hjoseph7

Why not just use Manual flash power, therefore no pre-flash ?

When I was shooting Youth Sports where the average was 300 Individual portraits + Team Shots per session, something like these backs might have come handy. We use to use cards as the numbering/identifying system meaning that each kid would hand us their paper-work and we would give them a card with a number on it. The kid would hold up the number and we would take a single shot of that, then take the following 2 pictures without a number. This worked most of the time, but sometimes we had to shoot "twins" that looked exactly alike. Sometimes the parents wanted brother/sister, brother/brother, sister/sister shots. Sometimes we had to take extra pictures for Divorced parents and of course sometimes we use to drop the cards and the numbers would get all mixed up. This use to drive the guys at the Lab crazy !

The MF24 is a beast. Imagine taking one to a Football game, Yikes ! I did work once with a photographer that used one beleive it or not. We were taking portraits of family and pets to raise money for Fire Departments around my neighborhood. I did not have one of course, but the photographer who used one was a die-hard Nikon fan and insisted I should get one. I only lasted 3 weeks on that job...

I thought they were going to do away with CAPTCHA ? It's a big time consumer and can be very frustrating when you are in a hurry...

In my opinion, If the NY Times wins this law suit, its going to be a huge monkey-wrench for A.I. including the more 'creative' uses of this new technology... https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/27/business/media/new-york-times-open-ai-microsoft-lawsuit.html

"I personally find them worse than trying to program an 80s VCR, and I dislike them because I've inadvertently turned on in-frame printing before when I meant to have it off or thought I was doing between frame..." Thank's, it might not be worth it but good to have if you need to keep track of your film for some reason... These features are not too bad: Nikon Multi-Control Back MF-23 is designed exclusively for Nikon F4 Series cameras. The MF-23 permits the imprinting of any data specific to the film and image (i.e date, time frame number, shutter speed, aperture, exposure, etc.). In addition, MF-23 offers choice of imprint location. Additional features include: Interval-Timer, freeze focus to automatically release shutter a preset focus position, auto exposure bracketing, exposure delay, long time exposure, and stop functions.

I was watching a Review on Youtube the other day, for the Nikon F4 a camera which I purchased last year from Japan. This is when I noticed that the F4 the host was reviewing had some type of fancy Back ? I managed to get the name of the Back a Nikon MF-23 Multi Control Back. My Nikon FM2n came with a Data Back, but I never used it because I could not find the cable that attaches the Back to the camera no matter how hard I tried. I decided to remove it because it made the camera too bulky. Whith that said, I decided to do a search on [Nikon MF-23] and sure enough some units popped up that were on sale. I then decided to download the manual from here: https://www.butkus.org/chinon/nikon/nikon_mf_backs/nikon_mf-23/nikon_mf-23.htm Wow, this thing does everything, but tie your shoes in the morning ! it doesn't use a cable either, as far as I know. It certainly is more sophisicated than my FM2n Datat Back. I mean the manual for this thing is almost as long as the manual for the F4 camera. One thing, the manual states that after several years, the LCD screen for this Back k starts to fade and you have to take it to a Nikon service center(bummer). I'm not sure if I should take a chance, because my camera is actually several decades old ! It takes 2 LR44 batteries, but nothing is mentioned about how data gets imprinted on the film. Does this thing use some special type of special ink ? Or maybe a Laser, I don't know ? Has anyone used one of these backs before and can tell me about it ?

I know it's a terrible thing to talk about and I apologize, but I Insured about half of my photographic equipment through Hartford Photographers Insurance which cost me about $38 per month. This is mandatory for me since I cannot get any Real-Estate photography Gigs without any insurance. Currently, the Main-Dial on my Canon 6D, the camera that I use for work is failing. I asked Canon for a Quote and they came back with a $425 + shipping. That is about the same price as a Used Canon 6D on ebay. Since I have been paying The Hartdford for a few years now, this Post reminded me that I can maybe file a claim and see what happens. I also have home-owners insurance ($18.95) per month, but I'm not sure what that covers ? Getting back to your camera, since it's relatively new, it's going to pretty hard finding parts for it on the used market(That's if you or somebody is willing to fix it). I know it's kind of aggravating, but maybe your best bet is to keep it as a back-up. You might also be able to put it up for sale AS-IS, or for parts only. Having a camera like that with flaws is like driving a Mercedes Benz with a big dent on it. This is not the only horror story I have heard about cameras taking a dip into fresh or salt water. They pop-up on PN from time to time. This is why I stay clear from any water if possible when carrying equipment. Sometimes I have to take my camera out in pouring rain, or snow while shooting properties, but I make sure to wrap it up in a camera protective sleeve. https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/891383-REG/ruggard_rc_p18_18_plastic_rain_cover.html I have several of them in my camera bag. This is also why I'm not getting rid of my Manual SLR's any time soon. The good thing is that your camera is 90% functional as you say. The bad thing is that anything can happen in the near future. I once took a very expensive lens out in the pouring rain(Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS). Even though I had a sleeve on it, when I tried to sell it, the Buyer told me that the lens had Condensation inside so he could only give me a certain amount for it. I lost a lot of money on that sale and the lens still worked perfectly ! Unfortunately, I needed the money. Maybe you can find an electronic shop that might be willing to look at it. Taking it to Nikon is like taking your car back to the Dealer. They won't touch it unless they have the OEM parts on hand....

