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Will we ever see a digital body for our Manual Focus lenses

Yes, that's the thing. I also have stacks of slides which I took from the 60's onwards. I am scanning them as and when I get time. Some are faded but they can be restored on the computer.

I also have negatives dating from the 50's and they are fine.

And I have photographs which my father took dating from the 20's and even family portraits from the 1880's. They can all be (awful word) digitised and brought into the modern age.

But will they stand the test of time once they are digital? We don't really know but at least the originals will remain and meanwhile they can be easily enjoyed and stored and restored on the computer for all the family and any one else who is interested to see them.

And because the originals are a physical medium, they do not have to be regularly backed up or transferred to the latest storage facility although I am paranoid about backing up my scans becasue I am investing so much time in creating them.
 
Irakly can take better photos with a Holga than the cranky old-timer can with an 8X10. Prove me wrong : -)

I know it's a real burden to read how to remove one's self from this forum. It's easier to swear like one suffering from Tourette's Disorder.

Ansel Adams isn't everyone's cup of tea BTW.
 
Checking Richard Alan Meyer’s profile does confirm his credential.

Looking forward to learning something new from anyone.

Back to the topic: will I ever use manual focus lens on a digital body? I would, M8 for travel or PJ work. dreaming...
 
And where, pray tell, are those credentials to be found Albert?

Always willing to learn from anyone also, but life's too short to learn anything from an insulting braggart ... typical internet bully.
 
I cannot resist, I really tried, so here goes....

Richard qualifications as listed on his profile is that he rates himself as an intermediate photographer. His posts indicate a lot of things, that he claims to own a hasselblad, claims that Contax Camera's are lousy toys, in spite of the fact that his profile says that he owns four of them, that he is 87 years old, that he is a self proclaimed photographic expert and genious, but somehow in spite of his superior intellect he cannot seem to figure out how to take his name off of a mailing list that he put it on, cannot follow instructions, cannot turn on his e-mail spam filter, and cannot say anything nice about anyone, with the exception of one lone photographer who died 26 years ago. How he is able to figure out how to turn on his computer and write to everyone on this forumn is simply one of the marvels of our time...

BTW, Marc, I checked our your web-site. You've got some great work.

I purchased my ND about a year ago on e-bay, my first digital slr camera, but received one with a dead pixel line. Since it was under warranty, I sent it back to Tocad three times, each time they sent it back to Japan, who procalimed it fixed, and returned the camera to me. Finally, Nick at Tocad, got involved. End of a long story is that Japan sent me a new body a couple of months ago. So now I am several years behind everyone here and trying to learn how to use a piece of equipment, that most of you have already moved on from. If anyone has any tips, I would be most appreciative.

Regards,

Mark
 
Mark, the ND can produce fine images, and provides access to wonderful N lenses like the 24-85/3.5 which is the best general zoom I've yet to use. The 85/1.4 is another lens I miss since moving on, but the Canon 85/1.2 has eased that pain ; -)

Tips: get the most powerful rechargable batteries you can with a refresh type charger that also trickle charges so a set of batteries are always at the ready. 2700 mAh (or higher if they're now available). Seek out extra battery holders, because you'll need them. Hard to find. I had 4 of them, and on some assignments needed all 4.

The big breakthrough for the ND was getting it supported by Adobe Camera RAW. If you aren't using PSCS2, get it ... it will make life soooo much easier.

This camera is one of the few digital SLRs that actually shoots very good jpgs. It seemed that the dynamic range of a 6 meg sensor that is full frame helped. Large meg count isn't everything, it's the size of the pixels that makes that camera produce such a nice tonal gradation and it produces excellent jpgs IMO. This is a good thing when faced with a lot of rapid shooting because the buffer is so limited when shooting RAW files, and there is no RAW review on the LCD. Jpgs load quite fast and allows more rapid shooting when needed.

I'm sure Irakly and others will have some additional tips.
 
Mark
Also try out Iridient Raw Developer. It has some useful features and can produce great conversions too. I tend now to use it more than ACR, because I like its noise vs sharpness balance.
Marc's comments re batteries are well made; remember that they will keep discharging if you don't use them.
Also, take care with exposure; try to avoid histograms to the "left".
I also think that focusing on some lenses take extra care, with a little manual correction occasionally needed. Focus seems to be (on my ex&le at least) fine for 17-35/24-85; 50 needs care wide open; 85 needs a lot of care wide open, with the AF calibration always needing (for me) an extra nudge to the left; 100 best focussed manually; 70-300 ok; 400 excellent snappy fast AF.
It's such a shame that great photographers like Irakly and Marc no longer use the ND; their sponsorship of the camera and the results they could produce prompted me to take the plunge on the ND in the first place!
FWIW, i am completely hooked on the ND's ergonomics and feel, the iso25 option, the way the pictures look - something about the dynamic range, colour, and of course, lenses.
 
Both Irakly and I are doing commercial work and need stuff that works fast and can be replaced or repaired quickly. The ND was/is a cool camera and a joy to hold in the hand.
 
Marc,

My comments last week were not meant to be insulting, and I apologize if they appeared to be insulting. You brought up the question of "why digital?"

I think in reviewing your comments (and mine!) that the question needs to be addressed to the correct audience: why digital for the professional? or why digital for the advanced amateur? Obviously, you have not found digital to be an answer to your professional requirements. Many professional wedding photographers find digital a godsend and others a poor choice. Most amatuers and advanced amatuers find the usefulness of digital outweighs the restrictions of digital.

Personally, I do some pro work, but mostly work to satisfy the artist and the historian inside of me. For me, digital works most of the time, and frustrates me the rest of the time. But, honestly, film did the same ... rewards and frustration.

thanks,

michael.
 
RObert, I wish that I could use it more, but ND excels in a studio, where it is superceeded by Contax 645 (and Hasselblad H2D in Marc's case). For fashion work on location it is too slow, unfortunately. It is a great camera for street shooting, provided you have enough rechargables at your disposal
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