nam_nguyen

<p>The 550ex supports ETTL and TTL. It's ETTL by default, but there's a custom function that lets you switch to TTL (it may say A-TTL, that's what it was called back then). The 550ex is unique in this regard.<br>

I think at one time I did use the 550ex on both the Elan II (ETTL) and the A2E (A-TTL) and the flash automatically sensed which was which and worked. I'm not 100% sure, it's a long time ago. On top of my head, I don't remember having to change the custom fuction to ATTL and back every time though.</p>

<p>How long are these folded and fully extended?<br>

I have the Bogen Nano and the legs fold upwards when folded, making it very compact. The Nano only extend to 6 feet, though.<br>

I saw some comments that these Impacts would extend to more than 6 feet?</p>

<p>I have had similar issue with 3 285s that I have if left unused for a long time. What I did was clean the battery holder contacts AND all the contacts inside the battery compartment with felt tip cotton dipped with rubbing alcohol. It has alway worked reliably again after such cleaning.</p>

<p>I bought a rare NVS-1 (made by Norman Stuessy) from E-bay but it came without a power cable. On the unit, the power connector is a screw in 4 pin DIN type (I guess it's the same kind of connector on Al Jacob's blackbox).<br>

As far as I know, this same power port can accommodate both 6V (Quantum battery 1 type) and High Voltage like the Dynalite Jackrabbit, which I have.<br>

Anyone know where to find 4-pin DIN to Jackrabbit cable? Or to have one made?<br>

Since it came like that I've never had the chance to test it, so hopefully there's a safe way to test it once a cable is found. It's a rare item so I don't want to fry it by mistake.<br>

Thanks for your response.</p>

There's one more possibility that you should check. It seems you are doing this in a room with surrounding walls. If your subject stands in front of a white wall, the auto thyristor might be fooled and cuts off flash too early, resulting in underexposure. This happens because the light bouncing off the white background wall making the sensor compute the exposure for the white wall, not your subject.

 

Since the Vivitar 283 does not have flash exposure compensation, in this case you have to open up at least one F stop on your lens to compensate.

 

Good luck.

The Nikon SB24 or SB25 are the best deals as far as "strobist" purposes are concerned. They have auto flash modes for 5 or 6 apertures, not just 3 like the Sunpak 383. They also recycle a little faster with the same set of Nimh AA batteries. The only downside is that they are bigger than the Sunpak 383.

 

The SB26 even has a built-in slave, with a "delay" mode that perhaps would work bypassing the preflashes from your on camera flash. Anyone that has one of these care to comment?

 

I have both the SB24 and SB25 and they work fine on my 20D and G3. Surprisingly, flash exposures are very accurate, though just basic old tech auto thryristor, none of that fancy ETTL stuff.

 

I'm still trying to get an SB26 from Ebay to test its built-in slave feature.

Hey honey, I'm going wide, can you go tight?

 

Almost sounds like a porn line, doesn't it.

I have the Novoflex and it works fine with my 400 3.5 and 105 1.8 on the 20D. However, on the 20d, by f5.6 the focusing screen starts to show grainy artifacts and is rather dark, even in bright daylight at the beach.

 

Metering is inaccurate. Every f-stop change would give a non-linear, different value that would not be possible to correct consistently using exposure compensation. I have to carry a separate spot meter to use this lens.

 

Strength-wise the Novoflex is also OK. I'm confident the 400 3.5 wouldn't just break off from the adapter.

 

James' recommendation of the Focus confirmation adapter seems like just what I need. The listing description also claims that the emulated chip also allows for all meter modes, not just center weighted. So James, do evaluative and spot/partial metering work accurately with this adapter?

Your Godot costs only $1700 ($2600 for the 5D - $900 you seem to want to pay for the 10-22). Salvation at that price is a bargain. Go for it.

 

A lot of other people pay much more (every Sunday) and have waited much longer (more than 2000 years) for their Godot.

 

Or think about the Leica M8 people.

