yuri_sopko

And I bought a PN-11 to do exactly that.

 

And, yes, putting a heavy lens that is not supported on the end of three extension tubes is not wise. However, even with the tripod mount on the lens my D50 still caused the tubes to flex. I've just never seen that in an extension tube set. The ones that I have always had were metal, including the cheap ones.

Bought the triple set last week online: Kenko "Automatic Extension Tube Set DG." And, they do focus with my Sigma 150/2.8 HSM no problem. However, they are of poor construction so I don't trust them.

 

eb

I recently --as in last week-- purchased the Kenko "Automatic Extension Tube Set

DG" and they are not of high quality. With all three rings and my Sigma 150/2.8

they began to flex. I could begin to see separation of the mounting flanges and

bayonets in the rings. I even heard a little tick/crack noise. I took apart the

12mm tube and one of the screws for the mounting flange had cracked the plastic

inside the tube. The plastic the screw went in to was thin and did not have any

reinforcement. This is not good.

 

So, other than buying and modifying a PN-1/PN-11 are there any metal or well

built extension tube sets that will work with AF-S lenses?

You can mount anything on your camera but it will be entirely in manual mode. I really think this is annoying and wish Nikon had just included the ability to do spot/center-weighted metering on their DSLRs.

Any ways, I found out about the Kopil Bellowsmat by some freak web search and I started hunting for one. Eventually, many moons later I found it from some old one-person camera store that the guy had been running for the most of his life. He happened to put his goods up on the internet and when I saw it I pounced. I think I paid like $100 for it with shipping. It has the original bellows on it with no leaks.

 

Any ways, it has a bayonet-breach style mount on it that came with an adapter for M39 threaded lenses. The Nikkor I have I bought on eBay and I just found it here:

 

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=details&Q=&is=USE&O=productlist&sku=800502115

 

I will have look around for those lenses you guys mentioned. Either of you interested in that EL-Nikkor that I have? :) I'll need the money to fund the next one I buy.

 

Thanks for the information guys!

I have a Kopil bellowsmat which is like a macro bellows with vertical and swing

movements. It uses enlarging lenses via the adapter that comes with it. I am

using a EL-NIKKOR 50/2.8 on it but I need more throw so I can extend the

bellows. I'm hoping to find a lens that will fit that has maybe 100mm to 120mm

of throw.

 

Thanks!

Somewhat reminiscent of some old Minolta Rokkor-X I used to have and maybe some older third-parties that I have seen at the infrequent swap-meet. I am sure this almost one-pound lens is awesome to behold in person.

 

I do see the differences in the pictures but will these translate to a print and at what size? Are these crops an accurate measure for performance in the real world? Dunno, for the money I was just expecting more. It would seem that the lens technology for both design and manufacturing has increased greatly to all manufacturers.

I would also suggest staying with 2GB cards as you never know if you'll loose a card or have it fail on you. I used to use a 4GB microdrive in my C-8080 and it died on me! I could not get any of the pictures off of it as it would not start again. 4GB is ALOT to have all your eggs in one basket. I have a D50 and I got two SD 2GB's for safety.

 

I just have a strong reaction to massive cards because of my "incident" but I do know of others who are happily shooting away with big SD and CF cards.

If I could roll back the clock I wish I would have bought a Canon Digital Rebel when they first come out vice my Olympus C-8080. After I bought the vertical grip and batteries it was about the same and I got a screaming good deal at the time on the C-8080 itself. My C-8080 still makes some awesome pic's even at 11x14. But, their are other things to consider like AF ability, write times between shots (C-8080 is a long time, 11 seconds for RAW), etc.

 

Ultimately, I went with a D50 yesterday as it was on hand at my local Ritz with lens for $550. I also looked at the D40 but I wanted the AF lens flexibility and exposure bracketing. I would start off with PS Elements or whatever NIkon provides to start and as your skill grows looks into something like PhotoShop...

