mark_scheuern

They're great. I've been sending them XP-2 to process and proof-print (on b&w paper) and I really couldn't be happier. The negs come back clean, the prints are amazingly good for proofs, and turnaround time is reasonably fast. I've given up on drugstore/Ritz/etc. type processing, the nearest local pro lab is a very long drive, so I'm using A&I more and more. I'm about to send them some stuff for custom printing. OT for this board, but I'm happy with them for E6, too.

I've certainly noticed that dopey ratings and snide comments are almost always made by people with "0 Public Photos Uploaded", but you can't turn that around and say that most people with no photos posted engage in that behavior. There can be legitimate reasons for not uploading, like not having access to a scanner or digital camera.

1-2-5

<P>You lose information every time the file is re-saved. Simply opening it and closing it (to view the image, for example) doesn't cause any loss since the file is not re-written.<P>

<P>See the <A HREF="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/jpeg-faq/">JPEG FAQ</A> for more info and, in particular, <A HREF="http://www.faqs.org/faqs/jpeg-faq/part1/section-10.html">Does loss accumulate with repeated compression/decompression?</A></P>

<P>Hope you win the pizza!</P>

On Leica M cameras, the adapter automatically sets the proper framelines in the viewfinder for the lens focal length. It doesn't matter with the 25mm since you use an external finder with it. Enjoy the lens; by all accounts it's very nice.

He told you that because either he doesn't know what he's talking about or he'd rather sell Nikons than Canons. In either case, ignore him.

Erin, the maximum sync speed of the FM-10 (I just looked it up) is 1/125 s, so you need to shoot at that speed or slower with a flash. 1/125 s is the slowest speed at which the shutter curtains are completely open. At higher speeds, you effectively have a slit that moves across the film plane, so when the flash goes off only that part of the frame uncovered by the slit is exposed.

Actually, the 50 f/1.5 is the Nokton. I have it and find it a bit large for the IIIf and better suited to my Bessa-R. I'd be tempted to get the Skopar if you want a 50 and don't need the extra speed. Anyway, you'll find loads of info on Gandy's site and will have a fun time reading and choosing from the huge number of LTM lenses available.

<P>Steve Gandy's <A HREF="http://www.cameraquest.com/classics.htm"> CameraQuest</A> is a great place to start. Enjoy your IIIc!

You'll have to do it manually. The studio strobe produces a fixed amount of light, given the power setting you have set for it, and doesn't know to quench when the camera tells the SB-28 to quench. The results would be pretty unpredictable with TTL.

<P>According to the tech notes, linked to from <A HREF="http://magma.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0211/feature1/index.html">here</A>, she used Leica rangefinder gear. If nothing else, seeing good work from someone with the same or similar equipment is a nice reminder that working on technique might be more productive than acquiring more hardware. And I always appreciate technical details. It's fun to see what other people are using and how.</P>

Sure, the price will drop, but if you wait for prices to stop dropping you'll never buy anything. It's up to you to decide if it's something you need now. Oh, and if it does what you want now, chances are it'll still do what you want six months from now. New cameras and lower prices won't change its performance.

Remember the definition of f-stop. It already has focal length taken into account. An f/2.8 200 mm lens has a larger physical aperture than an f/2.8 50 mm, for example.

<A HREF="http://www.micro-tools.com/">Micro-Tools</A>.

<P>If you're happy with the focusing speed of your 80-400, I'd say get the AF 80-200 f/2.8D ED. I have the AF-S, but I do a lot of motorsports work and sometimes the extra focusing speed comes in handy.</P>

<P>To further complicate things, Nikon has issued a <a href="http://www.nikon-image.com/eng/news_release/2002/afsvr70-200.htm">development announcement</a> of a 70-200 f/2.8 AF-S VR lens. Who knows when that will actually be available.</P>

Could it be the <A HREF="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003opA">ratings normalization</A> you're seeing?

Porsche had its best sales year ever in North America in 2001 and is Europe's most profitable carmaker. The analogy breaks down there, alas.

I have the previous, non-AFS version and it's a fine lens. I use mine mostly for motorsports photography, frequently with the 1.4x teleconverter. Optically, it's great and I think you'll find it a noticeable improvement over the 75-300. AF is rather slow with the non-AFS lens and nonexistant with the teleconverter, which, while not much of an issue with me since I mostly manually focus anyway, no doubt the AF-S is considerably quicker. AF with the teleconverter might be a bit iffy in low-light situations (since f/5.6 is pushing it), though of course people who have actually tried it will be better able to answer your question.

<P><EM>Some enterprising lawyer should aproach Leica about getting a court order requiring Konica to put a disclaimer on their boxes,, and in all their advertizing, stating that their cameras and lenses are not compatible with Leica spec products.</EM></P>

<P>Nowhere will you see them claim that it <EM>is</EM>.</P>

Any opinions on Alien Bees softboxes? A Chimera, with a speedring,

would be about double the cost and I'm wondering if the difference is

worth it.

I love my Epic. It has a great lens and you can't beat it for the price. I wish it had exposure compensation (or a manual ISO option), but don't let the lack of a Zeiss label on the lens stop you.

If you can use me, I'd like to help out. I'm experienced in Unix Shell programming, Perl, Unix Systems Administration (mainly Irix, AIX, and Linux but some Solaris), HTML, databases (mainly MySQL), web server administration (Netscape Enterprise Server and Apache), and CVS.

Sherry quoted me a 9 month wait for a shutter replacement on my IIIf

(vs 3 weeks for M repairs). I called Don Goldberg and he said he can

have the IIIf back to me in about 3 weeks. I'm about to box it up and

ship it to Don.