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jpursley

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Posts posted by jpursley

    50mm f1.4 or 1.7?

    in Sony/Minolta

    Posted

    If you really need that speed for something like nightclub shots, the extra cash could be worth the half-stop of speed. But if you're more into landscapes and/or larger DOF, you could snag a decent tripod and head with that cash. Or maybe a set of ND grad filters, a mid-range flash, extension tubes, lots of practice film, or whatever...

    <br><br>

    Also, keep in mind your DOF at 1.4 is <i>really</i> small.

    <br><br>

    Unless you really need that half-stop, the extra cash would likely be better applied elsewhere.

    Bogan Ball Tripod Head?

    in Accessories

    Posted

    <a href=http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7567636132&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&rd=1>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7567636132&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMEBI%3AIT&rd=1</a>

    <br><br>

    Hard to be sure, but it looks like a <a href=http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=272989&is=REG&addedTroughType=search>488 RC0</a>. I've been using one for about a year and am generally happy with it. It's a bit slower and more cumbersome than Bogen's smallest ball heads, but quite stable for general 35mm work.

    Florida - east coast sites?

    in Travel

    Posted

    Very nice portfolio, Marvin.

    <br><br>

    Jeff Ripple has done some beautiful work all over Florida. While it contains few location details, his <a href=http://www.jeffripple.com/2gallery.htm>Color gallery</a> is illustrative of the wide variety of 'Florida' subjects available.

    Mojave/Joshua Tree sites for photography???

    in Nature

    Posted

    I'm not familiar with Joshua Tree so I can't compare the two, but some items that might be of interest near the town of Mojave (in the northwest section of the Mojave desert) include:

     

    * Windmills - Sprawling windmill farms cover the hills north and west of town.

     

    * Old mine sites - north of Mojave are several old mining sites in the Randsburg area. Not a lot left to see, but there are some old headframes standing.

     

    * Red Rock Canyon - Interesting possiblities here for colored sandstone formations.

     

    * Sierra Nevada - Mt. Whitney and the Alabama Hills are about 2 hours north of town.

     

    * Death Valley - December could be a good time to visit.

    Winter

    in Sony/Minolta

    Posted

    Love the table and chairs shot, Frank. The flash light quickly turning to complete darkness works really well, and the spacing between falling snowflakes is perfect.

    <br><br><center>

    <img src=http://gallery.photo.net/photo/3765395-lg.jpg><br>

    <i>Cold Fern</i> - 500si (old enough for this thread?)

    </center>

    Stick With Minolta For Digital SLR?

    in Sony/Minolta

    Posted

    This really depends on how you use a camera, and how well the ergonomics and features of each brand fits your expectations.

     

    Would anti-shake be a useful or even critial feature in your photography? What about wireless flash? Here's where Minolta probably has the edge.

     

    Is it important to have a range of lenses in each focal length to choose from? Do you need exotic lenses, or need to rent expensive glass? Canon and Nikon certainly have the advantage here.

     

    If I were in your position now, I would probably choose Canon for the ability to rent big glass, and choose from a wider variety of lenses in the shorter-than-24mm range. But I almost always use a tripod and mostly do landscapes; if I were into people, event, or wedding photography, I'd probably go with Minolta for the anti-shake and wireless flash features.

     

    Hopefully that answered more questions than it created...

    Minolta sales cease in Canada

    in Sony/Minolta

    Posted

    Camera equipment is a tool, not an investment. The important question here is: Are the images I'm creating and the memories I've experienced while creating and sharing images worth the money spent?

     

    If the answer is "no", would a different camera brand really change the answer to that question?

     

    If the answer is "yes", it seems that you've received satisfactory value from your purchases. If you think a different brand would increase that value, please send me an e-mail with asking prices for your used Maxxum lenses. 8-)

    Minolta lens

    in Accessories

    Posted

    Hard to make a recommendation without a budget in mind. Assuming you're looking for Minolta-brand lenses: The fairly inexpensive (but discontinued) 135 f/2.8 might be a good place to start if you're not sure what focal length and maximum aperature you need.

    <br><br>

    The 85 f/1.4 gets raved about regularly, but it might be a bit too wide or pricey for your preferences. If you want to compare the slower zoom you currently have with a fast prime of similar focal length, this could be a good choice since it overlaps with your 28-90mm lens.

    <br><br>

    The discontinued 100 f/2.0 works well - nice out-of-focus backgrounds and I like the working range a 100mm lens; for headshots you're not up in the subject's face, but aren't so far that you have to yell. These seem somewhat difficult to find, though.

    <br><br>

    You probably can't go wrong with anything between about 75 and 200mm and 2.8 or faster. A great list of the all lenses made by Minolta for the Maxxum system is availble at <a href=http://www.mhohner.de/minolta/lenses.php>http://www.mhohner.de/minolta/lenses.php</a>.

    <br><br>

    Please let us know what you find. 8-)

    8bit, 16bit, 16bit linear...

