tom_luongo1

Miles,

<p>

Do you regularly re-format your card before every shoot? How many images are on your card when this

happens? Do you delete images while you shoot?

<p>

I use Extreme III cards and I occasionally see this sort of thing with the D300. It seems to happen more

frequently when I have many images on the card. The Extreme IV isn't necessarily going to give you

better performance. The FAT32 directory structure used by the Nikon could still cause performance

issues if the data is fragmented.

<p>

The most extreme instance where I ran into this was when I inadvertently hit the 999 images per folder

limit. When chimping the 1000th shot, the camera noticeably froze while the card access light stayed

lit for a few seconds. Then it gave the appearance that only the last image was visible. (I wasn't

chimping during the prior shots, and I've never seen the camera freeze while shooting - only during

playback.)

<p>

I later figured out the camera was set to display the current folder only and it had automatically created

a new folder for me. The "freeze" during playback I attribute to some sort of data playback or data

recording issue. For example, if the directory info needed had to be written onto a new sector of the

card and the new sector was not contiguous.

<p>

Card read/write performance would be optimal only when the data is on contiguous and you don't really

have any way to control this. The computer/camera needs to read/write from the file allocation table

(FAT) near the beginning of the card while also reading/writing from the image file that is near the end of

the card. Some, if not all, cards automatically remap bad sectors so even if reading/writing from

contiguously addressed data sectors the underlying physical sectors might not be contiguous.

<p>

So if regular re-formats don't address the issue, try a different card.

In addition to my response above, I've also seen this happen occasionally when I do a rename shortly after importing files. (No collections, XMP, or moving files involved.)

 

Like Bill says, something is caching a file or metadata or building a preview or something. If I unselect/select the images and try to rename a minute or two later, it works.

lex, if the ad, or small parts of the ad, are reproduced for critical discussion, that comes under the fair use rules of copyright law. Nikon certainly wouldn't have their ad being discussed whereever.

The wired release probably has some simple circuitry in it to "debounce" the switch.

If you wait a while at Amazon, I think you'll see it go up and down, maybe depending on what their inventory is. I saw this with the 85/1.4 about a year ago.

Smaller apertures work like point light sources and cast sharp shadows. Wider apertures work like diffuse light sources* and cause soft shadows. Not sure what you mean by "Being behind the rear element and on the focus plan" but the dust "on the sensor" is not on the sensor.

 

* The analogy to a diffuse light source is only an analogy. It doesn't really work exactly that way, but it's close enough.

Luminous Landscape has a tutorial to something similar but calls it <a

href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/contrast_masking.shtml"><b>Contrast Masking</b></a>.

This charger is nicer.

<p>

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=bc-700&x=0&y=0">LaCross

BC-700</a>.<br>

<p>

The BC-900 is virtually identical for the same price. Main difference seems to be the case color.

 

The LaCrosse units have test modes that will charge, discharge, and recharge the batteries to test actual

capacity.

 

I tried this on some no name batteries and found they were no where near the advertised rating. Some good

batteries tested as spec'ed and they last all day on a wedding shoot.

MD,

 

Try the experiment of holding a finger immediately in front of the lens. The finger will be extremely out of

focus due to depth of field - you might not even see it. A speck of dust inside the lens will be even more

invisible.

 

If enough dust accumulates, the lens _might_ lose some contrast but it will be a significant amount of dust

before you get to this point.

 

No single spec of dust is going to block a crucial spot of the scene.

 

And as Shun points out, the F mount uses a mechanical aperture lever. But at least some of the G lenses uses a

gasket where the lens aperture ring used to be. So even though the G lenses aren't compatible with some of the

older mechanical bodies, at least you gain the gasket sealing which should somewhat improve weather resistance.

The student may learn more from your wife than from you.

It's Marsh that does the insurance for PPA. I don't know about other groups. Marsh's phone number is 800-503-9227.

 

My insurance is currently through Marsh. But Hill & Usher's website seems to have a comprehensive tutorial about photography insurance. Remember that you should also have coverages such as Errors & Omissions, General Commercial Liability, and a few other things that you probably aren't even thinking of.

 

I will definitely consider Hill & Usher next time my renewal comes up.

Douglas, have you tried using Lightroom to view in Filename order?

 

If that works, you have a work around even though your camera is probably still broken.

I don't see how a slower card could possibly cause that sort of problem. If the card couldn't keep up, it would probably corrupt the files completely, not just the date-time stamp.

