._._z

"When buying cams, I only consider those with the loudest and baddest sounding shutter. "

 

Bronica S2a. It'll knock loose your fillings.

"I will no longer entertain a battle of words with a faceless, nameless adversary."

 

I was having a discussion, and a disagreement. If you want to pretend you were in a battle then go ahead, but please do not pretend you won anything.

Best bargains right now:

 

Pentax K200D (10MP with in-body stabilization) with kit lens is now under $600 after $100 mail-in rebate. (By comparison, the Nikon D80 with 18-55 kit lens sells for $850. It uses a similar chip to the one in the Pentax [sony provides them to both companies], with a more robust body but without image stabilization.)

 

Olympus E-510 (also 10MP with in-body stabilization, just supplanted by the E-520 model) with two kit lenses (14-42mm and 40-150mm lenses [28-84mm and 80-300mm equivalents]) is just $650, or $530 with just the 14-42mm kit lens. (The E-520 with 14-42 kit lens is $700)

You can use a white card, or a commercial grey card, or something like an Expodisc.

 

Or you could just shoot RAW and apply WB changes to your images in post-production.

"I am planning to purchase a Canon 40D because I can get a cashback of 200 euros, which makes the price 943 euros very attractive, but the included lens is a 17-85mm lens. I see that lots of people got other lens suggested. I am planning to take portraits, travel and indoor pictures. Maybe its better to buy the body seperatley and take another lens, or should the 17-85 be fine ?"

 

If the 17-85 lens cannot be removed without losing the cashback offer, take it and use it. It's a pretty decent lens, but like all basic kit lenses, nothing spectacular. You'll then have time to decide whether it's enough for you and what other lens(es) you might need.

He doesn't understand politics either. He just knows the stats and the players and the stories of the day. Like a lobotomized David Broder.

 

But he's quite charming at parties.

"I suggest we simply ignore the poor chap... "

 

And you're doing such an EXCELLENT job of it....

 

"I have no practical experience circling wagons"

 

Maybe you don't have the 'fortitude or resolve.' ROFL.

Maher, you need to grow up a little ("Fully expecting Z to have them go off in his pants").

 

Duane, anyone who doesn't want to listen to reason, doesn't have to. :)

 

It's always interesting to see the wagons circling among the True Believers....

http://www.whcc.com will print and mat.

"I expect any Nikon "prosumer" FX body will be at least $3000."

 

It's hard to say. Maybe competition will drive prices down. I know a former Nikon employee who is now a consultant for them, and he said (and all he said) to me in January was he expects a full-frame price war by Christmas '08.

 

Canon is said to come out with a 5D replacement-upgrade in the $3200 space, but there are also rumors of lower-end full-frame prosumer ff bodies from Canon and Sony closer to $2200. We don't know if Canon will introduce that 2nd ff body, and we don't know the pricing of Sony's definitely-coming ff body, but if the market does see that price-point, I Nikon's hand may be forced....

The K20D did little more than graft a Samsung processor to the K10D. But to use a full-frame sensor Pentax/Samsung need to offer a complement of high quality full-frame lenses, not merely bringing out 1980s-era designs, or else they'll stall out competitively. With the limited resources available to the company at this time I wonder how they'd be able to accomplish this.

"The Elves are indeed mysterious, but it's their taste... that drive the process. "

 

I had fricasséed elf once. Tasted like chicken.

How long?

You don't get complaints from a pro who was lent and then bought and used an M8?

 

Should he only have dared offered an opinion if it was positive?

Wet scans on a $12,000 flatbed matching a $13000 Imacon? Um, I'll take your word on it. Now, how much longer will it take Antoni to scan those 5,000 negatives with wet mounting, Charles?

"I think it's one more scare story by people on this forum who for some reason feel threatened by the Oly 4/3 cameras."

 

That's a bit of damn foolishness. I just recommended the E-420 to someone on another thread this morning.

 

Diffraction IS an issue.

 

And Stefan, I said 4/3 is a good choice if you usually don't intend to print larger than 8x10, not that you 'can't print larger than 8x10.' Compare 11x14s from a 4/3 camera and, say, a Canon 40D, at anything above ISO 400, and you may see real differences.

Best bang for (little) buck is Alien Bees, which have been in the market for around seven or eight years, and have a good reputation.

 

http://www.alienbees.com/

 

Biggest knock against them is the puny 150W quartz modeling lamp.

That's Charlie Rose.

I suspect that most of your daytime shots could be made with the 24-105 on the 5D. Take ther 17-40 if you can handle the weight. (Personally, I'd leave it home.)

 

But you're a little screwed when the light gets low. Spend $80 on a 50/1.8, and take it and the 24-105 and you should be very happy. Take the 17-40 too and you might be a mite happier, but wearier.

 

As for the G9, it's a great little package, but for the same price you could get an Olympus E-420 (body just two ounces more than the G9) *with* the rather decent kit lens.

Contact the library for specifics, and recommendations.

 

If it does require a 1Ds2, you can rent one for around $200/day $650/week in the USA. Or look for an MFA student or local photojournalist with the necessary experience and gear (including lighting) who'll do it for you for that price.

Just curious: how much are they renting the cards for? If it was cheap I'd consider renting one just to use recovery software on it and see what other people had shot. (I said I was curious.)

 

;~)

"yes, diffraction limiting does start at around f/11 on 4/3rds, however this is at the SAME DOF as you would hit diffraction limits on APS-C or FF."

 

That is inaccurate and ignores the physics of the situations for 4/3, APS and full-frame.

"Four Thirds is here to stay, with Olympus, Leica, Panasonic and Sigma on board. Rumour has it that Tamron will enter the fray"

 

Rumor has it that Panasonic is leaving the 4/3 market too.

 

Sigma and Leica only sell a couple of their lenses in 4/3 format.

 

"Four Thirds is here to stay, with Olympus, Leica, Panasonic and Sigma on board. Rumour has it that Tamron will enter the fray"

 

Andrea, because of the 2x magnification factor Olympus is a good choice as long as you (a) usually don't intend to print larger than 8x10 and (b) understand that four-thirds cameras have diffraction issues (based on sensor size and other factors) that result in reduced resolution earlier than you'll see in larger sensors from Canon (usually around f/11). For ultimate sharpness you might not want to use an Olympus with an aperture smaller than f/8

 

For more info on diffraction, see:

 

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/diffraction-photography.htm

 

Examples of diffraction: these two blog posts demonstrate the effect of diffraction in the Canon G9, which has 12MP packed into a sensor sized much smaller than DSLRs; in the case of this camera, diffraction effects begin around f/5.6:

 

http://www.bigmikephotoblog.com/2008/03/diffraction-eff.html

 

http://www.bigmikephotoblog.com/2008/03/g9-at-wide-angl.html

It might be your favorite, but it is not a wide angle lens. It is a 'normal' focal length on full-frame.

Those of you who are claiming that flatbeds are as good as dedicated scanners -- sorry, you're just flat-out wrong, especially for someone whose goal is "to produce files as good as the raw files the Pentax k10d produces."