The host Will Crocket is very articulate and easy to understand. For a FREE DVD, I am very impressed. I highly recommend it to any photographer who is critical about exposure (who isn’t?!). I was stunned to learn that digital slrs have a exposure tolerance of 8/10ths of a stop (Tolerance as in how much adjustments that can be done in post processing to correct for any mis-exposure). It also talks about film, slides, and transparency expsosure tolerances. Quite an eye opener IMO.

You can visit http://www.sekonic.com/DVD/and sign up for the free DVD. It took about a month before I got mine.

Cheers,

Ivan

Lets start with the Coolpix 8800. This model was introduced late 2004 and has been the high end digital camera in the Nikon Coolpix line for some quite sometime similar to the G-series for Canons or C-8080 from Olympus. The camera is currently hard to find new as it has been discontinued and no longer stocked at the major retailers. $600-800 was the going range and can be had on Ebay for slightly less used. The camera is 8MP with a 100-400ISO range, 2.3 fps w/ 5 frames, and a 35-350mm zoom range.

In contrast, the Rebel XT was introduced early 2005 and a successor to the Digital Rebel 300D. The Rebel XT was revamped with 8MP, a smaller alloy body, 2.8 fps w/ 14 frames (jpeg), and many other features. Priced at $700-$900 for the body w/lens kit it might intimidate some, but make others think twice at why they paid $700 for their point and shoot (point and shoot as I refer to are cameras without interchangeable lenses). Nevertheless, both cameras can suit one’s purposes quite well.

The Nikon Coolpix 8800 or equivalent model is a good candidate for those who like to have a high performance camera handy (ie. Carry around) while having the flexibility of playing with manual features. With the limited ISO (higher number for poor lit situations) and fps continuous drive, this makes the camera a poor candidate for the sports or indoor photographer, granted flash is not used. One of the definite pluses is the 10X zoom (35-350mm focal length) and battery pack upgrade pack to give the camera a better feel and longer battery life (only a couple high end PS cameras have this option). With the Rebel XT you are getting a state of the art SLR at almost the same cost. With the benefits of higher ISO, fps, it’s a well rounded choice for sports and indoor photographers (sorry to be so vague with “indoor”) and any photographer for that matter. Having a smaller body, it can be a hit and miss with larger hands and with a lens attached definitely not as easy to carry around as the Nikon 8800. The only other debatable con is that with SLRs start saving for those new lenses. To attain the 35-350mm range of the Coolpix be prepared to carry multiple lenses.

1. Hot-shoe mount with ¼ -20 socket (also sometimes the pc-hotshoe adapter has a reverse side with the ¼ -20 threads)

2. Swivel-Bracket –with Mount for Umbrella, Light and Shoe Flash (that’s how they call it at B&H) - Comes with Male and Female Spigots, Swivel Bracket, and hot-shoe mount with 1/4″ threads.

I personally recommend option #2 as it’s far superior in functionality and cost and you have the option of mounting an umbrella. The swivel bracket comes with both a ¼” and 3/8” threaded spigot which is reversible depending if you need to mount it on a tripod or light stand which usually uses the 3/8” standard.

Tightening Screw on Shoe Mount

The swivel brackets hot-shoe mount that holds that flash uses a tightening screw to the side which helps hold the flash a lot better than the standard hot shoe mount which relies on a flimsy metal spring. Moreover, this hot-shot mount piece is removable and is ¼” threaded. In conclusion, there is almost no point to buy a separate hot-shoe mount when you can get a Swivel Bracket that already comes with a hot-shoe mount and often only a couple dollars more.

The two common “Swivel-Bracket –with Mount for Umbrella, Light and Shoe Flash” are the Impact and SP-Systems which are essentially the same just re-branded. Bogen, Photoflex, Delta, Norman, Hama also carry Umbrella light stands, but for the purpose of mounting the flash to a stand the basic $13.95 brackets will work more than adequate.

Example: Vivitar 285HV Flash Mounted on a Swivel Bracket which is attached on a Bogen Table Top Tripod

Best of Luck,

Ivan
ibwphoto.com

PS. For those who are DIY in nature and want to build one, here are the thread sizes:

1/4″ - 20
3/8″ - 16

Both are common threads and can be found at just about any hardware store.

