PatB

There are other apects to consider than just the resolution when comparing digital and film. I use both as digital does not answer all my aesthetic needs. You will need to find the sweetspot for your scanner. Experiment with the three positions on the epson holders. I bought the BetterScanning holders; the extra inserts that are placed between each frame help to keep film flat but they are still fiddly to use and your best bet is to flatten the film before scanning by placing the film strips in a book, between pages (in polly pockets). Yes, you need to sharpen and sometimes sharpen again to get good results with flatbed scanners. This is normal as long as the focus is even across the frame.

Now that's interesting! http://savepackfilm.net/updates/the-journey-begins I hope thing will move in the right direction!

already signed, dave. It was close to 10k this morning. Sucha shame, Fuji Instax has been a success, fp100c is certainly missing proper marketing. I wanted to purchase some from regular film suppliers and prices have been already hiked... hammer those nails!

The amount of comments is very telling. I was expecting world of photography to be outraged and we barely got a "meh" on photo.net. It's sad the product is unique and truly professional not like the bodged 'artsy' editions of the impossible film. I have not been using it exclusively (I shoot more film than instant) but at least here in the UK the price has been prohibitive compared to main europe or the US; anywhere between £16 to £20...

<p>Dear GW690II users, could someone take the top plate off and take a photo of the arrangement of the black and red wires and perhaps describe how the plastic and metal washers are layered, please? i.e. the point where the two wires are connected to the hot shoe from the inside. I know... I should have taken a photo... <br> Many thanks!<br> Patrick</p>

What a joke! Clearly aimed at lay people or film newbies if you look at the requiremets which include close up filters as a viable scanning option. Who comes up with these?!? I feel sorry for anyone who bus this...

I have actually made that diy grid a couple of years back. It works but is a little fiddly to put on and sometimes slides off. The softbox is exactly 100x100cm. The main diffuser is attached on the outer side of the softbox edge, overlapping the edges so I would need a grid that can be attached along the outer not the inner edge of the softbox. I'll have a look at the link as well. Thanks for all suggestions and ideas

Hi All, Has anyone found a good 3rd party grid for their Elinchrom softboxes? One that could be attached over the softbox edges with the main diffuser in place? Thanks in advance, Pat

Apparently there's a new Hasselblad scanner in the making (not for 8mm films though).

Xp2 is a good suggestion if you are not going to develop films yourself but rate it at 320iso and/or slower to get good resullts. I shoot it at 200iso personaly.

<p>Well, after all that pondering it turns out that the camera has a serious front focus issue. Ran one roll of film and it had an unusually high number of out of focus shots so I did some proper testing this morning and it's off by a couple of cm at near distances. It's going back. </p>

<p>Thanks for all your replies, I have just ran a test roll and will develop it later see whether it has any effect on taking pictures. <br> Judging by the serial no. it is a 1999 model so not that old but perhaps a CLA could help indeed.<br> Good to know it behaves and sounds in the same way. </p>

<p>Hmm, I've heard quieter cameras than this one, that's for sure. The camera looks clean with no signs of heavy use or damage. All the clips I've found of F3 sound much more quiet though. My Minolta x700 sounded more refined than this... <br /> <br /> Could I just double check again...<br /> If you try to wind the shutter really slowly, does it behave and sound the same? As I said, there are two "jumps" towards the end but only felt if cocking is done slowly. You can hear some crinkling while winding and then a slight ringing sound after the first jump and a "click" sound after the other. Here's another clip from above, I hope it will be audible now (no film in the camera, 1/60th with back closed):<br /> <br /> <br /><a href=" <p>and just for the sake of comparison, here's the same motion with camera further away - the sound is amplified quite a bit as you can see<br> <a href="

<p>Thanks RJ, your edit is reassuring. The recording does amplify the sound, especially the high frequencies. <br> I guess that reading about the smoothness of the F3 mechanism left me expecting something butter smooth. Yes, it is slightly quieter with the back closed but the metallic quality is still audible. I've been mostly using cameras with cloth shutters so they will sound different by design. </p>

<p>Thanks RJ. Hmm, it's much quieter when the back door is closed but that metallic sound is a bit odd. As you say, almost like scraping. <br /> What about that little "jump" at the end of the rewind cycle? Is that to expected? It's especially noticeable if you cock the shutter slowly. There's consistent resistance until it gets to the end of the stroke when it suddenly "jumps" to a physical stop.</p>

<p>Hi All, <br /> Just got a used Nikon F3 and just wanted to double check with other users that the film rewind mechanism behaves as it should.<br /> Here's a link to a short clip where you can hear and see the two things that worry me:<br /> 1. The sound of the shutter being cocked is very metallic/springy throughout, nothing like I've ever seen in other manual cameras. <br /> 2. The're is a slight jump of the camera's film pick up spool at the very end of cocking motion (best visible the third time round) but also tangible under the thumb.</p> <p><a href=" /> <br /> What do F3 users think? Is that to be expected? <br /> Many thanks!<br /> Pat</p>

<p>Thanks for all the replies. The lens has been sent back for repair.<br> I have only dealt with zeiss once, when one of my new lenses failed to reach infinity. It took them about three weeks to calibrate and it came back ok. Never had any cpu failures. It's a bit disappointing that such a trivial component has not been properly sourced or installed. </p>

