One thing in the ePhotozine review - regarding the buffer, the reviewer, after saying that jpegs can be recorded non-stop until the card is full, states "Unfortunately, this drops to five frames only, once the file format is changed to RAW". Is this right, as I thought it was supposed to be nine frames.

Dan

Hi IS,

As far as I'm aware, the look of the sky would be purely dependent on the strength of the filter - a 3 stop ND would darken a sky more than a 1 stop ND, and could thus make it look stormier if this darkening was more than was needed to balance the exposure.

The Cokin website intrigued me a bit - they describe their filters as being made of "CR-39 Organic Glass", whereas CR-39 is actually a monomer plastic, and is usually refered to by manufacturers as Optical Resin. Have Cokin misinterpreted it from french to english, or are they misrepresenting their goods?

Dan

The important word is 'Neutral', as opposed to 'grey'. A neutral filter should not introduce any colour cast, whereas a grey one is not necessarily neutral in it's colour, so skies may take on a green or magenta tint, for instance.

Basically, if a manufacturer doesn't want to have the trouble of making sure their neutral density grads neutral, they'll call the grey grads so they don't have to.

Dan

I knew I kept those old tatties in the cupboard for something, just hadn't realised what!

Thanks for the inspiration Galoot, you made your point beautifully. The wife says the third photo looks like something Dr. Who would tackle.

Dan

I've got a rightangle viewfinder somewhere, got it off ebay a couple of years back, but found I never really used it much, prefering to get down on my knees and get hair full of leaves.

Just dug it out of the dreaded 'box of old, but potentially useful, stuff', kept under the bed. Ended up raking through the whole box, holding cameras I haven't touched for years. Praktica MTL5 - with its distinctive 'ker-chunk' shutter, Chinon CE5 - still feels so comfortable with it's power winder; I was using it, in preference to my MZ-5n, right up until I went digital. Lubitel 2! 6x6 Velvia slides!!

Anyway, found out the eyepiece adaptor on the R/A finder doesn't fit my istD, so still won't be using it.

Box now back under the bed, best get back to work.

Dan

Hi Mac,

I wouldn't think the white card at the edge of the viewfinder would have a huge effect on the exposure reading. If you're really worried that it is, try this:

With your current piece of white card in place so that you can see the needle, introduce another piece of white card on the left hand side of the viewfinder, and see if that makes a difference. If it doesn't, it's fairly safe to say your original bit doesn't either. If it does, you can see by how much, and take that into account when using the piece you're using now!

Make sense? If not, let me know, and I'll try to explain it better. Perhaps with pictures!

Talking of pictures, and refering to your experiences with different lenses and extension tubes, I've found my 50mm f/1.7 to be good with tubes, but have also had fun with a 24mm and one (the 12mm) tube. Anything thicker means you can't focus at all. I like this combination as you still get a wide angle view, and exaggerated perspective, but obviously with close up ability. Example with toadstools below. These were about 1 inch high, and the front of the lens about 1 inch from the closest toadstool.



istD, Sigma 24mm, f/16(?), 12mm extension tube, Uniloc tripod, polariser!

Just got me some KA extension tubes so I'll be able to play with my 16-45, although my trials with my old tubes show that you can't get far enough away to focus on focal lengths shorter than around 24mm, but it'll at least give me the option of using it.

Dan

See, I said someone would know. And we've all learnt something.

Dan

Hi Imp,

Just seen your 'signature', made me think there are plenty of people (thankfully very rarely on this board) that could have:

"I've been a photographer for a long time, so please excuse my ignorance"

Don't feel you need to apologise for learning, we all do it, all the time, and we all say or do things that may seem daft now and again. Just ask any questions that come to mind, someone will know the answer, but many more won't, and they'll all learn something too.

Just don't forget about, or even worse, get rid of, the 50mm lens!

Dan

As George says (by what he's written, and what he hasn't ) the 50mm is a great lens, and you should get good use from that one. The other two probably won't be quite as nice...

However, that's not to say they're not worth trying. The 28mm may well be fine, the zoom may be a bit more variable. I remember a shot I took at Portland Zoo in Oregon, when I was first starting out in photography. A Hanimex 80-200 was mounted on my Praktica MTL5, and I'd zoomed in on a wolf, which was looking straight at me. When I got the print back, the wolf, and his staring eyes, were sharp, and everything else seemed to be weird circular smear. It worked for that image, quite spooky, but not so good for family snaps.

So try your lenses, and see what they give you. If you can get some extension tubes, the 50mm is great for macro shots, which are great fun. I'm guessing you have an 18-55mm lens that came with your K100D? If so, you may find you don't have much need for the 28mm, but you never know.

Above all, have fun!

Dan

I used the FAJ 18-35 that came with my istD on my MZ-5n. This lens is fine for 35mm, and you can use it on the 5n in either 'P' mode (setting the shutter speed to 'A'), or by controling the shutter speed to get the aperture you want.

Not ideal, but it works.

Dan