heimbrandt

If it works correctly at -20, I would not really bother with it unless it is under warranty. After all, it is an old lens of limited economic value. It may even come back with a note that it is within specs. Beeing ”a bit of a collector”, I assume you have other lenses? If so, do they exhibit the same amount of back focus? If so, I would say it is the camera needs an adjustment. Keep in mind that screw driver lenses have some play in them. The D version came 1992, so your lens may have seen a fair share of use over the years.

Look further than the Sigma 100-400. Look into the Tamron 150-600G2 or Nikon 200-500VR. The Nikkor 300/4 and TC-14EII combo is very good, but the zooms are more versatile and offer more reach. For bird photography, reach is critical. If you are considering the D5300 or the D7100, go for the D7100. Many complain about its shallow buffer for burst photography, but with a a fast memory card and some awareness when shooting, that will not stop you from getting excellent action shots. Its af is better that the D5300 and af is important for wildlife. Both offer a substantial upgrade to what you have, but the D7100 will keep you happy for longer.

A smaller lightsource placed close to your subject gives a light equally soft to a larger lightsource placed further away. Can you place your light closer without it beeing in the way in your shot? Have you tried placing your umbrella slightly closer to your flash or collapsing it just a bit to make it smaller? Spill light can be a problem with umbrellas, but there are spill kills that you can attach to umbrellas. Generally speaking, getting a softbox is a good idea. They are highly versatile light shapers.

Do you really need to change gear in order to change style? Take the photos you want, why care if it is trendy or not? A great photo is a great photo regardless. I appreciate using my 85mm tilt/shift lens for portraiture as it allows me to get anything from extremely shallow depth of field to a large depth of field. Another trend is (over)using flash in daylight, thanks to HSS and high-ISO becoming increasingly better. That more and more people do it does not stop me from using flash (even my ringflash) outdoors if I want to take such a portrait. @michaelmowery, when you mention 3D quailities, I think of the photos I took 20 years ago with my Pentax 67 - I really liked the look it gave.

Another thread here about water splash photography using HSS made me curious, so I gave it a go. This one is shot at 1/8 000s using Hi-Sync (which is not the same as HSS). Nikon D850, AF-S 24-120/4VR, Elinchrom ringflash

The ringflash does not have a separate reflector, only a diffuser which I took off, so yes a hard reflector would be correct. And yes, I shoot full frame.

To complicate matters further; according to their marketing, Elinchrom have heads that have their shortest flash duration at full power - contrary to many other manufacturers. I do believe that is why their ”weak” 400Ws heads/packs do so well with freezing action or overpowering the sun for high speed work in broad daylight. Elinchrom Hi-Sync does not emitt a pulse, but I do believe the Elinchrom HSS mode of the ELB500 does (it has both modes). When I tried my 400Ws ringflash yesterday, I got F11-16 @1.5’ and ISO 125 with 1/8000s. The pack was not at full power, if I recall correctly, I had about 1.5 stops more to use if I wanted to. Why not make a shortlist and try to rent the options you may have narrowed it down to?

Elinchrom's Hi-Sync is not the same as HSS. There is more about it here: THE HI-SYNC EXPERIENCE Dutch photographer Hans van Eijsden has measured the flash duration of his Elinchroms for every selectable power setting: Studio Lights: How to Take the Sharpest Pictures with Every Camera • Hans van Eijsden Photography It tells most of the story, as it does not take Hi-Sync into account. Water splash photography is really not my speciality and I have a lot to learn about it. I did a quick test, pouring water into a glass. When I used my ringflash (long flash duration) I got blurred water at 1/250 but sharp droplets at 1/8000 (Hi-Sync). My Action heads (short flash duration) froze droplets at 1/250. My ringflash is suitable for Hi-Sync, whereas my Action heads are not. I do not have the HS heads (which are specific for high speed sync), only the S and A heads; Elinchrom recommends the HS head for outdoor Hi-Sync. Indoors, they recommend the Action heads for stopping motion. Having said that, the ELCs appear to be capable of splash photography, even though they neither are recommended for Hi-Sync nor have the shortest flash duration: THE PIGMENTS I second rodeo_joe|1's suggestion on renting. Not only are you in for a substantial investment, you are also asking about a field not all studio photographers work in, so not all pro dealers can advice you.

