Hi Eric,

Cool photo. That S70 sure looks pretty good, as you say it's a shame that they removed RAW an all the other P+S (with the exception of the G9). Oh and the forum is a great idea- now I can post some images I took on the G9 etc.

Andrew

Neat idea on the forum.

I see a non-alpha (Canon) photo. Does this mean that I can post a photo from a non-alpha, film camera? I have some photos I took with my old Konica 35mm film camera and scanned them to digitize them, before I went totally digital. Can I post an example on this new forum?

Dave

This forum is for discussion and photo posting from all brands of cameras, film, digital doesn't matter.

We'd welcome you to post post whatever you like.

thanks

Yeh I was greatly anticipating a couple models after the S70 but after dropping the raw support up to G7, I turned my eye more towards things like the Ricohs and "Leica-Sonics" to fill the digital rangefinder niche.

I did pick up a canon elph with 28mm wide angle that I'm fairly pleased with, at least for throw in the pocket/social type camera..that can still do some wider landscapes in a pinch.

I could easily be a junkie for these style cameras, if it's compact and wide angle I tend to want to buy it =0. Ditto for film cameras as well somewhat to the dismay of my wallet =0.

thanks again for comments on shot.

My hope is that I will be able to do this good when the "Flagship" comes out.
I'm the guy with the white beard standing on the edge of a mountain. I handed my camera to a friend and told him to press the button.
These are the kind of photos I like to take.
Some of the advantage film had was dynamic range and weight. Digital cameras weigh a lot. My film camera is light weight and rugged.
The BIG advantage to digital is that you can preview your photo prior to climbing down the mountain. That means a LOT.

Dave (the hiker)

Where is that?

What KM were they shot with, if you don't mind? I'm sort of doing the reverse experimenting with film seriously for the first time, lately I've been taking film and digital on outings where it's possible I might get decent pictures.

What's the most common problem in conditions like these(outdoor..sunny shots) you found with film as far as lack of preview, was it usually exposure issues?

thanks

I used my very old Konica FT-1 35mm film camera with an internal motor drive for all three of these photos. As some of you might remember, Konica decided many years ago that there was not much money to be made in the 35 mm SLR business. The FT-1 was the last SLR they made and switched to the small format film cameras that were all the rage prior to digital cameras. The price of the Konica cameras and their wonderful line of lenses plummeted. I bought a FT-1 and some wonderful lenses on eBay for a small fraction of their original price. In the mean time Minolta kept making SLR cameras but could not turn a profit on them. Konica bought out Minolta and for a short time made Konica/Minolta cameras and the Alpha line of lenses were developed. A friend of a friend worked in development at Konica/Minolta in Japan. I was told how a camera was in development that would have removable mount on the front that would let you attach any family of lenses that you wanted, i.e. Minolta. Nikon, Konica, Canon. This same camera was to also have a removable back so the user could mount a film or digital back. You would be able to remove the back and replace it with a newer and better back as the imaging array technology continued to improve. This sounded like a dream camera to me because I would be able to use all my wonderful old Konica lenses. This sounds similar to the "Flagship" stories we now read about. I held off on making the jump from film to digital waiting for this rumored Konica/Minolta super camera to come to market. Then I found out that Sony bought up Konica/Minolta. Development of the Konica/Minolta "super camera" was ended and the development team retired. Oh well.... When Sony came out with the A-100 I finally made the switch to digital. Again I find myself waiting for a rumored camera that will take as good pictures as my old Konica did on film.

Eric asked about exposure issues that I may have had with film. It was not really a big issue. The metering worked very well in my FT-1. Also I would frequently check the light using the palm of my hand as an incident light meter and would bracket important shots. A preview or histogram was not possible like with digital cameras, but with the wonderful latitude that color negative film provided, I got by.

I would scan the color negatives on my Nikon LS2000 scanner and work in PhotoShop dodging and burning, etc to get the details I wanted.

Now the story behind each photo:

When I told my family doctor I intended to climb the Titans in Wyoming he suggested I drive up Red Lodge Montana and spend some time there because it is high and it will help me get acclimated to the altitude I will need to deal with during the climb. I took his advice. Somewhere between Red Lodge Montana and Yellow Stone park in Wyoming there is a cement block out-house, on the way down the mountain. I stopped the car to use the facilities and saw the first photo. I laid on my tummy with my face close to the ground. I used my 57mm f/1.2 lens. I do not recall the settings but I'm sure I used a small f stop. I took one frame focusing on the yellow grass in the distance. Without moving the camera, I changed the focus to the flower in the foreground. Later I combined the two images in PhotoShop to make the top image.

The second image was taken a few days latter as I climbed up Cascade Canyon in Wyoming. I looked back and saw "The Grand", the largest mountain in the Titons with a cloud resting on her top. I don't remember for sure but I think I used my 40 mm lens. I do remember that the water was best I have ever tasted.

The last of the three photos was taken with my 40 mm lens about a year later from the top of the mountain overlooking Machu Picchu Peru, a green finger-like mountain in the background of most Machu Picchu pictures. The mountain is Huayna Picchu (also called Wayna Picchu) and there are stairs going right to the top of it. If you want an alternative view of the famous Inca site, climbing up is a must.

The climb takes about an hour but the view will stay in your mind for the rest of your life.

Notice how my tummy is sticking out in this photo? My friends teased me about how I was getting fat. I learned much latter that it was because I had cancer, non-hochkins lymphoma. The bulge in my tummy was caused by three grape fruit sized lymph nodes. I was treated with chemo and the nodes have returned to a normal bean size. I'm in durable remission and told I will have a normal life span. I recovered and I'm stronger then ever and the tummy is gone.

Every photo has a story to tell.

Dave

Yes quite a few stories there. I'm glad to hear about the cancer remission.

Very interesting on the KM history I hadn't heard that particular one before about the removable backs, wow that would be great indeed.

The FT-1 sounds nice I haven't yet purchased one from that particular era I will have to check those out when I'm ready.

You mention "I would frequently check the light using the palm of my hand as an incident light meter" Could you maybe describe that technique if you don't mind? I googled around a bit and didn't find any reference to this trick, it sounds like that could be a handy one.

thanks

If the sun is hitting your back and also illuminating the subject, you can just hold your hand up so the is sun illuminating your palm. Hold your camera so the image of your brightly lit had fills the frame as seen in the viewfinder. Check what the metering says it wants to set your camera to. Your hand need not be in focus. Then set your camera to have one more stop then it thought it needed. For example if your camera is telling you you need f/8 at 1/100 to expose your palm you really need f/5.6 at 1/100 to make your hand and everything else to be properly exposed. This works for everyone, which explains why God made everyone have the same shade of skin on their palms.

Your hand does not need to be near the subject. In the three example photos I posted above I probably took a reading off my hand just as sanity check.

It's like using a gray card but with a gray card you do not need to open it up by one f stop like you do with your hand.

Dave

"Could you maybe describe that technique if you don't mind? I googled around a bit and didn't find any reference to this trick, it sounds like that could be a handy one."

A handy one. Haha. Love it :)

Carl

Excellent! Yes everyone might know that trick (except me hehe). Handy indeed :)

thanks