james_dawitt

Looks like I have my notifications turned off. <duh> I figured this would be a pretty strange question, Oh'well. I've been shooting since the 60's but rarely printed anything. When I did they were slides or medium format proof sheets. I shot Nikon and Canon 35mm and medium format (Pentax 6x7, 67). Anyway the cameras I have nowadays digital wise are; an old Canon ID Mark II, Panasonic GH1, GH3 (4:3), Fujifilm X100, Nikon D700. My kids have been bugging me forever for some prints and the reason for the small gallery I setup below. I usually ignore them but finally broke down. In all these years I've never thought about how the images would be cropped since I rarely made hard copies of anything.<BR><BR> https://squattingdog.smugmug.com/My-First-Gallery/ <BR><BR> I've always framed and composed my shots in the camera's viewport or LCD as I would want them printed. It never even entered my mind what size I 'actually' wanted them 'someday' to be printed while shooting. Of course the aspect ratio of the particular camera wasn't considered as well. I suppose my logic was if I were to sit down and compose and paint a landscape (or whatever) I wouldn't paint the scene I wanted to convey and then crop it sometime in the future. Now that I know that's incorrect I was simply wondering if some sort of camera crop window existed. I have the Katz focus screen on my D700 and on other cameras I've owned in the past, especially since I have a lot of old quality glass. <BR><BR> Regards, -JW:

Is there some sort of mask (like a focus screen) that allows you to view actual 'hard copy print size' of the image in your viewfinder or LCD depending on what aspect ratio your camera is configured for? For some reason I was under the impression that whatever you saw in the viewfinder or LCD would be printable and composed my images in that manner. Man was I ever surprised when I went to print something, especially something larger than 8x10. I realize you can print on a larger paper and have a large white frame around it. Regards ...

<p>I have a Panasonic GH3. I didn't think they made an adapter for that combination.</p> <p> </p>

<p>Thanks for the suggestions Ed. To my knowledge the read-out screen area in the 1D Mark II were commonly dim. If I recall someone made something called Brightscreens that helped a little but I never purchased one. I will see if I can dig one up and give it a shot. I also ordered a Hoodeye Eyecup that might help a bunch. Even indoors the meter is very difficult to read since it is so dim.<br> I focus wide open, then stop down if needed and lastly try and read the meter on the right side which is nearly impossible, then take the picture. </p>

<p>Another test image.</p><div></div>

<p>Ed,<br /> Is there a way to "brighten" the stock focusing screen? Seems any data displayed inside is just barely visible. Even with Canon L lenses the data is barely visible, even in a low light condition. I haven't seen the focus conformation light yet. I am totally satisfied with the quality of the glass but metering and focusing is tough with my worn out eyes.</p>

<p>Thanks for offering to help. My eye site isn't that great now that I'm getting old. I found that the focus conformation light really comes in handy with my Nikon D700 and my old AIS 400mm f/3.5 and was hoping I could enjoy the same luxury with the old Canon 1D Mark II. I am also struggling with depth of field. The image below was shot at f/22 with a 55mm Pentax SMC. Seems to me that everything in the background should be in focus? I focused on the STANLEY label. </p><div></div>

<p>I was hoping that someone could lend a hand with my old Canon 1D Mark II. I have a plethora of Pentax 6x7 lenses. I simply wanted to "try" and use some of them on my 1D Mark II. I purchased a Fotodiiox EOS adapter to 67 with a AF chip. I was expecting the focus conformation light would work but haven't been able to get it working. I'm not sure what mode to be shooting in either with this particular camera? Any help would be appreciated. I did do a few "quick" test shots and manually manipulated the aperture but it didn't make a difference. I tried both Manuel Mode and AV Mode.<br> On my Nikon D700 I'm able to switch to manual mode and configure for a specific non-Nikon lens and all works well. I was hoping that I could do the same with my 1D Mark II and a few Pentax 67 lenses?<br> Thanks ...</p> <p> </p>