A long time ago, I'm guessing 2007-2008 I purchased a pretty expensive Ball-Head from Slik. I favored this company because I alread had 2 tripods and another Ball-head(which I still use). This new Ball Head (SBH-320) could handle more weight than my orginal SBH280 BH. Unfortunatelly, I let it sit for nearly a year before I started using it and the Manufacture's Warranty had expired when I did start using it. Later on, I was invited to an Event where I needed to use some pretty long and heavy lenses, so I brought along my new Ball Head the SBH-320. Unfortunatelly the Quick Release clip on the adpter that is made from plastic(see picures below), broke off in the middle of the shoot ! This meant I could not remove the mounting plate from the underside of the camera. I wanted to switch cameras so I could shoot Wide angle with one camera and Tele with the other, but since I could not remove the mounting plate I was stuck with just one camera. No Biggie, I thought, maybe I could fix it when I got home. What I found out when I got home was the only way to remove the mounting plate from the Quick Release adapter was to use a butter knife and push the little red button down so the Lever could be moved forward enough to release the mounting plate from the adapter. THERE IS NO WAY TO FIX THIS THING SINCE ALL THE PARTS ARE BOLTED ON. Oh no, I said to myself, now I would have to carry a butter knife with me everytime I used this Ball Head ! I called Slik, but at the time their only option for me was to buy another expensive SBH-320 Ball Head with Quick Release Adaper(pLastic clip and all) with Mounting plate. They must have got a lot of complaints for that plastic clip because a few years later they came out with an adapter with a Metal clip(see pictures below). Unfortunately, it is no longer available at B&H or anywhere(as far as I know). B&H still sells an adapter with metal clip for $29.99(please see picture below), but it has a diffent thread and won't fit the SBH-320 BH. It will fit the SBH-280 !? I since move on to other Ball Heads, but I still have the SBH-320 which is now an expensive paper-weight.

"Add to this making images at least 1400px wide, and for portrait orientation, a minimum of 800px, and things get even better." Due to the size of this Forum where people are posting their images left and right, there has to be a way to keep the size of the images down, otherwise they might have to start asking us for Fees to cover the cost of the added space requirements. Personal websites like Smugmug where you can post your pictures no matter what size usually don't have these restrictions. I usually don't go over 950px horizontal, or 950px vertical when posting to PN, but I haven't tried anything bigger. There use to be a BIG Stop sign that your images went past the maximum of 800px, but I think they have since increased the Posting size at least with this version of PN.

The FM3a is a combination FM2n and FE2 with some added 'minor' features, I forget which ones ? You can get both the FM2n and the FE2 for less than an FM3a. The FM2n is all mechanical(except for the light meter), the FE2 has aperture prioty so it requires a battery for those functions as well as the light meter, but it can also be set to mechanical by setting the shutter speed to 1/250. I have both cameras and absolutely love them. In my opinion the FM2n has a slightly better exposure meter, but you can't go wrong with either camera. The FM3a came out right around the time of the Digita Revolution. Not many of them were made which keeps the Prices up.

A few months ago, I shot a wedding and my second photographer blew some of my pictures away with an Canon R10 and a cheap Canon lens. Meanwhile, I was taking pictures with a canon 6D and 'L' series lenses. The R10 had way more dynamic range and seemed to focus better that my 6D I have to admit. However, it did not take into account other photographic skills, such as composition and timing.

Believe it or not, we are now living in the Electronic-Digital age. The mechanical age was wonderful, but hings have gotten much simpler now. I still admire some of the cameras from the mechanical age in that there is not much wrong that can go with them. Not only that, they were built much better than they are now. That also means they were heavier and bulkier and not as precise, but we didn't complain much back then.

If I had a choice between a Canon 5D IV and lets say a Canon EOS R5 or R6, I would probably go for the Canon 5D IV. If I was younger, maybe my decision would be different. If you visit a BestBuy(Electronic Retailer) these days you might see a display of mirrorless digital cameras and DSLR's right next to each other. The 5D Mark IV does stick out because of its size ! At first you might think you are looking at a camera from a bygone era, a "Dinosaur", but if you look closely the 5D Mark IV seems to be better built. More robust, rugged and able to handle life's riggors. The mirroless camera look and feel much cheaper. Then there are the Consumer DSLR's like the Canon 90D, or the Rebel starter cameras which are not much bigger than a mirrorless camera, if size is a major concern for you. If you pick up one of these cameras this is where the big differences comes in. The mirrorless cameras use an EVF(Electronic View Finder) while the DSLR use the traditional Optical View Finders. To me, the optical viewfinder gives you a more natural view of the outside world, but others might think differently. Looking through an EVF is almost like viewing a clip from a surveillance camera. You are sort of separated from the real world. Yes, mirroless cameras have a lot of new options that were very hard if not impossible to incorporate into DSLR's, like focus peaking, and blanket auto-focus points, but not having these options never stopped anyone from taking great pictures. Then come the lenses, I guess you could sell all of your current lenses and replace them with all mirrrorless lenses, but at a not so small cost. I still would not mind owning a cheap mirrorless camera such as an R10, or M50 just for the sake of owning one, but I don't think I would go any further just to remain in vogue.

Its not just color, but sharpening as well. I usually have to oversharpen my images before I post on PN.

I doubt that Novatron would downgrade their monolights by half, that is outrageous ! Novatron was my second choice for Monolights before I decided to go Alienbees. They make good products. Have you tried using a flash-meter to determine the output ?