Hello Johs,
On Tue, 12 Mar 2002, Josh Lohuis wrote:
> Hello Everyone,
>
Long emails demand long replies ;)
<SNIP>
> me. Four days in a city 20 times larger than mine, and only 4 rolls?
> What's wrong with me?
>
Well......I'm european.....and I have never been to Ottawa. But I have
been to cities in the north american continent, where I would be hard
pressed to take even one film.....
> The next order of business is my purchases. I bought a 135 2.8 from
> another list member (it is a Sigma) for $100CAN, and I bought a 200 f/4
> Zuiko for $130CAN. I have a few questions. The 200 is a silvernose,
Uhmm....;)
> but
> the reflections are green and purple. Can a silver nose be MC? S/N 156873 I
> didn't know that the silver nose(s) of that lens would look so good on an
> all black body.
I have no idea if they can be M/C. Neither of my 200/4 are
silvernose. However get ready to fall absolutely in love with that
lens. I've got two, as I mentioned, and I am absolutely happy: I find that
the size, weight and image quality makes it a very very attractive lens. I
can stuff the 200/4 in the inner pocket without looking too silly...try
that with e.g. the famed 180mm's.
Also (thanks Bernd), I recently discovered that in combination with a
Motor Drive 1 and the control grip (what's the number? It's the pistol
grip), I can hand-held the 200/4 down to 1/30s (indoor, no tripod no
flash and a PanF in the camera....).
> Another thing I would like to ask about is image quality.
> Is a Zuiko really that much better than something else. I have heard some
> people say they even prefer a Tamron over the Zuiko's. Is this more of a
> subjective thing, rather than a scientific type of deal?
All I can say is, that the image quality of my Zuiko's has been
significantly better than that of the third party lenses I've
had (save for two, where I am not sure). Following that, I have only
Zuiko's left. Strictly unscientific, of course ;) IMO, if you like the
results you get from your body/lens, then stick to it. However more
"factual", I've found my zuikos to be more compact and/or have a larger
maximum apeture than the third party's I've had.
Then again: there are often two series of Zuiko's (135/2.8 vs 135/3.5),
aiming differently. Likewise, there's no one single label to put on "third
party lenses". I'd imagine that many off-brand manufacturer maintain
similar lines (consumer/pro lenses).
Again, the best is to try the lens and see if you like the result.
The two lenses that I still have are Sigma. The 50-200 apo and the 21-35
(I think also apo..?). Based on my strictly subjective criteria, they are
good (i.e.: I can take photos I like with them). They are big and heavy,
though: the 50-200 is heavy and the 21-35 is big ;)
Any other zuikoholics with a comment on either of these lenses? I seem to
recall that they were in the category "pricy for a third party lens" when
I bought them.
Ohh....I also have a Sigma 2x teleconverter. Last time I used it was in
conjunction with the 200/4 in a zoo, where the lion absolutely insisted on
staying as far away from the visitors as possible. I am neither impressed
or depressed by the teleconverter - it just doesn't get much workout...
> Another thing I
> wanted to ask about was lens caps. All my lenses have generic caps that
> "click in" by means of two tabs on opposite sides. I noticed that a few of
> these will let out tiny pin points of light where the tabs are. I thought
> caps were supposed to be light tight. I know that sometimes I have to
> rewind my film half way, and when I put it back in I have to fire the
> shutter many times to advance the film to where I left off. Would the tiny
> points of light affect the images already taken? Is there a way to advance
> the film without firing the shutter? (probably not) Another thing that
You could mount a body-cap on the body? Requires dismounting the lens,
though, but...?
I've got a bunch of generic lens-caps (front and back), however I've
recently ordered Olympus ditto's from John H. I have only one reason: I
like how they look ;)
<SNIP>
> Another thing I wanted to ask was: how do I clean the mirror.
With uttermost care! For all I am concirned, pretty much anything you do
will make it more dirty.
If you insist, then take a pincet (is that the word? The thing doctors do
to pick up things inside peoples bodies), cover the tips with something
non-scratch. Then grap a piece of lens paper, fold it carefully to
something like 1 cm wide. Mount in the pincet. Breath on the mirror and
wipe it off, one strip. Unfold/fold the lens paper to get to a fresh
spot. Repeat (one strip). Someone reccomended that procedure to me, and it
seems to be the best I've managed to come around....
> I know it
> doesn't matter if there is crap there, it kind of bothers me when I see all
> kinds of dust and other items when I look through the viewfinder. I am sure
> that soap, water, and a face cloth is a bad thing,
Yup. As is a steel brush on your dremel not going to improve things.....
> so what should I use.
Care. Extremely care....
> Another thing that really bothered me this weekend was changing lenses. I
> know have four, and I find that I always want to change (not always, just
> often) is there anyway that I can change lenses without so much balancing
> and trouble. I feel like a circus act trying to juggle around three lenses
> whilst listen to my mom tell me to move out of the middle of the sidewalk.
>
Well, then why change? Make yourself this exercise: one body, one
lens. Make each frame you shoot a "piece of art". I.e. take care to
position yourself correctly. Don't use the "if only I had an XXX mm
here" as an excuse for not making a good picture. Make one anyways. It
will be a different one, to be sure, but still.
For my medium format, I have only one lens. Sure, I'd like another -
something in the area of 210mm would be nice for perspective
reasons. However I've had my MF camera with that lens for a couple of
years, and have taken a lot of pictures - some even good. And never once
did I have to give up due to lack of a specific lens.
(Of course, this doesn't apply if you're requirements are "astro" or
"macro" or something).
I re-give myself the above exercise with selected lenses from time to
time, not to forget - and not to let myself become a slave of my gear.
> The last question I can remember (I had an eight hour drive, so I did a
> lot of thinking)
(your next purchases have to be a pda and a cell phone..)
<SNIP>
Good luck with everything. Let's know how your pictures turned out -
preferably show us ;)
--
-------------------------------------------
Thomas Heide Clausen
Civilingeniør i Datateknik (cand.polyt)
M.Sc in Computer Engineering
E-Mail: T.Clausen@xxxxxxxxxxxx
WWW: http://www.cs.auc.dk/~voop
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