Robert DeCandido PhD

Hello,

Field of view is narrow...but one has about a 2000-2500mm (effective) lens when a digicam is attached to the scope. (Those smaller digicams have zoom lenses that allow for up to 3x zoom). I don't know the effective focal length of the spotting scope(lens) when it is attached via a 50mm lens to the digital 35mm body. Send Dr. Cheang an email and ask...

In terms of image quality: so long as you use a tripod, the results are like any other camera/lens combo. You do need more light (long focal length plus the adapter reduces transmission of light) than a 600mm lens to make the same exposure at the same shutter speed. I would imagine that the F stop of this system is about F10 or so...and exposures of 1/15th of a second are not unusual. Again, with a very sturdy tripod (Gitzo 1325 eg), sharp photos are the rule (so long as the subject is not moving).

Thanks!

rdc<div></div>

When connected to scope it looks like this (see photo)

rdc/nyc<div></div>

Last one...here is a photo of some of Dr. Cheang's items that come as part of a kit. See attached

"Dr. Cheang Kum Seng" <kumseng@pd.jaring.my>

rdc/nyc<div></div>

Another great digiscoper is Ooi Beng Yean, also of Ipoh, Malaysia.

Here is one of his many photos.

Yes digiscoping is the only way to go when you are trying to photgraph smallish birds at a great distance. So long as the light is strong and even, the digicam-scope combo will get the shot for you. And yes, the Zeiss 85mm scope is the one to get.

rdc/nyc<div></div>

Hi Arthur,

Yes, digiscoping is for long-distance photography such as bird photography. The best digiscoper I knew was the late Laurence Poh:

www.LaurencePoh.com

and his Malaysian friends in Ipoh and Kuala Lumpur.

Now, they use smaller digicams as the body: the Olympus 2020/3030 and Ninkon 990/995 seem to be the favored bodies...

You can email this fellow (he makes the best adapter I know):

"Dr. Cheang Kum Seng" <kumseng@pd.jaring.my>

Tell him Bob from NYC sent you. Dr. Cheang will email you jpegs of the equipment he makes, and what you will need.

Regards,

rdc/nyc<div></div>

Try this obscure web site:

http://www.photo.net/gc/view-one?classified_ad_id=637894

What is a bragain price?

Hello,

For an external drive enclosure, I use (and like):

http://www.xpcgear.com/52535usfirco.html

about $38 plus shipping ($7). It is made for an ultra ata (EIDE) drive (not a Sata = Serial ATA).

Note Well! Though Sata drives are faster, EXTERNAL Sata capable enclosures are not common...and the ones I have used are not as good as the one listed above.

Seagate is good, reliable...I use both SATA and EIDE. I think they (Seagate) charge for shipping to return a drive to you that they repaired under warranty (or decided to replace). Right now a Seagate 250GB HD EIDE is about $125..do a search at: www.pricegrabber.com

Best Luck,

rdc/nyc

Hello,

The metering on the NII is superb! I owned that camera for 18 months. Landscapes with the 35mm lens (manual focus version) were wonderful. That being said, you will need a tripod to get any depth of field...

I hate to suggest this, but you can get a fine digital 35mm body that will give you 645 image quality (scanned color slide; no comment about b/w). The digital body will be smaller, lighter tahn 645 film body and you won't need a tripod (because you can shoot at up to 800 asa and see virtually no difference between that high asa an image made at 200asa). Apologies about the digital recommendation...

Pentax 645NII is a great camera...metering was/is superb. Great lens line-up. Less expensive than other medium format lines...(but go partially digital - I know, I know - apologies).

rdc/nyc

Hello,

You can get the HP printer for less than the price you have listed...

Try typing in HP 8750 at: www.PriceGrabber.com

You can get it for less than $400, shipped.

For digital would folks recommend the 17-35 F2.8 (a great lens; have had it for 5 years) or the new 17-55 F2.8? I ask because the real strength of the 17-35 (for me) was at the wide end...However on digital that is lost! And since I don't see myself returning to film (in 35mm format) in the future, I am thinking of trading the 17-35 for the 17-55 (that gives longer reach and is optimized for a digital sensor).

