hofbauer@utcsri.UUCP (John Hofbauer) (03/24/85)
I just discovered this news group so let me do a bit of
catching up...
Processing Labs!
These are the bane of all serious photographers, particularly
poor one's. A professional lab will do a good job but charge an
arm and a leg. An amateur lab does, well, an amateur job (the
scratches are free). I shoot colour slides almost exclusively
now and everything goes back to Kodak for processing. Never
had any problems with them. I must add, though, that the situation
is a little different in Canada. Because of less harsh anti-trust
laws Kodak does not have to license out it processing as they do
in the States so quality control is more consistent. When I want
to make prints I have Kodak make a 2.25 by 3.5 inch internegative
at a very modest cost, which I believe is currently $5 (Canadian)
and a lot less no doubt south of the border. From this I have a
local professional lab make a print. If the original slide was a
Kodachrome I have had no problem blowing it up to 16x20. The
colour bias and grain of the original slide is retained. A
similar size print from a 35mm neg would just crumble.
Incidently, this professional lab is a happy exception to the
rule pro lab = expensive. Indeed they are only half (or less)
expensive than the amateur lab. Weird, eh?
The only advice I can give is to keep looking 'til you
find a good lab and stick with it.
Vibrations:
1. Handheld shooting:
Obviously use the highest shutter speed possible. When
the speed drops into the dicy area then taking certain
precautions is advisable. The most common problem is jabbing
the shutter release; SQUEEZE it. A nationwide survey of
processing labs once revealed that 85% (of amateur) photos
showed some degree of camera shake. Since most photos are
taken in bright light the culprit must be jabbing. Personal
observation confirms this. Breath control is also important.
A heaving chest is not a very stable platform. I breath OUT,
not in. Exhaling relaxes you and consequently makes you
steadier. You tend to tremble when holding a lungful of air.
Whenever possible lean against something stable. Leaning
against a wall and spreading your legs turns you into a
human tripod. Fence railings, benches, etc also help.
2. Tripods
Tripods are the obvious way to go when shooting at
very slow shutter speeds. But not all tripods are created
equal. In fact most are junk. If it weaves in the wind like
a blade of grass you ain't gonna get sharp pictures. Make
an investment in a good tripod; it will last for the rest
of your life. I swear by the Leitz Tilt-All. It's worth
every penny. But even a good tripod can be misused. If
you extend it to full height it will be far less steady
than fully collapsed or half extended. I extend it as little
as possible. The shutter can be tripped by hand, if you are
careful, but a cable release is safer. Mirror lockup should
also be used whenever possible. If your camera does not
have a manual lockup then investigate the mirror action
in conjunction with the self-timer. On SOME cameras the
mirror flips up at the beginning of the sequence and
any camera shake is damped out before the 10 second delay
passes. Lastly there is the camera-tripod coupling. This
is a very sublte thing but can be significant, particularly
for very long lenses. Suppose you have a camera mounted on
a tripod. If you grab the camera and try to tilt it up or
down it is rigid but if you move it sideways it will move quite
easily. A vertical shutter would exert a force at right angle to the
head and be damped out. On the other hand, a horizontal shutter
would exert a force parallel to the head and jerk the camera
slightly to one side. I've noticed this phenomenon when using
a 500mm lens. My Nikon FM (vertical shutter) presents no
problem whereas my ancient Nikon F (horizontal shutter)
causes a double image.
MD-12 Motor Drive:
The MD-11 Motor Drive was introduced in 1977 along with
the Nikon FM and FE. Its main flaw was that the camera meter
was on for as long as the motor was on. Nikon Canada started
modifying the motors to incorporate a micro switch which
activated the meter when the shutter release was lightly
touched and turned it off x seconds later. Nikon then
officially incorporated this into the drive and called it
the MD-12 (from ~1979). The supreme irony is that Nikon
later modified the FM so that you can no longer take a
picture without first turning on the meter! (I'm now
talking about using it without a drive.) I personally
like to take a meter reading and then wait for possibly
a long time before shooting. I don't like to have to leave
on the meter during all that time. The only reason I can
see for this *improvement* is to streamline their production.
Mirror Lenses:
Mirror Lenses must be built to higher tolerances than
conventional glass lenses, so for this reason I would
stick with the camera maker's lens or a reputable
independent maker like Celestron. Check out the latter's
ads in Scientific American. Mirror lenses always come with
a set of filters. In fact the filter is an integral part
of the lens. A filter must always be in place. You won't
need a neutral density filter unless you're shooting
very fast film on snow. Usually the problem is that the
lens is too slow. A typical 500mm mirror is rated at f/8.
Incidentally this kind of rating must be taken with a
grain of salt. The light transmission loss in a mirror
lens is greater than a glass lens so the f/8 is really
more like f/9.5.
Enough for today. Now that I'm up to date future messages
will be shorter.
John Hofbauer, Ph.D. (Doctor of Photography)