Like Swedish Profoto, Swiss Elinchrom strobes are also very consistent between shots in terms of power and color temperature, regardless of power setting. Elinchrom also have several models with short flash duration. Have you looked into the Elinchrom ELC Pro HD series with a Transmitter Pro for Canon? Elinchrom US > Compacts > ELC Pro HD Another option could be the ELB1200, which is both available with an action head for short flash duration, a standard head and a high sync head. There is also a dock for the the ELB1200, if you do not want to run it off its battery in the studio. The Transmitter Pro gives you full control over the flashes, their individual power settings for both flash and modelling lights and does high speed sync for outdoor use. If TTL is a must, Elinchrom only offer one model, the battery powered ELB 500. I am using Elinchrom's battery flashes and really like both their flashes and modifiers. I do also have a pair of older Elinchrom monolights, but they have not seen much use since I got the battery powered system. The USB RX transceiver and computer software sounds quite like Profoto's solution for complete control over the studio from a laptop. It allows you to save various lighting setups for different jobs/clients. Depending on how you shoot, it can be a plus that Elinchrom lights are controllable from some Gossen and Sekonic light meters. In addition to triggering the flash via radio, they can also change the power output directly from the light meter. If flash duration matters much, the Sekonic 858 can display the measured flash duration in milliseconds. The ELC/ELB series display the flash duration for each power setting on their display. It is worth noting that Elinchrom uses an absolute power scale for all their flashes. A setting of 4 equals the same output regardless of flash, be it 250Ws or a 1200Ws. Profoto uses a relative scale so a 5 only means the same output for flashes of the exact same model. If you know you will never mix flash models, that may not matter to you.

If you are using the Nikon SB-29 on your Fuji, you need to set flash power manually. TTL mode is not compatible with other than Nikon film cameras with TTL, it will not work with modern Nikon digital cameras either. Your flash is probably is firing at full power, which would explain your overexposed shots. If you have the SB-29, you can set power to 1/1 (M) and 1/4. If you have the SB-29S , you also have the option of 1/32.

Photo.net is a photography community, where sharing and commenting on photos for inspiration is a key reason for coming here, equal to discussing equipment. Hence my question, I am sorry if I offended you in any way. Since the posted image was not 3:2, I was curious about what was left out when cropped to (nearly) 1:1. I do photograph birds myself so I am well aware of the challenges and the difficulty in getting a photo that is both aesthetically pleasing, sharp and perfectly framed. I always keep the tripod collar lock screw loose so I can change from vertical to landscape or vice versa in an instant. Sometimes it helps, but more often that instant is still too long and the moment has passed. Mike's edit makes it really fly, that makes it a photo I would make a large print from and hang on the wall.

How much have you cropped, is the entire reflection in the unedited frame? It is a very nice photo as it is and I do know it is difficult to frame action shots, but I think that the reflection would make it even better.

