bob_laubach

I too am an architectural photographer and use a Sinar F2 which has asymmetrical tilt axis like the Sinar P (and the C which was a P rear standard and an F front standard). I agree that the system design is best - allowing use of additional standard(s) for macro, using a second bellows as a dark cloth on rear standard or as a compendium bellows/lens hood on front. And Sinar's tilt axis is yaw-free which gives you more use of any lens's circle of coverage. With a yaw=free camera you won't "run out of lens" as fast with more extreme movements. But architecture is all about the lenses - 90mm, 75mm, 65mm. With your EOS 5d i'd suggest trying Sigma's full=frame 12-24mm. While it's not a PC lens, put a bubble level on your hot shoe and keep close to vertical and correct verticals a bit if necessary in photoshop. Many architectural photographers are using EOS 1ds, EOS 5d or Nikon D3 full frame dslr's. Also you can shoot 4x5 view camera with corrective movements and then scan digitally for further photoshop work. Use the best of both worlds! BTW Sinar (pronounced sin-are, not seye-nar or See-nar unless you are Swiss or German) is named for S - Studio, IN - Industrial, N - Nature/Landscape, Ar - Architecture, A - Advertising, and R - Reproduction. And above all, get a bag bellows for your shorter focal length lenses to allow movements (regular pleated bellows will bind up at short focal lengths with movements used!) I recently bought a Sinar F2 on ebay in mint shape with fresnel lens and Rodenstock Sironar 210mm w/ accessories for $500.00 - the F2 is a current Sinar model and sells new for $2721 and $300 more for the fresnel lens! Many good Sinar deals on ebay, craigslist, etc.

The "Ebony" cameras asymmetrical tilts are similar to Sinar models which tilt somewhere just below optical axis. Both optical axis and base tilting cameras produce yaw when using tilt and swing together, throwing the image area further toward (and often out of) the coverage of the lens. Sinar's system, and probably Ebony's asymmetrical systems eliminate this yaw and you wont run out of lens as fast!

I agree that prints would best be scanned for digital submission. It would look very odd to the reviewer of the portfolio to see camera info/exif data and see an image that is obviously copied vs being an original image. Be honest and scan them - also better reproduction. For pricing info check online - there are many places that do bulk scanning.

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00OuMP

http://www.leedigitalscanning.com/storepro55/agora.cgi?cart_id=1111471.800&product=4.SCAN_8x10_PRINT&user4=JPG-Premium&xm=on

http://www.americanfastphoto.net/scanning.html

 

Pricing would depend on 1) size of original prints and the scanner they would require 2) quality/resolution/file type and size of scan desired, and 3) your time

Unfortunately for a long time the federal govt's guidelines for employment vs degree qualifications has been to require a Bachelor's degree or equivalent for a GS-7 position and a Master's degree or equivalent experience for a GS-9. This was the same back in '82 when I began work for the fed govt with an AAS and BS in photo from RIT and quite a few years of experience already. I am photo facilities manager at NVCC Alexandria Photo Dept and know of at least 6 people who will apply for the position, one in particular who appears to be a perfect fit for the long and detailed job description. Yes, sad that the money is so low. Funny how people in general seem to think that govt workers make big bucks. Well, not funny.

 

Bob Laubach

thanks, Mark. I should have known better to expect some kind of logic or consistency to come from the formerly Great Yellow Father. I love Kodak's greatest move to change their logo so the average consumer can more easily forget them as a force in photography.

Bob Laubach

Manassas, VA

Just wondering what the X is all about? Is it related to speed somehow? What

is Tri about Tri X, what is plus about Plus X and i know nothing is super about

Super Double X but what is double about it?! Just a curious aging photographer here.

Bob Laubach

Manassas, VA

anybody remember when the E-4 process replaced E-2? was it in the sixties? I

remember the 1976 change from E-3 and E-4 to E-6. also - does anybody know what

happened to E-5? was it a process that was developed and never marketed? just

curious.

 

Bob Laubach

Good for you for ditching Sony, who has ditched real photo dealers. The EOS 300d digital rebel is a real photographer's digital camera. I'd go for the canon 420 or 550 ex flashes over third party for compatibility. Get the battery grip - it is great and inexpensive compared to the grip for the eos 10d. best accessories to get are additional high capacity CF cards, a portable backup unit like the Apacer Disc Steno 200 for when u travel away from a computer to free up your CF cards, and lenses. Also get some software solution for RAW files - either new Photoshop CS or canon's raw software or third party - many good ones available. Get your workflow setup and faithfully backup and archive your images!!! Enjoy a fine camera that is truly a milestone camera like the original AE-1, as Canon advertises the Dig Reb.

