Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Jun 16, 2014 1:17:55 GMT -5
Thanks Dan. It's really a great fit and balances well on the camera, especially when the MB-D10 is attached. Unfortunately, my handheld technique leaves something to be desired! It's going to take quite a bit of work to get even decent at it.
Is your Soligor 600mm a T-Mount? I've seen the Soligor 500mm mirror lens before, but not a 600mm one. I'd love to have one of the Vivitar or Perkin/Elmer 600s though!
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 27, 2013 11:44:34 GMT -5
We went out to a Chinese Lantern Festival/Acrobat show last night. It was entirely outside which made for some challenging lighting. Although the majority of the images were shot with the 18-70mm AF Nikkor lens on my D300, I also took along the 50mm f/1.4 as well. I ended up shooting all the stage acts with the old 50mm MF Nikkor It's challenging with the modern focusing screen, but workable. Although it's more convenient that the lens is "chipped", that really didn't come into play since the lighting didn't change at all and the images could just as easily been shot in manual as well.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 20, 2013 10:47:41 GMT -5
I've picked up another cheap Adaptall on eBay to fill the "gap". This time it's the 85-210mm f/4.5. I don't know if it's the "CZ" or the "QZ" yet. I'll have to see when it shows up. I don't think there's not really much to give between the two.
Also, in lieu of a light meter (for now), I've gone out and gotten a couple of light meter Apps for my Android phone. We'll see how they work out.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 18, 2013 20:37:51 GMT -5
I went to one of the charity shops that I check + value cameras for today as they had a big boxful of stuff to sort out. I threw about 12 compacts in the skip - cheap APS and crappy stuff. Also, 3 cheap flash's and an OM motordrive with badly leaking batteries, way beyond sensible repairs. But I did come home with a very nice Chinon CE4-s, 50 / 1.7, 35-100 / 3.5 and motordrive for a very reasonable donation of £10 to the local hospice. They were happy, and so was I. Very nice find indeed! Those CE4s were quite nice and you'll have access to the huge numbers of K lenses. I really liked that camera for the nice big controls. Much nicer to use than the buttons on the ME-Super!
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 18, 2013 18:03:57 GMT -5
I have taught and/or coached those moody teenagers for most of my adult life! The 7 year old promises to add dramatics to the teen years as well. It's much easier when they belong to other people and leave your classroom after 50 minutes!
You are luck that you can at least share the photography. I remember during the worst of my own teen years, I could still share that with my father discussing the relative merits of this picture or that produced by his old Voigtlander Bessamatic! The 10 year old appears to be more interested in computers though. Lucky for me, I spend a good part of my vocation in that field.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 18, 2013 16:23:25 GMT -5
Although it's difficult to get away with a 10 and a 7 year old on premises, I will occasionally get loose to prowl around a bit. On this side of Dallas, it's mostly pawn shops, but I'll sometimes succumb to my other hobby of computers, and go looking for those parts. Of course, the Dallas area is much more fertile for those types of things!
Two years ago, I went to Hong Kong and did some shopping in the famous electronics/photography shops area off of Nathan Rd., and found it not to my taste. I'm much more attuned to the quite dusty old shops and a slower pace of the out of the way areas like you refer to.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 17, 2013 22:45:14 GMT -5
I had completely forgotten about the Vivitar S1 zooms. I've never owned one, but they have outstanding reputations. In fact, after I started looking around at something to fill the gap, I realized that I already own something; the very small and light Vivitar 70-150 f/3.8 complete with it's matched multiplier! It's the one made by Kiron and was well though of in it's day. I had bought it out of nostalgia when I found it VERY cheap on eBay. When I was the high school yearbook photographer, I had convinced my school to purchase that lens with our new Canon AE-1!
I'll keep an eye out for those Tamrons as well. The 70-220 SP sounds especially interesting. I prefer the two touch types anyway.
By the way. Anyone have recommendations on a hand-held light meter? Gossen Luna Pro? I have a Weston III that still works, but it doesn't get down very low.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 17, 2013 11:16:26 GMT -5
Our local (East side of Dallas metro area) charity shops simply don't have photographic equipment of any use. Actually, not even the pawn shops have much of anything. It's probably that this side of Dallas is more working class and younger, so not as many of these sorts of items. This is why, when I'm in an older and more affluent part of the city, I'll stop at any of those types of places whenever possible.
