william_kazak

<p>I don't own any Leica gear right now although I had a three lens Leica CL kit in my past. I have always enjoyed reading Erwin Puts. He always seemed to be an extreme authority on Leica but with an opinion all of his own. Honestly, I don't understand why Leica lenses cost so much. I guess the Leica mystic is so very compelling to many. Also, I never knew which Leica lenses were considered "the best". The "fastest" does not equate to the best in my opinion. With Leica into digital now, newer Leica lenses are arriving which further muddle the situation for me. The older Leica lenses created for film bodies have got to be different than the newer offerings for digital. So, which is the best and why? Lots of money to spend if a wrong lens choice is made. I think Lloyd Chambers makes extensive comparisons of the Leica lenses. I don't think Erwin Puts does that. I am not a leica fanboy but I do enjoy reading about lenses and lens comparisons and their history and use. The quest for the best is compelling history; both modern and ancient history. Happy shooting.</p>

<p>That is why I have not done that to my wedding site. Portraits might make it to the wedding site. That seems like a good fit.</p>

<p>Just thinking about this subject makes me upset. I have it covered somewhat in my contract. "It is understood that William Kazak Design is the exclusive and “official photographer”. All others taking photographs shall do so at the discretion of William Kazak Design."<br>

Part of my assessment of how the wedding is going for me is how much I am being interfered with by people with cameras. Sometimes it is not a big deal but it is always some kind of a distraction. I have had to sit down on a pew during formals until people got the idea. Are you done yet? Let me know when I can start up. It is hard enough shooting a wedding and being courteous all day. The mental focus and creative energy is flowing and so is the anxiety. Interference is abrubtly curtailing that. The creative shooting time is short enough and I am usually not able to do everything that I would like to do.<br>

I would suggest that you leave your cameras at home. You did not get the job. Let the pro shoot it.</p>

<p>I remember, in years past, speaking to the happy couple about how long we were scheduled to stay at the reception and asking them to kindly get any groups or favorite people pics before we were leaving. They could either; remove the garter, do the bouquet toss, cake cutting and the first dance within the time frame or, if they wished, they could just let their friends with cameras shoot that. After all, the time frame was agreed to before we even got to the reception. In actuality, since I was really concerened about how my pictures would look in their album, my time was very flexible. Sometimes, it was rewarded with a tip, othertimes not. If I stayed longer, I stayed for my own reasons, as mentioned. (Or, the coffee was great and the sweets table).</p>

<p>I have not figured that out either, Shawn.</p>

<p>I just got a Kodak Retina Automatic 3. I have yet to put film in it but I did have it CLA'd by Chicago Camera. I just sent an email to Krista asking if she is still using hers. She did not get a response in 3 years, guys. Not fair.</p>

<p>The OP likes grain, using Tri-X and D76. I worked with a guy who used that combination and his stuff looked too grainy to suit me. I used Tri-X and Microdol-X and my pics were smoother. When T-Max films came out, I tested them and I switched to T-Max because it was smoother than Tri-X. Now, I use T-Max film and T-Max developer. (Tri-X with Acufine developer was nice too.)<br>

Film was always a hassle for me. What ISO film to choose? Sometimes I needed two camera bodies for that when outdoor street shooting. Looking back at my studio srobe B&W model prints, it was a blast of fun. I had perfected my techniques. Right now, I have six rolls to develop. T-Max 400. First film rolls in over ten years. I am excited again. Using an F100 now, up from the F3's and down from the F6 that I had to sell.<br>

Started digital with a D70 pair. Now, I use a pair of D300 bodies. At indoor events, such as Thursday night jam and potluck with available lighting, I am shooting the musicians at ISO 3200 at F4 and the noise is visable and not so welcome. When using flash at weddings, I want to be around ISO 400. Always, new cameras appear. Throw the money at Nikon. It never stops. I got the two new lenses; Nikon 85mm F1.8G and 50mm F1.8G. It is always about the lens for me. I hate lens flare and these two are nice.<br>

I often enjoy looking at other peoples B&W grain, especially street shooters and I also can enjoy looking at avant garde digital work (which can seem like no technique). I like pictures.</p>

<p>I saw a photo in Life magazine when I was young. The mirror lens isolated the athlete and the background was compelling. The photog was stationary on a tripod. Eventually, I acquired about three different mtrror lenses. Hard to use them. The f stop is not the t stop. Depth of focus/field was so tiny as to make it almost impossible. You need fast shutter speeds. Moving subjects, forget about it or get really lucky. So dark thru the viewfinder; typically they are F8 or F6.3 at 500mm. I have a Celestron 300mm F5.6 right now. Very compact. Pop Photo used to publish resolution numbers and they were always rather low for mirror lenses.</p>

<p>I had the Sima lens twice. It flares so much and turns flare blue and blows out the whites. With all of it's shortcomings it is better adding one of the discs, for more depth of field/focus, especially for people pics. Creative effects for still life are possible too. Very hard to find this lens working well or with suitable subject matter, it is so extreme in its renditions. The effects seem "trendy" and too extreme for me.<br>

I currently have the Spiratone Portragon and I can make it work easily as I don't get such extreme flare as I did with the Sima lens. The SA is certainly there and LR does not really correct that very well so you will just have to live with it for color pics. It is a very well made lens, as mentioned. Results are softer around the edges than in the center.<br>

Actually, I prefer the Softar 1 or 2. The effects look more professional and the filters easily slip into your pockets. They are very expensive now. Tiffen Double Fog 1 and 2 filters will help round out a kit for soft focus with credible looking results. Make your own tests. There are also white nylon and black nylon and salmon colored mesh filters. Mine were all made by Tiffen.</p>

