometimes you know the answer, but you need someone else to say it. Ordinarily I don't compromise, but with this tele I was prepared to do it. I lowballed the price and the buyer didn't accept it, so it is just as well. I was trying to maximise my focal length capabilities for some bird shots and currently 200mm is close as I can get. I didn't buy an F5 to give up auto focus, so I will have to bite the bullet and spring for some real glass. It just won't be anytime soon! The birds will still be there. PJ.

Thanks for the update, Olivier. That took courage. This is how we learn, right? PJ.

Rich,

I would just rewind the film by hand on the F5, and use the unused portion for something else later. For the sake of the 7 prints, just include them and take the $20 loss. My advice is don't charge any job by the film. PJ.

I'm considering buying a Kenko TelePlus Pro 300 3x teleconverter for

my Nikon 80-200mm AF-S zoom. It will be used with my F5. I know I

will lose the auto focus, but I think I retain all the metering

functions (?). Will focusing manually present me with any problems?

Will the Kirk tripod lens mount put too much stress on the F5 lens

mount with the tele installed due to the extra cantilever? It will

always be tripod mounted. I'm considering it for wildlife. I will

lose 3 stops, but will the images suffer in clarity or colour loss?

Thanks for any help before I purchase this piece. PJ.

When reading some questions and posts, this question often springs to

my mind. Some of us learn by reading, others by doing. Of course,

these are major generalizations. I am a reader, therefore I read

everything that is included with any product I purchase. I enjoy

this. Others find this difficult and instead learn 'hands-on'. Re-

reading a manual months later on a Saturday with my feet up usually

turns up some detail I had long since forgotten. Sometimes this is a

detail I couldn't even comprehend the first time through, but now it

becomes an answer to a reoccurring problem. It can be very

satisfying. In this way I may be able to help another at some point

who doesn't posess my same love of reading or comfort with the

English language. Perhaps some of my fellow-posters shouldn't be so

fast to condemn someone else's question with a sarcastic or

condescending remark to read their manual or search the archives, or

worse. Maybe just refraining from any response at all would be the

most helpful choice, assumming that is why we are all here. Anything

else merely weakens this fantastic source of talent and expertise.

PJ.

Olivier,I understand what you are experiencing. You mentioned dim light, meaning this problem doesn't happen to you in good light. Right? So, I doubt it is something you are doing wrong. If you are accidentally changing the focus sensor (hard to notice if you are in the dim light) then lock it on to your favourite in the custom settings. But, if this were the case, you would hear the lens hunting, which you don't. My F5 is the opposite, in dim light it often hunts up and down, refusing to shoot at all (usually during the first dance, or such). My Minolta 7000i is perfect in this scenario, always focuses. If you are successfully holding the shutter release part way down while you recompose, how could this problem not occur on every shot instead of 1/3 or whatever in all shades of light insead of only dim? PJ.

David, thanks for making me feel a little better! You at least understand the problem. I have never unlocked the release 'on purpose' either. Mine must turn easier than some others. I could never take the time to switch it manually either. And, when it's tripod mounted vertically I always use an electronic release on the primary shutter. PJ

Geez, nobody wasted any time jumping on me for this. I thought I wrote it clearly enough the first time, but I'll try again for those of you who read too fast. Yes, I know there is a lock. It is just about the only lock on the camera that doesn't require two movements to unlock. Pity for me. It unlocks with the movement of my hand when I swing the camera into a vertical position-- by accident. Then it releases, later, when next it's touched, also by accident. As for your reference to the SB800, KLIX, my Metz is at least as big and heavy and I still throw it over without a second thought. Some habits are hard to break, I guess.

 

I'm not familiar with every feature of the D2H, but the fact that this is addressed on the new camera must redeem me a little, doesn't it?

 

Hey Grunt, thanks for the very valuable input. How's life in a coma?

 

PJ

I've never heard anyone complain about this before but I 'hate' the

vertical shooting option on the F5! I shoot a fair share of frames in

a vertical position, lots in fact, but I never use this feature. Too

many years without it on my Minoltas, I guess. The reason I wish it

wasn't there is everytime I'm shooting a function in PJ style

(weddings, usually) the heal of my right palm unlocks the auxiliary

shutter release when I flip the camera over for a vertical shot. Now

its a ticking time bomb ready to fire the second it is touched again.

I use it coupled to a Metz 70-5 and when it goes off, usually

somwhere in the church, it is noticed! Sometimes several times at

once. Sometimes into someone elses face. Often when carrying the

whole package at my side, one-handed, hurrying to my next vantage

point, trying to remain inconspicuous. Very annoying (read

embarrassing), and film consumming, too. I still can't bring myself

to tape it off, though. Too ugly, and no doubt a sticky mess on a hot

day. It took me quite a while to figure it out the first couple of

times it happened. With all the custom controls Nikon offers,

shutting this feature off isn't one of them. So, consider the extra

$300, or so, carefully if you choose to buy the F6 with this option.

 

Man, that felt good. I've never bitched about that before. Understand

also, I LOVE this camera far more than all my other equipment

including my new Hassy 503cw.