Any comments?

rdc

Hi Lauren,

Ask this question over at www.DPReview.com . They have a number of people who respond to ProShowGold questions. Just do a search with proshowgold as the phrase to look for. Many links will appear that have been discussed in the last year.

From what I have read it is a wonderful program but buggy...

rdc

Hello,

Yes the HO 8750 (dye ink) printer is about $375 right now. (Try www.pricegrabber.com). Today (Dec. 23) over at dpreview (www.dpreview.com) in the Printer Discussion area, someone posted a link to purchase an Epson 2400 for less than $700...the cheapest price I have seen yet. I think it was actually the Epson web site - there is a 15% discount coupon for the holidays plus free shipping on items >$100.oo.

The consummables on the Epson are very high (ink!). The HP is much cheaper...

If you need to print to 8x10, try the Epson r220...about $75.oo. It is supposedly an exceptional printer for B/W using MIS inks.

Regards,

rdc

Yes; absolutely for digital direct captures (Nikon D2H and D70) and scans of slides.

Easy to use too. Highly recomended for high ASA images.

rdc

Hi Mark,

Check the Epson web site...I picked up a new (closeout) 2400 scanner for about $60 recently...They also have refurbs listed too.

Hi Denis,

I can only speak for CRT's since I have never owned an LCD monitor for the desktop.

I am assuming this is for photo work, so you are looking for color accuracy, stability, etc.

OK I just took delivery of a LaCie 19" re-conditioned monitor, directly from LaCie in Oregon. Now I know lots of folks are going to say do not get a re-conditioned monitor...but for $199 plus $30 delivery (arrives in three days), you cannot go wrong.

I calibrated the monitor with an eye-one (Gretag-Macbeth puck/software), and color accuracy is fine. The red gun (which, in my experience, is the first of the three to decay beyond spec) is very strong...Luminance level = good...all seems fine like this is a brand new monitor.

So far I am very pleased considering that 18 months ago, a new LaCie 19 inch electron blue IV would have been about $450.oo.

Note that this monitor does not come with the LaCie hood nor the software/user's manual/or LaCie calibration system. But if you know what you are doing, these items are not necessary.

I had a Samsung 900NF previous to this, and it lasted about 3.5 years (and about 2 years where all the guns /RGB/ could reliably be programmed to spec. My hesitation with LCDs is that they are changing so quickly, plus the price, plus it seems that they only last 18 months or so with heavy use. I would be curious to hear what others have to say about their durability.

Best Luck!

Hi Jammer Jammer (JJ),

What computer did you get and what is your experience so far? I am curious to know what happened after all that discussion several weeks ago. Hope all went well!

All the best,

rdc

Hi Nick,

You can get a refurbed 19 in LaCie EB IV for $199 plus $30 shipping directly from LaCie (90 day warranty).

Otherwise, even though sites such as www.pricegrabber.com are not listing much in the way of CRTs for a good price, this internet place still has a good selection of CRTs, including the 22in Samsung 1200NF for a very good price:

http://store.yahoo.com/saveateaglestore/19andupcrt.html

Others will prefer to view monitors in a nearby store, which also facilitates returning a bad monitor to a nearby store rather than shipping back to an internet outlet for big shipping bucks.

Hope this helps,

rdc/nyc

OK last insect with the SB-29s and the D-70 and the 60mm macro NIkkor (F 2.8)

rdc<div></div>

Hello,

Another insect from Borneo. Lens is the 60mm macro (F2.8). Again with digital D-70 and SB-29s flash.

rdc/nyc<div></div>

Hi,

A few photos with the SB 29s with a d-70. I like the Ring Flash for lepidopterans and other mostly flat insects, especially at night. Color is slightly yellowish because these images were processed out in the filed on a laptop...have not had time to go back and re-do.

rdc/nyc<div></div>

Hi JJ,

Glad I could help a bit. I guess that is what photo.net is all about. So remember in 2 months time when someone asks the same question, jump right in and tell him how you managed to get through the same situation he (or she) is now so worried about...and tell that person how you triumphed too.

