johnw436

August 5, 2010

Hello Irvine,

Haha, yes I guess you can find a better deal after all! To speed up the process with what you already have perhaps there is still a better holder you can find at BetterScanning.com

Great photo, by the way. And good luck in your search.

August 4, 2010

I've got a 3170 you can have for free if you pay the shipping. I gave away most of the film holders to someone else who was looking for them. I have the Better Scanning MF holder for 120 film if you want it.

I picked up the V700 and haven't used the 3170, but I did for a long time. The 'watchout' on the 3170 is that the backlight is made up of two tubes. You can get a shadow running down the middle of the negative from time to time.

For scanning prints or documents it's more scanner than you'll ever need.

July 26, 2010

St. Louis has a lot to offer but it's tough to find anything good just by driving around.

DO NOT MISS the St. Louis Cathedral Basilica. Located on Linden, between St. Louis University and Barnes Jewish Hospital.

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<td >From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/ChurchesAndCathedrals?feat=embedwebsite">Churches and Cathedrals</a></td>

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<td >From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/ChurchesAndCathedrals?feat=embedwebsite">Churches and Cathedrals</a></td>

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It is fairly dark inside. These were all 8 sec @ f5.6 using asa 400 film. Tripods are welcome! Just stop by the security officer's desk when you first walk in and let him know what you're doing. They love photographers in there. The officer, or any clergy, can tell you if there is a service or mass planned and at what time.

If you like trains, don't miss the Museum of Transportation. It's an outdoor collection of steam locomotives, diesels, Pullman cars, etc. Take a wide angle. It's located off the 270 loop on the southwest side of town. I believe off Tesson Ferry Rd.

July 10, 2010

Beautiful baby!

That image has very nice tones. It really makes me want to shoot some film. I've been on a digi kick for about six months but seeing black and white film done well really does give me the itch to shoot and process some. I have heard great things about Delta but never used it. I've been a hard core TriX guy in 120 and HP5 for 4x5. It would be fun to try something new.

Thanks for posting such a great pic and making me think about the closet full of wonderful cameras I never use!

July 10, 2010

Beautiful baby!

That image has very nice tones. It really makes me want to shoot some film. I've been on a digi kick for about six months but seeing black and white film done well really does give me the itch to shoot and process some. I have heard great things about Delta but never used it. I've been a hard core TriX guy in 120 and HP5 for 4x5. It would be fun to try something new.

Thanks for posting such a great pic and making me think about the closet full of wonderful cameras I never use!

July 1, 2010

It would definitely help if you said where you plan to be. I don't know how familiar you are with Florida, so at the risk of stating the obvious about Florida in July:

The sun is REALLY direct here in South Florida this time of year. Before 10am and after 4pm are your best bets if you plan to be outside with no shade. The problem with late afternoon is that it's the time of day that it rains. Count on rain every day between 3pm and 6pm, but it comes in waves and breaks. You can work around it if you just accept it and work with it rather than fight it. And it's extremely humid. Don't plan on dodging into and out of air conditioning. You'll lose fifteen minutes every time you go outside waiting for the moisture to clear on your lenses. Make sure to keep the lens on if it fogs so the vapor doesn't get inside or else you'll have to wait even longer for your mirror and prism to dry up.

June 30, 2010

Because a 24-70mm zoom doesn't have a tripod collar that allows you to rotate for verticals when using your monopod.

I'm just talking smack. I have no idea.

June 28, 2010

I have the original kit lens that came with the istDS. No problems at all. Image quality is much better than what you pay for. Markedly better than the kit lens that came with my Nikon N65 years ago. And for general photography that Nikon lens was fantastic.

Is the kit lens a DA70 LTD? Nope. It doesn't cost $500, either. I have several Limiteds and they are great. But I can tell you this: If I lost my kit lens I'd get another one without hesitation. For general walking around type stuff, the kit lens is more than I need.

Kit lens, handheld on an istDS.

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<td >From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/ItalyCastellaDiSoave?feat=embedwebsite">Italy, Castella di Soave</a></td>

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and then you have what should be orders of magnitude better, if all you do is read stats and reviews:

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<td >From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/2009PineIslandKids_K20d_inCamBW?authkey=Gv1sRgCNfT88Xzu4K6Jw&feat=embedwebsite">2009 Pine Island kids_K20d_in cam BW</a></td>

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DA70 LTD on a K20d

...

And.. Back to the kit lens on an istDS

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<td >From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/Summer2008?authkey=Gv1sRgCJyymrTY6da_kwE&feat=embedwebsite">Summer 2008</a></td>

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and...