Well, let me bust that myth for you. First, the price of flash memory and storage space in general has drop significantly, so the large file sizes should not be an issue. Second, if you are clumsy with WB (white balance) and selecting the perfect exposure setting while shooting, why not have some flexibility to adjust them later? Its added insurance at zero extra cost. Think of raw meat and seasoned meat, raw meat can be flavored to taste where as seasoned meat already has its original flavor and hard to change. Think of RAW file format as the raw meat and JPEG as the seasoned meat. Best of all, Pixmantec offers a very spiffy and FREE RAW program that can perform batch processing. No need to spend an arm and leg on Photoshop CS that your photo buddies swear by. Personally, I have both Photoshop CS2 and Pixmantec Essentials 2006 (will upgrade to premium soon), but use Pixmantec almost 99% of the time due to the ease of use and efficiency. No fear of processing the 5GBs of wedding photos!

I hope that dispelled some the skeptics. Once you shoot RAW you wont go back! I’ll share my RAW workflow in future, but feel free to leave any comments or questions you might have.

Happy Shooting,

Ivan
ibw photography

One of the things I wated to experiment with this shot is to bring some pop to the rider and isolate it from its rather cluttered background. This is actually one of the few times I have positioned a flash behind the subject to created the effect and something I may have to consder doing more often as it seems to be quite effective.

Some of the difficulties of setting up this shot is flash placement relative to where you want to frame the rider (in the case of mountain biking, always dynamic), shadows projected from the light source, and potential blown areas /”glare” from the flash.

I admit that there are many flaws to this photo, but overall I am quite impressed at how the rim light brought punch to the rider and made it stand out. For my next attempts, I plan to position the light source further away and maybe even utilize a snoot of some sort to better isolate the source. I’ll share a setup diagram when I figure out a way that works well.

Best,

Ivan

Update: I just remember I have a photo of where the flash was positioned relative to the rider. It was situated behind the rim facing upwards. See below:

Stopped by Kamera Korner in San Jose today and was surprised to learn that the Vivitar 285 (HV), 283s are no longer in production and discontinued by Vivitar. Its suprising since Vivitar’s 285 Model has undoubtly lit more picutres in the last 25 years than any other unit. The Vivitar units were the best bang for the buck with a guide no. of 120 GN and a more than affordable price of $60-80 New and $30-50 Used on flebay.

Well that is going to change as B&H Photo no longer stocks it and fewer and fewer are starting to appear on Ebay. As you all know the law of supply and demand, prices are going to start going up. Even the clerk at Kamera Korner told me he wished they could’ve known the news earlier and stocked up.

I guess my successful hunts/hunting for Vivitar 285HVs on Ebay will soon come to a close and I will have to face the reality that photography is NOT a cheap hobby after all. Yes, I scored two units for less than $40 last year and have shot them exclusively via Pocketwizard Radio Slaves. About a year from now, I would be lucky to see a used and beat unit for $50+. As you all know, people hate change…just think of the number of photographers who still rely on these flagship Vivitar flash units! Regardless, I am going to take my black plastic bars (soon to be gold?!) and continue to use them until they pop no more. Hopefully by then a replacement / clone will be produced. If all else fails, I will have some trusty monolight strobes to do the job.

Best,

Ivan

PS. The 285HV units have a lower triggering voltage of 6V. There are reports of OLDER / NEWER models with higher/lower triggering voltages. For Digital SLR cameras, it is recommended you double check the trigger voltage with a voltmeter since the Digital SLR hot-shoe syncs are rated no where close to the 270V capacity some of the older units use. You surely dont want to have your Canon’s 6V hotshoe fried! Read Strobe Trigger Voltage and Why Photographers should care? if you want to learn more about strobe triggering voltage.

PSS. Attached Vivitar 285HV / 285 and Vivitar 283 Flash User Manuals:
(Please Right Click and “Save Target”)
Download Vivitar 285HV / 285 User Manual
Download Vivitar 283 User Manual

Why pay $5+ for these instructional / Owner manuals on Ebay?! Any Photogtaphy Junky knows better!

Canon 20D / Tamron 28-75mm

ISO 200
1/200th
f/5.0
44mm

Location: Fremont Older, Cupertino