 

I would strongly advise against becoming techno-paralyzed by buying too much technology at once (I also have an addicition to computers and tech). That's another thing I did with my C-8080. I got a decent printer and screen calibrator to "maximize" my camera's potential. Only to spend a lot of time on the learning curve to get all to work right. And, to find out that the color space (range of colors) that most printers can print is small compared to what a screen can show and is optmiized for sRGB (some for Adobe RGB but are upper end). I do not neccessarilly regret the time I spent except for the fact that I could have stayed safe and sound within the sRGB color space of the JPGs and spent more time taking photo's.

 

As soon as I become acclimated to my D50 I will probably use the potential of Photoshop as much as I did with my C-8080 when I got used to it: very little.

 

As for D40/D50/XTi... I would buy a SD card and CF card and handle each camera and take photos with each camera in JPG and look at them at home and decide. See which camera is the most intuitive for you and pleases you the most. My choice of Nikon was for my own reasons and I won't push them on to you.

 

Buy your DSLR, shoot pics, and have fun.

I also agree the the differences are plain-as-day: color, contrast, and sharpness. More than an aperture difference. Maybe coatings, glass material, or some other optical aberations. Almost reminds me of when I had a Minolta MD and I had an older lens from the 70's and a similar one from the 80's. I did some test shots and there was a mega-huge difference as far as contrast and color where concerned. This, although obvious to me and others, not a mega-huge difference in my opinion.

 

Now, is there a trickle-down effect between the two lenses as far as technology and design? I am sure of it. And, is there an actual difference in overall quality between the two in this controlled condition? Yes. But, how often does one shoot in a controlled condition? Could some post-processing take care of the color and contrast? Also, would the difference in sharpness be still there after being printed?

 

However, as an amateur at best myself. I could not rationalize the expense. Even if it is a better, faster, faster AF, lens. A pro, making a living as a wedding photographer, no doubt. I would imagine you would need all that you could get.

I'd suggest a UV 0 that is multi-coated on either side. I started doing this after an internship with a local paper years and years ago. I prefer a HOYA as they make a slim one that has no threads for a filter to screw onto it. I use one filter at a time.

 

As far as image quality is concerned I would suggest to take some test photos with it on and off and make your own decision. A lot of people don't even bother to do this (like with RAW versus JPG) and get caught up.

 

FYI: I leave mine on unless I am putting a different filter on.

One thing to remember is that a jump from 8 to 10 MP is not that huge. Sure, it looks big on paper but you have to remember that the sensor is in a rectangular form. X * Y = Total MP count

<p>

So, to make it simple:

<p>

2MP * 3MP = 6 MP<p>

2.5MP * 3.2MP = 8 MP<p>

<p>

Also, you have to compare the feature sets and the final output of the camera. Certain camera's are better for what they do. Regardless, the cost of the camera body will be minimal compared to a DSLR's eventual lens kit. And, with any technological item. There will always be a point where it will be cheaper. You will never win that race unless you somehow get your stuff for free.

I'll be there for a few days and I want to know if there are any social no-no's

that I would need to worry about. Like, night flash photography, where I can and

can not bring a tripod, etc. I don't want to drag a tripod around only to be

told I can't come in.

 

Also, is there a good place to get a nice sunrise over the city?

 

Thanks!

Oh yeah, on a thred posted later someone went over the best settings for printing. You can also search for it.

It can also be too much ink. If you go to the advanced settings and then to ink settings and bring it down to somehwer ebetween -15 to -18 % then you will notice an improvment.

 

In addition, you can try and add a bit of noise. Go to filters, noise, then zoom in on your affected area and add the tiniest bit fo noise. I had a picture of a black bear from TN and I added 2.25% noise to the picture and my shadows came back to life. Just enough so I could barely see the noise zoomed in but the ink will bleed enough to cover it.

 

Also, what do you have selected when you print? As in colro managment in your print options?

As this is somewhat of a recurring topic on this and other forums.

