mark_dyson3

<p>Guys, many thanks for the info/advice. Food for thought.</p>

<p>John/Greg - I'd heard of the "bang it on the floor" fix for EEE but didn't know the details, will give it a go.</p>

<p>Dave/Mark - I actually have a couple of FD lenses left, too (24/2.8 135/2.8, 50/1.4) so I intend selling those too. I'm not looking for/expecting loads of cash, I've had my money's worth over the last 20-odd years but I'd like them (and the bits and bobs) to go to a good home.....<br>

Thanks again...</p>

<p>Long time lurker here and pretty much an ex-FD user now.....(sorry!)</p>

<p>I'm probably going to have a clearout and have some T-90 accessories (300TL, a couple of focus screens, and a couple of the proper T90 eyecups) - are these things still sought after or did that market "peak" years ago?</p>

<p>Likewise, I have a T90 body which is pretty much mint condition but it has the dreaded EEEE error (left usused too long, my bad!) - try to sell "as is" or try to get it serviced first? (I recall the T90 was pretty expensive to service, not sure if this is economically viable).</p>

<p>I am in the UK, might consider sticking it all in the Classifieds on here, doesn't look like FD kit is popular with UK dealers these days......</p>

<p>Any advice?</p>

Do pretty much what you're doing now - listen for the leader coming off the spool, BUT release the battery chamber rather than turning it off - So as you start to rewind twist the battery chamber release but hold the battery chamber in place (it's spring loaded). As the film comes off the spool, release pressure on the battery chamber and the spring loading will pop the chamber out enough to break the circuit. Rewind stops, leader is left out (if you get the timing right).

(Not sure if this will make sense, but hopefully you get the idea !!)

It looks like my digital Ixus is about to die, it's out of warranty and the

repair cost is pretty high so I've been looking round for a replacement.

One thing that occurs to me is that all the likely replacements from whatever

manufacturer (Canon, Pentax, Casio, Nikon etc etc) are so very similar. By this

I mean they've all (well the ones I've looked at) got a 35-105mm (equivalent)

f2.8-f4.9 lens (or thereabouts), 2.5" LCD screen, and most have the same "four

way controller" on the back.

Call me cynical, but this leads me to consider that maybe there's just one big

factory somewhere turning out the "guts" of P&S digicams, then the individual

manufacturers put on their own case, and add firmware with a few fancy "gadget

modes" or whatever.

Any comments/confirmations/rebuttals to my theory? (Or maybe I'm thinking too

hard about it and this is just a stupid question.....)

With the high-end DSLRs (EOS1Ds/5D, D2X/D200D et al), general opinion seems to

be that "good glass" is needed, otherwise lens flaws tend to be exposed and

image quality compromised. Fair enough.

Now we're seeing 10Mp compact cameras (e.g. newly announced Canon A640), I'm

curious to know whether the same holds true as the higher pixel count seems to

come with the same lens as lower res "siblings" in the same range. Does this

mean the higher resolution is in some part wasted? Or is the lens capable of

"showing the best" of a 10Mp sensor?

For the record this is just an "idle curiosity" question on my part. I don't

use high end gear (a Nikon D70 is good enough for me). And I am aware that there

is more to image quality than Mp, and a lot of the "new cameras every few

months" is largely marketing, just wondered on the technical aspect of this....

Night ot be EXACTLY what you're after but how about this one:

http://medfmt.8k.com/third/

Cheers, Mark.

I haven't checked exhaustively, but if you're in the UK (as it seems you are) you also might want to check out the prices at:

http://www.xlshop.com

http://www.onlinememory.co.uk

http://www.mymemory.co.uk

I've used all three in the past, fast delivery, no complaints at all (I have no other link to them other than as a customer).

Cheers,

Mark.

Not sure if this is of interest or not....a couple of stories fromt he BBC website last week:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4824628.stm

and, one day later:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4828686.stm

Cheers,

Mark.

Maybe try this if you haven't already:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare.asp

Personally, I went for a Canon Ixus, but of course your requirements might/will be different to mine.....

Cheers,

Mark.

I have original and "aftermarket" in my Canon Ixus and Nikon D70, the aftermarket ones perform perhaps slightly better than the originals (subjective assessment). And they (aftermarket) were half the price.

Take a look at:

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Af6u

for other views on this. For the record the above thread made up my mind to try aftermarket batteries.

Cheers,

Mark.

Perhaps I am being impatient, but....

I registered my battery on the Nikon UK website a few weeks ago, and

I've heard nothing since (according to the website, "On receipt of

your application you will be sent a pre-paid postal packet in which to

return your battery...").

I waited a little while until I thought the "rush" would be over, can

anyone give me an idea of how long I should wait, or should I chase up

Nikon by phone?

Cheers, Mark.

I'd agree with the answer above, i.e. scan at the highest resolution/bit depth. That way if you ever decide you need a bigger print, you're sorted.

Have a look at www.scantips.com for some general advice(useful if you're just starting out in scanning, whcih it sounds like you are).

Happy Scanning,

Mark.

I have a Digital Ixus 430 (UK version of the Elph something-or-other). I had a similar choice when I wanted a spare battery and went for a 10GBP generic rather than a 35GBP Canon battery. If anything (and of course this is subjective) the generic battery has more capacity than the original Canon one that came with the camera.

I'd say go for the generic battery.....

Try downloading Raw Shooter Essentials from www.pixmantec.com. It's free and fully functional with no time limit (I understand there is or soon will be a "professional" version with more features that's not free).

I was disappointed in how the D70's RAW files looked "flat and lifeless" until I tried RSE, now I understand why so many people recommed RAW capture....

(Reading the above it sounds like a cheap line from a 1970's advert, but there you go.....)

Jose,

Not a specific answer but I use a non Canon battery in my Ixus 430 P&S (it cost 10GBP rather than 35GBP for the Canon brand) and it seems just as good as the Canon in terms of holding it charge and number fo shots.

Also take a look at this thread (which helped me make up my mind):

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00Af6u

(Sorry, I haven't got the hang of making clickable links.

Cheers,

Mark.

Dunno about the price, but would it be THAT difficult for Nikon to put the Kodak 14 Megapixel sensor in a D2x type body?

Of course that would proably kill off D2X sales, so maybe that's why they haven't...yet.

I have an FTB (not "n") but I think apart from cosmetic changes they're the same camera...

Metering is taken from the central rectangle (slightly dimmed area) ONLY, pretty much like a spot meter but over a wider area. The reason for the darker area is that there's a semi-silvered mirror embedded in the focussing screen which reflects a small percentage of light onto the metering photocell....

Cheers,

Mark.

Sam,

I have an Ixus 430 as a pocket camera and have it permanently set to "low sharpening" so that I can USM in Photoshop later.

The images don't have blurred edges....

Simon,

You might want to take a look at:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/20dd70.htm

The guy has a Nikon bias, and gets a lot of flak on photo.net but so long as you don't treat hi as your SOLE source of information his site is generally informative.

Cheers,

Mark.

Steve,

I got a D70 with 18-70 a couple of weeks back. My lens is exactly the same as yours so I guess it's normal....picture qulity seems fine.

I do seem to recall reading this to be the case some months ago when I was still deciding whether or not to buy.

Cheers,

Mark.

Not sure if this helps but...

The UK magazine "Amateur Photographer" has a review of this lens in the current issue (dated 30th April). Their tests aren't published online but I think you can re-order them if you can't get hold of the magazine...