Gary Naka

Do you have/remember the Quantum power cable number? I have a couple idle 800s that I would like to be able to resurect.

BTW, if you know the dimensions of the HA glass, there are places that sell HA glass, cut to size.

But the enlarger is ON when you focus and compose on the easel. So total time is much longer than 15 seconds. I used as SMALL a bulb as I could. The speced 150 watt bulb gave me an exposure time of less than 5 seconds. That was way too short to do any dodge/burning. The 75w bulb, pushed it out to a more acceptable 10 seconds, and reduced the heat. If I could have found a 35 or 25w bulb, I would have used that, to get closer to 20 seconds. I've never used a HA glass. It maybe useful, but I've gotten away without it, so unless you can get it cheaper, I would pass on it. Especially if you use a lower wattage bulb.

It was fun to crack open a "small" AG1 flash bulb, then IGNITE the exposed filliment with a battery. I'm glad I did not do that with the larger flash bulbs. Yeah we did dumb thing back then.

For an old foggie like me. When in doubt, the FIRST thing you do is RTFM. But many NEVER open the camera manual. They PLAY with the camera, trying to "figure it out." Then when that does not work, they want you to show them how it works. They want YOU to do the work for them, and hand them the answer on a tray. They do not want to put in the effort to learn it themselves. I had a student ask me how to upload pictures to the web site. I told him, "the instructions are in the class' shared drive, go read the instructions." To his credit, he did read it, and followed the instructions.

I agree, I use Nikon and the school yearbook used Canon. And I had a bear of a time trying to think how Canon does X vs. Nikon.Having to teach students, I found it is better if you can handle the same/similar kit they do, where the controls match as best as possible. Having and using TWO dial cameras, I HATE the ONE dial cameras. I would never get a ONE dial camera for myself, if I have the option for a TWO dial camera. But the entry level cameras, Nikon D3xxx/D5xxx and Canon Tx, are all ONE dial cameras. Tough decision. The menu WILL change from the bottom of the line to the top, and over time. The T3 will be different than the 90D. And the T3 is probably different than the T7. What is upsetting is when they MOVE a function from one part of the menu to another. Then you have to look for and find where they moved it to. What you mentioned is true, the higher models will have menu functions that the lower models will not have. Nothing you can do about that. I did see a spreadsheet where someone put the menu of various models side by side, so you can easily see what menu functions are lost as you go down. That was a while back, so I do not remember the details of that spreadsheet. But if you make one, that may help you deal with the various models. For the 18-55, get the stabilized one. I think that is the latest lens.

Well at least you have a chance to resurect the Strobonar. I have an 800. I need the long obsolete 510v battery pack to use it.

Make sure you get the tabbed cells, so that you can solder them together. Do NOT attempt to solder onto the battery itself. It is very easy to overheat the cell, and damage it.

Tenergy's rating for NiMH stinks. NONE of 20+ AA and sub-C cell came anywhere near 80% of the rated capacity. That was an expensive lesson. On the other hand, their NiCd AA batteries did meet the rated capacity.

A LOT depends on YOU, and what other lenses you have and what you shoot. I have a 24. At the time, the reason was, it was the widest lens that still used a 52mm filter. Indoors, wider is better, because I have literally had my back against the wall, not being able to back up any more. However, there were/are many that cannot handle a 24. If you tilt the camera, you will see the wide angle "distortion" more so than a 28, so you had to pay attention to keeping the camera LEVEL. So back then, a 28 was considered the limit of most people, and I contend that it is just as true today. If it is your only wide, I would not get the 20. IMHO, for general use, the 20 is way too wide to be your only wide. If you have a 35 or 28, then a 20 as a 2nd wide makes sense.

Now THIS lens makes sense. I was waiting for when Nikon would release it. I have the F-DX 18-140, and I too miss the wider short end. My F wide was a 24/2.8, so I go used to having that coverage, and missed it with the 18-70 then the 18-140.

A nice used HEAVY tripod. Years ago, I got a Bogen/Manfrotto 3021 + 3047 head for $50, off Craig's List. That is the only tripod that I will use my 4x5 on. The old Tiltall tripod is a good option. As was said, these tripods are HEAVY. I won't carry it more than 100 feet from the car, preferably less than 50 feet. Any further and it has to be on a wheeled cart.

