alberto_c

Olympus glasses (with an adapter) are compatible with modern 4/3 series and Maxxum lenses fit in 5D, 7D and alpha 100. So they wouldn't be a dead way, as FD and Rokkor are. Of course, that makes the prices of OM and Maxxum something higher. Actually, Maxxum primes are not very cheap. Anyway, Maxxum, OM, FD or Rokkor primes are very high quality, as you probably know, and you won't get disappointed.

 

If I were you, I would get something like Minolta X-700 + 24mm + 50mm + 200mm.

 

I think that I have a good reason to mention M42 lenses and cameras. You will keep reasonable compatibility with any other system that you could want to build in the near future (AFAIK), and there is a number of good M42 lenses in the second hand market, as well as quite good bodies with full manual control or aperture priority for a good price.

 

Hope that helps.

Now that's much better. It's a shame that you keep your quality standard so high, as the complete galleries take a hard time to load.

 

All of your galleries are a huge pleasure to see.

Great Turkey portfolio, Bruce. I like the most the pictures on Nemrut Dagi, but the overall quality is fantastic. Sultan Ahmet Camii (until now known to me as Blue Mosque) looks beautiful, too.

 

I have to plan a trip there, you made grow my envy.

 

BW pictures, though, show heavy posterization, like the sky in

 

Ishak Pasa Palace #5, Dogubayazit, 2006 (http://www.brucegcollier.com/images/images_turkey/061011b6703_02.JPG)

 

I guess that the scanner had colour depth enough for color images but not for BW ones.

<i>The picture on the LCD screen was substantially brighter than what it looked like with your eyes.</i>

<br />

So that you can look at the LCD (and see something) when you will take pictures in sunny bright outdoor.

Near Nancy you have Strasbourg (beautiful town), Dijon, Beaune and Jura (architecture and rural landscapes), Reims (cathedral, and you shouldn't miss a visit to a Champagne cellar in Epernay). Alsace-Lorraine and Rhin area have fantastic landscapes (mountains of the Vosges)...

 

Anyway, I can't imagine a random location in France in which I wouldn't shoot like a fool. From my experience, summer in Normandie can be annoying (I met a white thin layer of cloud covering the sky), but you can enjoy architectural opportunities (and of course a place with a strong historical meaning).

Alessandro Locatelli:

Do you think my 3600hs and the in-camera flash would be enough?

 

Would be better to have two external flashes, but anyway you could get good lighting, try the setup as in the picture. 3600hs and reflector would make shadows in front, so you use the built-in flash to fill that areas. Place the 3600hs as far away as practical to get more consistent lighting from 3600hs and reflector. I don't know if you can shoot -2EV the built-in and the 3600hs without flash compensation (would be easier in manual setting), if you can you should start from that point and tune to fit your needs. YMMV.

 

As Dave said, the background will be always too dark.

 

Ciao.

I don't know about the laws outside my little EU, so maybe the following doesn't apply to your case, but a full repair, inspection and all that perhaps gives you a (1-year, 2-year?) warranty, so you don't have to worry about new troubles. Actually, you would <b>pray</b> for new troubles, so you can "renew" your warranty for free :-).

 

Anyway if I was in your place, I would pay (eyes shut) and don't look back, it hurts the budget... Enjoying your camera is a better choice.

AFAIK, largest refractor actually usable was Yerkes 40 inches telescope (my "aprox" means "I really don't know if there are bigger refractors there out"). BTW, that telescope was crafted in 1897, when high precision technology to make parabolic mirrors had been not yet achieved. You can see a short comment about that in http://www.ucolick.org/public/telescopes/index.html

Maybe a pair of light sources and a bunch of white reflectors can do the job for less money.

Aaron Meyer:

"Zeiss Contax/Yashica mount lenses do not stop down unless they are mounted to a body"

 

Sorry, but that's wrong, at least in the AE lenses. I have 1 Zeiss, 4 Yashicas and 2 C/Y Sigmas, all of them stop down if I turn the aperture ring when unmounted. It is the other way: a tab keeps them fully open when mounted unless you fire the shutter or press the DOF preview button.

"I suppose that's why almost all astronomical telescopes are refractors. Oh! Oddly enough, they're reflectors."

 

FYI, big telescopes (> aprox. 40 inches in diameter) are always reflectors as otherwise the lenses are deformed under its own weight (as lenses can be holded only by the edge, as opposed to the mirror, which can be as thick as you want and be supported by its entire surface).

I had these things when I tested my (at that time) just received camera (... a Contax 139 Quartz!). I fixed it replacing the almost missing light seal at the hinge of the back door.

I had the same (a horizontal straight thin line) because of a grain of sand on the camera's film reels scratching the film.