When I think of quality of light I think of several things I like about my Elinchrom system. Some are measurable and part of the flash units: Ideal and consistent colour temperature with no discernible variation over the power range and between shots and between units (packs/head). Consistency in power changes and between units (packs/heads). Some aspects of light quality with regards to modifiers are also measurable: Colour temperature (poor modifiers may introduce a colour cast) Even light output. My biggest modifier is an indirect Elinchrom octa measuring 190 cm (6’ 2.8”). It produces a remarkably even light with no discernible fall off. I often use it as background. My smaller Rotalux octa and PortaLites also produce a very even and soft light. In part, I believe it is thanks to their internal diffuser (a set of deflectors); a translucent, white, silver and gold disc that goes just above the flash tube and thus reducing any centre hot spot. In part, I also think it is because the front diffuser is flush to the edge of the softbox. However, that is not necessarily a good thing. So yes, beauty is not always about the softest and most even light. Another favourite is an old Photoflex MulitDome HV3 softbox. Compared to the Rotalux softboxes, it is terrible; it needs its internal silver reflectors to correct its slightly yellow colour cast (its white material is not and never have been pure white). Its front diffusor is recessed and I appreciate its soft fall off for portraits - especially when used with a grid. With regards to previous comments about hammerheads vs hot shoe flashes in another thread; could it be that those who claim hammerheads produce a more pleasing output attribute it to the larger size of the hammerheads flash tube (roughly twice as large as most speedlights)?

Nikon D850, AF 50/1.8D

How does the haze vary from shot to shot, if it is not consistent? Does anything else vary as well then, like the distance from your subject(s) to your background or their colour? May I ask how you have metered the background lights, do you use a flashmeter or the camera’s histogram/rear display? Are your background lights really set to the lowest power that will still give a pure white background? I would try lowering them to see if that is not the problem.

Without more information, it is difficult to say. It may very well be because the flash is TTL but the wireless receivers are more recent and meant for iTTL.

I will start off 2019 with the last photo I took in 2018. Taken when we were getting ready to celebrate New Year's Eve. Nikon D850, PC-E85/2.8D

Lumu offers incident readings with their iPhone app, however their hardware is priced like a brand new lightmeter from Gossen or Sekonic. My first handheld lightmeter was a very old Weston Master II and I had a Minolta Autometer IVF for many years. I do not think you should look for a more expensive lightmeter than say a used Minolta or Sekonic 308. In general, the more expensive options are more for people who know why they need them. If your ambition is just to snap away for fun, a fleamarket find, like an old Weston, might suffice. If you do want to test manual photography more seriously, I would suggest you look for a Minolta Autometer III/f, IVF or a used Sekonic 308 on eBay.

Yes, that is why I mentioned Nikon’s SnapBridge app in my previous post. It uses the GPS data from the smartphone and records it to the NEF file as you shoot. However, it is a bit of hit and miss. A friend uses it all the time and is happy with it whereas I have connectivity problems (we both use D850 with the same fw and the same version of the app for the same mobile plattform.)

Another option is using the SnapBridge app on a compatible smartphone and add geotags as you shoot. However, I am not a fan of Nikon’s wireless capabilities so I understand if you would prefer finding another solution.

Illka, while it sounds plausible, I would sooner think it is to save the battery from draining completely from accidental shooting than saving shutter actuations.

According to the manual, you are not experiencing bugs. In SL1 mode the camera is not affexted by the number set in Max Continuous Release. It is not in SL2 either, but then it is limited to shooting for three seconds (the number of shots are controlled by the drive mode CL/CH). SL1/2 do have some limitations, which are mentioned in the manual. Since the MCR setting is not mentioned, I would conclude SL1/2 are supposed to override MCR. The same goes for bracketing. The manual clearly states that it will shoot and stop once the bracketing sequence is done. In self timer mode it also mentions that the MCR setting is not active and that it will take a shot every time the release button is pressed. If I have set MCR to 3 and BR to 9, I would expect the camera to finish the BR sequence as the latter number is session specific (actually it is not since it is saved as a BR setting but the use of BR is session specific). I consider the MCR a limiter for spray and pray use. SL1 and bracketing are special use cases, which I would say should not be affected by MCR as those are manually selected by the user for a special reason. The same goes for number of shots in a focus shift setup (where the manual says you can select up to 300 shots, thus clearly disabling MCR as that stops at 200 shots). I have not used the intervalometer, but that also allows you to set the number of shots per interval. The D850 does offer a lot of settings and it does take quite some time to figure out all dependencies for some settings.