a_tonkin

Just thought I'd try changing my login email address again, a year on from last attempt. I see this time I cannot even find where to change it ... never mind the problem last time that the change wouldn't save. I see, for the Personal Details section of my account, I'm presented with a message saying "Photo.net Photography Forums - Error. You do not have permission to view this page or perform this action." I feel my work here is done ...

Is a mirror lens still a viable sensible purchase at all these days? They're tricky to focus, dim viewfinders, horrible ring effect to out of focus points of light blah blah, as we all know, but the real killer for me that you never read about is their lightweight means you need a tripod head mounted in concrete to avoid camera shake. Just say no. Move on. You don't need one.

Been trying in recent weeks via Account section. It just hangs with a "saving" message, but never saves. There's one or two other faults with the website, like you can't contact anyone, so hence this attempt here. Is the website dying, as some do where the founders have perhaps drifted away or even died themselves ...?

Hmmm, I was just looking for some clues, or awareness of others with recent funny experiences. I've been wanting to change my registered email address for the last few weeks. Whenever I try, and click Save Changes, or whatever the button is, the website just shows ".... saving", in red, alongside the button but never ultimately saves. It just hangs. Tried contacting Photo.net via whatever means they offered on the main pages ... again, working from memory ... and its just hopeless or impossible. Recall just getting blank black screen save for some sort of logo across the top.

<p>For info, I meanwhile, tried AG Photo Lab. 15 rolls of 36 exp, and generally very pleased and will definitely use again. Nicely packaged in snug fitting cardboard box a bit like the ones you get with most Amazon stuff, delivered by Interlink (a courier company I've also long rated, partly for merely sentimental reasons). Sturdy feel plastic mounts that easily go into my 140 Carousel magazine, not tried with LKM but guess they'll be fine there too, and a real boon to have the month and year stamped on the mounts ... I rather suspect AG Photo might be the only people bothering to do that thesedays. On the slight downside, the numbering is a bit erratic ... some numbers repeated and then a jump to suddenly talking about 88, 89, 90 etc on a 36 exp. film?! and a couple of frames have some sort of glue smudge on them and worse still a cracking sunset pic has a fine scratch up it ... but then again that sort of thing has always happened with slide film (not, in my experience, with Peak Imaging to date) but certainly with Kodachrome Fujichrome in yesteryear so definitely happy to give AG benefit of the doubt.</p>

<p>Peak Imaging don't number, nor date. They're my better-the-devil you know sort of place and no real complaints as such, but the date/numbering thing niggles along with their fiddly bit of info here, bit of info over there, sort of piece-together-the-pricing+postage arrangement that's making me think I might want to try elsewhere for a change and so here I am searching for ideas.</p>

<p>I'd forgotten I'd asked this question and, now when wanting to search this site for any clues on the subject I found my own question comes up again. Any more answers?</p>

<p>Probably just Multi Coated (lenses), perhaps? Usual photography sort of term from the 80s / 90s kind of era. These days its a given, but back then manufacturers were falling over themselves to stress the feature. Might be wrong.</p>

<p>Further minor update: I stumbled upon <a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/694589">http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/694589</a> and the key to getting my Firewire card to work with XP SP3 was to first install SP2, copy the files<br>

C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\1394bus.sys<br /> C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\arp1394.sys<br /> C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\nic1394.sys<br /> C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\ohci1394.sys</p>

<p>to a safe place, install SP3, then overwrite the SP3 version of these four files with the SP2 version instead. Restart PC and bingo.</p>

<p>That then enables installing latest ViewNX2, which doesn't work with SP2. </p>

<p>So there we are, and now I know:</p>

<p><strong>ViewNX2</strong> - yeah, its OK but doesn't really do anything useful given you can preview .NEF files in Windows Explorer and I use Adobe Bridge too.</p>

<p><strong>Capture 2.0.2</strong> that came with my D1x - not fully explored it but appears to do Adobe Bridge-like stuff plus the ability to remotely operate the camera via the Firewire cable is a nice toy</p>