<p>You done good! A friend of mine stopped in yesterday with one of his two F100 bodies with a 24mm F2.8AFD lens on it after having been to a local dog walk in the park. He placed the camera on the dining room table and the back opened a little. We could not get it to snap closed so we rewound the film. He said that was his second roll of the day. We finally could see that, on the camera back, the upper and lower plastic was snapped off of the latch lever part that is located there. Plastic parts=Bummer.</p>

<p>I have a Celestron F5.6 mirror lens that is very compact. It fits into a padded Tamrac case that can be worn on my belt as I walk around. It uses a T-mount adapter. I had a Nikon F8 mirror lens and a Rokinon F6.3 mirror lens. I like the idea of a mirror lens for compactness and light weight, but discriminating photographers will soon realize that manual focus is a big problem, especially on moving subjects. It might be best to focus on a particular point and wait for the subject to arrive there rather than trying to "follow focus" on a moving subject. The contrast is reduced on a mirror lens, they are not as sharp because resolution is also reduced. You can also consider that the T-stop is one stop slower than the listed aperture. You must be careful not to bang or mistreat a mirror lens as to keep the mirrors aligned and not broken. The big problem, is trying to acquire focus. It is tough to do on an F8 mirror lens, even on a sunny day. Forget about using a mirror lens indoors and you only have one aperture to choose from. Some people will use a ND filter outdoors.</p>

<p>I like reading his opinions. Makes you think if he is right or wrong and how it might apply.</p>

<p>Jim's results look a lot like the Spiratone Portragon lens. It is 100mm F4 in a focusing mount. It uses a t-mount adapter. The center is a little soft and the edges, top and bottom and sides are a lot soft. Supposedly, a single element +10 in a focus mount give it 100mm at F4.</p>

<p>I recently acquired a 105 F2.5 Ais lens. Very nice. The bokeh is wonderful and I like the built in hood. I think an HN-7 hood would work just fine. I like screw in hoods instead of clipon hoods. The only better lens would be the 105 F2DC, I like the colors better on the DC lens.</p>

<p>Interesting discussion. it looks like the OP wants to spend some money, hoping it will help him find his style?<br>

Consider this; what do you shoot when you are not shooting weddings? What lenses are you using indoors or at small concerts. What is your usual "walk around lens kit"?<br>

For advanced shooters, 24 is not that wide on FF. In my expeience, I would rather have a 20mm, especially in DX.<br>

The 16-35 gives you many choices. It is not just 16mm (that you "never" use). It is a lot of wide options (including 20, 24 and 35). No money to waste there on anther wide lens, IMHO.<br>

The tele 135mm; you have it covered. That is your choice in tele? Sounds like it if you already own it. If you don't like it for some reason, sell it and get a tel that you like, such as 85 or 105.<br>

You want a fast normal? 35, or 50mm would do it.</p>

<p>I had a pair of Spotmatics. I had one black chromed. I had the repair guy remove the top and bottom cover plate and battery cover and I sent them to a chrome plating shop for black chrome. Then the repair guy put it together again. I had a 50, 85. I had a Tokina zoom. I think it was 100-200. Then I think I had a 19mm or 21mm from some other company who made screw mounts. I got rid of them because Pentax went bayonet when they kept saying that they never would. Also, the viewfinder was so dark, especially compared to my friends Nikon F. I went Nikon F3's after that.</p>

<p>Greg, just get the lens you need and shoot pics until your D200 dies. Don't worry about the future. The present is now.</p>

<p>Try putting the flash on A and the camera on M. Then, the flash stops talking to the camera and any tweaks can be made by changing the aperture of the camera.</p>

<p>!05 and 85mm are so close in focal lengths as to be the same. I tried using Micro Nikkors as "normal lenses" but I was always disappointed. If you want a Micro Nikkor lens, then get one but keep your favorite 85 is my advice. I like the 105 F2 DC for portraits but the 85 works just fine.</p>

<p>I stopped trying to make the CLS system work and I bought Pocket Wizards. They are more versatile for off camera lighting outdoors but expensive. You can PC cord your studio strobe in the PC hole on your camera body and place a Pocket Wizard in the hotshoe and see what happens.<br>

Place a Pocket Wizard in the hotshoe and it will fire your studio strobe with the other Pocket Wizard with SB-800 on a separate light stand. A studio strobe will also fire if your studio strobe has a built in fire mechanism like the White Lightening does.<br>

Some shooters use old Vivitar 283/285 units on M with a suitable slave with their studio strobe connected to the PC socket.</p>

<p>Things keep changing for me. This year I tried working with a pair of Nikon D300 bodies. I used a Nikon 12-24 F4, 35mm F2 AFD and a 105 F2 DC. Very nice for me. The 180 was a bit too long at most weddings so the 105 is better for me now.</p>

<p>I am glad it all worked out. No one needs stress like that but we do "grow from it", don't we?</p>

<p>I have had a speedlight fail at a wedding but I always carry three so no problem except the repair cost.</p>

<p>Never had two cameras fail at the same time. My backup is always the same as my main cammera. A PC socket can fail so be ready for that if you plug in thru the PC hole. I like to have two camera bodies both with the flash on a bracket during the processional. I had two flash cards fail just before a wedding because I bought them on eBay and they were bogus SanDisc but I always carry more than one. Two cameras are enough expense for me and I use Nikon.</p>

<p>I have just gotten the first Nikon F8 version. It is sharper than the Rokinon F6.3 version being sold under a variety of names. I like it and it is fun to use on flowers too.</p><div></div>