john_horvath1

Hi,

My 6 years old Epson V700 just bit the dust, and I'm considering buying an Epson V850, but I'm curious, what else would you guys recommend in the 800-1000 dollar price range?

I mainly scan medium format negatives, occasionally some 35mm negs as well.

Thank you!

I found out the hard way that Flash diffuser manufacturers grossly understated the EV loss of their difussers. Usually if you are using one of those diffusers that uses some type of material that sits in front of the flash you are going to get any where from -1, -2, -2.5 sometimes even -3 loss of light depending on the situation. If you are using this diffuser to shoot cheezy portraits and you have the flash set on Manual, this might not be so much of a problem, but if you are using Automatic Flash where light hitting the sensor determines the flash output, then get ready for some erratic, if not frustrating results.

 

Not only are you going to get under exposed photos, but discolored ones too which are extremely hard to fix in Photoshop. You might take two pictures one after the other of the same subject from the same distance and with exactly the same shutter/iso/aperture settings and get two different pictures. One exposed correctly and the other underexposed. I'm telling you this from someone who has tried to shoot weddings and other events with these so called diffusers. On the other hand, bounce diffusers are not that bad because you can estimate the flash-to-subject distance and adjust the power setting of your flash accordingly.

 

The trick is if you are going to be using one of these mini soft box diffusers (which a lot of photographers use), then set your flash and camera to Manual. Try taking a few pictures around the house under varying lighting conditions and check your results. Sooner or later you will get an idea of what settings to use under what conditions.

Thanks, Joseph! Yeah, I was thinking about using a two stop compensation (one for the filter, the other one for the softbox) after the metering, just in case.

On the topic of a Yellow Contrast Filter in general –

 

Typically used for Outdoor B&W to bump (contrast of the) sky relative to the general scene.

 

However as the OP describes the use of Flash, it seems that this work would be indoors, likely a Portrait Studio or similar setting.

 

We’d regularly use a “Yellowish” Contrast Filter for B&W (Pan Emulsion) Studio Portraiture for two main purposes:

> bump the (relative) Skin Tone of typical Caucasian Skin

> hide minor skin blemishes.

 

Specifically we usually use a Yellow-Green for these purposes.

 

Using a B&W Contrast Filter correctly, does not of itself add another ‘variable’ to the exposure if the Filter’s Filter Factor is known.

 

WW

Thank you for explaining it way better than I ever could. Yes, that’s the reason.

Thank you very much for all these informative answers. After considering all these factors, I assume it must be a combination of a not fully charged flash as well as problems with the film processing. Or just one of these two.

Some additional info: I use a simple yellow filter and a Minolta IVF lightmeter.

I shoot black and white film, and recently I started to use flash with a LumiQuest Mini Softbox diffuser. I always use my lightmeter when shooting with flash, and somehow even this way some of the pictures came out a bit underexposed, despite the fact that I compensated one stop for my black and white filter.

What could be the problem?

On the box of the diffuser the manufacturer says that there's one EV loss of light, but if I meter with an incident light meter, then I don't have to compensate - right? Or even a meter it's better to compensate one stop?

Thanks for all the answers.

So I have to level the legs separately as well? I thought there are three-way levels on the head so it can be levelled on its own.

I'll try it and will report back with the results.

I recently bought a three way tripod head with 3 bubble levels on it. Even with all of this I just can’t seem to make properly levelled pictures with it. I’m doing everything correctly; the head is not mis-threaded, the camera’s weight does not exceed the limit, and I’m setting everything according to the bubble levels (2 at a time).

So why do I still get consistently slanted pictures?

This issue is important for me, because I use a film camera with no hot-shoe on top, so its a must to level the camera with the tripod head.

Hi John, yes, this method works quite well. I have handle grips on both my 6x7 and 67II bodies. The plastic bubble level slides right in and keeps things level. Only problem is that when a shot needs to have a flash attached the bubble level obviously gets in the way, but it is easily removable. Regards.

Thank you!

The second generation 200 is a great portrait lens, assuming you don't need to use fill flash, in which case find the 165mm 4.0 with the leaf shutter. Keep away from the first generation 200, though. It's closest focusing distance is just shy of a nautical mile -- useless for head shots.

Thank you! How do I know it's a second generation 200? In general I rarely use flash. What's the difference between the 200 and the 165? Is the 165 more like a 85mm 35mm lens, so good for head and shoulders shots?

My favourite portrait lens I've used so far is the classic Nikon Nikkor 105mm f/2.5, and I'm looking for the medium format equivalent of that. Which Pentax 67 lens would be the right choice?

Reading previous posts on this subject, I gathered that the 200mm is the best, when it comes to tight head / head and shoulder shots.

Thoughts?

Mamiya C33(0) is an interchangeable lens TLR system with 135mm f4.5 and 250mm f6.3 and some 180mm in between. Drawback: You have to do parallax compensation by hand according to some needle in the view finder.

As an alternative you could ponder one of Mamiya's 6x7 SLRs. These come with an integrated bellows too and have rotating backs so you can shoot with a WLF or chimney finder. Drawback: they are on the heavy & bulky end of the rainbow.

I was looking at the RZ67 or the RB67 as well.

I used the 80mm for portraits when I was shooting with the Mamiya 7, both professionally and for myself. Never had an issue.

I love the 80mm as well, but sadly you can't do close-up portraits with it.

head and shoulders, head, tight face.

Yes, that's exactly what I'm going for. So I guess the 105mm is the one for me?

Thanks for all the replies!

<p>I don't know if this is the proper forum for this thread, but since all the people here handle film, maybe someone can help me out with this one:<br>

I bought a Beseler 10 3/16" x 11 5/8" storage binder off of Amazon, not checking it's size properly, and thinking that my European Kaiser filing sheets will fit in there perfectly anyway. Well, they don't, so it'd be great if someone could recommend a filing sheet that can hold a roll of ten 6x7 pictures and fit inside this box. Thank you!</p>

<p>And how regularly do I have to do it?<br>

Also, how often should it receive a mechanical check up?</p>