<p><strong>Camera Control Pro 2</strong> - doesn't really add anything, besides perhaps tone/hue tweaks, to Capture 2.0.2</p>

<p>By way of minor update: I've Capture 2.0.2 and by way of camera control its practically identical to what Camera Control Pro 2 does. The latter has I think one or maybe two extra settings that I can't even remember, and on the minus side it appears not to give a decent sized preview of the taken image unlike the comparatively jumbo sized shot in Capture 2.0.2. So ... have to wonder why anyone with a digital camera would buy Camera Control Pro 2 when the presumably supplied Capture CD does the same job for free ... UNLESS (as we suspect) Nikon at some stage removed remote camera control from later versions of Capture around which(?)version/camera model era ...?</p>

<p>Went against my better judgement and installed XP service packs 1, 2 and 3 and sure enough Firewire connectivity lost. Wound back to SP 1 and it resumed work. I have a Belkin Firewire 400 4 port PCI card if that means anything to anyone, which reports in Device Manager as VIA OHCI 1394 something or other, for which no stand alone manufacturer drivers seem to be available. Maybe I just need a different Firewire card? I must admit I went for a basic low spec model as I presumed that is what the D1x expected to find at the other end of the cable.</p>

<p>I can't see that even the supposedly latest ViewNX2 does anything that Adobe Bridge (anyone explain to me why 'bridge' ... never understood that ... is it as in like a ship's bridge where you get an overview of what's going on?) doesn't do, and do at least as well if not better.</p>

<p>So, turning then to Capture, anyone know up until which version it controlled the camera (after which by the sounds of it this "Camera Control Pro 2" was split off from earlier versions)?</p>

<p>Good answer, thanks, but would just say ...<br>

<br /> My version of Capture that came with D1x <strong>appears </strong>at least to offer purely camera control, not editing or even means of opening a previously created NEF file but must confess have not read the manual for it yet.<br>

<br /> Firewire issues with XP service packs are widely reported on internet / Microsoft's own support pages - they even eventually issued a patch to get Firewire working again but on a previous test computer that didn't cure it for me, hence the XP-no-service-pack install I've plumped for.<br>

<br /> No risk as I've also for other reasons chosen to never connect that particular computer to the internet, and to only run 'old' software that is compatible/necessary with the D1x. Side effects to the no-service-pack stance, though, are I'm having trouble finding a version of Adobe Acrobat Reader that will also (a) install and (b) PDF docs. of last few years.</p>

<p>Reluctantly getting more involved in digital (as opposed to proper, film, photography) and am confused by the various versions of Nikon software in terms of what came first / what is better / what does what / what is free and what must be paid for.<br /> My basic understanding is the original "View" lets you look at NEF photos, and "Capture" lets you remotely operate the camera.<br>

<br /> Simple.<br>

<br /> But then along came upgrades to those packages, and then they became NX and/or NX2. It seems a total scatter gun mess and muddle over the years as versions have come and gone (looking around the internet as to what's available for download from Nikon sites) as to what was free and what requires a serial number. I was starting to think, for instance, the NX stuff was free and NX2 is the paid-for upmarket version ... until I see NX2 stuff for free and talk on internet forums such as this as NX requiring a serial!<br>

<br /> I also notice it seemed to go View or Capture version 2 and then jump to View or Capture NX which had (a less prominent in the title) version number of 4. What about 3 ... and is there now a 5, 6 ...?</p>

<p>I also notice for instance that the modern day Capture also seems to include picture editing tools, whereas it started life as purely camera control, ie. Capturing the image.<br>

<br /> Rather than screw up my computer with multiple experimental file installs/uninstalls I thought I'd ask here for any kind of general overview.<br>

<br /> And are there certain host operating system requirements and compatible camera issues too?<br>

<br /> Don't laugh but I'm using a second hand Nikon D1x on a standalone computer running the original Windows XP (no service pack) as Firewire connector function was disabled or at least became very hit n miss after Service Packs came along (presumably Microsoft having a little dig at what I gather was an Apple invention)</p>