I also have the 70-200 2.8 with the 1.4x combo, and was looking for something lighter for travel. Choices were: 50-200 3.5-4.5 L, 100-300 5.6 L, 70-200 f4 and 70-300 IS. The first two can only be found used, but the price difference don't seem to make up for their slow focusing speed (being early generation lenses) and other shortcomings. I chose the 70-300 IS because, as many have pointed out, at 200mm it's only half a stop slower than the 70-200 f4. And you don't need to put on a teleconverter to reach 300mm. Plus it has IS, obviously.

 

After shooting with the 70-300 IS, I'm pleased with its optical quality at all focal lengths -- 300mm even at 5.6 is pretty good -- and light weight. IS works great. Focus speed is OK. The lens also does a decent job with the Kenko Teleplus Pro 2x, manual focus only and with noticeable decrease of contrast that can be fixed with Photoshop.

 

Things I don't like: 1. Lack of full time manual focus; 2. Shooting into, or in general direction of the sun, would cause severe flare; 3. It's not a true zoom but a varifocal, meaning that if you zoom to another focal lenghth, you have to refocus. This combines with lack of full time manual focus is a real pain.

 

So for these reasons, it's not "L quality." But it's a good supplement to the 70-200 2.8 as a much lighter and more convenient alternative.

 

At the time, there was no 70-200 f4 IS available yet. But now, the choice is still 70-300 IS, because I'm not going to fork out over a grand for the 70-200 f4 IS.

I got mine fixed. Though no extensive testing, upper edge resolution for portrait orientation is better. No more zoom creep. And things have been staying that way for a few months now.

In the old days (and even true now) a 24, 50 and 85 are enough. Which is even less than what you have. Go shoot. Then if you feel you need more tele, then get a longer lens.

 

24 is my fav wide focal length because with anything shorter than and you'd start to get the unnatural deep perspective stretch that looks rather obvious. But if that's what you must have, get the 16-35.

Can you clarify a little more about the Lite-Link. I've read a few description at retail sites but still uncertain how it works.

 

I thought it retains TTL capability for an EZ off camera flash, with the main EZ flash fired from an A type body like the A2.

 

It does not work with E-TTL. Then how does it work in your example on the G1 if the camera is on manual flash? Does it make the 550ex behave like a TTL flash even though the camera is on manual flash? If so how can it achieve this? Or you mean the 550ex only works in manual power mode (full, 1/2, 1/4, 1/8 etc.)?

The 299T has a 2 prong PC socket, not household but proprietary 1 round one flat prong, just like the 199A. Maybe generic slave via PC cord would work? But then would be cumber some for a handheld flash to use with little digital cameras. The Ikelite would be too big for this purpose.

 

Consistent with the way in the G series, the S3's manual mode would also have the flash in manual, with 3 output settings. This oddity is annoying when you want to use the built in flash in manual mode, but quite convenient to use with external slave flash. Just set to lowest setting and trigger the slave flash, no preflash nonsense.

 

One strange thing I just found with the 20D is that when using the built in flash to trigger a generic slave attached Vivitar 285, the external flash just would not sync with the camera exposure. It has no effect at all, just like the built in flash working alone.

 

There has to be some kind of better external flash solution for the S3. A 432mm zoom reach with the puny built in flash, and no PC socket, is absurd. The external slave flash especially made for it is not that powerful either, something like GN 50 (feet).

 

Now we have to live with the 283/285, with 3 auto f stops and no flash compensation.

This question is probably for Jim Strutz or the N.K Guy:

 

I bought the old 299T to use as an automatic flash (non TTL) for the G3 via the

hotshoe. It also works fine for the 20d that way. It's a great flash with all

the f-stop settings, not just 3 like the Vivitar 283/285 or the Sunpak

varieties. The integrated ISO setting up to 1600 can also be used as flash

exposure compensation.