 

Ben - Are the file names in order? That should help keep things in sequence as long as you are not using multiple cameras. Note that there is a menu option to prevent the file name sequence from resetting when you put a new card in.

Another advantage or disadvantage of the D70/D80/D90 "non-pro" series is the mode knob on the top left side of

the camera. When I used a D70, I managed to occasionally knock it off where I set it. No such problem with the

X00 series cameras.

 

It's really a matter of what your priorities are. Money, features, or handling. Different cameras. Different

price points.

 

If the $1000 D90 makes sense over a D200, then an argument could be made that a new D80 at $600 makes sense,

especially if the sensor and video aren't necessary. The D80 and D90 look like they'll handle very similarly.

Do you really need to spend almost twice the money?

Just guessing on this, but an AA/blur/low pass filter would spread a point of light across three differently colored pixels of the R/G/B/G bayer pattern on the sensor and thus might help with color fidelity. The Sigma uses the Foveon three layer chip so this issue doesn't come into play.

 

The AA filter also minimizes the effect of dust, especially at larger f-stops.

Consider a used D200 which can now be had in good condition for about $750 at KEH. A bit more limited than the

D300, but a lot less cash, and you can either pocket the difference or use it to buy good glass.

 

A new D300 will lose a lot more value than the D200. But good glass will keep its resale value.

 

What kind of camera are you using now?

Yuck!

 

There are probably some who know this better, but since the clock has to run all the time, including when the camera is "off" or even when there is no EN-EL3e installed, it makes sense that the clock subsystem could malfunction separately from the main camera.

 

Are your file names at least in order?

 

Good luck.

Are the file names in order? That will give a hint as to what is wrong.

 

The menu item Ellis refers to is View / Sort Order / Capture Time.

 

The D300 (and just about every other digital camera) reads an internal clock and stores the capture time inside

the file, usually to a resolution of fractions of a second. If the camera is somehow not reading the fractions

of a second properly, this could be the cause. Of course you'd need to send the camera to Nikon for repair if

this is the case.

 

I'd think some sort of user error is more likely. But either way, please do follow up and let us know what happens.

Are you sure this isn't one of those scams where they want to send you a money order for more than the full amount?

 

You send the excess somewhere and find out several weeks later that the money order is fraudulent. You still end up on the hook even though it might take three weeks to bounce.

If you're not sure, try renting the Nikon 70-200/2.8 VR. I only had to do that once before buying one.

Sounds very strange. If it happens again, get the lens and camera checked by Nikon. There's also the standard test of trying a different lens on the body as well as trying the lens on a different camera if either of these are available.

 

I frequently shoot in Manual mode and the 17-55/2.8 is one of my favorite lenses. You should be able to select any aperture and any shutter speed irrespective of the menu setting that Ed is talking about.

 

If it were just a matter of automatically switching to f/4 or f/5.6, I'd attribute the behavior to your finger bumping the secondary command dial. But if it's not even letting you dial less than f/5.6, then something is wrong.

You haven't specifically said whether it is indoor or outdoor, daytime or nighttime, dark church or bright, though you do hint at a dark indoor church.

 

I've done at couple at no cost for friends or relatives. One friend paid for my gas and hotel bill to drive out of state for a few days. It was fun to hangout during the other events of the weekend and she was delighted with the results. The service itself was simple. No photography during the ceremony. Processional and recessional but nothing in between.

 

Another was my own niece. She's thrilled with the results so far but I still have a lot of work to finish processing and give her some kind of book. The pastor gave me free rein of the church - "I understand you're Tracy's uncle and she's comfortable with you so you can do whatever you want." Since there was plenty of available light I didn't use much flash since I wanted to minimize disturbing the service. She commented how great it was that I was walking all over the place, so I guess she didn't notice me _too_ much. :-)

 

If you shoot the sort of stuff that you have in your portfolio, you will do fine. You take pictures of people. All your nice wants is nice pictures of people on her wedding day. But reading photo.net's guide to wedding photography will be helpful too.

 

If this is something you might want to do more than once, you might also practice at one of those Craigslist postings looking for free wedding photography. Just make sure you write a contract that disclaims any results.

Jerd, it would help a little to post a sample. Are you getting effects in the shadows or only specular highlights? How significant are the effects?

 

A work around, not described in the manual, is to use FP mode and a shutter mode of 1/320 or faster. At the expense of limiting flash range, that causes the sync pulse from the on-board flash to occur before the first shutter opens.

The on-camera flash has to fire to trigger the SB-600. But you shouldn't notice any exposure contribution.

I meant BMG not BMI.