<p>I had a 135mm (possibly f2.8) Makinon lens a few years ago that I bought new and, in going through some old slides and finding things taken with it, I'd say it was perfectly adequate with no easily discernible, or even discernible at all, faults. Not sure what happened to it but its now made me want to look on ebay to see what’s available. The only problem as I vaguely recall might have been it focussed the wrong way, relative to my genuine Nikon lenses and so also relative to what the split ring focussing screen led me to be believe was the correct direction to turn.</p>

<p>At an amateur level its noticeable how photography club/societies have ditched slide competitions over the last year or two. Certainly at my local one I and two or three other people have drifted away from the club 'in protest' so to speak.<br>

I just wondered (a) how many people are in the UK and (b) how many are members of clubs and might help fighting back and stick with, say, slide film so as to do their little bit to keep the truer art and skill side of photography (as opposed to the desktop publishing and computer-art it seems be turning into) alive.<br>

I know Kodak have ditched slide film earlier in the year but then again they've ditched pretty much all their films so whoever buys the residue might welcome all hands to the pump in trying to recreate demand.</p>

<p>Might anyone be aware of where to download, or perhaps might be able to upload or email, any former brochures etc for the likes of Schneider, Isco, Navitar projection lenses for Kodak Ektapro projectors?<br>

I still like slide film and the whole process / uncertainty / skill of slide film and the pleasure of setting up a projector and getting a flicker-free picture (unlike digital projectors, which always seem to break down into flashes of primary colour as you move your eye around the screen). Looking at old lenses on ebay is very hit and miss, not knowing the terms used in the spec. or not knowing how a particular lens sits in the manufacturer's model range, or how it might or might not physically fit the projector. Ebay Schneider lenses, for example, appear to have neither a rack nor spiral thread to engage for focussing purposes.</p>

<p>Just had it fixed. Was £60 or thereabouts, though what with sending in a D1X for firmware upgrade (the free one ... that costs £30, though to be fair they say they cleaned the sensor and also checked out what I thought was a fault on the DoF preview) the postage to send the things for me as via royal mail was about £30 insured. Seems one or both cameras ended up at Fixation even though Nikon fronted it all the way and, had the next day delivery not taken a week to be delievered after being "redirected" and my getting a progress report that included the words " ... no 2GB card at Fixation so cannot test ...." or words to that effect, I would never have known.</p>

<p>May I ask if you're using MS Windows with your 5m cable? I can't get it to work on a used D1X, but have read countless tales of woe on the internet about Firewire cables being blocked as a 'bad thing' by Windows from XP SP2 onwards.</p>

<p>This post seemed as good as any to pick up a problem that many people, if the internet is to be believed, with many different brands have had connecting a Firewire device to Windows XP SP 2 or 3. Basically, its as if MS have out of spite stopped it working given it was I believe an Apple inspired connector.<br>

I too have bought a used D1X as a first digital SLR and have hit the same problem countless hundreds or thousands seem to have experienced back in 2003 / 4 ish onwards when I think SP2 came out.<br>

Whilst I guess Firewire never really caught on in a big way and USB emerged as the favourite, I wonder whether anyone might know of a way to get the thing working? I did find a MS software patch that was supposed to sort it out but that didn't work because it said something like it was only suitabled for pre SP2 versions of XP ... which so far as I can make out on the internet at large, didn't suffer from the problem anyway.</p>

<p>I've had trouble on and off over the years with orders sent back to me from Peak Imaging - they say they've sent them but I don't always receive them. Happened a lot a few years ago, and its just happened again. Could be the post office or some others somehow intercepting post but that just seems such a rare thing generally yet, here I am today, reverting to doing my old thing of exchanging what are ultimately pointless emails with them over something, money, and memories that are down the pan and gone forever. I'll never now ever risk it again, whether it be their fault or not. Anyone else had that experience?</p>

