Then when you log in under "Your Home" you should see "your groups" and listed there will be "The d64 group" Homepage http://www.smartgroups.com/groups/d64group
But you can't access it until I add you.
I'm staying here too. I like FM. I love the various forums here and will continue to enjoy them. But FM doesn't have a medium format forum yet. And one single medium format thread isn't going to cover everything. So we need a medium format forum. The choices are LL, Outback, d64 and the new RG forum. A lot of folks now are refusing the join the new RG forum since the dynamite hit there. So that's off the table. LL is actually doing pretty well but even people there want something more dedicated. Outback has been really slow although I love Uwe's site. d64 looks like the best option since it is for medium and large format guys by medium and large format guys for free, open to anything you want to talk about without fearing the mods and invite only so a high signal to no noise ratio. My only fear about d64 is the site design needs to improve. It is hosted on a free site so I guess you get what you pay for. I’ve had some thoughts of offering to move it to a better software base but I’m really lacking for time in terms of new projects. But if someone volunteered to do it that would be nice.
Paul had his own motivations for starting d64. I’ll post his comments below:
Hi,
Over the last year I have found the community at the Rob Galbraith forum a really valuable resource and have learnt a lot from it. I was disappointed when a number of key members were asked to leave it. Now that the RG forum is restarting under a new management I don' t really forsee it returning to its future glory.
I've been using the online community service called
SmartGroups for a year or two and propose setting up a mailing list specifically targeted at what one might call "large format" digital photography.
Other forums such as FredMiranda, Luminous Landscape etc. tend to contain too much noise to be easy to follow, mixing in discussion of many different levels of photography. I want to continue to share my growing knowledge as I take on my new Aptus 75, Cambo Wide and so on... and both contribute to and learn from other photographers.
I have created this Group, 'The d64 group', which may be of interest. The name is taken from the f64 group of the last century. While I think the name alludes to a particular interest in high quality production, I don't mean to imply that photographers will necessarily buy into that aesthetic or practice in landscape subject matter. Hopefully we will have many interesting aesthetic as well as technical discussions.
d64 will be an unmoderated, invitation only group. Any group member can invite others to join in. The idea (it may not work) is that this still remains relatively open, but will exclude people who are not predominantly interested in high end digital.
Hopefully over time, if it works, we
will accumulate members as we frequent other fora, including RG I expect and Luminous Landscape and invite people who we think will add to the value of our group.
If this doesnt work, then we can try opening it up further, its something we could discuss, or if another suitable group emerges elsewhere we can migrate there.
I think its important not to split the emerging MF/LF digital community, so personally I will join whichever forum has the best critical mass. However now this one is started, it doesnt belong to me but to whoever joins... if there is a better place to conduct these discussions then people will probably migrate there.
I've asked SmartGroups to send you an invitation to join - this will contain further instructions and should be in your inbox just after this email.
Email me back if you need any help, or what it's all about...
I thought this was interesting. I don't know what it means yet but it was posted by someone on d64:
I noticed from the People's Gear database that some of us have an interest in the late great Contax 645. Well, two weeks ago I was over at Fotocare in NYC picking up my Aptus 65 :-). At Fotocare, they sit down with you for a couple of hours and walk you through all the features of the back and a raw conversion using Leaf Capture etc. Afterwards I was talking to the guy I was dealing with (a store VP in charge of DB sales) about my equipment. I got the Aptus with the H adaptor with plans to mate it with an Arca Swiss F metric, and down the road (when the hemorrhage in my bank account heals) maybe pick up a used H1. Did they want to take my Contax stuff in trade? I asked. My guy gives me a long look and says maybe I want to hold off on doing anything with my Contax gear for a while, like at least until Photokina. Sure, I say, I know all about the rumor that had Phase acquiring the rights to the Contax 645. That fell through. My guy says Phase really wanted the 645, but Phase is owned by Lego (yeah, the toy company), and Lego wouldn't pony up, so the deal fell through. He says he can't give me anything definite, and nothing's for certain, but something that's gone is going to come back at Photokina. He never says the word "Contax", just that I should hang on to my Contax gear until then.
Hell, it's probably just the biggest load of bull this side of the pond. A way to pass the time between a seller and a buyer. But I will be hanging on to my gear at least a little while longer.
I had an interesting time signing up about 80 medium format photographers the last few days. An interesting finding was that a lot of them reported that they own and use the Hassy H1. It was a much higher percentage than I had imagined – it was the most mentioned camera. For some the H1 was their only greater than 35mm format camera. Others who owned the H1 also had a traditional LF view camera or one of these smaller LF wide angle jobs like the Alpa, Horseman Wide or the Cambo Wide DS. Many of them had moved from the Hassy V system to the Hassy H system and all of that group reported that the Fuji Hassy HC glass was much sharper than the Hassy Zeiss V CFE glass. That is exactly what I had heard from owners I had asked this question to before I decided to go with the Hassy H1. Disclaimer – I own a lot of Hassy HC glass so I have some vested interest in it. My only point is if you are scared of using the new Fuji Hassy HC glass – don’t be. It’s been out for several years now and the users really love it better than the old glass. And they said not by a small amount but by a large amount.