Agree IMHO, "all other things are equal" is usually a theoretical argument. All things are usually NOT equal. There will be some variable that is different, sometimes SIGNIFICANTLY different. And what is "better?" "Better," has to be specific/objective, to be measured. What is "better" to one may NOT be relevant to another. Example, if "bigger is better," why did 35mm film take over as the primary hobby/pro film format? Why not 2-1/4, or 4x5 or 8x10 sheet film? Image quality is "better" with the larger film formats.

If you don't have time to shoot and process a roll of film, do a sanity check, to see that the meter is in the ball park. Broad daylight, the sunny 16 rule (or sunny 11 if you are further north). ISO = 100, f/16, 1/125 sec.

If/when I shoot film, which has been rare, I use my incident meter. If I am trying to figure out a lighting issue, I will use the incident meter to measure how much light is hitting a particular spot, and from which direction. I did that on my high school football field, to figure out night exposure issues. Inside the 10yd line -1 stop. At the corners -2 stops. :eek: Facts beats guessing. For graduation, I use my incident meter. The synthetic graduation gowns reflect sooo much light, that they confuse the Nikon matrix meter, and totally underexpose the faces. What is more important, the gown or the faces? The handheld meter is simply a tool that gets used when I need it.

As good as matrix metering may be, as @Ed_Ingold said, you need to verify it, not blindly trust it. I've learned the hard way (subject over/under exposure), that there are situations that the matrix meter on my Nikon D7200 simply cannot handle properly, and I have to deal with in other ways. But back to the subject, handheld meters. I've not yet seen a matrix handheld meter.

Congrats on your anniversary :) I'm an old incident guy, but I do recognize it's limitations. Incident is easy to use, for me. As I remember, it worked fine 99.9+% of the time. But as was said, incident does not account for subject dynamic range (DR)/brightness of the scene. That is when you have to use your brain to compensate, or a spot meter to determine the dynamic range/brightness and then your brain to determine how to shoot the scene. The sunlit tops of the canyon or the shadowed bottom of the canyon? This is more important for slide film which has a narrower DR than negative film. Where incident does not work, is when you are in completely different lighting that the subject. Example shooting from a deep shade out into bright sunlight, or the reverse. In that case, having something like the convertible Sekonic meters would be nice. I could use incident most of the time, with the ability to use spot for those conditions where incident does not work. Right now I have TWO meters, incident and spot, which is a hassle to deal with. Although to effectively "previsualize," I would have to go with a spot meter, and use it as in the zone system. But the setup work for that was a hassle that I did not want to deal with. You have to shoot a grey card and scale, at different exposures, to determine the dynamic range of the film. Then determine what different objects meter as, and how to adjust the exposure to move them to a particular point in the grey scale. And what effect that has on the entire scene. That was way more work than I wanted to do. But then, I was shooting cheap 35mm film, not EXPENSIVE and hard to handle 11x14 sheet film. This is presuming color film where you don't adjust the development process. It can get more complicated for B&W where you can adjust development. Read a GOOD book on the zone system, and you will see what I mean.

Nope. Let's forget the meter for a bit. Imagine a line going from the subject to the camera, and beyond. Stand on the line, facing towards the subject. Now do a 180 degree, "about face." You are now facing "away" from the subject, looking down the line away from the camera. The light falling on your face is the same as the light falling on the subject. With an incident meter, the dome of the incident meter would be pointed in the direction you are facing. The confusing part is when you see someone using an incident meter with a rotating head. They can be facing in one direction, and the dome can be facing another direction. It is the direction that the DOME is facing that is important. Sorry, this is much easier to show in person or a diagram, than with words.

