oleg_boldyrev

Hi. Having three days to spare around mid-March. Want to devote them to shooting

large wildflowers. Half-remember reading that Southern Spain has these kind of

semi-desert habitats - big expanses, lots and lots of flowers before the

scorching season starts. Does anyone know a more precise location and is there

anything to look at in second week of March? Regards,

Hi. Bit of a theoretical question, but I wonder if anyone knows a more or less

sure way of predicting good dramatic lighting on the clouds (see sample

attached). I know it's very general - clouds are different in shape and

altitude, but I am puzzled by the fact that several times having good juicy

clouds and (obviously) a good open setting sun I did not observe anything

spectacular. I would be grateful for your comments.<div></div>

Okay, the array of advice is a bit alarming. Yes, I do shoot manually, insofar as metering and refocusing is concerned. No, I do not judge the highlights by monitor, I look at the historgasms (what a typo, watching "9 Songs"!) on the camera screen, they are bumping the right wall. There's no pattern in which shots they do it, broadly euqally RGB'd ones get this problem too. The histogram on the camera broadly corresponds to the histogram on the computer, at least as far as highlights go.<p>

 

I've just tested the camera meter against N90s one. The meters work perfectly in unison with both white and mid-gray target. This brings the question of dynamic range - can that be that digital camera can't hold detail in 2 2/3 stops above mid-gray while slide-film can? (funny side note: googling up D70s dynamic range brings a pageful of exactly same line from the promo brochure). So, either it ends in highlights somewhat sooner that slide film or there's a fault in carrying the settings from shutter button to camera's CPU. Am I correct?

<p>

Many thanks to all those who wrote.

I've seen a number of related posts, but the advice seem to differ.

I've just got a D70s and it looks like camera overexposes things quite

a bit - my guess is 1/2 to 3/4 of an f-stop. In my test run I've shot

a fair amount of apples in an orchard, taking spot measurements off

reds and greens. I am pretty good at it with a film camera and so do

not think it's my error. The images rarely come with irreparable

highlights, but it's still a nuisance. Have you met this problem and

is it indicative of something wider and nastier or should I just live

with in-camera (and mental) compensation?

 

On a side note - the body of the camera shows a little play in the

delete button area. Again - is this going to develop into something

nasty or shall I just supress my obsessive-compulsive and live with

it? Thanks.

Laptop editing question: I am okay with the slight deviation the

laptop screen throws re: colour. The brightness is the problem, with

so many degrees viewing angles allow. I was thinking of devising a

grayscale, erm, scale, which can sit above the edited image and tell

me whether I am seeing the full range or am above/below. Can anybody

help taking this thought further - is it a correct approach and if

yes, how should I do this bar - gradient from pure black to pure white

probably won't do, need some sort of step change. Thanks,

I can report that Sendean have returned my lens saying that there's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Which makes them sound honest and the chap in Camera City on Russel Street, who was trying hard to convince me that the lens needs a repair - not honest. Reinforces my point: feels like many of those folks are out there to milk me and I have no means of checking. If anyone else comes across a good lens service in London, please, post it here.

Had a brief search in repair dealers, but very few UK names and none

of London. Can anyone advise an honest repairman for lens

recalimation? Last guy I tried seemed to want to repair the lens just

for the sake of charging me and I didn't like that. A free estimate

and a quick service would be appreciated as well.

I have noticed for the past few months an unusually large share of my

shots on slide films (Provia F100) being overexposed. Needless to say,

the hardware stayed the same. When I started shooting slides, six or

seven years ago, they mostly went underexposed, but I thought I have

nailed the exposure process a few years ago. However, a recent

experience with a gray paint on a ship, a seemingly simple case of one

stop above average rather threw it into my face: slides came out

almost 1 1/2 stop above. I mean, I'm not a total pro on exposure (I do

it manually), but all of the errors come on the above, not the below,

side. Processing was pretty much confined to one lab and I wonder if

anything could go wrong on that side. Also, my eyesight has moved

slightly into minus area, are there any associated mutations which

could explain the change?

 

Thanks,

I am really asking this question on behalf of someone else, so pardon

for it's somewhat naive setting, but...

 

An acquaintance of mine wants to shoot castles in Scotland. He's

never been to UK and, what's more, is restricted in his ability to

travel by being afraid to drive on the left side. Ideally, he wants

to find an area with 3-4 good looking castles (not ruins) in great

locations which would be serviced by a combination of train and,

possibly, a short taxi ride. I have been in Scotland many times, but

my speciality is North-West, where castles are not that numerous. He

plans to go in January.

 

A comment from anyone either living in Scotland or having specific

knowlege of it's castles will be highly appreciated. Thank you,

Can you help me identify a problem, please? I've rented a 20mm lens

from a photo store, a Nikon, MF, that's how much I know. Quite a lot,

if not all, shots from this lens came with a distinct soft patch (see

bottom shot, attached). I wonder if it's a result of my inexperience

with wide angle coupled with lots of sun or a fault in the lens. I

admit, I have noticed some hairline scratches on the back element of

the lens, but both shop owner and a salesperson in a different (quite

reputable) shop said it's not going to affect the quality. Thank you,

Great tonality. Hardly outrageous in my vocabulary, but very interesting. For a Russian, recreates that forgotten homey feeling of a dacha perfectly. Being a novice to panoramic - what exactly is the point of offering a 360 degree in a two-dimensional display and, if you can disclose, what is a technique? I can sense superwide lens, then seamless joining in PS? Thanks, Oleg.