Hi Jammer Jammer,

Well Dell and Gateway are way overpriced for what you get. If you have the cash they are fine, but for the system I built, I would have paid about $3300 at Dell/Gateway.

As for Puget...well they sent me a system in which the Raid Array was not quite right, so I had to break it down and do it myself. That took one wekend of trial and error. I'm glad I learned it, but they should have gotten it right in the first place. (2) The Mitsumi 7 in 1 reader arrived not connected to the Motherboard, and without a installation/driver disk (and Windows XP would not recognize it). Add to that that the floppy was DOA (they claimed they checked everything mind you), and you can see how I quickly surmised that their quality control was less than good. So, I survived them, and have added to my system by buying directly from suppliers at the best prices. It really is easy installing HDs, DVDs/CDRs, external HDs, memory, SCSI Cards and any additional cards...

Again, try over at DP Review. Do a search here too (or post a question) asking about a reliable, inexpensive (or reasonably priced) builder. I bet someone at photo.net could build something for you...just make sure he is a member for a while, and can point you to other satisfied customers (or has frequently built/re-built his own system). Then sit down and price all the components out, and what it will cost to ship each to him (or her)...add about $250 for his/her labor since it should take about a weekend at most to assemble, and less if the person is fast.

Just my dos pessos...as Lex once told me. Again, try at DP Review and ask there who is a reliable builder. Get the Motherboard, CPU, fans and power supply and a hard drive in a case from someone, and it really is easy to add the rest yourself.

Is there a computer geek who is near you that you can ask to help you?

Best Luck. This seems daunting at first but it is amazing what you can do on your own. (And there are several fine books at Barnes and Noble about computer assembly you can sit and read in the coffee shop there. They have photos so that you can see what you should be assembling...).

Good Luck You will triumph, and it is worth taking the chance.

rdc/nyc

Hello,

If you can build it yourself, you will save 30-40% off of what a store will charge. If you want to pay someone like Puget Computers (whom I DO NOT recommend), you can get a very good system for about $2100. (But building it yourself would bring the same system down quite a bit in final cost.) Not too long ago someone posted a link to a California builder that had good prices. Do a search here. You might ask someone here at photo.net to build for you...post in the want/selling ads, That would be my first recommendation (and note I don't build computers). Over at www.dpreview.com in the pc computers forum, I was given great help by someone named Martin (you can look up my thread there under my name - Robert DeCandido - from back in May.)

Some of the stores who can build computers will allow you to buy parts on-line and they will install them for you. This can save much dollars, while still having someone build the basics for you (and warranty it for a year or so, but find out exactly what the warranty means). And yes, at first there will be things that don't work out of the box or were not installed properly. So be very tough on the builder...if the DVD player/burner does not work, who sends it back to the place where you purchased it? Or worse, to the manufacturer? Expect things to go wrong, and that way you won't be disappointed, but you will have a strategy (and knowledge) for how to deal with problems.

Anyway, I recommend someone doing the basic motherboard, power supply, and fan installation. And then you take it from there: it is good to learn how to do the installation since you are going to want to upgrade over time, and when things fail (like HDs) in time, you will know how to replace them. I recommend a good quality case too with lots of room since once you start working inside these boxes, more room is better. That is why I went with the Lian-li Case, and that added about $125 to the final cost. Bigger means cooler too...

OK here is what I went with (specifics):

Asus A8N-E Motherboard (Gigabyte also makes a very fine Motherboard too.)

AMD Athlon 64 (939) 3000+ CPU

Zalman CNPS7700 AlCu CPU Cooling

Lian-Li V2000B Full-Tower Case

Antec Neopower 480Watt ATX 2.0 PCI-E Power Supply

GigaByte PCI-E 5750 128MB Video Card (overkill really for photos)

Mitsumi Floppy 7 in 1 Card reader Black )Note: these internal combo readers are very flimsy...the floppy disk reader has stopped working on two different occasions...had to replace twice).