....

...

back to the K20d with the DA40 LTD

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<td >From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/2009Armwrestling_SEACNov7?feat=embedwebsite">2009 Armwrestling_SEAC Nov 7</a></td>

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Given ample light the kit lens does the job just fine. For the price, I'd say it's great.

June 17, 2010

Hi Theodore,

I have this monitor. In fact, I'm reading your post on it now. Your settings look good to me. Your print is going to look darker than the monitor, no matter what you do. The colors should be pretty darn close, though. I'm wondering if you are viewing the prints under too dim of a light. I doubt you want your monitor much more dim than you have it. Others may know better.

My settings:

White Point: D65

Gamma: 2.2

Intensity: 120 cd/m2

Contrast: 300:1

I have this calibration set up as my "dim lighting" setting for when I am doing photo editing in a dark room with only a desk lamp illuminating my print hanging on the wall beside me, but not shining on the monitor.

Now, in full disclosure- I fought hard with my computer to get this monitor set up. It wasn't the monitor's fault. It was my video card driver. Rather than relive the pain here, you can read this at your convenience should you decide to do so:

<a href="http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00WXaw">http://www.photo.net/digital-darkroom-forum/00WXaw</a>

June 17, 2010

I live in Tampa, FL. I grew up down the road from Sarah Fox! LOL, actually I grew up about an hour away just south of Richmond. My favorite places here in Florida... too many to mention. But here are a few spots within a half hour of me:

The Spongedocks, a Greek community founded (and still inhabited by) sponge fishermen.

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<td>From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/NightPhotography?feat=embedwebsite">Night Photography</a></td>

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Pine Island Park (my local beach, ten minutes from the house)

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<td>From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/2009PineIslandKids_K20d_inCamBW?authkey=Gv1sRgCNfT88Xzu4K6Jw&feat=embedwebsite">2009 Pine Island kids_K20d_in cam BW</a></td>

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Crystal Springs (the source where Zephyrhills Spring Water is bottled from)

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<td>From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/CrystalSprings?feat=embedwebsite">Crystal Springs</a></td>

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and if you ever get to Tampa, don't miss Lowery Park Zoo

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<td>From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/NatureSeries?feat=embedwebsite">Nature Series</a></td>

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June 15, 2010

Funny. Just last week I ran into a guy wearing a Konica Minolta shirt. Obviously a service rep (takes one to know one). He saw the puzzled look on my face so I piped up, "Uh, I wasn't aware Konica Minolta was still around. I knew Sony bought Minolta."

It turns out that Konica Minolta lives on... in medical imaging.

The bad thing about a company like Kodak is that to buy them you have to buy that 2 ton albatross hanging around their neck, too. That albatross is bad debt. Kodak was once almost an entire town by itself. Rochester WAS Kodak. There are generations of people collecting benefits from Kodak. I don't see where Kodak is viable enough as a brand for anyone to value them when their debt is included in the deal.

It's a shame. I was a Kodak film die hard and I think some of the best films they ever made were right at the end. I was so mad when they discontinued UC400 I bought nothing but Fuji for a long time. I eventually began buying 160NC and VC again, but 400UC was the best color film I ever used.

June 15, 2010

I have the ETRs as well as the ETRsi. I use the ETRs more. Why? I don't know. They're identical in every way except for the mirror lockup. I think it's because I have my 75mm on the one and the 50mm on the other and I grab the one I want to use most often: the 75mm lens. The body just happens to be on it. How's that for decisions? I should probably pick up another body so the 150mm has someone to hug in the case like the other lenses do.

You can't go wrong with any MF SLR. You just can't.

My experience: the speedgrip never comes off the camera, even on the tripod. With 645 the prism is pretty much essential because you can't shoot verticals with the WLF very elegantly. If you are shooting with a prism finger, the speedgrip becomes necessary from an ergonomics standpoint. (Unless you are just a weirdo.) So, being that the speedgrip and the prism never come off- you are just as well served with the Pentax in that regard. I have the WLF. On a 6x6 the WLF is the greatest thing since sliced bread. On a 645, not so much.

BUT***

To echo what others have said, the removable film back is key. Having had that option, I would never ever buy a MF SLR that does not offer this.

I am a huge Pentax fan. But for MF SLR I'm a die hard Bronica guy.

June 14, 2010

Definitely take the SLR.

