michael erlich

The equivalent of a "standard" lens on the D70s would be a 28 or 35mm. My recommendation would be to get the 18-70 DX for a general-purpose lens. It's a great performing lens on a DSLR and not very expensive. A very useful second lens would be a 50mm f1.8 AFD. At about $90 new, it's the best bargain in Nikon lenses, outstandingly sharp and contrasty and would be a 75mm equivalent on a DSLR--a good focal length for head-and-shoulders portraits and excellent in low-light situations.

 

The 18-200 VR has gotten some good early reviews, but it's very new and has no track record yet, and it's very hard to get.

 

If you really want an equivalent for a 50/1.4, check out the Sigma 30/1.4 AFD. It's made for use only on DSLRs, and it's said to be a very good lens.

The first wide-angle lens I got for my Nikon DSLR was a Sigma 15-30. It performed well but it really wasn't wide enough and it is HUGE and heavy and can only accept rear gel filters. I replaced it with a Nikon 12-24 DX and I haven't looked back.

I use a faucet designed for a laundry sink with a garden hose thread to connect a hose. The hose is very useful in a darkroom sink. If you attach a hose, make sure the faucet has a vacuum breaker to prevent siphoning of contaminated water back into the water supply if the supply pressure drops.

 

An explanation of the need for a vacuum breaker:

 

http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/AE079

What kind of computer are you using? DEE is very processor-intensive and can be very slow on a slow machine. Try a longer wait before you decide the program has hung up.

Imported (Grey Market) items from B&H are warranted and serviced through B&H. Nikon cameras and such imported through side channels (not official Nikon USA) will not be serviced by Nikon USA service centers in or out of warranty. There is an explanation on the B&H website:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=helpcenter.jsp&A=getpage&Q=HelpCenter/USGrey.jsp

A simple drag-and-drop will move the file. Holding the Mac option (alt on a PC) key while dragging will copy. Drag and drop to another volume will always copy, not move.

After mixing developer in a large container, store it in smaller bottles filled all the way to the top to minimize exposure to oxygen. If possible, use bottles just the size needed for one developer run so you don't have to store a partially filled bottle.

 

Don't try to mix just part of an envelope of powder chemicals; the distribution of the components is not uniform and you will get unpredictable results, so mix the whole thing at once.

 

Brown glass is best, clear glass is OK, high-density polyethylene (HDP) is also OK. Soda bottles are impermeable to CO2, but I believe they let oxygen through slowly. If you are going to use the developer within a couple of months after mixing, soda bottles should be OK.

 

If you are mixing powder chemicals like Dektol, it also helps to bring the water to a boil (to drive off dissolved oxygen) and then let it cool to the temp recommended for mixing.

 

Keep the developers at stock concentration for storage. Dilute to working concentration just before use. Working solutions deteriorate quickly. For Tmax liquid developer, I'd keep it as concentrate and mix just what I need for that day.

 

Fixer is far less sensitive to oxygen exposure than developer. Stop bath is not affected by oxygen at all. I keep fixer and stop solutions in gallon bleach jugs.

I use the Image Processor in Bridge/Photoshop to batch convert RAW files to downsized JPEGs. Easily done by specifying the maximum horizontal and vertical dimensions and you can save the JPEGs to another folder without touching the original files.

My D100 had a problem with hanging during a exposure with the mirror up every few shots that cleared with another shutter press. It got worse and I sent it to Nikon. Turned out that the aperture actuating lever in the camera body was slightly bent. Nikon replaced it and that cured the problem.

I considered building a sink out of wood sealed with marine paint, but I opted for an eight-foot Delta plastic sink and metal stand. It has worked well for 7 years, but I did have to add supports underneath because it tends to sag from the weight of my Jobo CPP-2 and/or loaded 16x20 trays.

 

The stand comes with an under-sink shelf that comes in handy for storing trays and chemical bottles.

Thanks for the correction. My memory is faulty.

Older Vivitar flash units have high synch voltages (up to 250v) that can damage the F100. Power up the flash and measure the voltage across the hotshoe contacts with a DC voltmeter. If it's higher than 12-15 volts don't use it without a voltage reducing device like a Wein Safe-Sync.

 

New Vivitar flashes have low voltage and are safe to use.

Five external Firewire LaCie drives are connected to my Mac. One died recently and was repaired under warranty by LaCie, but I regularly back up all my data to another physical drive, so I lost nothing. That's why I have so many drives running.

Just checked the Bridge documentation, and I don't see that functionality available. There is, however, a nifty function called Image Processor for batch converting your files to jpeg, convert to sRGB and resize for emailing.

One morning about a month ago the external Firewire drive I use to store all my image files refused to spin up, much less mount. Thank God all that data was backed up onto a second drive.

 

I sent the dead drive back to LaCie and they repaired it under warranty, but they had to wipe all the data.

 

I use Retrospect to automatically back up my data daily. Devise a regular backup strategy and stick with it. You never know when it will save your butt.

Jobo recommends a 5 minute prewash with all B&W developers except Xtol when used in a rotary drum with continuous agitation. A prewash, in addition to stabilizing the temperature, brings the development times more in line with the times for intermittant agitation. Otherwise, a significant reduction in development time is needed with rotary processing, about 15-20 per cent. With an active developer, such short development times may be problematic.

Of course there's no special magic in the Golden Ratio. I only mentioned it as an example

of the age-old argument over esthetics. You can print an image to any aspect ratio you

desire and trim the paper to fit...or not. Standard paper sizes are by no means sacred.

Basically, it boils down to which rectangular aspect ratios are pleasing to the eye. Film manufacturers made film in the ratios that sold best. It was an evolutionary process, those aspect ratios that were not popular faded out.

 

This topic goes back a long way. Mathematicians in ancient Greece came up with the "Golden Ratio" (1:1.618033...) which they considered esthetically perfect. It has implications for composition as well as print dimensions. If you are interested in more on the Golden Ratio, check this site:

 

http://goldennumber.net/

If you are not doing your own B&W processing, I don't think there is any advantage to shooting B&W versus shooting and scanning in color and doing the conversion to B&W in post-processing. You would have much greater control over the look of the image using such techniques as channel mixer in Photoshop to simulate the effects of color filters. If you are going to shoot color and convert to B&W after scanning, I would recommend color negative film instead of slides because negative film has considerably more latitude, especially in the highlights. Exposing color slide film to retain shadow detail often results in lost highlight detail.

 

B&W film does not necessarily have higher resolution than color, it all depends on the type and size of the film and how it is processed.

PCB: Printed circuit board

Another vote for the Nikon 28-105 AFD. Lightweight, sharp, contrasty, low distortion. A fine general-purpose zoom. Only drawback is the Nikon lenshood made for it. It looks like a satellite dish.

I have one and I use it with a D2x and a variety of lenses up to a 70-200/2.8 VR. I love the way it handles. Switching from horizontal to vertical orientation is quick and easy, and the head locks securely in any position when the grip is released. It should handle your 4 kg load easily.

Ditto the last comment on metal reels. The best made today are Hewes from England.

I think the recommendation not to use wetting agent refers to plastic film reels. Residue

will eventually build up on the reels making them very hard to load. I wouldn't worry about

dilute wetting agent in your drum if you rinse it out thoroughly.

The raised ribs should contact the long edges of the sheet. The two sheets in a single cylindrical well in the drum should not touch.

 

Hold the sheet curled along the long axis emulsion side in and slide it into the well between the raised ribs. You can avoid scratching the film by careful handling and keeping the drum scrupulously clean. Don't try to load it wet--use the sponge on a stick that came with the drum to dry the inside of the wells.