walter_beck

I have the old F-1 with a Booster T Finder and the Servo EE Finder. I still use the original F-1 without that stuff when I want to assure myself that I can still take a picture without all the electronic wizardly that my Canon A-1 has and my 20D has.

I will never give up that camera. I resisted the F-1N and still have no desire to get one for old times sake.

I also believe that the FD lenses are superior to what is being put out now. Sure they are mostly prime, but it isn't the focal length that necessarily makes the picture so I don't feel that I am missing much by not having the zooms lenses that are available now. They are also very inexpensive now :-)

Walter

I have had my A-1 since 1982 and have had to bring it in for squeak CLA twice in its life. Last one was Oct of last year. It developed its first squeak about 2 years after purchase but was in heavy use during a prolonged stay in Europe. It started its second singing about a year ago but since I do not use it as much, I put it off until late last year.

I would say that during the period of "normal" use, it lasted from 84 to around 04/05 timeframe. That is around 20 years, give or take my failing memory :-)

Great camera. Still like using it.

Walter

Justin,

When you are ready to go into "production" let me know. I have about 8 prime FD lenses that I would like to convert. I have to assume that after convesion, they only work in stop down mode. Is that correct or am I hopefully wrong.

Thanks

Walter Beck

B & B Photography

I have been looking for such an adapter since I bought the Olympus E-1 last year and have had no luck. For some reason, there does not seem to be a need out there to drive the production of one.

If anyone knows of one or knows of a craftsman willing to take on such a task, please let me know.

Walter Beck

B & B Photography

Mike,

You are neither crazy nor obsessed. You just found a technique that works for you. Congratulations and good shooting!

Walter

We have the same printer and have not seen this problem. Are you using Canon ink cartridges? Are the dark smuges of one color or really from the black cartridge?

Have you tried removing all the cartridges and running a sheet through it? Have you tried turning the paper over just to see if the surface type has an effect? What brand of paper are you using? Is it matte or glossy?

Walter

B & B Photography

Good choice!! I decided to keep my F-1, EF and A-1 along with the 7 prime lenses I have. I still keep one of the bodies, rotating, in my bag when I go out shooting with my Olympus E-1. I also love taking one with me when I go out with my Mamiya 645. I still love film, manual focus, and shooting based on match needle and rule of thumb.

Makes me realize I still know the basics :-)

Walt Beck

As someone, actually several individuals, said in another thread, "if you are happy with the pictures, does it matter what you have". I have to agree with that statement. I have a Mamiya 645, Canon F-1 and A-1 with multiple lenses, Olympus E-1, Canon 20D and an Olympus 770 P&S.

Amazingly, my customers cannot tell which camera and lens was used nor do most care. If it delivers the results required, then it was the right one.

Yes, I do chose which I want to use based on the requirements of the shoot but have found that the P&S has also resulted in excellent images. I carry that camera in my pocket at all times and get some great candids that I have sold.

Walter

I have had the P2000 since June of this year and keep it with me at all times. Also carry a laptop with CS2 and Elements 3 (long story) for in field editing and generation of CDs.

I enjoy the combination and the work flow it enables. Some selection editing with the P2000 during breaks and serious editing and work in the hotel or plane with the laptop.

I wish I could simply send in my P2000 and have Epson install a 60 gig hard drive :-)

Get one, I think you will really like it.

Walter

I have an F1 (original version), EF and A1. I get them cleaned and serviced in rotation one per year. After cleaning, the latest one back is the quietest.

Suggest you just get the camera you like the best cleaned and serviced before you go out shooting. I will also agree with the gentleman's comment about the sound of the shutter being the least of your concerns. In my experience also, odor and movement seem to have the greatest effect on wildlife. I have shouted at some critters to get them to look at me to get the shot I wanted and was able to have time to shoot at least two shots before they figured out that there was something there they did not like.

Good shooting!

Nice to know the 4000 has the same "features" of the 2000. I have learned to live with its behaviors.

Luck to you

Famous statements proved to be embarrasing.

Everything that can be invented has already been invented. Not sure of the year, but it was issued by the then person in charge of the govts invention office.

Who will ever need more than 640k of memory? Stated by Bill Gates, enough said.

Point is, if we only use what has already been done or accept that we have all we need, we do not add or advance the human experience. Its almost mental incest to continue to rehash the work of others. I like to "buy instead of build" when needed but being out in the world experiencing life and capturing it as best I can with my camera, is where its at for me.

I have the P-2000 and ran into a similar problem. I got a tree that looked like 20050616\20050616.001\DCIM\100Olymp.

Through experimentation, I found that if you copied the data to an "album" on the same P-2000, the tree flattened to Albums\ALBMxxxx where xxxx is the album number. You can name albums but the name will not appear in the tree displayed in the P-2000. There is a file on the P-2000 called ALBMST that contains a map from ALBMxxxx to the name you created for the album.

Its a pain and I wish Epson had kept the user specified album name in the tree but I can understand that since it has to work with multiple systems (OSs), they had to pick a neutral format that would work for all.

