michael_chmilar

<p>The new 2.0.1.5 firmware released today should fix the LTM adapter problems:</p>

<ul>

<li>Live view is now possible with every lens (including older screw lenses via an adapter) using “manual lens detection”</li>

</ul>

<p>When the M240 is using live view, the shutter is open. The camera closes the shutter when the lens is removed (to protect the sensor), and opens it when a lens is attached.<br>

It is probably using the lens detection to decide if a lens is attached.<br>

The other digital M's do not have live view, so they don't need this sensor protection mechanism.</p>

<p>Bill, the eternal question with the digital M Leicas is: when is it time to jump in.</p>

<p>I waited through the M8 and M9 models because I felt that the compromises were too great, considering their prices.</p>

<p>When the M 240 came out, I was more interested because Live View enabled some new capabilities, such as using longer lenses, and wider lenses without external viewfinders. I still waited quite a while until some consensus was found amongst reviewers and users about the strengths and weaknesses of the new 240 before I decided to buy one.</p>

<p>Given the high price of the M digital cameras, it is not something I will consider "upgrading" every two or three years. In fact, one of my dilemmas was whether to wait another three years for Leica's next generation, or buy the 240, knowing that I would be keeping it for a long time and not dropping another seven grand for its successor.</p>

 

 

 

<p><em>"It also provides the choice of white or red framelines."</em><br>

<em>What would be the point of that?</em></p>

 

Does frameline color choice create some disadvantage?

 

As to its advantage, if your subject is mostly white, the white framelines might be difficult to distinguish, so switch to red. Invert for red subjects.

 

 

<p><a name="pagebottom"></a></p>

<p>On the subject of the LED lit framelines in the viewfinder, there are two criticisms of it:<br>

1) You have to turn the camera on to see the framelines.<br>

2) The frameline preview selector has been removed, so you can no longer use it to decide what lens to attach.</p>

<p>On the other hand, the LED illumination eliminates some of the criticisms about the optical illumination (ie. that it becomes very dim in low light, or if something is blocking the window). It also provides the choice of white or red framelines.</p>

<p>When you speak of the 28/35/50 lens, I assume you mean the Tri-Elmar (often referred to as MA-TE to distinguish it from the 16/18/21 Tri-Elmar WA-TE).</p>

<p>One nice thing about the MA-TE on the M 240 is that changing the lens between 28, 50, and 35 will bring up all of the different frameline combinations, so it makes up (somewhat) for the lack of frameline preview selector.</p>

<p>A google search does not find any official statements about Fuji (or anyone else) reviving the Quickload film packets. The only Quickload film you can get right now is available stock from retailers.<br>

I am a Quickload user, and would love for Fuji to bring it back, but I am very sceptical of what the Fuji Canada person told you.</p>

<p>If your primary purpose is landscape, then a field camera will be more useful than a rangefinder-based one. The rangefinder is pretty useless for landscape, whereas easily operated movements on the field camera (rise/fall, tilt) are very useful and important. You will almost certainly grow to using more than one lens, and, again, the rangefinder cameras fall down here.<br>

To keep the price down, look at something like the relatively inexpensive Shen-Hao or consider a used camera.</p>

<p>The technical cameras are actively discussed on a couple of other forums. Specifically:</p>

<p>Luminous Landscape: http://luminous-landscape.com/forum/index.php?showforum=16<br>

GetDPI http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10</p>

<p>If you browse through these forums, you will find information about these cameras, including photos taken by owners.</p>

<p>Jake, to help you help you find better information for your decision: the Horseman SWD-II would not be considered as a "large format" camera. It is more accurately described as a medium format technical camera. Other comparable cameras to consider in that class are the Cambo Wide DS, or at a higher price bracket, an Alpa camera, the Arca RM3D, or Sinar ArTec.</p>

<p>I have been to China twice, carrying a 4x5 camera, four lenses, spotmeter, tripod, and film. Both of these times in China were part of longer solo backpacking trips that included Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos (first trip, 3 1/2 months), and then Australia, New Zealand, and Japan (second trip, 6 months).<br>

So, I can tell you that carrying your MF camera is certainly do-able. It is mostly a matter of what you want to accomplish photographically, and your commitment to getting it done!<br>

One important point to note: If you plan to photograph in Angkor Wat using a "professional-looking" set up, you may be stopped by the guards, and required to purchase a special permit at around $50USD/day and a couple days' delay to get the permit. You might avoid this with an MF camera and small tripod, but it is unavoidable with large format.</p>

<p>Some of the work that is happening in the field of "computational photography" may be useful in creating a full-frame M digital camera.</p>

<p>For example, the flange-to-sensor distance could be increased. This would result in an out-of-focus image on the sensor. The amount by which the image is out of focus is known, so camera's processor could deconvolve the blurry image and produce the focussed one. This would require a very powerful processor if you want to see the image in a reasonable amount of time.</p>

<p>Alexander,</p>

<p>Try http://www.cambo.com and click on the left-hand side where it says "CANON Users".</p>

Both of the Tri-Elmars.

