[renko]

11:33 PST or EST?

[renko]

cool, thanks.

[renko]

Is it possible to post the expected greenlight time in this thread? I don’t have TF yet, I tried to do it but I’m having problems with paypal.

[renko]

It even rhymes with “Happy Valentines Day”

[renko]

“Anti Valentines Day” ?

[renko]

If you google Canon “Error 99” you’ll find a lot of pages where this is discussed. Nobody seems to have an exact answer, some claim it is a general error message when the camera crashes, but most of the reports have been related to third party lenses, or with dirty lens contacts. I had that error a couple of times with a Canon 24-70mm lens; I cleaned the lens and body electrical contacts and the problem went away.

I’d try cleaning the lens contacts first (I’m assuming this doesn’t happen with your other lenses, so it’s probably not the body contacts). Some use a pencil eraser, I used isopropyl alcohol and a swab. Barring that, perhaps someone has come across the same problem as you with that particular lens. Google that sucker 🙂

[renko]

Forget the extended warranty. It is just a scam anyway.

Besides, you’re going to want to be able to clean the sensor at your convenience and not wait for a shop. Dust particles get on the sensor at the most annoying times and you’re not going to want to wait for service. Instead do it yourself.

That link Curious provides gives good instructions, specifically to set the camera to f/22, focus at infinity, and shoot a neutral continuous background like a cloudless (or smoothly overcast) sky. The dust particles are not actually on the sensor, they are on a piece of glass that is in front of the sensor, and so at f/22 and infinity focus the depth of field is such that you can actually SEE the dust.

I use the Visible Dust “Arctic Butterfly model 724” and it works brilliantly. It is a hand-held brush system about the size of an electric toothbrush, it has batteries and an electric motor; you spin the brush for 15 seconds to fling off old dust and give the brush a static charge (the bristles are nylon of some kind so when the brush spins the bristles rub against each other and build up charge), and then lightly sweep the sensor (do NOT spin the brush on the sensor!).

You can also buy solution and swabs if the sensor gets really filthy, but I think you’d need to leave the body cap off and walk around in a dusty attic for that to be necessary.

[renko]

No kidding. I should have paid more attention to the numbers when I first saw it go green. It’s just hard to imagine that a good photograph would only garner 4 to 5 votes in the five hours between the contest opening and green light.

[renko]

Looks like I need to buy totalfark to avoid falling 15 to 20 votes behind, before it even goes green 🙂

[renko]

You know what the nicest thing is about this great big move to digital? I get to buy everybody’s medium format and 35mm gear on the cheap 🙂

neener neener :p

[renko]

Are you pushing for stylistic purposes (grain, contrast) or to overcome low-light situations?

Tri-X can be pushed a single stop without changing development times or at the most boosting times by 15%. I’ve done this with Microdol-X and Xtol, both work well but have different characteristics. The Microdol-X developed negatives had the finest grain, but the Xtol was incredible sharp with slightly larger grain. If you’re looking to get a little bit more speed for low light without changing the negative characteristics too much, this is a nice combination.

If you’re looking for maximum speed for low light, try Ilford Delta 3200 pushed to 12,500. Develop for 16.5 minutes at 20 degrees C in Ilford Microphen (stock solution).

If you just want a little more grain, you can shoot as normal at the printed ISO, and then use higher developer dilutions to get more grain. Microdol-X (stock) will give less grain than Microdol-X (1+3), for example.

You can also pull film by 1/2 a stop, and use stock or higher dilutions to get interesting looks. And for the coolest grain (like sandpaper) of all, try Delta 3200 at 800, develop in Ilfosol-S (1+9) for 8 minutes at 20 degrees C. Delta 3200 has enormously wide exposure latitude; it is actually rated at around 1250, but it is designed to be pushed. So ISO 800 is about 1/2 stop pull from the rated speed.

There’s a thousand combinations of film and developers, have you see the Massive Dev Chart at http://www.digitaltruth.com?

[renko]

Some of the stainless ones have little teeth that help guide in the film, but in general I like the paterson plastic reels. Really foolproof, and they are adjustable to take 120, 127 and 135 film.

[renko]

In a public place there is no expectation of privacy so technically you don’t have to ask permission. Besides asking permission kind of ruins the whole point of candid street photography.

I would however avoid photographing children, it’s just not worth the possible run-ins with angry parents.

But in general, behave professionally. Don’t try to hide your camera. Act as if it is perfectly within your rights to walk around in public streets and photograph strangers (because it is).

Someone described it to me like this: “think of the difference between seeing a policeman on the street corner, and seeing a policeman on the street corner SIZING YOU UP.” Don’t make eye contact with people. Pretend you don’t even see them, practice looking through them. They’re just objects in your viewfinder.

[renko]

Get as close as you can. Use a monopod. Use the fastest widest lens you have. Rock on 🙂

If you can, do some meter tests before the show actually starts. Once you have some numbers in head (for example, lead singer at front requires f/1.4 at 1/200th or whatever), you’ll have less thinking to do during the actual show and you can concentrate on composition and waiting for great moments.

[renko]

Some digital SLRs also have depth of field calculation built in, as a special function. My 30D has it. You focus lock on point 1, then on point 2, and then on your final framing choice. The camera computes the appropriate aperture so that both point 1 and 2 are in focus, given your final composition choice.

Depth of field is a function of two things, magnification (not focal length) and aperture. There is a wiki article that gives the appropriate equations. Most simply, the greatest your magnification (the closer the focus point is) and the larger the aperture, the shorter the depth of field.

It’s not a bad idea to commit some depth of field numbers to memory. For example, depth of field for your 50mm lens, at 10 feet, 20 feet and infinity, for a small range of f-stops. If you have a few numbers in your head, you can get a better idea of your results, even for different lenses (magnifications) and f-stops.

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