al_derickson

<p>In the first picture if I reduced the exposure to retain highlight detail the faces would be too dark. In the second there is some blown white on her waist but it's unimportant and the rest of her is well exposed.</p>

<p>Another</p><div></div>

<p>Ok, here they are:</p><div></div>

<p>It is pretty contrasty. You have to be careful not to blow the highlights. A couple examples:</p>

<p>I agree with A.T. that it would approach rudeness to presume to provide a teaching point to a stranger. But then I am getting pretty old also. In fact I am often offered the comment "Oh look! An antique camera!" when I am out with my 1971 Rolleiflex 3.5F, a camera I purchased new and don't think as an antique at all. I usually respond with "Well I am an antique".</p> <p>It does usually seem to be attractive young women who notice and comment about the camera. I've never understood why that is.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>For your own photos I'd say don't worry the scratches will have negligible effect. If you are worried about resale value then switching lenses will have far more negative effect than scratches.<br> Al</p>

<p>It appears to be a pretty good implementation of a grain reduction filter, at least to my taste. I use Neat Image in my own scans, set to remove half the noise, mainly to counteract the effect of capture sharpening with Focus Magic.</p> <p>I wonder if you can also ask for no sharpening.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>The Smartcurve plugin hasn't been updated for a while and doesn't work on the newer 64 bit versions of Elements. One of the advantages of Smartcurve is it allows you to work in L*A*B color mode which is nice if you use the Margulis techniques.<br> The Curve tool in Elements+ works just like it does in full Photoshop (minus some options, I believe).</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I just checked mine and it is also oblong and it is not an optical illusion.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>Nikon Scan NEF's do indeed open in LR 5.7 at least. They are not true raw files, however. They are just a TIFF in Nikon's wrapper.<br> Al</p>

<p>I have the same scanner and after trying several products settled on Neat Image for film grain noise reduction. It allows you to generate a profile for each film type. I use the plug-in version and generally set it to remove half the noise to retain detail.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I'm just thinking out loud here but if a time exposure is possible, possibly "painting" the rain with a handheld flashlight might be an experiment you could try.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>If you go to the expense of booking a studio, be aware that amateur or freelance models are notoriously flakey. I and other photographers I have talked to have had no-shows.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>Ditto what John said (I have the same scanners).</p>

<p>You can buy a nice Nikon F4 and a data back (MF-22 of MF-23) for well under $500. Check out KEH.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I see a new product opportunity here: Some type of air-powered gun that shoots a net a maximum of say 30 feet or so. I believe something similar exists for capturing wildlife. That would take away the threat to public safety at least.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I guess no one has responded because we don't know the specs of that tripod.</p> <p>I'll say two things: I have a Vanguard ballhead (a larger one, the ABH-230K). Vanguard makes high quality products which are a good value for the money they ask. The problem is the 300mm lens. That size lens requires a series 3 tripod which has 33mm diameter top leg sections. I can't believe you can get a series 3 tripod alone at that price point, let alone the combo.</p> <p>I think you have to up your budget by a factor of at least 3x or 4x.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>You can also install the Silverfast 8.5 demo to get Nikon Scan to work.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>This is with the 55-300 on a D7100. I had more keepers with VR on. Shutter speed was 1/250</p> <div></div>

<p>With that rig I think most wildlife photographers would spec a series 5 or at least a series 4 tripod. Carbon fiber is said to dampen vibrations better than aluminum. I bought my Induro aluminum AT413 on sale with rebate for a bit less than $200.</p> <p>You are not going to touch an adequate carbon fiber unit with that budget.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I can't remember exactly, but on a camera that is iTTL compatible, one contact is the trigger signal, one is the stop signal, one is the ready signal and one reads lens information.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I upgraded from Windows 7 Pro 64 bit and I had a working installation of Nikon Scan with a Coolscan V ED using hacked drivers I found on the web. Windows 10 Pro 64 bit broke it.</p> <p>I went to the Silverfast site and downloaded and installed the demo of version 8.5 of their scanning software for the Nikon Coolscan. Now here's the crazy, ironic thing: Nikon Scan finds the scanner and works fine; the Silverfast 8.5 demo does not!<br> Oh well. I'm happy.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I had the lens replacement surgery 9 years ago. I was extremely near-sighted. Post surgery my vision corrected to 20/20 in one eye and 20/15 in the other. The other major change was that my natural lenses had yellowed over the fifty-some years so post surgery everything initially looked bluish.</p> <p>I can't say that it has affected my photography except that it's nice to be able to hold my eye right against the eyepiece of the camera and see all of the viewfinder.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>I'd make sure you get all the old paint and corrosion off the brackets. Sanding with some fine grade emery cloth would work. I used a semi-gloss automotive black lacquer on my Rollei.</p> <p>Cleaning and re-lubing the focus mechanism on Rolleis requires a very extensive teardown - much more than CLA of the shutter or the wind mechanism. It would be costly.</p> <p>Al</p>

<p>The best solution for noise and grain reduction for scanned images is Neat Image, which is available both as a plugin and a standalone application. I use the plugin with Photoshop Elements 13. It will also work with PS 7.<br> http://www.neatimage.com/index.html</p> <p>You can get a version for 8 bit images for $40 or the pro version for 16 bit images for $80.</p> <p>Al</p>