I almost forgot about these shots taken quite a while back when I first got my F100. Actually I think these were from the first roll. I like them but I definitely need a better scanner. I was going to get the Nikon coolscan 5000 but now I'm thinking about going over to Large Format along side my film slr's ... so I need to keep looking. Anyone have any ideas?
Pavel wrote:
...I was going to get the Nikon coolscan 5000 but now I'm thinking about going over to Large Format along side my film slr's ... so I need to keep looking. Anyone have any ideas?
If I understood it right, it's a good choice for you to try out Large Format photography but the scanners will be limited though. There's the Epson 4990 and the Imacon ones...the Epson would be the most cost effective option, but I myself still wanted an Imacon, probably in the next year..
I'm sharing one shot today and this image in particular shows the superiority of old Nikkor lenses. Bjorn Rorslett mentioned this ages ago that the Micro Nikkor 55mm Auto f3.5 nonAi (especially the "Auto" version) would do very well on Large Format and Medium format bodies using it in the inverted position.
I tried Bjorn's advice back in 2004 using the lens on a Hasselblad body and boy was I surprised...the Micro Nikkor Auto f3.5 nonAi is one freakin' hi res lens...I don't know what Nikon did to its lens design during the 60's but it is still very sharp at 6x6cm (which is almost 4x bigger than 35mm film), just like Bjorn said.
This Auto type lens is hard to find now...hopefully Ebay has some , you know, get another as a back-up .
Here is the shot: taken on a Hasselblad 500EL, Micro Nikkor 55mm Auto f3.5 nonAi, Velvia 100F, taken back in 2004. This is a straight scan, no PP.
I've got more shots from this lens on a 6x6 body, hopefully I'd have time to scan them all. Have fun!
What a super shot ReyGay! So what's the deal on reversing the macro?
which lens did you use it in tandem with?
I have the 55 f 2.8 micro and the 105 f 2.8 Ai-s micro.
I blew the bank today. I though of picking up a D300 ... they had several in stock ... but the thing is that the D200 serves well enough for me at this juncture .... so instead I bought a Mamiya M645-Pro-TL in mint ... I mean mint shape. It has the power grip and the meter prism as well as the basic 80 and a 120 back. I had the autofocus version earlier and hated it on several scores, always wishing for this one - so now I have it.
I also took the jump. Sitting right here is my new baby. It's a Cambo 4x5 Large Format monorail which can be hauled into the field. I've got a 210 f 6.8 Caltar for now and a polaroid back along with 12 Fidelity inserts. Not bad eh? All of a sudden FF 35 seems kind of tini. Now all I have to figure out is how the heck to use it - and go get some Nikon and Schneider or Rodenstock lenses!
I've never felt this lost with a camera before. I like it!
ReyGay wrote:
Yo! thanks Guy and Nick...those images were sitting on my hard-drive for ages . I didn't really care for most of my images cuz I already had printed them into a book using Blurb's services ages ago.
lol, imagine at iso25000, that would be like shooting that moment at 1/500sec at f/16 , it just won't work bro. Everything in that shot has been calculated properly...i.e. I used iso100 cuz I wanted to use 1/15th on the shutter to capture the fire dancer (at iso2500, you won't capture the whole fire, just the stick , so yeh, iso25000 is boring) and I used f/2.8 to isolate the subject. I did carry 3 bodies that night: one was with iso100, the other 2 were on iso400 and for push process up to iso1600. Certainly the film days were the "heavy days" and a D3 would be much better, if it was available but even though I had a D3, I'd still be using iso100 on that fire dancer shot .
Ok...I'll post three shots that were taken today. The details are described above the photos. As always, all were shot on a D1 and no PS botox stuff and no cropping...damn those dust bunnies .
Carl Zeiss Luminar 25mm f3.5, Metz 32CT4, ReyGay Flash Diffuser
Carl Zeiss Luminar 25mm f3.5, Metz 32CT4, ReyGay Flash Diffuser
Modified Micro Nikkor 55mm f3.5 P nonAi
Both ants were around 3mm long and were standing on a Rosemary herb. The modified Nikkor 55mm f3.5 P nonAi simply was another experiment that I did to achieve a new "optical" feel lol. All I did was placed a special industrial magnifier lens infront of the Nikkor lens and it looked pretty good . The blue background was just a blurred blue coloured bucket and all three images were shot outdoors.