The other thing that interested me was the number of people who decided they preferred the Aptus backs to the Phase One backs of the latest generation. Almost all of them opted for Aptus. I think that is the direction I’m going next.
There were only a couple of owners of Sinar and Hassy/Imacon backs. So I didn’t get to hear as much about them other than the software was pretty good for each and their owners were happy campers too.
No one said they were unhappy with their backs regardless of brand.
I had no idea Lego owned Phase One. I don't get the connection there. I just think of those great building block !
Roland, check out the LL forum. Someone posted a link with three scenes (head shot, full length portrait and table top setup) shot with several different backs and DSLRs. They are unprocessed jpegs, so you will need to sharpen, tweak etc., but the shots from the Aptus -- both 17 and 22 -- have a look that I strongly prefer to everything else there. Can't put my finger on it, I just like it.
netexpress wrote:
The other thing that interested me was the number of people who decided they preferred the Aptus backs to the Phase One backs of the latest generation. Almost all of them opted for Aptus. I think that is the direction I’m going next.
There were only a couple of owners of Sinar and Hassy/Imacon backs. So I didn’t get to hear as much about them other than the software was pretty good for each and their owners were happy campers too.
No one said they were unhappy with their backs regardless of brand.
I had no idea Lego owned Phase One. I don't get the connection there. I just think of those great building block ! ...Show more →
To be precise, there are 16 people registered their gears in the public database. 5 of them have or ordered Phase One, 4 have Aptus or ordered, 2 have or ordered Hassy back, 1 with Kodak Proback and 4 do not have any.
bigreen505 wrote:
Roland, check out the LL forum. Someone posted a link with three scenes (head shot, full length portrait and table top setup) shot with several different backs and DSLRs. They are unprocessed jpegs, so you will need to sharpen, tweak etc., but the shots from the Aptus -- both 17 and 22 -- have a look that I strongly prefer to everything else there. Can't put my finger on it, I just like it.
To be precise, there are 16 people registered their gears in the public database. 5 of them have or ordered Phase One, 4 have Aptus or ordered, 2 have or ordered Hassy back and 4 do not have any.
I hadn't looked at the database. I was referring to the list of gear people emailed me when they asked to be invited.
netexpress wrote:
Many of them had moved from the Hassy V system to the Hassy H system and all of that group reported that the Fuji Hassy HC glass was much sharper than the Hassy Zeiss V CFE glass. That is exactly what I had heard from owners I had asked this question to before I decided to go with the Hassy H1. Disclaimer – I own a lot of Hassy HC glass so I have some vested interest in it. My only point is if you are scared of using the new Fuji Hassy HC glass – don’t be. It’s been out for several years now and the users really love it better than the old glass. And they said not by a small amount but by a large amount. ...Show more →
My MF gear is a 553ELX and assorted CF glass. Out of interest, as I've got a V to EOS adaptor, I tried some comparison shots this afternoon between the Canon 85mm f1.2L and the Zeiss 80mm f2.8 CF T*, both on my 1Ds2. Outdoor shots, tripod mounted, mirror locked up. The perceived resolution in the centre is virtually identical at f2.8, f5.6 and f11, my three test apertures. The 85mm is noticeably sharper on the edge at f2.8, slightly sharper at f5.6 and virtually identical at f11. So how much better is the HC glass, I wonder? Does anyone have some test results?
H1 body
Aptus 75 33MP
HC Fuji glass
V Zeiss glass with the V to HC adapter.
Done side-by-side.
The Aptus would really push both lenses and I doubt it would be the major limiting factor but who knows. You'd need a really high resolution sensor to see the difference I'd imagine. Maybe I could do this with someone local who has V glass once I get a back.
ajmichael wrote:
My MF gear is a 553ELX and assorted CF glass. Out of interest, as I've got a V to EOS adaptor, I tried some comparison shots this afternoon between the Canon 85mm f1.2L and the Zeiss 80mm f2.8 CF T*, both on my 1Ds2. Outdoor shots, tripod mounted, mirror locked up. The perceived resolution in the centre is virtually identical at f2.8, f5.6 and f11, my three test apertures. The 85mm is noticeably sharper on the edge at f2.8, slightly sharper at f5.6 and virtually identical at f11. So how much better is the HC glass, I wonder? Does anyone have some test results?
Your 'mirror lock up' sounds similar to something I experienced on early model Zork adapters with the newer 1D bodies.
There is a small switch in the 1Ds2 and 1D2 bodies (that was not present on the 1D) near the mount that was being pressed by the adapter. After studying the adapter and its rotation once installed, it was easy to locate the portion on the adapter that was pushing on the switch. A small piece in this area was removed with a file from the adapter. This cured the mirror lock up problem. You might be able to do the same thing to your V -> EOS adapter.
!