Everything That is Old is New Again

Nikon 400mm f5.6 manual focus built approximately 1982 w/TC 1.4 from the same time period. This is the equivalent of a 840mm @f8.0 lens (400mm x 1.5 factor w/ DSLR APC sized sensor x 1.4 factor from teleconverter) on the Nikon D200. EXIF data: 1/250th f8.0 ISO 400. Shot on a Gitzo 1325 tripod with an Arca-Swiss Z-1 ballhead through a standard clear glass window pane. File was ingested via Adobe Lightroom where slight adjustments to exposure, blacks, clarity, and medium tone curve were applied. Detials in Lightroom: Noise Reduction applied 50 points lumnanace and color; Sharpening 150; Radius 1.0, Detail 60; Masking 70.

A couple of years ago I purchased the Nikon D200. My decision to purchase this camera was based on several factors. I should mention that I have been a Nikon shooter since the 1990’s, but I admire the Canon cameras and lenses as well. At the time I made the purchase I was working at a camera store (yes, I got an employee discount, but not as much as you might think), and was able to get my hands on several new cameras and lenses, a nice side benefit. When the Nikon D200 began to ship there was so much demand for the camera that several were sold before we could get a demo model on the shelf. But, popularity had nothing to do with my purchase decision. One overriding factor secured my decision, the venerable Nikon F-mount. What is the Nikon F-mount, well if you want to research it further check out -http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_F-mount What you will find is that the original F-mount developed by Nikon in 1959 has remarkable longevity, and backwards compatibility. What this means to photographers in practical terms is, that with few exceptions, any lens manufactured by Nikon since 1977, when the AI lenses, were introduced will mount on any of the new Nikon digital SLR’s. This does not mean that you will always get metering with every DSLR, but what’s a histogram and chimp screen for anyway? Nikon D1, D2, and D3 series and the D200, D300 will give you metering, with some limitations, in Aperture Priority and Manual exposure modes. Other Nikon DSLR's will not give you metering , but you do get an image on the LCD and a histogram. Consequently, you can get an image and you can bracket and determine what the correct exposure is. Maybe not the quickest way to get a photo, but every bit as effective as a new lens. If you want to read the details about using older Nikon lenses, see this chart at Ken Rockwell’s excellent and thorough web site.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/compatibility-lens.htm

Why Macs?

In a word; simplicity. In 2005 I purchased my first Mac, a dual 1.8 GHz Power Mac G5. Love at first sight. Previously I owned a PC tower, built locally, that I acquired in 1997. It had Windows 95 for an operating system. And, with one exception, I maintained that machine and OS, by myself, for the 8 years I owned it. Finally, it became evident that my 1997 PC was on its last legs. I was convinced that I would purchase another Windows machine. Windows XP seemed to be a good OS. I had worked with XP at my workplace, a significant improvement over Windows 95, and most of the bugs in the OS seemed to be worked out. I planned to become more involved with digital imaging and reports at that time indicated that XP was pretty stable under the stress of dealing with digital images. I didn’t believe that the Mac was affordable, and never considered a Mac until . . .

My wife suggested that I talk over my purchase with someone she knew who was a programmer at a local major corporation. In addition, he was a photographer who was into digital, and I was still using film and scanning images. After talking with him over a very long lunch, I was ready to consider the Mac. I think that lunch lasted approximately 2 hours and most of what I remember as far as advice from him was, “get a Mac.” Thanks, Jeff. With some new ideas to ponder I discussed my purchase with others. Opinions ranged back in forth, but Louisville, KY is by far a PC kind of town (No Mac store here until late 2007 and the University of Louisville acts as if Apple and Macs don’t exist). Most of the other photographers I met had lots of cash invested in PC software; consequently their opinions were admittedly biased. In addition, Mac users had a passion about their machines you didn’t hear from the PC guys. The clincher for me was when I talked with folks that worked all day every day with imaging, graphics, and photos. Again and again, I heard “get a Mac.” So, I got a Mac, and became a convert. What they say is true; the Mac simply works. In fact the whole system is so simple that if you have worked on PCs, as I did for several years, you will find that things on the Mac are so simple and straightforward as to be confounding. If you speak with me about computers, I will tell you “get a Mac.” You won’t regret it.

P.S. Chuck Rubin of Chuck Rubin Photographics, 1031 Bardstown Rd Louisville, KY 402004 Phone: (502) 452-6171, experienced a fire at his business establishment in December 2007. The fire was pretty serious with lots of smoke damage. Fortunately, no one was injured, and Chuck re-opened his business within a few weeks. An iMac was damaged by the fire. I understand the keyboard was completely melted by the heat of the fire. A few days later we plugged in the severely scorched iMac to see if it would start up again. Although the screen was scorched to the point to be unusable, the iMac started and worked fine.
Chuck is a reputable dealer.
Chucks Ebay auctions are at: http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZacameradude
You may also access his store site at: http://www.chuckrubin.com/

A newspaper story about the fire.
http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/ZONE01/712060429

ADOBE LIGHTROOM

Early on in 2006 I became aware of the development of a new application by Adobe. The Lightroom Beta was available as a free download and released in the Spring of 2007. From Adobe: “Adobe® Photoshop® Lightroom® software is the professional photographer's essential toolbox, providing one easy application for managing, adjusting, and presenting large volumes of digital photographs so you can spend less time in front of the computer and more time behind the lens.” Actually, in my experience, Lightroom does even more. If you are a photographer who shoots a lot, (and who doesn’t these days?) then Lightroom is for you. I admit I am a disciple of Apple. I love my Macs and seize almost every opportunity to tell others (obnoxious, isn’t it?). When Apple introduced Aperture, I couldn’t afford to purchase it. Consequently, I waited and became involved with trying out the Lightroom Beta. But, after comparing Aperture and Lightroom, I chose Lightroom. My experience is that Lightroom is more intuitive and faster than Aperture. When Lightroom was introduced it was priced at $100.00 less than the regular price of $299.00. I didn’t hesitate to purchase it, and believe the $199.00 paid is the best value in software I’ve ever seen. As of this writing, Lightroom is available for $279.00 at B&H, $276.95 at Adorama, Academic discount versions are listed on the web for $99.00. In addition Adobe has a discount available through their online store if you buy Lightroom and another application together. See the Adobe website for details.

As I said before Lightroom is extremely intuitive. Originally, Adobe posted “The 5 Rules” as the only directions on how to use the program. “The 5 Rules” reflected the simplicity and ease of using the program, and I discovered within a short period of time that I was editing images in Lightroom quicker and with more pleasing results than Photoshop. I first acquired Photoshop Elements in 2005, and Photoshop CS later that same year. The Elements version I acquired was pretty easy, but I struggled with Photoshop. I believe if I had Lightroom to learn first I would have progressed quicker in learning about making basic edits in Photoshop. Lightroom has almost completely replaced Adobe Camera RAW and Bridge in my workflow. Lightroom is a great piece of software, which Adobe has endeavored to update and maintain through the new versions of MS Windows and Mac OS X. A 30-day trial is available at:

http://www.adobe.com/products/photoshoplightroom/

If you want to make a promo sheet or small poster of your work in Lightroom, try this.

http://www.adobe.com/designcenter/lightroom/articles/lir1at_promosheet_02.html

Happy Shooting!

Lunch Time

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Hillbilly Hotdogs in Lesage, West Virginia

A wonderful place for lunch

Hillbilly Hotdogs has a very entertaining website at:
http://www.hillbillyhotdogs.com/

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Sonny Knight, Proprietor Hillbilly Hotdogs