Ken Norton wrote:
> FP is good, but not powerful enough. To be fair though, the current
> "style" is normal or slow speed flash with plenty of motion in the picture
> from panning the camera with the subject. But... outdoor fill-flash while
> maintaining a shallow DOF is still a problem.
Yes, I am clearly wrong on this point; I didn't know the available FP
guns weren't powerful enough. I wish now I hadn't chucked out that
fan gun and bulbs... With 1/250 you still need to move the subject
under a tree, but not to ask her to hold her breath and wait for the
wind to drop. 1/60 is, as you say, unacceptable for pro work in
most fields.
> > [FE] I notice most of these "extreme" pics use vertical format, perhaps
> >in an attempt to minimize the shutter distortion of the vertical
> >travel (read: unreliable and fragile) shutters in the
> >wonderbricks.
>
> Hmm... Unreliable and fragile? You mean more so than the curtains?
Rightly or wrongly, they have or did have that reputation. They
also are said to produce more vibration than the curtains, and that's
also what *my* hands feel when comparing a Nikon and Olympus. The
more modern metal shutters use aluminium, which is lighter: less
vibration and perhaps even less reliable.
> The
> overuse of the vertical format has to do with magazine use. Most photos of
> this genre are taken with covers or single page full-bleeds in mind.
Oh dear, we've created a civilization too lazy to turn a magazine
on its side to appreciate a photograph.
> >[FE] What is really called for is an additional
> >high-speed in-lens leaf shutter, which would open and close while
> >the focal plane shutter was open. [snip]
>
> Would be nice, but expensive, cumbersome, noisy, and lots of added
> complexity that would slow things down. You think we have shutter lag now?
All your criticisms apply to AF!
> Matrix metering and program modes DO WORK GREAT--provided you have
> experimented with them to know their characteristics. In some lighting
> situations, I use nothing but the ESP metering in the IS-3 to determine
> proper exposure.
Doubtless. As an amateur, I prefer not to spend my limited
photographic time learning redundant techniques. That's another
reason I don't like the wonderbricks. I can pick up a Nikon FM2 or a
Minolta SRT-101 and use it with no wasted time. As a pro, you can
amortize the 3 weeks it takes to read the F5 instruction book
against many more pictures. As for having the software in
lenses upgraded every year (Tokina EOS lenses) or an online
help manual via attached data port (Nikon F90x), I am using
a camera in my spare time, and I don't want that hassle.
> >Anyway, since we've now seen this shot, no one ever needs to
> >take it again. This style was invented by Leni Riefenstahl for the
> >1936 Olympics, using special high-speed cine cameras, and is
> >hardly new.
>
> Whether a shot has already been done is irrevelevent because it is what the
> clients want.
Quite right. I was projecting my own desires onto others. Many
amateurs get off on duplicating techniques and fashions, and there's
nothing wrong with that. Others, like me, get off on the subject.
> >I don't like many of the trends, Velvia luridness being a perfect
> >example.
>
> Luridness still sells.
Yes, unfortunately. My point was that I'm *not* selling and neither are
most camera buyers. If I show 100 slides taken over a period of 3 years
to a roomful of people, I want to avoid outdated fads. (How many
bright orange Kodachrome sunsets do you sell these days?) I'm
also putting on display my personal taste, in a way a professional
is not.
>My biggest problem with Velvia is heat sensitivity.
I'm glad I took Kodachrome with me to the desert on my recent
trip. Although I missed some after-dusk shots, it survived the
heat - four days over 35C - very well. OM content: chrome bodies
stay (and look) cooler than black ones. Polycarbonate is probably
better than steel, which gets too hot after 5 minutes.
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