 

On that note, here is my first Photo Net. contribution! If you like

it I have many more taken in a similar style. PJ<div></div>

The sliding switch that locks the battery compartment on my D40 won't

stay in the closed position. The battery holder actually ejected

itself during my last wedding shoot! I had to secure it with a rubber

band (if I've said it once, I've said it a dozen times, thank

goodness for rubbers). Would someone please check their flash to see

if this switch is spring loaded? Mine might have broken, I'm not

sure. I've only used it once before. I'll wait for a response before

opening it up. Thanks, PJ.

Thank you all very much. I ordered the AA trilogy this afternoon as a result of the answers I received from my previous post. I know it's a matter of time before I have a Linhof in the stable. In response to CPJ's response to my questions, thanks for taking the time to detail your answer so eloquently. Believe me, I fully appreciate the professionalism of many of our fellow-posters and take very seriously any and all advice offerred. That is why I posted two different questions, certainly not to waste yours or anyone elses time. While I may not hold a Masters in PJ, I 'have' been looking at the world for 39 years with one eye closed, much of it at brides and grooms. But, being self-taught and following this forum for so long I realize how much more there is to learn. I was hoping in this thread to receive overwhelming advice to purchase one definitive text book that held the answers to all my questions! One giant 50lb volume that is standard issue at all universities offerring courses in photography. Alas, that would be too simple. Instead I look forward to digesting as many as possible of the books suggested here over the next 5 months of sub-zero northern Ontario weather. It will help to keep our local librarian on her toes. PJ.

Thanks everyone. The library does sound like the place to start. I'm a sucker for buying books and reading them only once. After 18 months of studying these posts I've learned more than I can say. But, the technical explanations that sometimes arise regarding the physics of various lenses and filters, vignetting and bokeh, etc., do sometimes baffle and confuse... PJ.

Andi, I'm guessing 'play with my wedding photos' means cropping them? I don't know what else you could accomplish with minimal knowledge of the program that would be beneficial. Are you using Photoshop 7 or 8, or a smaller consumer version? Have you considered what you will do with the photos after you have worked on them? They still need to be printed. Of the 105 shots, how many are you actually going to print? Surely you don't need to scan all of them. At $5.00 a scan (or even $10.00) for 20 shots and then another $6 or $7 for the print, you are doing pretty well, I'd say. And all scans aren't equal. Ask if they are being scanned on a drum scanner. That will give you the best results. Good Luck, PJ.

I have never had any formal photography education and would like to

purchase a book or two. What are your recommendations?

Thanks, PJ.

Knowing little about Ansel Adams and his teachings, which book is

recommended as the definitive one to own? In other words, which book

can teach the most about exposure and the effects of different lenses?

Thanks, PJ.

Gentlemen, I purchased the lens used from a camera store in Ohio and this is what its label states: AF-S Nikkor 80-200mm 1:2.8 D, Nikon ED Silent Wave Motor. Now, it doesn't have a tripod collar installed and I would like one! I will check the links some of you have contributed and see what I can learn. I have enquired at a store in Toronto and been told that the collar isn't sold seperately. PJ.

Victor, well done! Got me thinking about how much I love unbolting that power winder and snapping the OE kick start back on for those off-road field trips...PJ

This is hilarious. Sounds like a similar thread I read on a motorcycle site not long ago. Anyhow, if it's a noise I love to hear it's my Hasselblad 503, 10 feet away with power winder installed, banging off a 220 roll while I conceal the remote in the palm of my hand. The sound is positively addictive. And the respect it generates from the paying client and spectators alike... I love shooting in the lobby of the reception hall encircled by wedding guests. It's a real rush for me... and at the centre of it all is that incredible thumper generating all that awe and respect.

On another note (hmmm) my Nikon F5 has a custom function that is said to virtually eliminate any shutter sound at all, and I have never even tried it! That would be like driving an electric motorcycle. No fun at all. Gup.

Larry, I should have read all the posts again before responding. Now I think we were both on the same page regarding the hood, I just have never considered mine as lens protection while carrying the camera in the woods. I always put the lens cap on anyway, whether the hood is in place or not. I just didn't want to pay $200 used for a rubber lens hood that's only an inch or so deep for my 40mm when as I said before I can shade it with my hat (or anything similar). And how much protection would something that shallow really offer a lens that wide anyway? Good Luck. Gup.

Larry, It seems I was mistaken... When you said 'hood' I read 'shade'.

What you called a hood, I have always called a 'cap'. I would never leave a lens unprotected either. As for my Rolls analogy, well I have to stand by that. We all know after the photographer's skill comes the quality of the glass. Why consider anything less than the quality of the Zeiss lens itself? I lived without a polarizer for a year before acquiring mine (on ebay, same place I got my old used lens) And I carry it in a 1995 Windstar (regular gas is so much cheaper). Gup.

Does anyone make a tripod mount that will fasten to this lens? The

newer version of this zoom has one. Nikon doesn't list one for this

lens.

Thanks,

Gup.

Larry,

My solution to part of your problem is to mount the polarizer (I use the older 40mm C lens with a Bay 104, 108mm polarizer) and then shade the lens with my hat! I can see in the viewfinder whether the hat will be in view or not and I'm carrying one less hood.

As to whether to buy a generic filter or not... do you run regular gas in your Rolls, or premium?

Gup.