<p>Might try emailing Nikon to get an idea of cost. Even about 10-15 years ago when I sent something back to them they had, I think it was, a £60 or £80 minimum charge so if they're still talking £80 for a simple job then maybe in real terms prices have fallen, perhaps to compete with today's more throw away rather than repair culture. I've only been to their Kingston premises in person twice, once in around 1989 when a great chunk of the first or second floor was given over to a musuem/exhibition with many cameras and lenses cut in half to show their workings or having their many intricate parts laid out in glass display cabinets and a camera body that had a bullet lodged in it. And the second time ... all that space was just offices to satisfy the human fascination with sitting in front of a monitor aimlessly clicking a mouse between 9-5</p>

<p>The spring appears to have suddenly failed in my safety catch such that it tends to default to hovering around the unlocked position - a fact I discovered when I accidentally caught the rewind knob and the back popped open ruining the film within.<br>

<br />Must be a regular problem on the F6 after Nikon seem to have dropped this in some half-penny pinching cost cutting move! I don’t buy the story that it was dropped because people found it annoying as you simply grip the rewind knob as if to pull it open but twist slightly and as you do so one finger dislodges the catch. Simple, ‘invisible’ and fuss-free.<br>

<br />Anyway, finding it hard to believe that it could have just failed completely when other much older cameras, such as my FA, have not suffered the same fault I wondered if perhaps its a common fault with the F5 or maybe just caused my some trapped dirt or something and not an outright failure?<br>

<br />Looking at the Nikon UK website it looks like they're back accepting repairs again, after going through a spell four or so years ago when they turned everyone away to authorised independents such as Fixation - who incidentally and ironically I'm reluctant to go to because when I took my FA in there four or so years ago (hence discovering the Nikon outsourcing thing) the twit on the reception was yanking and yanking at the rewind knob trying to open the back without realising it had the safety catch ... so some Nikon specialist she was! Anyone know what Nikon UK’s minimum charge is thesedays, or what they may want for fixing the catch?</p>

<p>I've often used Kodachrome over the last 25 years and I must say the last year or two just isn't the same as it used to be. Its somehow grey, dull, lacking in oomph. And the fury flimsy cardboard mounts are shockingly tatty and worse than the pre-plastic cardboard things of the 60s and 70s.<br>

Seems to me that not only have Kodak got an end date fast coming up later this year for Kodachrome, but that they long since went past a can't be bothered who cares about the customer and our reputation any more date too. Of the large handful of films I have in the fridge I'm thinking I might just as well bin them and buy some Fujichrome instead.</p>

On a recent ski trip I took my A85 camera, and dabbled with the Snow scene

setting, in addition to manually over-exposing to correct for the snow, or

leaving it on Auto.

 

Reviewing pictures taken on the various modes, the "snow" setting consistently

produced the best results. Unsurprising, you might say, but then it got me

wondering what the camera is doing? As I say, even taking multiple pictures at

different 1/3 stop increments in manual, and varying the white balance on some

too, I could never get as good a photo as on the auotmatic Snow setting.

 

Does anyone know what the camera is doing settings-wise? Or is it just another

case when we have to acknowledge automatic digital cameras are superior to

either film or manually exposed digital photos? I took some 35mm photos too at

various exposures but in the light of the enhanced Canon "snow" setting

pictures, I'm not at all optimistic about the quality of those results when

they come back from processing.

The Nikon blurb says that with D Series lenses the flash fires an imperceptible

pre-exposure flash so that, along with the camera-subject distance information,

the camera can guage the reflectance of the subject and so tweak the actual TTL

exposure control. Presumably, a black or dark subject thereby getting less

exposure than it might in a non D Series lens, for which the camera would

continue to keep the flash lit so as to expose to the mystical 18% grey.

 

All fine in principle, and for anyone with a Nikon camera / flash system, very

very fine in practice too.

 

But my question is that I like to use daylight fill flash with a polarising

filter. The TTL exposure system can cope with the filter of course, but do

people have any experience or comments on how the pre-flash copes with what is

effectively a 1 or 2 stop ND filter? My logic suggests the preflash comes back

to the camera 'weak' (because of the filter), the camera thinks the subject is

darker than it truly is, and so the resultant TTL exposure is marginally

underexposed ...?