Re: Need Opinions on used dSLR
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Jon_Are
You don’t need a flash bracket; you’ll find it bulky and impractical. Instead, look into a Sto-Fen Omni Bounce. It’s only $20 or so and, coupled with the SB600’s tilt/swivel capabilities, with give you nice, shadow-free lighting. STO-FEN Products |
The omnibounce (or similar diffuser) is certainly worth getting for many situations, but it doesn't cut it for all situations where you'd need flash though -- and more so if you go for a lower power flash. Like I mentioned earlier, if one does not want to use a flash bracket, might be good to just learn to hold the flash by hand off the camera for those occasions (and either run a sync cable or use the wireless trigger that comes w/ these DSLRs, since he managed to fix the built-in flash). There are other ways to deal w/ the harsh shadow issue, but it's harder to generalize about those (plus it still won't get rid of the harsh light on the subject, etc.). One way though would be to shoot w/ the background in mind and how the shadow would appear in the shot (or be noticeable at all).
BTW, I haven't tried it myself, but some folks love the Gary Fong(?) Lightsphere diffuser. I thought about getting one at one point, particularly since I think the "dome" that comes w/ the SB800 doesn't diffuse the light quite as much as an omnibounce (which I've used before on a Canon flash).
Quote:
| As for Ken Rockwell…he seems to rank just below Hitler on many photographers’ popularity chart. A good part of this, I believe, is envy. There is much good information to be found on his site, if you can accept that he does seem to be full of himself. I don’t agree with everything he says – he loves the SB400, for example – but I have learned stuff from him. |
I don't know about "envy", but he is indeed full of it when it comes to his so-called gear "reviews", which he often used to write w/out actually ever touching/seeing the gear at all -- and I'm not sure that's changed any.
I did find a couple bits of useful info on his site (along w/ the fun satirical piece on the "7 levels"
), but his site is generally not worth your while, IMHO -- there are plenty of other better resources.
Quote:
| I keep a UV filter and a lens hood on virtually all the time. I know it's a belt-and-suspenders approach, but I'd rather put a scratch on, or bump, my filter than my lens |
Actually, I think a virtually straight-on bump is not a real big problem for the front lens element. It's usually the sideways/slanted kind that would cause serious scratching, etc. (and damage to the lens coating) that's the problem. And if you get a particularly strong straight-on bump/crash, I suspect your filter is much more likely to crack than your front lens element (w/out the filter). And if the filter cracks badly, it'll still cause damage to your front lens element (and/or maybe the filter ring, etc).
I heard one anecdote over on dpreview where someone accidentally dismounted his 70-200 f/2.8 VR from the body, and the lens fell headfirst maybe 3ft onto concrete. He had a "protective" filter on it, but had already reversed the hood. The filter cracked and scratched up the front element big time (and messing up the coating, etc). The lens was otherwise still fully functional.
I'm not saying never use a filter for added protection (like at the beach for instance), but it might not be as protective as you think in most regular situations (particularly if the extra comfort leads you to be less careful).
_Man_