 

However, I recently bought a Powershot S3, which does not have a hotshoe. So

naturally I tried to use a hotshoe slave to trigger the 299T by the S3's pop up

flash (manual mode, no preflash). Strangely, the 299T only flashed once, then

to get it to work again, I had to turn it off and back on. I checked the slave

with a Vivitar 285 and it worked fine.

 

I remember a comment somewhere that this behavior also happens with the newer

550ex's or 580ex's when used with a hotshoe slave. I tried taping the extra

contacts on the 299T but to no avail.

 

Is there a way to fix the 299T to work with hotshoe slaves? Would using the

Canon's proprietary PC cord (the one with one round and one flat prong) for the

299T solve this problem?

 

Or is there a way to install a PC nipple to the S3? Back in the days, Canon did

just that for my T-90.

I'm used to MF for sports from the days of the T-90 and F-1, but I guess it's not for everyone. One trick is to stand besides the road and practice focusing on oncoming cars. You need to coordinate your eye (tracking), left hand (focus) and right hand (click shutter) to work together. But then oncoming cars don't zigzag or change directions abruptly like players on the field.

 

For football and soccer you'd want 400mm on monopod, and the Nikon 400mm 3.5 is a unique lens. It's not gigantic and still fast enough and now is rather cheap (I got one for $700). No other mount has such a lens. You would not want to lug around a 400 2.8 all day, save your back.

 

For indoor swimming the 70-200 2.8 auto focus variety with a 1.4x would do fine. I wouldn't wanna skim on this with a MF 80-200 2.8 because their push pull design and bulkiness makes it quite difficult to manual focus, let alone tracking a moving object. I had a Tamron 80-200 2.8 back in the days and it was a pain to shoot basketball with.

 

The 70-200 2.8 plus 1.4x would also give you a 280 f4. Multi-purpose and weight saving there.

I did shoot tennis. With the 300mm you're at the back end of the court getting action at the net. The 600mm you're on the bleachers shooting down over the net (cleaner shot, with the ground as the background)the player on the other side diving to save etc. or the service shot.

Well don't drag god into this. You're on your own on this one.

 

I remember there's a book published by Kodak called Basic Photography, or something like that. It's a small, well illustrated book that covers pretty much everything from f-stop to filters. There could be a latest edition now.

 

Good luck.

If you don't need HV input (1 sec recycle time from battery pack) you might want to consider the Canon 299T. It has every F-stop, not just 3 like the Vivitar 283. You can even adjust the ISO in 1/3 stop for flash exposure compensation.

 

You can find this flash sometimes on Ebay. I got one for $30. Definitely no voltage problem.

>>I have to ask in what realistic shooting situation do you shoot wide open with a wide lens and need the corners sharp - maybe if your hobby is shooting test charts?

 

I shoot PJ and in some situations, as in PJ style, the main subject is put off centered at 16mm and 2.8. However, people are more likely to complain about their faces getting distorted than "how dare you put me in a lower rezed corner"

 

But don't spread this around too much, they might start to :-D

 

Obviously for my purpose it's absurd to switch to the Nikon 17-35 and deal with manual focusing and stopped down metering.

I'm happy with a Lowepro Slingshot 200. Holds 1 20D with 16-35 attached, a 50, a 70-300 IS, a 2x, a charger, field hard disk, extra batteries, and the top compartment holds the 550ex. It has a pull out rain cover, plus loops for attaching Street and Field lens cases and accessories.

 

The two loops at the front of the bag can also take a Velbon Maxi 343 travel tripod, by sliding one leg through both of the loops. This is apparently not intended by the manufacturer, but it does work.

 

By removing some dividers, there is enough space in the bag for a 70-200 2.8. However, I found that this adds much weight to it, making slinging the bag a bit uncomfortable. So I use a separate belt and lens case for the 70-200 2.8, if I want to carry it along.

 

There is even an auxillary strap that attaches to the main padded strap for better weight distribution during long hikes.

 

The only complaint I have for this bag is that the entire main strap should be padded, instead of just about 3/4 like it is now. Other than that it's a great all around bag, with a backpack's comfort and centered weight distribution, while having the quick accessiblity to equipment of a shoulder bag.