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    This is a bit confusing in the scanner software, as there are two different elements tied to that one drop-down list.

    <br><br>

    Issue #1: Bit Depth - You can think of 8-bit images as the lowest common denominator of the digital photography world. Printers and jpegs use 8-bit images, so after you're all done with your digital darkroom work, your output will likely be an 8-bit image.

    <br><br>

    The more you manipulate the levels, curves, hue, etc of your image, the more likely you'll benefit from working with a 16-bit file. With 16 bits of data, there are a lot less rounding errors with each adjustment, which can really add up and cause posterization and loss of fine transitions in 8-bit images. Once you're done editing, you'd then output an 8-bit copy of your 16-bit master file for printing or web posting. Not all functions are available when using 16-bit images, and the file size is double that of an 8-bit image.

     

    <br><br><br>

     

    Issue #2: Scan Mode - 8-bit and 16-bit mode result in the scanning software adjusting the exposure and color balance to look decent in most photo editing applications. The other mode, linear, does not adjust the image, but rather just writes the unmanipulated data collected to disk. Linear scans will look horribly dark until you assign the 'Minolta 5400 Posi (Linear)' profile to them, then convert to your working profile.

    <br><br>

    I use 16-bit linear because it yeilds consistent results. I got frustrated with 8-bit and 16-bit modes because I'd get different exposure and color results across multiple scans of similar scenes. All of the above is based on my experience in color (mostly slides) only. I've found the extra steps of linear scanning to be worth it, but others have reported other results.

    <br><br>

    <a href=http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009mEH>http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=009mEH</a> has links to more workflows for this scanner, including a negative workflow.

    Photoshop CS Scripting and photo.net Portfolios

    in PhotoNet Site Help

    Posted

    Well I was not able to figure out how to disable this 'feature' in Photoshop. Not embedding the profile resulted in the same problem.

    <br><br>

    Incorporating <a href="http://www.sentex.net/~mwandel/jhead/">jhead</a> into my workflow, however, enabled me to programmatically strip <a>all</a> non-image information from the Photoshop JPEGs. This not only resolved the header problem, but also made for significantly smaller JPEG files.

    <br><br>

    Hopefully others may find this of use...

    Photoshop CS Scripting and photo.net Portfolios

    in PhotoNet Site Help

    Posted

    I'm having trouble creating a portfolio here on photo.net. My

    original files consist of ~200 TIF files on my home machine, a

    portion of which I'd like to post here. I've written a small

    utility that uses Photoshop CS scripting to process all images in a

    folder: each image is resized, sharpened, watermarked and saved in

    JPEG format. I plan to use these JPEGs later to later create my own

    web site.

    <br><br>

    Attempting to upload these images to photo.net, though, results in

    the following message from http://www.photo.net/photodb/photo-add-

    2.tcl: <i>Problem with your input...File contains xml-encoded

    preview data...</i>

    <br><br>

    As described at <a href="http://www.photo.net/ps7-

    problems.html">Problems with Photoshop 7 JPEG Images</a>, the

    photo.net software rejects images that have a preview embedded in

    them. The suggested workaround is to use Save For the Web, but that

    appears to be inaccessable via the script engine.

    <br><br>

    Photoshop is set to never save image previews, both via the UI and

    via my script. I also have EmbedColorProfile set to False, if that

    matters.

    <br><br>

    At <a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?

    msg_id=008Xt1">http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?

    msg_id=008Xt1</a>, Brian Mottershead hints that <i>There are other

    ways in PS 7 to eliminate the profile information, but none of them

    are as straight-forward as "Save for Web..." </i>. Any information

    about tweaking PS CS itself or accessing Save for the Web from the

    script engine would be much appreciated.<div>00Dh7U-25836684.jpg.b8bdfd7a1150d6b7c4fb63b41e058878.jpg</div>

    Minolta 5400 green lines show in prints :-(

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    Also, can you post a sample? I've never had this problem with the 5400 and am curious to see it.

     

    It sounds like the problem could be electronic interference - have you tried isolating the scanner from sources of electronic noise? A lot of scanners (not just the 5400) are sensitive to other electronic equipment and anything with a motor. Try isolating the scanner as much as possible on its own power circuit and USB hub. Ideally you'll also want the scanner physically distant from sources of noise.

     

    Please let us know if that helps...

    Multiple Manual Focus Points - Dimage 5400

    in The Digital Darkroom: Process, Technique & Printing

    Posted

    Well I stumbled across this old thread today and followed up with a bit of testing: I scanned an image at the left peak, the right peak, halfway between the peaks, and with autofocus - all on the same spot on the mounted slide.

     

    The left peak image was just slightly sharper than the midpoint image, which itself was just slightly sharper than the right peak image. These were very, very small differences, though, that probably would not make a difference in even large prints. The autofocus sample was significantly less shart than any of the manual focus images.

     

    Interesting to hear that you get similar results, Mendel. Thanks for following up on this...hopefully other 5400 users can benefit from these posts.

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