Grigorov, Boris wrote:
1. Memorial weekend is coming up and as many of you I plan to spend it
outdoors. We are going to Arcadia National Park. Can anyone tell me what
photographic opportunities exist there? It would be helpful if you tell me
what is the best time to take the pictures, I do not put the camera in the
bag in the midday, since some subjects are better photographed at that time.
I skipped Arcadia when in Maine last year to avoid crowding, but visited
other, similar areas of the coast. I can say that there will be
opportunities for almost every imaginal kind of outdoor photography
except alpine. You should encounter all kinds of light beyond just
midday vs. early/late light, what with clouds and thundershowers.
3. Forgive me for the heresy, but there is only one thing about OLY I have
ever complained to this list. The image in the viewfinder is too close to
my eye. As you know I recently bought a TLR and really like how I can view
the image. Since I do not plan to give up my OLY gear any soon, I would
like to know if there is a device that I could attach so I could see the
picture from a larger distance, it is easier to compose.
The actual image on the focusing screen that you are viewing is tiny,
and viewing is from any distance optically unaided is quite unrewarding.
The earliest 35mm SLRs like the Praktiflex didn't have pentaprism
viewfinders and worked just like a TLR, but with a much smaller image. I
hated them. The Topcon Super D, Nikon F and others had interchangeable
direct and prism viewfinders. I assume that went away partly because
nobody used them without the pentaprism finders, in addition to the
cost, sealing, size and weight advantages.
You don't say which Oly body(ies) you have and what special eyesight
strengths and weaknesses you have. Is your problem that you can't
comfortable focus on the viewfinder image because of farsightedness? The
OM-3 & 4 series have adjustable viewfinder focus to deal with this
problem. If you don't have trouble with focusing, is it looking through
that little hole that bugs you, or the apparent size & visual distance
of the image in it? The Varimagni lets you look down through a little
hole, rather than forward. It also enlarges the entire image slightly,
1.2x, and has a function similar to, but clearer and more stable than,
the flip up magnifier on TLRs; a flick of a lever gives 2.5x enlargement
fo the center of the image. Like a TLR, the image is reversed left to
right.
4. I have decided to have my digital darkroom... From your messages I learned
that it is better to scan slides and
this brings me to my question:
For scanning on a dedicated film scanner, color negative film is better
than slides. The negative film captures a greater range of brightness
than slide film, thus capturing more information (so I have a wider
choice of brightrness and contrast in the digital darkroom). It also
records it in a narrower range of densities on the film than does slide
film, which is easier for current scanners to handle. A major weakness
of current scanner technology is noise in the densest areas scanned.
Most consumer grade scanners require multiple scans to produce noise
free deep shadows from slides. The density characteristics of color
negative film and the fact that the densest areas on the film are
highlight areas in the print combine to require only single scans of
each image on most scanners. It is harder to get a good scan of a slide
than of a color negative. Many people continue to use slides with a
digital darkroom for various reasons. All my 'serious' photography was
slides for decades. Since getting a film scanner and Photoshop, I
haven't shot a single slide for myself, only for a professor friend's
slide lectures.
What film should I use? What I need is a film that does not require refrigeration,
Kodak Supra is an excellent professional film that doesn't require
refrigeration.
I work long hours and sometimes it takes weeks before the next shooting session
(doesn't this sound grand...).
The latent image (film exposed, but not developed) deteriorates faster
than unexposed film. That is to say, an image I take today is likely to
be poorer when developed 2 years from now than an image on the same
roll, of the same subject, taken just before being developed 2 years
from now. At least that used to be the case. The issue of refrigeration
doesn't really come into play here, unless you refrigerate your camera?
5. Someone on this list told us about a year ago about his HP printer and
how people always thought that he uses wet processing, can I have the model
again, please? I would like to consider it, even if it is an older model.
All current printers specifically indicated as being for photo printing
from, at least, HP, Canon & Epson are capable of prints that non experts
will find equal or better than wet prints. Digital darkroom prints from
a good film scanner and cropped, balanced, etc. in a photo program can
easily look better than standard 4x6 prints, often much better. There
are differences, and lots of reviews and opinions, but the average state
of the art is very high. I had only seen color prints from early
business inkjets on regular paper until I saw the results from a
friend's Epson 1270 on photo paper. I was stunned by the results and
bought one. No regrets. Friends have no idea my 8x10s aren't from wet
process.
6. I know I am going to learn it in that class, but can you print b&w
pictures from color print and slide film?
Yes, easy in the digital darkroom, much more difficult in a wet one.
&. Doro recently send a link to a website which you can set to bid on
evilbay at the last second for you. Doro, can you resend that link to me,
please? Thanks in advance.
There are several. Best known is <esnipe.com> , which charges a fee,
<auctionstealer.com> gives 5 free snipes a week.
7. Four or five years ago, it was very popular to write about how one
pronounce Zuiko. I posted a question, but never got an answer. How do you
pronounce the Z in it? Is it as in English
Yes, as in zoom. Much discussion on this in the archives.
Moose
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