stan_schurman1

<p>I agree with Michael Mowery. Use the speed lights with no modifier for the edgier look. You don't want soft light. You can mount them together using inexpensive brackets ( I use the Westcott Triple Threat) and try to get them close to the model, within about 10 ft., especially if you're using them to overcome shadows from bright sun. I generally find that 1/4- 1/6 power is sufficient with 3 Nikon SB-910s. You can experiment with manual settings or use TTL.</p>

<p>Has anyone tried the new Cactus V6 triggers yet? If so, what are your impressions? Obviously a huge a jump over the previous manual only Cactus models.</p>

<p>Never mind. For some reason, today it's working.</p>

 

<p>I just upgraded my Photomatix to the Pro 5 version. I checked off the box linking it to Lightroom, but for some reason it didn't take. If I click on Export in Lightroom after selecting the NEF files, Photomatix Pro 5 doesn't come up as one of the export options. Any ideas?</p>

<p>If you're shooting portraits close in you must be shooting at partial power like 1/4 or even 1/8 so recycling time shouldn't be a major issue. If it is, you might also consider ganging 2 or 3 SB 900s or SB 910s together with something like the Westcott Triple Threat Speedlight Bracket. Firing multiple speedlights at partial power should give you almost instantaneous recovery.</p>

<p>Looking at it again, it looks as if possibly it is just the DK 21 having worked its way off.</p>

<p>It is not just the rubber eyepiece, I know that can be removed. It is the eyepiece together with the metal plate that is riveted to the camera. It is the plate that DK-21 slides on to.</p>

<p>It is not just the rubber eyepiece, I know that can be removed. It is the eyepiece together with the metal plate that is riveted to the camera.</p>

<p>I had the complete mount for the rubber eyepiece on my D90 viewfinder come off a couple of years ago. That is, not just the rubber, but the entire metal mount. The eyepiece glass in the body was still intact so I could still use the camera and I never bothered to have the mounting piece replaced. OK, I thought it was a fluke. But now I've had the exact same thing happen with my D7000 two years later. I've always been a Nikon shooter, but it seems to me that these occurrances betray some shoddy design or workmanship by Nikon. Has anyone else had something similar happen? I somehow doubt that my two incidences are unique and pure fluke.</p>

<p>Thanks Dave. Altough I never use Quick Develop, I'm pretty sure that I did inadvertently apply a preset to it. When I looked at it, it showed Custom rather than Default.</p>

<p>I was editing some wedding photos when LR4 suddenly defaulted all the library shots to some preset so that I have to select and reset each one as it comes up for editing. Never happened before. I don't even know which preset it is. I can undo it , but only shot by shot. Has anyone had this happen and is there a quick fix? Thanks</p>

<p>I was going to buy a Bowens strobe and probably will at some point, but I opted to buy another SB-910 to go with the one I already had (plus an SB-700 and a Vivitar 285HV). If you were toying with the idea of buying a strobe, why not buy an SB-910 or maybe an SB-700 and save on additional triggers. Just use CLS to trigger the speedlights. Just the pop-up flash can be used as the master even outdoors. The SB-910 isn't cheap, but it's less expensive than most studio strobes.</p>

<p>Why risk wrecking your camera with a knockoff grip? I bought the MB-D11 with my D7000 and feel secure both when it's on a tripod and when it's hanging from a Blackrapid RS-4 single point attachment - especially with a heavy lens attached. The MB-D11 is all metal construction with a rubber covering. The Meike is plastic with a metal plate on the bottom, but it's still attached to plastic. Pay a little extra and feel secure.</p>

<p>I agree that it was available light exposing for the model at a fairly high ISO.</p>

<p>I'm not sure how it performs on a full frame body, but the Tokina AT-X 11-16mm f2.8 is an excellent lens. It's considered by most to be as sharp or sharper than the equivalent Nikon or Canon and is half the price (between $700-800 in Canada and, I think, roughly the same in the US). It also has that very solid pro feel sometimes missing on 3rd party lenses.</p>

<p>I agree Michael. Not to mention the enormous amount of space those super hi-rez shots consume. I just bit the bullet and opted for the D7000. Even at 16MP it cut the theoretical number of RAW shots on my 8GB card from 524 on the 12.9MP D90 to 222. That's not a complaint, just an observation.</p>

<p>I've been reading rumours about the D300s replacement, D400, being announced in September, which has come and gone. Others say it'll be announced this month and available in November. The thing with these rumours is that they give detailed specs including a 24mp sensor and 51 focus points with 9FPS continuous shooting, etc. etc. Are these guesses or does someone have inside information? It baffles me that, with the number of "connected" people in the industry, nobody seems to have enough concrete information to say "it's happening folks". Those who have money invested in top of the line DX lenses and are wondering if they should wait or simply throw in the towel and go FX with all the added expense that entails with lens replacement are left wondering why Nikon is playing games and if they should hang in a little longer hoping the rumours are fact.</p>

<hr>

<i>Mod note: Moved from Nikon forum to Rumor Forum. Thanks for reading the posting guidelines.</i>

<p>You can pick up a pair of Cactus V5s for under $100.00 . They're reliable with a stated range of 300 ft although, in practice, they should be good for more. You'll have to learn to set your speedlights manually though as they don't support iTTL .</p>

<p>Spot metering the subject might help.</p>

 

<p>Spot metering.</p>

<p>Just my 2 cents, but I always try to stick with Nikon gear. I've had the MB-D80 grip on my D90 for almost 2 years now. It's never been off. I'm not sure what Meike offers for the D90, but the MB-D80 has both control wheels plus the auto-exposure/auto-focus locks. I just feel that, generally, you get what you pay for.</p>

<p>I'm surprised that a thorough pro like Dennis would even be reading this thread..and at 3:39 p.m. on a weekday afternoon.</p>

<p>An experienced model wont need a lot of direction if she/he nows what you're looking forbefore you begin the shoot. After showing the model the tear sheets, or scrapbook, then subtle direction should suffice. Over-directing will probably make the model too tense. Keep the direction in the conversational mode. Encourage and above all, compliment. I recently did a shoot for a magazine ad with a male and female model working together on a balcony overlooking a lake. They knew what we were looking for going in, so all I had to do was remark on the beauty of the shots and ask for one more, one more etc. They made the subtle changes themselves and we ended up with several, nice, useable shots out of a dozen or so taken.</p>

<p>It has nothing to do with jpeg vs raw. Gary is correct. It's the detail in the shots. The number you see with a clean card is the number of shots you'd get if each one was very high detail. As this is rare, you'll usually get up to twice the shots originally indicated whether the camera is set for jpeg or raw. Of course the starting number for jpegs is usually about twice that of raw.</p>

<p>Ariel: I do format in the camera. That's what I was saying. I don't click on the box that asks if I want to erase after the photos are downloaded. I delete and reformat in the camera.<br>

Kari: I have never taken even near that long to download from the camera. Even 300+ photos take not more than a couple to maybe three minutes. The 1 - 1.5 I cited is about average.</p>