 

And that is the screen! Not all are created equal and quite a few do not display 24 bit color. Although the graphics chip might the LCD might not. There are 3 varities that I have found: 16 bit, 18 bit, and 24 bit. And, 18 bit that can be manipulated to reproduce more colors (close to 24 bit). I believe the hold-up was making them energy effecient, thinner, and lighter in weight for laptop use.

 

I could go one on the different platforms but a search of Mac versus PC will yield enough results. My best suggestion is to take some pictures, throw them on a DVD, and load them onto a laptop at a store and play around with it. See what you like and what you determine to be "decent image editing capabilities."

 

Also, you might want to check with Adobe and see if you can transfer the license over for Mac use. Maybe the EULA (end user license agreement) will allow you to have multiple copies so long as you only use one at a time. Which, in your case, you would. It's a longshot but that'd be worth it.

 

Oh, are you a student? You can buy student versions of MANY titles of software at a great discount.

Toulane! That is where I was going. I don;t know how I got that mixed up. I must have been tired.

 

I have seen "Taxi, Taxi, Taxi!" by Luc Besson when I was in Praha for a bit. I really did like that movie. Much better than the American version.

 

Any ways, I'll try and rent a car and take that sea scape tour.

Sometime in for foreseeable future I will be stopping by in Touraine.

I know its SW from Cannes and East from Marseilles. I really would

like to stay in and around those areas, maybe rent a car, get some

cool Med shots, etc.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions or a good book to pick up?

 

Thanks!

I have a C8080 and I like it a lot but I will list a few things that Oly could have done better:

<p><p>

1) write times, especially RAW are horrificly slow.<p>

2) low-light focus is so-so<p>

3) lack of top information LCD to tell you how many shots are left or if the camera is on.<p>

<p><p>

www.dpreview.com has an OK write up on the camera however www.luminous-landscape.com has a more critical review in comparison to other cameras in relation to photography.

<p><p>

The C8080 is a very good camera and once you get to know it is very capable of producing excellent shots. But, Oly missed a few things here and there. I'll buy a new camera next spring. It's still viable enough to keep.

When I was first printing on Matte Papers. I dropped the ink by 15% and it made the picture look like I wanted too. Why the Epson profile did not do this is beyond me. Most others will quote a value between 15 and 18% depending on their liking.

I believe when you first put your cartridges in, the print heads have to be charged. So, the first ink cart's loose a bit because of this. Your refills will last longer.

Or, you can go to a book sotre, order a cup of Jo, and pull a few off the shelf and read. Which is what I have done on quite a few times. I also have bought quite a few books. But, this allowed me to pick the best one for me. It almost sounds as if you are using your printer profile as your working profile.

 

Also, are you using the Adobe gamma loader in addition to the ColorSpyder? You only want to use one at a time. Then, you need to choose a working profile, like Adobe RGB, ProPhoto, etc. Then, after you have completed all of your color adjustments you soft proof the image for your specific printer/ink/paper combo.

 

For me with RAW I use ACR, 16 bit mode, and recently I have been playing around in the ProPhoto color space (I like to tinker). I do all my adjustments, which are few as I have become more adept with ACR, and then soft proof.

 

The best thing to do is buy a book. You will save time, paper, ink, frustration, etc.

I did a search but it seemed to pull up tradtional photo printing.

 

I have an Epson 2200 and I wanted to experiment with papers that I

have found at art stores, etc. I was just wondering if I *had* to use

a coated paper. Or, can I buy that RC coating or whatever coating and

put it on anyting I want to.

 

Thanks!

As my camera will load the JPG on the LCD vice the RAW. Which takes much less time for me. Also, I can use Windows to view my images in the directory without any special programs and I can immediately send my images around if I wish.

 

I'd also factor in your camera's write time between the two. JPG's write faster. On my camera, the RAW write is super slow.

I'd have to say teh motion affects were added after the color adjustments in the back. Wouldn't be surprised if, as someone else said, the models were shot on a blue/green screen and then added. Models were probably not even shot together.