david_wright3

<p>In the "Amateur Photographer" issue of 27th November new Nikon D40's with the 18-55mm VR lens are being advertised by Cartex at £269.95 - www.cartex.co.uk<br>

I have used my own D40 with a wide variety of F mount manual focus legacy lenses. No auto exposure but quite usable with a little practice.<br>

The same advertiser has the D60 18-55mm kit at £299.95.</p>

<p>The Praktica FX with Meritar lens retailed for £38.625 according to my 1959/60 Wallace Heaton Blue Book. This figure would have to be multiplied by about 20 to get the present monetary equivalent which would be a roughly £700.</p>

<p><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4137/4870196034_cec91b1df1_z.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="264" /></p>

<p>This is the result of an ad-hoc test using a C mount lens with the Panasonic G1. I simply held my Kern Switar 10mm f1.6 in the throat of the G1. It was difficult positioning the lens so that it was perfectly central, plane to the sensor and in focus. The result is a little skewed but shows the amount of vignetting with this particular lens.<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3496/3182606429_426212a7fb.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="375" /></p>

<p><br /> The largest rectangular clip I could make was 2200x2304 pixels<br>

<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3334/3182606443_23d154040f.jpg" alt="" width="478" height="500" /></p>

My Fuji S5 has suddenly changed the file prefix. All frames were numbered DSCFxxxx and then it abruptly changed to using a _DSCxxxx prefix.

 

I can't find any information in the manual on this matter. All it says is that a new folder will be created each 1000 shots.

 

Any information on how to revert to the DSCFxxxx format would be welcome.

Cameras with twin small sensors combining their output through software to make a larger image are a real possibility and have already been marketed:

 

"The Minolta Dimage RD 3000 is a professional SLR digital camera that has all of the features of pro 35mm cameras including interchangeable lenses. It delivers 1,984 x 1,360-pixel uncompressed TIF or finished JPEG (Exif 2.0) images from a pair of 1.5-megapixel CCD imagers using a half-mirror prism. The prism splits the image into left and right halves, each of which is projected onto its own CCD. The two images are then seamlessly rejoined by Minolta's Image Stitching technology, becoming a single 2.7-million pixel image. " Quoted text is from http://www.steves-digicams.com/rd3000.htm

I have an E-300 and have tried using a Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 mounted using a Nikon F to Olympus 4/3rds adapter.

 

My experience is that the game is scarcely worth the candle.

 

Firstly you lose open aperture viewing and must either attempt to focus at your taking aperture (very difficult at f22) or focus at f1.8 and then stop down to your taking aperture.

 

Secondly there is no focus confirmation green light when using this lens in the focus MF mode - this only operates with Zuiko AF lenses used in their manual mode - i.e. say for critical focussing in macro mode.

 

You do however get auto exposure control in Av mode which is a plus.

 

At the end of the day I found my Nikkor became a 100mm lens that was a pain to work with compared with the ease of use of the 14-45mm kit lens which gives very good results equivalent to 90mm at the long end.

 

I agree that both the E-300 and E-330 represent excellent value for money at their current prices. If I was buying again I would probably opt for the E-330. Whichever you get it is important to upgrade to the latest firmware which is easily done via the included software.

As the link to my image on Flickr isn't working try http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/548061.

I agree that the Pentax K-100D and Tamron 18-250mm make a good combination. However in my experience the Tamron is quite sharp at the long end. This shot, cropped from the full frame, was taken hand-held from a distance of about 6ft and I really don't think you could ask for better resolution. It also demonstrates that shake reduction on the K-100D is really effective.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1071/1336941467_0bd9705b6b_o.jpg

I have a K100D and the simple answer to your question is "Yes". A useful technique with an MF lens mounted is to leave the focus switch on AF. On this setting the shutter will not operate unless the image is in focus. Hold down the shutter release button whilst adjusting focus and as soon as focus is achieved the shutter will automatically trip and the picture will be taken. This is a very fast method of operation.

I recently purchase a Soligor 28mm/f2.8 on Ebay and it is a T-mount screw lens. To fit an M42 camera it needs a separate adapter (which was included). The T-mount screw is very similar to the M42 but they are not compatible as the threads differ.