nikhil_patwardhan

<p>Hi,<br>

I shot my first roll of 120 film on a Fuji GW690 and (surprise) see all the photos have come off as completely out of focus (bokeh in the complete frame). This is baffling because i aligned the images in the center of the viewfinder to focus. Two shots were taken with my friend, and those two have just bokeh, so eyesight is out of the question. My vision is normal (I hope) and I do not wear glasses.<br>

Two photos which were landscapes and were exposed with f/8 and f/11 have a vague outline in them where atleast the forms are identifiable, the rest were portraits and were shot with the subject about 5 feet away from the camera at f/4 - f/5.6 and these are complete bokeh.<br>

I routinely use MF lenses and expose manually on a DSLR, so am struggling to make sense of the results I have got with this first roll. Have I missed something?<br>

This was my test roll of film before I leave on vacation in two days (with this camera). Tomorrow I am going to shoot a landscape scene with f/3.5 to f/32, hopefully that can throw some light (pardon the pun) on what the matter could be. Any suggestions are welcome.<br>

I just bought the camera from KEH and am considering returning it, however it would be foolish of me if I am returning a perfectly working camera but am operating it incorrectly. Help!<br>

Thanks for your time,<br>

Nikhil</p>

<p>Hi all,<br>

I have a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 ED-IF lens which I am currently mounting on a Bogen 3021 w/ 3126 (no quick release). The tripod handles the weight well, however I'm facing two issues with it when I try to use it for nature photography:<br>

1. I need to lock the head position in order for the lens to be steady, and repositioning it requires unlocking or atleast partially loosening the knobs on the head and then adjusting the direction, then screwing them back. This is a hindrance when trying to photograph birds as they move around so quickly.<br>

2. I've seen YouTube videos where big lenses are mounted on a frame / plate that allows:<br>

a. Balance, so locking is not required and pointing the lens anywhere is easy<br>

b. Vertical orientation shooting is easy<br>

Those accessories were costing about $400+ or so if I remember correctly and were for much heavier lenses.<br>

I do not plan to upgrade to a really heavy lens like the 500mm / 600mm / 400mm f2.8 anytime soon at all. I'd like to ask if anyone can recommend a cheaper setup that can alleviate the problems above for the lens I have. Also any tips for carrying around the setup in the field are welcome.<br>

Thanks in advance,<br>

Nikhil</p>