You might consider a series of photos that, together, tell a story about the location, rather than attempting to capture it in a single shot.

My lens kit (for landscape) with a rough estimate of frequency used:

 

180mm 58%, 110mm 35%, 300mm 4%, 80mm 3%

Just to update some information about using the Screen 1030ai.

 

I have been running the scanner with a beige G3 for some time. However, I heard reports of using the 1030ai with a G4. I also have a G4 dual 800, which has an Adaptec 29160 SCSI card installed in it.

 

Anyway, I can confirm that the 1030ai is functioning perfectly with the G4. The G4 is running OS 9.2, and I use DTS Scan 3.4. Scanning speed is no different than it is with the G3, however the G4 has gigabit ethernet, more RAM, and faster processors than the G3, so everything else is faster and easier.

Technically, alpenglow is a very specific thing: shortly after the sun has set, sunlight may reflect from a bright reflective surface such as snow or ice (and sometimes water or sand) which is beyond the horizon, back up into the atmosphere.

 

<P>

Searching on google images, I found a <A HREF="http://www.tobinphoto.com/images/photos/alaska-alpenglow.jpg">perfect example</A>. Note that there is no direct sunlight in this photo, not even lighting the clouds.

 

<P>

It appears that the term is being aggressively redefined to mean merely: low angle, reddish direct sunlight. This is unfortunate, as true alpenglow is a somewhat rare and unique form of light.

Your lenses do NOT "get longer". They are exactly the same size they always were. However, the capture area of the scanning backs is smaller than 4x5 film, so you capture a narrower field of view for each lens. The effect is the same as cropping your 4x5 film images.

I often overhear someone telling their friends, "That must be digital" (ie. big and "professional-looking" == digital).

 

But then, I don't use a darkcloth, so I don't look like an old-timey photographer.

<I>[...] and of course DVD Jon (now in San Diego...).</I>

 

<P>

Now that DVD Jon is in San Diego, he can be prosecuted under the wonderful DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) for any reverse engineering or other forms of "cracking" of encryption/protection schemes. While the DMCA was targeted primarily at music and movie piracy, it is being applied very broadly to any form of cracking.

 

<P>

So, it is unlikely that DVD Jon will be applying himself to get OSX to run on non-Apple hardware.

It seems that the Steven Sivak, Sean Kennedy, and Jill Greenberg sites (linked above) have a unique approach to protecting their content.

 

The web browser I am using (Mozilla on Red Hat Linux) renders these sites as a 4cm (about 1.5 inch) strip at the left-hand side of browser window. As such, it is impossible for me to navigate around the site - thus protecting the images from my gaze, let alone snarfing a copy.

 

Of course, it makes me wonder why they bother to put up a site if it cannot be browsed.

 

Were these created by a "professional" web designer? It seems unlikely. A professional's code will work on all browsers.

 

(I was going to figure out how to snarf some images, but the lack of functionality of the sites has prevented me from even seeing any images.)

Some things to keep in mind:

<OL>

<LI>Photoshop can make good use of multiple processors.

<LI>Lots of RAM is really important. Look for a motherboard that supports at least 4GB of RAM, and 8GB is even better.

<LI>A fast memory bus is important.

<LI>Fast disk access is the next most important thing.

<LI>The Intel/AMD choice is not too important.

<LI>Photoshop does not accelerate any of its computations using the video card. This may change in the future, but for the moment, the video card doesn't make much difference.

</OL>

So, the most important choice is really your motherboard: lots of RAM, fast bus, good disk I/O system. Choose your CPU to match the motherboard.

I have Evenings' "Photoshop for Photographers" book, but I find the "Real World Photoshop" book to be superior.

IBM doesn't make PC's at all anymore. No laptops, desktops, or workstations. They sold the whole division to Lenovo in May, 2005.

I spent the month of November, 2002, travelling through Vietnam. I started in the North (entered from China) and exited to Cambodia. The Lonely Planet book was packed with useful information.

 

If you are travelling for a while, I recommend just booking your flights in and out of Vietnam, and improvising while you are there, instead of having a pre-planned itinerary. There is no trouble arranging for transportation and lodging. If your time is short, it is probably more efficient to have everything pre-arranged.

 

The best photo opportunities in Vietnam are people and daily life. Vietnam is not so good for landscape photography, with the notable exceptions of Ha Long Bay and Tam Coc. I also agree that the north and middle are more interesting than south.

 

The street food is excellent and cheap. Bottled water is easily available, and most places know that foreigners prefer it.