BUT:

Are you going to be doing a lot of walking? If so, light and easy is the only way to enjoy yourself. Forget the photo backpack and use normal knapsack that weighs next to nothing so you can actually use it for something besides a camera bag. A normal backpack also doesn't scream, "Expensive photo gear inside." Use camera wraps or your extra sweatshirt / jacket / rain poncho to wrap your camera in. That 40D is tough. You aren't going to hurt it. And if you are going to get mugged, it won't be for your camera gear. If you find yourself in trouble I'd much rather have a 40D swinging from a neckstrap to conk someone over the head with and run than I would a little digicam.

Secondly, are you planning a lot of low light wildlife photography? Indoor sports? Studio portraits? I'd be tempted to leave the 70-200/ 2.8 at home and instead grab a 70-300 /4.5-5.6 You are going to bright, sunny places. *Helsinki being the exception. My time in Helsinki, or most cities, tells me that wide angle is the way to go. YMMV. For the rare times you need long glass, it's awfully nice to have a tiny little 70-300 kit zoom along. And throw in a cheapy tripod or beanbag that you will always have with you.

Only you know what kind of pictures you are hoping to get. If you normally schlep your 70-200 / 2.8 around, then I guess you know what you are after or else you wouldn't have paid all that money for it. Personally, I'd opt for a cheapy telezoom and an ultrawide.

June 14, 2010

largeformatphotography.info

-some of it is extremely techy, but the knowledge base there and the talent level are extraordinary. Like this site, there are various forums that cater to specific interests.

June 9, 2010

Oh, you gotta be kidding me! I just spent 30 minutes making a very detailed how-to and PN rejected it and blew away the whole thing. GRRRR!

I apologize, but I am not going to recreate that post, which I don't mind saying was a masterpiece SOP for the process I went through!

Care to elaborate on what you meant by kinda' sorta? This might be helpful for those who may have a similar problem but wouldn't think to install an updated driver that didn't seem to apply to their specific card. What clued you in that this one might or might not work?

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Tim, please forgive my laziness. Maybe I will try again when I've cooled down.

Here are the Clif Notes: NVidea's driver download list did not show my card. The only selection listed that was close was a driver for "6 series" cards. I knew mine was a geForce 6150. Same thing, or was the 6 Series something altogether different? I wasn't sure. I decided it was worth a shot and went that route.

When NVidea's site pulled up the driver, I looked under SUPPORTED PRODUCTS and found that it indeed listed "geForce 6150 LE". I had no idea if the "LE" meant anything significant since mine did not say it was a 6150 LE, just a plain old 6150. But I figured it was worth a shot and I was stuck for any other solution. With the "6 Series" listing I was hesitant, but once I dug in far enough to pull up a specific driver and look farther into the supporting documentation, 6150 LE got me to 95% sure. That's close enough for me, but I would never have found it had I not drilled way into the selections.

I downloaded the driver and installed it and it fixed my issue.

For those who are much more computer savvy than I am, this probably sounds like no big deal. But I am not a computer wonk. I want my computer to be like my microwave. I want to plug it in and use it to do stuff. I don't know if my microwave can poach salmon, and if it can I don't care to learn how to do it. I heat things up and I make popcorn with it. I don't want to pull it apart and hook an oscilloscope to it in order to see why the RF transmitter is not defrosting my chicken as fast as it used to. That's as much as I want to know about how my computer works.

June 2, 2010

I know this post is long after the fact, but I hope that anyone who is searching the archives for help will run across this and a light bulb will possibly turn on for them.

Well, after 5 hours of pulling my hair out I have finally got my new P221w calibrated and the results are exactly in line with all of the above stated targets. Hooray!

Immediately out of the box the monitor's picture was gorgeous. I did not have any problems until I tried to calibrate it. I kept getting "No supported monitor detected" by Spectraview. This threw me because P221W was right there as a selection in the drop down box. Obviously the information was there, my computer just didn't know what to do with it. About a thousand trips into Control Panel didn't turn up anything, either.

I am running an nVidia GeForce 6150 graphics card on a Windows XP SP3 machine. My first search on the net said my driver was the latest and greatest. Four hours of banging my head on the desk told me otherwise. Finally I searched nVidia's site once again and found a new driver for "6 Series" cards that kinda sorta said it was applicable to mine. Hell, at this point anything was worth a shot. Uninstalling and reinstalling Spectraview five times had not solved the problem so what could it hurt? I deleted my video driver and installed the new nVidia driver. Problem solved.

