jupiter 8 and focusing questions

[vincentbenoit]

Vincent, just in case you're trying to sneak in here unnoticed, BIENVENUE AU FORUM!!

Hey, thanks... I'm a shy guy ;-)

 

[peter_n]

Sorry Vincent, I just had to do it...

 

[laurentvenet]

H again Vincent. Congratulations for your English and also for the nice pic of yours on pbase web site. I'm amazed by the B&W quality you could obtain with your digital Canon.
Is it some pics you converted from color to B&W or were they directly taken in B&w ?

Cheers, Laurent

 

[vincentbenoit]

I'm amazed by the B&W quality you could obtain with your digital Canon. Is it some pics you converted from color to B&W or were they directly taken in B&w ?

Salut Laurent

Thanks for having a look at my pbase gallery. The B&W photos from my digital SLR were taken in colour (there's no B&W mode on my camera) but with B&W in mind. I shoot raw files which I convert to 16-bit TIFF with low saturation and contrast and process these "digital negatives" in Photoshop to achieve (or at least try to achieve) the B&W look I'm after. This approach is actually quite flexible: layering the blue, red and green channels and combining them to different amounts simulates the use of on-camera filters; the Curves tool allows precise control over the tonality of the image; and of course there are digital equivalents of traditional darkroom techniques, such as Dodging & Burning. Digital is much less forgiving in terms of exposure than B&W film, but with a dSLR the ability to select an iso value between 100 and 3200 for each frame partly compensates for that. One aspect where film is clearly superior is dynamic range. Also, digital requires a different exposure technique than B&W film: "expose for highlights, develop for the shadows", comparable to slide film. To me, film and digital are complementary media, that's why I use both. Unfortunately I hate scanning, that's why there aren't any "film" photos on my pbase website...

My Zorki works fine but I can't frame the Jupiter-8 accurately using the internal viewfinder (I wear glasses), and I find the idea of resorting to an external viewfinder a bit awkward as it defies the purpose of a compact camera in the first place. That's why I was thinking of "upgrading" to a Bessa R, essentially for the better viewfinder and the built-in meter. I've heard that the Bessa framelines can be seen very easily even with glasses, can you confirm that? Anyway, thanks for the tip about Cameraquest. I may purchase the Bessa R with the 35/2.5 lens after all - as you mentioned, this package seems to be quite a bargain.

Cheers

Vincent

 

[Roman]

Vincent,

I got the Bessa-R & 35mm Color-Skopar from Cameraquest for almost the same reason - I don't wear glasses, but parallax is an issue already w/ the 50mm lens at close distances w/ the Russian RFs' viewfinders, and it is even worse with the 85mm Jupiter and the turret finder (though it is OK for the 35mm lens). All this is solved since I got my Bessa - really convenient; I guess you should have no problems w/ glasses, since even the 35mm framelines are quite a bit smaller than the outside of the finder.

Roman

 

[laurentvenet]

HI Vincent

I also wear some glasses and I can tell you that using the Bessa R is a great pleasure.

I had a look at ebay, Cameraquest is also selling its stuff on Ebay, and it seems I was wrong concerning shipping fees for cameraquest. On ebay, only 25 $ is reported for international shipping ! Good news !

I've bought last week a Heliar 15 mm / 4.5 and it should take "a big week" to arrive from Hong Kong. I do hope nothing bad will happen.

Bonne soiree,

Laurent

 

[vincentbenoit]

I also wear some glasses and I can tell you that using the Bessa R is a great pleasure.

Thanks for the info. I've never had a chance to handle a Bessa but I've only heard positive comments about the viewfinder.

I had a look at ebay, Cameraquest is also selling its stuff on Ebay, and it seems I was wrong concerning shipping fees for cameraquest. On ebay, only 25 $ is reported for international shipping ! Good news !

Yep, I asked Stephen Gandy today about shipping fees to France: $20 only.

I've bought last week a Heliar 15 mm / 4.5 and it should take "a big week" to arrive from Hong Kong. I do hope nothing bad will happen.

Good luck, then. 15mm is pretty wide - should be a fun lens to use. Please let us know how you like it!

Vincent