 

I also have the Topload Zoom 70 AW, but since using the Slingshot 200 it just seems no longer necessary.

I think it depends on whether you're a 16-35, 70-200 type of person, or a 24-105, 100-400 one. Consider the difference. I'm the first type, being photojournalism ingrained, with a 2 bodies and 2 2.8 zooms setup. Other than the 1 stop faster speed, though my favorite wide focal length is 24mm, I sometimes find 20mm useful (on full frame film bodies). The 24mm-ish preference is even more obvious with 1.6 crop digital bodies, since the 16-35 gives me 26mm, something I have to live with for now until I upgrade to full frame digital.

 

The second setup is for people who are more normal-wide to mid-tele inclined, so the 24-105 on one body would be adequate for most of their needs, perhaps even leaving the 100-400 home most of the time.

 

If you're really in the second type of mindset then I'd say use the grand or so on the sale of the 16-35 for some other useful gear.

 

So it's not really a dilemma after all :-)

Though now using the 16-35, I still keep the 20-35 for future upgrade to full frame digital. Just like the previous posters had said, it's very good from 24mm to 35mm, where I shoot most my wide shots. CA can be noticeable, though can be corrected by software. For full frame use to me 20mm is wide enough, though lack of full time manual focus to me is the major disappointment for this lens. But it is smaller (72mm), and the hood is much more compact and more effective. Its ideal zoom design withdraws the front element deepest into the barrel at the long end. Both the 17-35 and the 16-35 have the illogical extend-withraw-extend-again zoom design, which would render the lens hood most ineffective at the long end, not to mention the ridiculously cumbersome lens hood that is a pain to store the lens in camera bags.

I had the same card, and went on assignment in another country right at the time Lexar was doing the recall. It got corrupted, and several hundred pictures were not retrievable using any software I had, including Lexar's recovery software. This was around June last year. Obviously I got into a lot of problems with my client because of this.

 

I sent the card to Lexar. Initially their normal recovery attempt did not work either. I pressed on with emails and phone calls. Then it was explained to me that they had to "escalate" it to a higher level of recovery by engineers in a different department than customer support. These engineers had to open up the card, and could only work whenever they have time other than their regular schedule to work on my card.

 

I was about to give up and tell them to send the card back to me so I can hire someone else to do the recovery and pass along the bill to Lexar. Then after 6 months, Lexar finally sent me 2 CDs with everything recovered.

 

The person I contacted and kept regular calls to check status was Demeris Williams, a boss of customer support. You might want to call Lexar at ask to speak to him directly.

 

One good thing about Lexar is Demeris said "We never give up." But then, it can take a damn long time.

The picture looks like you're shooting from the sideline, which is not really an ideal spot for basketball, since it's a fast moving sport in a rather small court, which means the players move back and forth a lot, and rather quickly. So if you're at the sidelines you have to constantly track them, not just focus, but also where the ball is.

 

The usual ideal place is at either end of the court, where your coverage from one spot opens up more, and you can wait for the action to come to you. With an 85mm or 100mm you should be able to get those usual jumpshots or players fighting under the basket, from your end of the court. Keep in mind that you are shooting upwards, and flare from lights above can be a problem. With 200 or 300mm you can get the other end or tight shots at mid court, though this can be difficult, since there usually are players blocking your picture. With a long lens also keep an eye out for either coaches on the sidelines at mid court, since their reaction is an integral part of the game, and also of course the fans (or, well, zealous parents).

 

The cleanest shot with best coverage is from a high bleacher shooting down with a 300mm or more, when you don't have a large crowd showed up for the game.

 

You can use zooms, but just set it at a particular focal length. Zooming in and out can't keep up with the action.

 

1/250 may not be able to freeze the action close to you. You need 1/500 at 2.8, which in high school courts would require ISO 3200 or even 6400. Of course faster prime lenses like 85mm 1.8 would give you more flexibility with shutter speeds and ISO.

 

Good luck.