mike_seymour

<p>Deborah - it was just on News 4 tonight at 6 pm that Penn has reversed their decision on gift cards and will start honoring them. I would get there soon. Maybe they have planned to wipe out their debt with this bankruptcy and re-open with fewer stores so they are trying to save any good will towards the company. Who knows? Best of luck.</p>

<p>As a high school photography teacher I am crushed to see Penn file. In the last 8 years I've sent literally hundreds of kids there and can't remember a single time a kid had a bad experience finding a used film camera for class. They often got "hooked" and would return to the store mid-year confident in their craft and would brag to me about the new filters they bought or the fiber paper they bought to enhance their experience at school. The guys at the counter probably recognized themselves in my kids because they treated them so well, knowing how exciting it is when you are first starting. All of us were probably treated similarly and it's how the craft is transferred from one generation to the next. It's a sad day coming when all our kids will know about cameras is that they are what you use to make your facebook page. I really hate to see the guys go especially at the Rockville store where they've treated my high school kids so well. I also want to thank Art in the educational/government sales dept. who could send me 200 packs of Ilford RC paper the very next day when I would call him in a panic because we ran out. Now because of our school system I will be forced to use Freestyle in CA and overpay for shipping while I wait an extra week.<br>

I wish the employees all the best and hope they land on their feet quickly.</p>

 

<p>Steven<br>

I may not be as tech savy as the above responders but I too have been asking myself your question these last couple of weeks and here is what I have done. Got the beta version of LR 3 (years ago I bought LR 1.4 but never did anything with it). Then I was looking at someone's blog who turned me on to LR "presets". I have spent so much time in the last 2 days sitting and my computer and playing that my back is killing me but I can't pull myself away. I have been going through some RAW files (even the ones that I thought were so so) and applying these presets and I'm blown away. I too LOVE black and white so I have been turning my average color shots into amazing B&W's. You wouldn't believe the number of presets available for free. Try this website for yourself:<br>

<a href="http://www.presetsheaven.com/2008/12/13/12-black-white-film-emulation-presets-for-kodak-bw-films/">12 Black & White film emulation presets for Kodak B&W films! | PresetsHeaven</a><br>

That is just one set of many but it will give you the look of all types of old Kodak film types, Tmax, Tri-X, Plus-X, you name it. There are ones for Fuji, Ilford and a ton of custom ones that people have gone through the painstaking time to create themselves and then everyone just shares them for free. Another of my favorites are the ones that will turn color shots into that old look of color film from back in the 60's-70's. These are fun as well and all of the sudden you sort of have the William Eggleston look on whatever you choose. Also, after you've applied the preset you can also make a few of your own adjustments for example, if you like a little more contrast than what the preset gave you, tweak it. There are SO many of these freebies out there that I haven't begun to discover them all. I just love B&W so I got stuck on those these last few days. <br>

Everything I'm suggesting so far is FREE (until of course, the beta runs out on LR3). I am NOT a computer guy at all but even I have figured out this little bit on my own and I'm having so much fun tweaking photos. The only caveat with these presets is they are developed to work with RAW images for the most part. They will work on a jpg but RAW is where they shine.<br>

Good luck, you could have alot of fun with this and then make a decision down the line on LR3. </p>

<p> </p>

<p>Thanks so much for all the suggestions.....except the one where Shun made me start thinking about holding off for the new 16-35mm f/4. :o) I have been saving for the 17-35 for a few months now and I'm finally there when up pops this new 16-35. What's a guy to do? Everything I read about the 17-35 all this time made it seem like the perfect lens especially since I do a lot of event/PJ stuff. I have the 50 1.8 and the 80-200 2.8 so all I am really missing for FX is that wide end. The 17-35 seems so tried and true whereas the 16-35 may go through some growing pains being so new and all.....thanks again to everyone!</p>

<p>Hello everyone,<br>

I have found a 17-35mm 2.8 on a local community list serve that is said to be in great condition with all original boxes, caps, hood, case and is a USA lens. My question is can anyone suggest a way to test the lens on-site at the person's house to make sure it's a good copy? Are there any red flags other than cosmetics? Aside from a few test pops on my D700 and then zooming in on the lcd (which will tell me next to nothing) I'm at a loss for protecting myself against losing $1200 on a bad copy that back focuses or has some other problem. I guess I have to factor in the human element as well, I'm sure this person doesn't want me at their house for an hour with a laptop and card readers etc.<br>

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Since getting my D700 I'm faced with changing over from all those DX lenses and this is one I could really use and I just can't afford the extra $700 for a new version of the 17-35.<br>

Thanks in advance.<br>

Mike</p>

<p> </p>

Thanks for the responses and I am so sorry.....naturally as soon as I posted I saw the

numerous previous posts on the exact same question...I hate people like me!

Could be a really dumb question but does anyone know the difference between the two? What were the

changes in the 7II? I'm looking to buy and have a chance for a great deal on a 7 so I just want to know

what I might be missing.

 

Thanks

Ok - I just spent an hour reading all the past posts about converting the Raw files from my D200 and I

am more confused than ever. Basically I am running CS on a Mac OS X. I have DNG 2.4 that I

downloaded for my D70 Raws but that obviously won't cut it with D200 Raws. Can someone help me

figure out what I need to download in plain english? Pretend you are talking to someone without a

computer degree and I might understand you :o)

 

Thanks in advance for the much needed assistance. ~ Mike