[zincprincess]

If you can spend a decent chunk of money, get a ballhead. If you’re going cheap, go with a pan head. Cheap pan heads can still be functional, but a ballhead that doesn’t move smoothly and lock down tight is basically worthless.

It’s kind of the same deal with quick releases – if it’s not 100% secure, you really don’t want to have one, but there’s not much that can go wrong with a 1/4″ thread.

Good points. And all the more reason to find a store that carries this stuff. I want to play with it before I buy it.

[zincprincess]

Well this is timely. I am ready to buy a new tripod. I’ve been using a cheapie that I found amongst my husband’s film camera stuff which was a hand-me-down from his father. It doesn’t extend tall enough. I’m 5.5 ft tall so I don’t need a really tall tripod.

I haven’t pulled the trigger because I don’t know what all my options are and which would fit my needs. I think I’ve figured out what I want for the legs, but I have no idea what I need to get for the head. Any opinions on quick release versus the screw mount and ball head versus pan head?

[zincprincess]

Really good stuff thus far.

And now I’m going to gripe for a bit. I didn’t have a whole lot on digital for this contest. I was going to scan some negatives and then real life got in the way of doing anything. We had a massive storm hit last night and have been without power ever since. It may be several days before we get power back. So we’re in a hotel tonight to avoid going completely insane in a hot, powerless, internet-free house.

[zincprincess]

Not that I’m excusing such antics, but I do wonder what he did to incur that wrath.

[zincprincess]

Nope. I have one that I should probably unload along with a dozen or so zip disks. I need to make sure that my thesis crap from the disks is backed up somewhere. Not that I will ever use it again. I’m not even sure if I have a computer with the right flipping port.

[zincprincess]

geom_00 – You could always use it for Pathways which is in the hopper.

[zincprincess]

zinc–You’ve no idea. I’m just crushed with no camera to point.

Actually, I do. My Nikon died about six months ago. No power, no error, just dead. It was under warranty and Nikon fixed it for free but it took SIX weeks to get it back. I was lost without it. Thankfully, I have a friend who was shooting Nikon at the time and he let me borrow his extra body (D50, maybe?). Like you, I had to do something or risk going completely insane.

Glad to hear you have found a replacement so quickly.

[zincprincess]

I’ve seen this guy’s stuff before. The latter half of his Kansas set were taken at the site of the project I have been working on for the past 5 years. Small world.

http://scotthaefner.com/photos/place/Kansas/

[zincprincess]

A friend of mine got the error 99 on her Canon not that long ago. She sent it in to Canon for service. They either couldn’t fix it or it was going to cost more than it was worth. I think Canon offered her a loyalty discount on a new body so she upgraded to a better body.

Still sucks to be without your camera.

[zincprincess]

Elsinore – Catty Wampus appears to have entered pics from icanhazcheezburger.com

[zincprincess]

Thanks for link to the lulz. Laughing until I cried was just what I needed to purge my brain of this hellish day at work.

[zincprincess]

Our family’s photographer is also a family friend. I would classify him as semi-professional as he has a day job and does photography work on the side. I pay him $100 and he gives me a cd with all the images. He generally does not do much in the way of post processing. On the other hand, he’s incredibly cheap.

What I’ve seen around here is that most photographers charge a sitting fee ($75-125) and then charge for the prints (with a hefty mark up). If you want all the images from the session, that’s an additional charge around $100-150.

[zincprincess]

Thanks for the advice. This is what I ended up buying.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/537403-REG/Phoenix_P04261_SmartFlash_RF_46N_TTL_Macro.html

And this is a sample of what I want to do with it.

[zincprincess]

Macro – I rented the 60 mm before I bought the 85 mm. I like the 60 mm for lots of reasons but decided to buy the 85 mm because it allows you to get more up in the business of the subject. I have sets of both on flickr.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38736385@N02/sets/72157625181810196/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38736385@N02/sets/72157626034807314/

I have the same two kit lenses and almost never use them. Generally I’m using either the 35mm f/1.8 or the 85 mm. I will probably sell both of the kit lenses at some point to get a better zoom.[/url]

[zincprincess]

I have used Borrowlenses.com twice and would definitely use them again. Good products, good communication, good selection.

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