US Robotics 56K Modem Communications

D−Link DWL−G520 Wireless PCI Adapter Communications

IDE 24inch Round Cable Silver

Floppy 18inch Round Cable Silver

Arctic Silver Ceramique (Good Stuff)

To the above (which was put together for me by a builder), I added two 200GB SATA (Serial ATA; better than EIDE in my opinion) Drives in a Raid 1 Mirrored Array (easy to set up a Raid 1 array if you follow the instructions...or the builder could do it for you). I got 2GB RAM in a paired set - look on line at Zip, Zoom, Fly (good place) and always check prices at something like www.PriceGrabber.com (should be about $250 for a pair of 1GB Ram sticks). Yes get a paired set for parity, and get 1GB (not 512 stick ram)

I also added two internal 250 GB HDs (all Seagates in my system...for the 5 year warranty and a good price these days too) for photo storage.

And an external 400GB Seagate EIDE drive. (External cases for SATA drives are not very good...still too new it seems). I'll add another in time for external storage. There are some very fine external cases for HDs made for about $25...and some lousy ones for the same price. Make sure you get a good aluminum external case (disperses heat better than other material) with a largish fan that shows (LEDs) when the fan has stopped working.

Plextor makes a nice Dual-Layer (yes Dual-layer) DVD-CDR/W (get Dual layer). Plextor are more expensive but I had good luck with them in the past. However, I have heard good things about Pioneer and Sony too...Dual-layer is what you need. Nero for software (about $15 - shop around on-line) for their best full software to make CDs and DVDs with. That being said, I do not back up to DVDs much, so you can save some money here if you know that you will (or will not) use the DVD/CDR much.

In the computer case Larger fans (120mm and not 80mm) are quieter than smaller fans. Ask about how quiet your system will be...demand that it be as quiet as possible since it is going to make noise. You just want the minimum of noise. Quiet (and cool) is good. That being said, the AMD/Athlon set-up I have rarely gets above 38C. It can get almost twice that amount before it is fried. So, mine is cool and mostly quiet and that is good.

Make sure the power supply you get is adequate for what you want now, and what you will expand to; I recommend about 500 watts.

Again, ask ypour question over at DP Review. I found that site better for this time of question than photo.net (as much as I love photo.net). See if Martin will help you. He was 100% honest and knowledgeable in my case.

Best Luck, there will be bugs...but hopefully they will be minor and the system will be faster, more reliable and flexible than what you have now. That is why I did it, and best luck to you!

I think you can do it for about $2k.

rdc/nyc

Hello All,

Thank You All very much so far. Yes I agree that I am paying more than I should for individual components but (a) I am not a builder so I must pay someone to do this; and (b) the system has a warranty from the builder (http://www.pugetsystems.com)...please let me know if you know a better source for building such a machine. Note: in the past I have changed HDs, ram, video cards and added internal components...but I am a bit leery of building an entire system from the ground up. So let's go with the given that this system is being built for me. Any further advice for how to improve it would be much appreciated.

To answer individual responses:

Peter, thank You; 2 GB of Ram is good for now. I think I will try and have them substitute Corsair memory since it is $100 cheaper:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=80097-55&affiliate=pgcorsair

As for the DVD Writer, I will indeed substitue one with dual layer technology. Is the Plextor a good value or just a brand name? Lite-on also makes a dual layer combo DVD/CD reader/writer, should I save money and go with them?

I asked if my current Matrox 450 card (installed in my ancient Dell Dimension 450) would be compatible and they told me that it was not...

I'll ask about an included Modem on the Motherboard...