I have had good luck with Craigs List, but I generally have to drive quite a bit to get to the seller. I'd love to be able to find a nice FM to go with my manual focus Nikon lenses.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 16, 2013 19:38:08 GMT -5
That's a pretty impressive pedigree! The colors rendered very nicely.
Late 90's was when I got involved with digital cameras, and at work as well. I was working for the Housing department of the University of Illinois, Chicago and we kept a stable of the Kodak DC2xx models for all manner of stuff such as our website and brochures. Nice, easy to use cameras. I still get a little sad over Kodak sometimes.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 16, 2013 19:20:35 GMT -5
I'm in the process of developing a "Light" kit, built around the D40. So far, I've got the two Tamrons at 300mm and 28-50mm. I'll probably try and fit something in the middle with the 70-150mm and the 80-210mm being so inexpensive these days.
I might try and pick up one of the "E Series" 50mm or 35mm to have something truly small with nice light gathering capabilities as well. Otherwise, this whole package at this around $150 seems pretty good. I'd love to be "all-in" under $200.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 16, 2013 0:59:40 GMT -5
Here's a sample shot with the Tamron CT-300. It's been cut down to 80% from the original jpeg. I like the colors on it quite a bit, and it appears to be sufficiently sharp when I do my job. I've got to say that I'm pleased with this $10 lens on a D40.
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 16, 2013 0:52:49 GMT -5
I didn't get to shoot with it as much as I wanted to, but here's an image from yesterday that gives an idea of what it's sharpness and color is like. Of course, it's just a jpeg and cut down to 80% at that, but I'm fairly happy with it. We'll be going on a short trip next weekend, which should be a great opportunity to give it a proper "shake-down" cruise. Attachment Deleted
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Stan
Senior Member
Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 14, 2013 0:18:33 GMT -5
Well, my slow Tamron acquisition model makes a little more progress today as the Adaptall-2 28-50mm arrived. Having never owned one, I was just guessing at it's physical attributes based on the specs. It turned out pretty well. In fact, true to it's original goal of being able to fit in the old style camera "every-ready" cases, this thing is basically the size of the "normal" lens. Given it's short length and 58mm filter thread, it is indeed an excellent size match for my D40. It looks like it was made for it.
A few grab shots around a fairly dark house, seem to look pretty good. I'll know more after I get out this weekend and shoot some pictures with it. For now, I'm just excited to have it!
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Stan
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Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 11, 2013 19:31:50 GMT -5
We don't see the Tair much, especially the normal (non Fotosniper) version. I would assume they are much more common in Europe. At some point, I'm sure we'll cross the pond since my brother/sister-in-law live and work in Austria. I'll definitely plan on looking for interesting items that we don't get here in the states.
When I was a teenager, I used to buy Amateur Photographer (when I could afford it) to look at the ads of the Russian equipment that we couldn't get! In fact, last time I was in Canada, I bought an issue for nostalgia's sake. I actually tend to prefer British magazines to American publications as a general rule anyway.
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Stan
Senior Member
Posts: 84
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Post by Stan on Dec 11, 2013 19:23:17 GMT -5
My first Post-film "serious" camera was a Nikon CoolPix 8800. It turned out to be a mistake for someone who'd used SLRs for 35 years, so I sold it and bought a D70. Then a few weeks ago, it came back! Well, actually my brother who took a job overseas decided to thin out his collection a bit, sent me a CP 8800, CP8400, and CP995, along with a 55mm f/2.8 Micro-Nikkor lens! Attachment DeletedAttachment DeletedI don't use the 8800 much, but the 8400 has become the "go-to" camera for random stuff around the house. It's also a bonus that they take CF cards that I use for the D300 and the iTTL flashes as well if I need more light! I also really like the Easyshare "Z" series, although I don't own any right now. I recommended the Z740 to my brother/sister-in-law and they've been happily using it ever since.
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