Pavel wrote:
What a super shot ReyGay! So what's the deal on reversing the macro?
which lens did you use it in tandem with?
I have the 55 f 2.8 micro and the 105 f 2.8 Ai-s micro.
Why they reverse the lens is probably due to its design, I mean it's already a macro lens, why does it need to be reversed . As you can remember, large format lenses are all symmetrical in design and probably, reversing the Micro Nikkor will give a flatter rendition. I've tried it before on a bellows, with the lens unreversed and the image corners are soft and while it is reversed, it is sharp at all corners. Bjorn did mention that once you exceed the maximum focus length/ratio, the lens must be reversed.
I blew the bank today. I though of picking up a D300 ... they had several in stock ... but the thing is that the D200 serves well enough for me at this juncture .... so instead I bought a Mamiya M645-Pro-TL in mint ... I mean mint shape. It has the power grip and the meter prism as well as the basic 80 and a 120 back. I had the autofocus version earlier and hated it on several scores, always wishing for this one - so now I have it.
I also took the jump. Sitting right here is my new baby. It's a Cambo 4x5 Large Format monorail which can be hauled into the field. I've got a 210 f 6.8 Caltar for now and a polaroid back along with 12 Fidelity inserts. Not bad eh? All of a sudden FF 35 seems kind of tini. Now all I have to figure out is how the heck to use it - and go get some Nikon and Schneider or Rodenstock lenses!
I've never felt this lost with a camera before. I like it!
That is one fine LF camera! Wait till you get your first properly exposed/focused transparencies...you'll be mesmerized ...and then one day you'll complain that 4x5 is too small and you'll be wanting 8x10 , just like DX vs FF, lol. Honestly you won't need prints anymore, the transparencies are good enough themselves, especially 8x10 , man it is big. I used to spend hours drooling on my friends 6x17 panoramic transparencies .
Get yourself a massive lightbox, hang it on the wall, turn it on and stick your transparencies there and it really looks awesome that way ...8x10 trannies are even better. There are many benefits using an LF camera, especially architecture shots. You can correct distortion/perspective manually but as usual and I know you're already doing it, you'll be spending a lot of time under the black cloth peering on your magnifier,checking on your ground glass if everything is in focus ...I still do those steps but only when I calibrate old pre-war folding cameras.
Try this: get your highest res dslr and shoot a particular landscape and then also shoot it with your LF camera. Make sure the lighting scene is moderately diffused (cloudy day). The final images will make you realize that all those non-sense comparison between film and dslr (1Ds vs LF) are all useless cuz instantly you'll know why LF is sooo much better. LF is a great habit, it's how purists are born .
Oh be sure to get yourself a large format Nikkor glass so that you can still post your images here (Mamiyas are also great, their lenses are great too but the image rendition is often better than FF dslr...forget ISO performance, they're for noobs only, lol...many don't realize that big glasses make the difference in image rendition. Pros know this instinctively but they are compromised between cost and productivity), have fun!
stompyq wrote:
Reygay those ant shots are just awesome!! Just out of curiosity, whats a reygay flash diffuser?
The ReyGay Flash diffuser's main purpose is to imitate the lighting qualities of a diffused sunlight. It fits on top of the flash head and the design is scalable. A lot of individuals requested the design at Flickr, so I posted a basic design on the web, here it is: .
You can get some idea on how it works and you can experiment on different diffusing and reflective materials. The most important aspect of this diffuser is how it spreads the diffused light at blind angles, this is the secret recipe . The key is to keep on experimenting and hone in your personal taste on lighting qualities.
Not my best, but just a picture i shot tonight. another hobby of me: aquariums. This is in my little tank, with small fish. a few eggs (about 100) have hatched sheesh a lot of tiny fish Shot with my already trusty D80 @ iso1600 70mm F3.5 1/30 sec.
, you know, get another as a back-up 
, it just won't work bro. Everything in that shot has been calculated properly...i.e. I used iso100 cuz I wanted to use 1/15th on the shutter to capture the fire dancer (at iso2500, you won't capture the whole fire, just the stick 