Hope this helps!

Life, for providing great photo opportunities; the wonderful mix of digital and film and the ability to chose which I want to use; the friends and family who indulge my endeavor to transition to a photographic career upon retirement; the health to be able to physically get around and shoot images; Adobe and other software vendors for producing the tools needed to render flights of imagination and fancy along with managing images; and all those willing to share their knowledge and experience on PN!

Google, Google, Gobble, Google - Happy Techsgiving to all!!!

Swiming against the crowd, I would recommend a Canon i9900. I have been using one for almost a year now and will stand it against any other ink jet photo printer or prints received from most labs.

I print canvas, most of the Moab papers and some Ilford - all with excellent results. Customers have not complained about any print. It is a bit weak doing pure black and white however.

Walt

B & B Photography

I have an E-1 and have been using Adobe Elements 3.0 to process the ORF files. I have been very pleased with the results. I recently upgraded to Photoshop CS2 with the Camera Raw 3.2 plug-in and have been even more pleased taking the ORF files to JPG for high-end printing.

By the way, love the E-1. Also have a 20D in the shop here and except for a very few features, prefer the E-1 over the 20D. My true love is still my Canon F-1 - the "tank". Runs with or without batteries, takes a lick'n and keeps on click'n :-)

Cameras today tend to mislead buyers who are not familiar with the techniques and physics of photography. Some I have heard state frustration at the camera because setting to Auto does not automatically do what they want.

They honestly believe that the camera senses all that they want in focus (depth of field controlled by aperture) or what they want frozen in motion (controlled by shutter speed).

My first question to you would be, do you know about aperture and shutter speed relationships, ISO effects on the two, the difference between aperture priority and shutter priority, how to shoot in manual mode and, most important, composition quidelines? If the answers to these are mainly no, then, as the others recommend, keep the camera and take some courses. Most community colleges have fairly good beginner classes that will get you grounded in the basics.

Learn everything you can and in the process take pictures of everything you can think of or see that interests you. Learn from examining the pictures you take against what you are learning and have learned. View photo exhibits and see what appeals to you. Try to analyze the images against your learning. After a while it will become second nature and you will be surprised in the change in the quality of your images.

One other question - Are you viewing prints, images from a CD on a PC, web or just via the camera LCD? Each method provides a different bandwidth and quality (size of image vs. resolution vs. color mapping). The results you are seeing may also be a function of the viewing media.

Walter

B&B Photography

From someone that has three film Canons (F-1, EF and A-1), a Mamiya MF and Canon 20D and Olympus E-1, no you do not need your head examined. I find that diffenent situation require different tools. If you do not need digital to pay bills quicker, then stick with film. I still shoot about 25% film for jobs that require something I cannot or do not know how to achieve with digital and a computer.

Not sure that digital really fills the niche for replacing all film, b&w IR and false color IR are good examples, but it sure is nice for 90% of all needs. I have also yet figured out how to achieve exactly the same quality of double exposure with digital that I get with film.

Actually, I think there is a 90% rule. Nothing satisfies 100% so its always on to other equipment to approach 100% :-)

By the way, love my E-1 but totally bummed about the cost and lack of lenses. The reason I like it is because to me its a digital Canon A-1.

Walter

What can you do with film that you cannot do with digital? How about infared - both b&w and false color ir slides.

What happens when batteries die? I still carry my old Canon F-1 with me on shoots because I know how to expose without the use of electronic metering and it work with my manual focus lenes over and over again with no batteries.

Will I ever go 100% digital? No, I will alway carry some film with me as backup.

As to equipment:

Canon F-1, EF and A-1 with lenses from 20mm to 500mm mirror plus extenders, macro tubes and bellows.

Mamiya 645 Pro with wide angle, normal and short tele.

Olympus E-1 with 14-54mm (effective 28-108mm) zoom and 50-200mm (effective 100-400mm) zoom.

Olympus 770 point & shoot (always in my pocket).

Canon 20D with 18-55mm zoom and 75-300mm zoom.

Walter

B&B Photography

The important question is not what others think about it but if it conveys a message about the way you saw the subject. Personally, I like it. It has drama and portrays a tenseness that makes it an "edgy" composition.

Photography is like writing, it provides a statement about how you see the world and how you would like others to see through your eyes and experiences. Writers write and photographers take pictures. Keep up the work.

Walter

I purchased an E-1 and find it to be a photographer's camera. I am used to Canon F-1 and A-1 and my Mamiya 645. The E-1 reminds me of the A-1 in that it just has the same four modes as the A-1 - Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual. It does not have all the silly program modes, night with fireworks and you in the picture or skiers going fast on very white snow. The E-1 lets you be the photographer. Its a digital work horse with the sealed case.

My only complaints are that it does not have a B&W mode of operation and the lens selection is not what I would like. I have the two "standard" zooms for it, 14-54mm and the 50-200mm. It works very well in macro with the lenses but intend to purchase a dedicated macro.

After all that, I have to confess that I have a "backup" digital - Olympus C-770 with all the silly program modes :-)

Walter