Since you have shot since '77, you also know that technique is important, especially as you get older. Expanding on what @Robin Smith said, you have to make the comparison as similar as possible, or it becomes an apple vs. orange comparison. The deeper DoF with m4/3 compensates for minor focusing error over the DX camera with it's shallower DoF. And with greater DoF on m4/3, things just look more in focus. Is your shutter speed similar? Example if you shoot a scene at 1/1000 sec with m4/3, you will get a sharper image than if you shot it at 1/60 sec on the D7100. You have less camera movement distortion. You don't mention the lenses you used on both camera. The lens can make a BIG difference for IQ comparison. Even with the Nikon, there is a difference. When I put a 70-200 on my D7200, it was clear that I did not have to upgrade to FX for better IQ, I just needed better glass on the camera to get the most out of the camera. Put an optically GOOD lens on your D7100, and the IQ will improve. Are you using a VR lens on the D7100? If not you are comparing a stabilized to a non-stabilized platform. This becomes more important as we get older. Not to be insulting, but is your filter/front element CLEAN? I've seen way too many cameras with dirty and/or fingerprinted front element/filter. As a person who wears glasses, I can tell you that while you can see, the image is NOT as clear as when the glasses lens is clean. Same with a camera lens. As for WB, it depends on the specific conditions. In my school gym, the auto WB on my Nikon is good, but I have to use custom WB on my Olympus. The Olympus auto WB just cannot correct for the gym lighting at my school. Outside both give good auto WB. As was said, the D7100 is pretty old technology, compared to the EM10-mk4. And I doubt Nikon has been updating the FW on the D7100, to enhance the functions. So anything firmware related is old vs. new. Exposure accuracy is a matter of the algorithm that Nikon used for the D7100 matrix meter vs what Olympus used for it's matrix meter, and the scenes that you shoot. I've shot scenes where both Nikon and Olympus meters could not handle the lighting. The advantage for the Olympus is that you can see the exposure in real time in the EVF and adjusted it. vs. "shoot, view, adjust, repeat" on a dSLR. This is a BIG advantage for the EVF, and one that I use all the time. As for focus accuracy. Nikon D7100 uses Phase Detect AF (PDAF), I think the Olympus EM10-mk4 uses Contrast Detect AF (CDAF). PDAF is faster, but CDAF is more accurate. With PDAF, if the camera/lens AF are not matched, the lens may not be in true focus. That is why some cameras have the function to adjust the AF for specific lenses, and why some lenses have a similar adjustment facility (with the appropriate interface). There is a small industry around fine tuning the autofocus.

The problem that I had/have with sunsets/sunrise, is that I could never predict which exposure I would like; sometimes it was the lighter one, sometimes the one in the middle, sometimes the darker one, sometimes the really dark one. And sometimes I would like two of the shots, with different exposures, for different reasons. It was very shot specific. Hence my need to BRACKET.

I never had a good solution for sunsets, other than BRACKET like crazy.

I point the dome towards the camera, to get the same angle of the sun on the dome. Meaning I look at the distance subject, determine the line from the subject to the camera, then point the dome back along that line. Basically, I just turn around, looking backwards. However, I think (trying to remember 40+ years ago) that for slide film, I also split the difference. Meaning, I would also determine which direction the sun was (say 30 degrees to the right of the line above), then split the difference between the direction to the camera and the direction of the sun and point it 15 degrees to the right. I think the idea was to bias towards the sun, so as to not blow out the highlight. For distant subjects, what incident does not take into account is the "stuff" in the air, that reduces the reflected light from the subject. But back then, I got away with ignoring that, cuz I was not shooting in smog. Things get more complicated if the lighting at the distant subject is different than at the camera position.

Been using one for years. One of the down sides of getting older is that things seem to get heavier each year. :( The cart makes it easier on my back and legs, especially after a 5 hour shoot. As @Ed_Ingold said, LARGE wheels. Small wheels may pack easier in the car, but they roll BUMPY on anything but smooth floors.

And your budget. 25 years ago, I could not afford a 2nd camera, other than a P&S.

I agree, a fixed lensboard is probably threaded. If you can't remove the lensboard, how can you put a locking nut behind it? I don't know who you bought it from, but if possible, I would take the enlarger back, to have THEM remove the lens, and deal with any damage. - I mean you can use a channel lock plier on the lens, but that will very likely marr or damage the lens. - Or try to use a strap wrench or similar on the lens, but you got to be careful to not crush the lens. And if you put that kind of force on the lens, you have to be careful to not torque damage the enlarger head.