<p>Hello All, <br> Just had a CPU failure on a 2 month-old lens (135mm f2 APO to be specific). Tested it on a couple of Nikon bodies to no avail.<br> I've been using a couple of Zeiss lenses over the years with no such issues; other Zeiss lenses work fine on the same body by the way. How many of you have experienced this? The lens still works fine though (once defined in the camera), it simply behaves like a ZF (or any non-CPU), minus the ability to control the aperture using the front dial (one needs to change the aperture using the aperture ring on the lens now).<br> I found the failure to be really odd for an almost brand new lens. Just looking for other users who might have experienced this. Perhaps there's a simple fix? <br> Thanks!<br> Pat</p>

Right, this is all very subjective, but going by the samples and comparisons online and the feedback I've had from individual users the overall image improvement is not that dramatic compared to the d700 and not worth the upgrade in my opinion; however, I would definitely get one if I didn't have a d700 and was in the market for a new travel/backup nikon dslr. I have also now had a chance to compare it with a d700 side by side at a local dealer just now and as much as I wanted to love the camera at first sight and simply buy it (wonderful design by the way, lovely finish, although slightly less solid feeling compared to semi pro or pro designs) I did not. I also thought the size and weight were not that different; yes, it is slighlty smaller and lighter but it's no sony 7a (no I do not want a mirrorless camera). It is still a chunky dslr. Because the actual performance and size of the Df is so similar, I will continue to use the d700 as a travel / personal / backup camera and get a d810 which improves on overall image quality in a much more significant way. Many thanks to those who have contributed and helped with the decision!

<p>*fountain pen, not water pen... </p>

sorry, didn't make myself clear there, the marketing itself was a bit of a flop in my opinion. I kept seeing that one ad in particular, the compass, water pen etc. all we were missing was a smokng pipe and a map with a treasure... I also found the whole talk about pure photography too much of a stretch and completely unnecessary. I happen to like the look of the Df as well and I am able appreciate it based on its performance/design alone and don't need a philosophy from Nikon. :) I love the idea of using a low-light sensor, the smaller size, the 100% viewfinder, the smaller weight - they are all benefits over my d700. I have been in touch with a couple of Df users and they still reach for d700 despite Df's merrits and say while the image quality is improved it is not as dramatic as the time frame or technology/specs would like us to believe. The d810, in my opinion, is the real game changer for Nikon in terms of image quality due to the lack of lowpass filter - there's a massive iprovement in sharpness compared to other similar offerings. However, it is just another bulky camera I would never take with me, the way I reach for my fuji GA645 for instance.

<p>Nikon Df? <br> http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/df/</p>

<p>thanks Rodeo Joe, I get your point entirely and don't mind the sarcasm :) I realize that looking at images on flickr is not an ultimate test, there are high iso comparisons out there that are far more scientific but, just like with lenses, you can get an idea of a specific type of drawing. I typically compare images taken with the same lens but different bodies as well. <br> I will have a look at his website, sounds very interesting.<br> The d810 is the only one I could consider as an alternative, especially if I kept the D700 as a go-everywhere / backup camera but I've been reading conflicting opinions about D810's viewfinder an ease of manual focusing.</p>

<p>It's interesting that as current d700 owners our observations are so similar Wouter.<br> On controls, I really don't fiddle with the controls on my d700, I have customized the Af-on, AE-L and function buttons for LV and spot metering, set it to RAW and shoot away in either Aperture or Manual mode, really, changing ISO when necessary.<br> Df has been a bit of a marketing flop.... I mean "fusion"... they tried too hard. They should have used a less pretentious denominator like T for "tribute" or something. All this talk about pure photography didn't help either, although, Leica are getting away with similar amusing musings, releasing digital cameras with no LCD for example... which also makes me wonder whether people would rave about it if Leica released a Df-styled camera. <br> All this negativity has obscured all the benefits of an amazing sensor, although, they did tread really carefully this time and tried really hard not to release another D4 killer, similar to the d700 / d3 situation. Two memory cards would be great, don't care for video personally. <br> On the topic of lenses, I had used a couple of zeiss lenses which I sold in favor of nikon AF offerings (35mm 50mm and 85mm), however, 2 years down the line (despite a more accurate focus overall and measurable technical superiority) I am getting rid of the Nikons as I find their rendering horrible and uninspiring. No matter how much processing you would put into the shots from Nikkors, the microcontrast from zeiss simply brought pictures to life. Of course, this is all very subjective and suits my style of shooting. <br> I am really tempted by the Df, I will probably keep the d700 as a backup camera, selling it makes very little sense now and would be of little financial benefit. </p> <p> </p>

Thanks for your thoughts. I shoot different cameras and don't find the old school ergonomics to be an issue, I also don't rely on AF heavily in my shooting. The main appeal is the overall look of the images and the sensor performance, so a combination of colour rendition, dynamic range, iso range and WB. One other thing that concerns me is ease of manual focusing (I use dk17m attachment on both my d700 and f5) any improvement over the d700 or F5 would be a bonus as well - I find them satisfactory but not as good as proper manual focus cameras.