The Raid array is the most controversial aspect of this system. I am re-considering...it might be better to have a smaller primary HD (so that running utilities like disk de-fraggers) do not take all night. Maybe it would be smarter to have one larger external HD where I back up everything? Question: if I have several internal HDs, is software (or hardware) available that would allow me to completely turn off internal drives 3, 4, 5 (etc.) when I am not using them? It seems like such a waste/hazard to have all those other disks spinning and heads at the ready, if I am only doing word processing on disk 1 (and copying via raid to 2).

Thank You Sreenivas...I agree that if I could build it myself, it would be cheaper...and I am looking into different Ram (see above).

Thanks KAA...one question: is this case (the Lian-Li 2000) significantly better (read: easier to access HDs and other components) and will it stay cooler than my original choice, a Coolermaster Stacker?:

http://www.pugetsystems.com/part_info.php?part=2352?

If you could take a look at these two cases and provide an analysis or recommend a better one, I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks Lex...I do have a very fine UPS system. I agree that it is a great investment to protect against power surges, brownouts, etc. With it, I have never had a problem with my current system. I also agree about cooling the system...there are several 120mm fans that are included (they are larger, quieter than 80mm fans). An internal (water-cooled) system seems to be overkill and expensive. I am, after all a field biologist, and we are paid (occasionally) in great life experiences (and not hard cash).

I have ordered a Mitsumi all-in-one reader...Do you think it would be better to get a separate (internal) Flash Card/Microdrive Reader?

What should I look into to go wireless? I have an ethernet card included....so please point me in the right direction for something to keep an eye on in the coming years.

Finally, to say again, they recommended this NVidia Video Card (that has dual monitor support and one can be an LCD and one a CRT). They told me that my current Matrox 450 would not be compatible with this Motherboard...

Thanks All...

rdc/nyc (but not Manhattan...)

Calling Kelly!; calling Lex! and anyone else with an interest in

reviewing ideas for a desktop PC for digital photography, word

processing, data analysis (I am a biologist). NO GAMING IS INVOLVED!

I am looking to set-up a high end PC to work on digital photography,

both raw images (Nikon D2H) and scanned images including Medium Format

(scan is about 150-200mb). I need the system to be cool (so a Lian-Li

Tower or equivalent is good), expandable (so easy access to HDs/slots

is needed), and mostly quiet (but does not have to be completely

silent). Ideally, I'd like to invest in a system that will get me

through the next 3-5 years. I will likely have 6-8 HDs with photo

data in the next 5 years.

OK here is what I am thinking of ordering from Puget Computers

(http://www.pugetsystems.com) who have high ratings as builders of

custom PCs:

Motherboard Asus A8N-E $167.25

CPU AMD Athlon 64 (939) 3000+ $169.95

CPU Cooling Thermaltake TK-A1838 (Silent Boost ... $32.88

Ram OCZ PC3200 Perf. DC - 2x 1024mb $419.92

Case Lian-Li V2000 Full-Tower $350.59

Hard Drive Western Digital SATA 200.0GB WD2000... $146.92

Comments: Raid 1 on HDs 1 and 2 (Yes I would like to go with a Raid 1

for HD 1 and 2 but am open to suggestion)

Hard Drive Western Digital SATA 200.0GB WD2000... $146.92

Video Card ATI PCI-E Radeon X300 128MB $107.28 or Nvidia 5750 $ 127.00

CD / DVD Rom Lite On 52/32/52/16 DVD/CDRW Combo ... $53.96

Removable Drive Mitsumi Floppy 7 in 1 Card reader B... $34.64

Communications US Robotics 56K Modem $19.09

Communications D-Link DWL-G520 Wireless PCI Adapte... $67.36

Operating System Windows XP Pro $182.09 (retail version)

Power Supply Antec Neopower 480W ATX2.0 PCI-E $146.92

Case Mods IDE 24inch Round Cable Silver $2.05

Case Mods Floppy 18inch Round Cable Silver $2.28

Case Mods Western Digital SecureConnect Seria... (2) $19.24

The total for this sytem is $ 2069 plus shipping.

OK please let me know where/how I can improve.

rdc/nyc