Bob Laubach Manassas, VA RALaubach@aol.com

Mark -

Kodak's new High Definition films are slated as replacements for the Royal Gold series. They are the emulsions developed for the smaller 24mm APS film format. As APS is a smaller format, EK developed a finer grain emulsion with pleasing amateur bright color and tweaked contrast. It was a logical thing to coat this emulsion on the larger 35mm format for finer grain. Bottom line - shoot some and see what you think. I love the 400 but dont see as much difference with the 200. For some odd marketing quirk reason, EK, always looking to shoot themselves in their corporate big foot, has seen fit to sell them only in 24 exp for 400 and 36 exp for 200!?!! I think it is nice pleasing amateur film and the 400 is finer grain. Try it!!

Bob Laubach Manassas, VA RALaubach@aol.com

David --

The best products on the market for cleaning DSLR sensors are by Photo Solutions Inc. Their website is: www.photosol.com Use their Sensor Swab product (three types for different DSLRs) along with their Eclipse lens cleaning solution (purest cleaning solution made, leaves NO residue - principal ingredient is Methanol) Fuji and Hasselblad recommend the product. While Nikon and others do not specifically recommend this product, it IS what they use. It is strictly for legal/liability reasons that they do not recommend it specifically. Of course when u r sticking something in an expensive digital camera poking at the delicate sensor, you are risking damage. This is an excellent company with excellent photo products, including PEC12 neg/slide cleaner, PEC pads, that leave no lint, and RESTOR a new product for restoring damaged prints. They do provide some limited samples to photographers.

Bob Laubach Manassas, VA RALaubach@aol.com

Jim -

Nikon has not yet introduced the new scanners in the US. Tho you may see them sold by US dealers, they are not Nikon US warrantied scanners. Nikon has not shipped the new models to US dealers yet, and have not even provided pricing information to US dealers. First shipments are expected in Spring.

Bob Laubach Manassas, VA RALaubach@aol.com

Benjamin --

I use a Canon EOS Elan IIE, predecessor to the Elan 7E. At first I was skeptical of the eye control focus, but it really works. You can calibrate two settings (with or without glasses, or two photographers). It really is fast to focus as you simply look at the autofocus point you wish to focus on and it blinks red to confirm autofocus there. As far as lenses, choose the lens that is best for you and the photography you do. If you shoot in low light, get a faster lens, perhaps a fixed focal length vs zoom, or at least a fast zoom. If you like the composition control of a zoom, get the range best for your application. Thanks to computer lens design there is little visible difference in lens quality. Now is the time to think about what lenses you may get later -- some people prefer to get one lens like a 28-300 vs a combination of 28-80 and 70-300. If you shoot things that happen fast you may not want to have to take time to change lenses. Choose a lens by YOUR needs - other's advice is great to take with the appropriate sized grain of salt, but YOUR photography will dictate the best lens(es) for you!

Bob Laubach Manassas, VA RALaubach@aol.com

The E-1 system lenses' autofocus motors are in each lens. Check out the system's wonderful approach to focus control - it COMBINES autofocus and manual focus in a new and effective way. The feel of the manual focus, while a servomotor system, really feels like good old manual focus -- it is sensitive to your touch, focusing faster if you turn faster. You can set the camera to shoot without waiting for autofocus confirmation if you want. Along with this, you can set the camera for either 1) autofocus 2) manual focus, or 3) a unique combination of both using the speed of autofocus with the ability to touch up with manual! This is VERY effective, particularly with long lenses. Try it, feel it, at your dealer and see what u think. Olympus has broken new ground here.

Bob Laubach

Manassas, VA

RALaubach@aol.com

Roberto -

Check out Nikon's coolpix models - they have a special document mode for copying documents that combines macro and exposure control. Get a digicam with high enough resolution - guidelines for print quality are 1 megapixel for 4x6 max, 2 megapixel for 5x7 max, 3 megapixel for 8x10 max, 4 megapixel for 11x14 max etc going one rung higher per size if u want to crop a bit. For detail with document copying I'd go as high as u can afford. Nikon macro gets u as close as 22.5 mm!! Nikon also sells a macro coollite ringlite for macro lighting. If u need to copy slides, they also have the ES-E28 slide copier. Good luck! Bob Laubach Manassas, VA RALaubach@aol.com