Yes, I read all the ReadMe files. Yes, I saw the "make sure you have the latest driver for your video card" and yes that's what it ended up being in the long run. I just didn't realize that was the problem because I could plainly see NEC P221W as a monitor selection. So, anyone who reads this in a PN archives search, JUST DO IT. Even if you think you have the right driver just download it again. ***YOU MUST uninstall the current driver first. Oh yeah, I made that mistake, too. Downloading the latest driver won't do squat if you don't blow the current one away first. You'll know you've gotten rid of it when your display reverts to 800x600 and you think you've gone back to 1994 and your 386 machine again.

To uninstall and update your driver:

Control Panel / System / Hardware / Device Manager / Display Adapters / (your video card)

-> select your video card driver and then get rid of it by clicking the little "Computer with a red X" icon at the top of the dialogue box there to Uninstall.

You will have to reboot the computer after this and it will start up with the VGA quality display. Now go get your new driver and install it. You should be good to go.

May 26, 2010

I was going to post a link to Masters of Fine Art Photography but it seems the site is gone.

I did find this, however. A treasure trove! (saved it to my favorites)

<a href="http://art-support.com/photographers.htm#masters">http://art-support.com/photographers.htm#masters</a>

May 26, 2010

August Sander

May 26, 2010

I am eagerly awaiting responses to this post, Steve. I plan to order this monitor sometime later this week. Thank you for the post. We'll both get timely advice!

May 24, 2010

Javier, I'm noticing the same thing. Shake reduction when I have the Sigma 10-20 mounted seems to be working against me, especially if I am shooting on the fly. I was leaving shake reduction on all the time just out of habit but I see I need to rethink that. The K20d with a grip and a substantial lens on it doesn't shake much to begin with in my experience.

To echo Michael above, SR is a big help in getting shots that I wouldn't have attempted in the past.

May 24, 2010

Cut me some slack if the photo looks rough. My monitor is all over the place. I am about to pull the trigger on the NEC P221W with the SpectraView package. (Welcoming monitor recommendations...)

May 24, 2010

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<td >From <a href="http://picasaweb.google.com/john.jwphoto/NightPhotography?feat=embedwebsite">Night Photography</a></td>

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Still playing around with my new wide angle. I love twilight / night shooting for the colors you can get. A sno cone proved to be a worthy bribe to keep my son still enough to get a few shots.

K20d w/ Sigma 10-20mm

1/60 @ f/4 , ISO 800

May 19, 2010

Not to start an entirely different flame war than the one above (film vs digital) but possibly the reason you like the prints from 120 film better than from digital is due to the inherent difference between Medium Format and APSc or even full frame.

The two looks are very different even at small print sizes. I have learned to love my digital workflow, but Medium Format is still Medium Format. Talk image quality all you want, the two look different and I prefer the look of Medium Format. Opinions vary, and that's my opinion.

May 16, 2010

SKATEBOARDING IS NOT A CRIME!

It sounds just as stupid when we say it.

No, riding a skateboard is not crime. Riding it on someone else's property is trespassing. Scarring up a business' bronze handrails by sliding down them on your skateboard is vandalism. Trespassing and vandelism ARE crimes.

Photography is not a crime. Taking photos of a sensitive military installation, a submarine in dry dock, a missile move, etc., IS a crime. Not knowing that there are some things that are more important than your photography falls under the crime of stupidity.

Believing that your rights will protect you from an asswhipping is another crime of stupidity. Hanging out in your windowless '78 van shooting images of little kids on a playground comes to mind. You might as well tell the kid's father you have the right to offer candy bars to anybody you want to.

April 29, 2010

I have always found it helpful and motivational to give myself a project. Sometimes it helps develop a skill. For instance, give yourself the goal of becoming the master of single-light studio shots. Get crazy with it and find out exactly what you can do with only one light. When you have that down move to two lights, etc.

I like projects that get me out of the house and give me something exciting to do. The first project I ever gave myself was so enjoyable that I still continue it today. I called it "Churches and Cathedrals" and I'm sure you can figure out what it's all about. It is amazing to discover the uniqueness in these places. From the grandiose and awe inspiring marble and stained glass all the way to the one-room migrant church in black and white. The sky is the limit. And just when you think you've got a handle on it you discover a ton of mini-projects within the project. Artwork. Mosaics. Windows. The people.

A good project leads to countless new ones. Churches and Cathedrals is a good excuse to go find new places. It's a ready made road trip or it can be an hour spent right down the street. A good project also stirs something within you if you really allow it to. I take my friend with me who is an atheist. While he is not religious at all, he can't help but wonder what it is about faith that makes people build such places and create the artwork, etc? Why do people do this? It is fascinating for him as a human interest project.

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