carsten_whimster2

<p>I don't know as much about the mechanics of these cameras as Q.G. does, but there is one small light in the tunnel if a 2000-series camera has a broken shutter curtain: there is a company which makes replacement rubberized curtains, and which can install them. I believe that they are in England:</p>

<p>http://www.broadpres.com/hb.pdf</p>

<p>The primary difference is that the 2000- and 200-series cameras have a focal plane shutter, and in addition to the C/CF/CFi/CFE lenses, they can take the F/FE lenses which do not have shutters, such as the legendary 110mm f/2. The 2000-series do not have built-in meters, just like the 500-series, whereas the 200-series do. The 2000-series have a more fragile titanium shutter, but the 2000FC/M and 2000/2003FCW cameras have a safety feature which moves the curtain into the body when you take the film back off. I had a 500C but now own a 2000FC/M, and have had no problems with it. I believe that apart from lenses and possibly the motor drive, all accessories work on either 500- or 2000-series. The 200-series has a few more quirks, like special backs, cut-outs for viewfinders, etc.</p>

<p>This is surreal! Am I the only one here who recognizes the name of Mark Tucker, a very successful commercial photographers in the States? Clearly he does not need advice on focal length, camera type, or anything else, just an answer to his questions. The self-proclaimed forum experts should take a step back here and stop answering un-asked questions. Somehow this thread reminds of another one:</p>

<p>http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/satire-alert/</p>

<p>I recently had to make a similar decision, and ended up with the 405. The 410 felt too flimsy to me, and I want to have the option of adding longer lenses to my Hasselblad 2000FC/M and/or Contax 645 later on without having to switch heads (my current max is a Hasselblad FE 250/4, which might work okay with the 410). I came to the 405 from an RRS BH-55 which I bought after reading rave reviews, but I found that just like any other ballhead I have ever used, once you tighten it down, it moves a little, which frustrates me endlessly. There is no way to nudge it, so I have to loosen and tighten again, and hope that this time it goes where I want. The 405 cures that. With the gear-override, I can get it to where I want it very fast, and more accurately than with the BH-55.</p>

<p>Neil, the LFI test was nicely done, but there was one factor which made it difficult to draw solid conclusions from: the weights of the tripods were all a bit different. The CF tripods were the lightest, pretty much.</p>

<p>Q.G. is correct in that the primary factor is weight. A heavy tripod is more stable than a light one. However, wood and carbon fiber dampen vibrations much faster than metals, as others have pointed out. The conclusion to make is that you should buy the heaviest tripod you want to carry, and then you choose wood if the size of the tripod isn't a problem, and CF if you want something more compact.</p>

<p>I just bought what I hope is my final big tripod, the Gitzo GT3541XLS. It is a bit heavier than my previous tripod, an aluminium Manfrotto 055C, the old version, but somewhat larger, and much more stable. You don't even need to do any tests to feel that. Just put it on the floor, and grab it with a hand. Rock-solid. Then tap it. Rock-solid.</p>

<p>The Hasselblad 503CW is still very expensive new, and it still has no metering built in, but if neither of those two bother you, then one good place to get them new is fotopartner.de:</p><p>http://shop.fotopartner.de/epages/Fotopartner.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/Fotopartner/Categories/Hasselblad/Hasselblad-V-System/Gehaeuse---Sets-analog</p>

Tom said:

 

<BR><BR><I>"The IQ of the 1DS-II is very obviously ahead of anything Leica has offered

thus far. Everyone with an unbiased mind sees it, including numerous pros who own an

M8 as well. It comes up because a few Leica fanboys keep bringing it up trying to convince

others that the laws of physics don't apply to Leica."</I>

 

<BR><BR>Tom, I don't have much of an issue with most things you have said, but this

doesn't ring true at all (and is pretty insulting, for no apparent reason, other than possibly

some arguments you have had with someone else, somewhere else, at some other point in

time).

 

<BR><BR>First of all, I know many pros who were hugely disappointed with the 1Ds2

when it came out, and felt that the 1Ds was much better, for image quality. The M8 keeps

up with the 1Ds pretty well, so where does that leave us?

 

<BR><BR>The issue is too complex to reduce to such simple-minded statements. About

all you could say is that "The <B>resolution</B> of the 1DS-II is very obviously ahead of

anything Leica has offered thus far." I don't think that anyone would disagree with you

there. Resolution isn't the answer to everything though, and the images coming out of the

M8 and DMR are so much more satisfying than those from the 1Ds2, before editing. Sure,

you can edit a 1Ds2 image and make it look good, but the point to many, perhaps not you,

is why should we have to?

 

<BR><BR>I agree about the 5D and M8 having pretty comparable imge quality, and that

the 5D has better high ISO, but I also sold my 5D and all my Leica R lenses, and bought an

M8. I have not had much chance to regret it yet, and I am nearing 10,000 shots. The M8

just delivers really nice files, right out of the box, and I find that they scale better than the

5D results, so the difference in technical terms between the two is really very small.

Thanks Martin. So, if the camera acts like a USB mass storage device, I suppose there is no

need for drivers. Are the drivers for the webcam mode?

Does anyone know more about the USB connection? Is the Minox (older versions too) a USB

mass storage device which can be browsed on any Mac or PC, or does it require special

software to grab the pictures? I use a Mac, but the Mac support listed on the site is limited to

Mac OS 9, and it is not clear if this is just the webcam driver, or the photo copying as well.

 

Thanks for any answers.