Quick photo question

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:07:17 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Is it possible
that when I get the negatives back I may find that the missing bits
are present?

I have never had film photos put onto CD, so I do not know how the
process works, but I have had problems with developers/printers doing
a shoddy job of producing my photos.

I went to Leipzig a few years ago and took quite a few photos
including one of a statue. I had taken my time ensuring that the
entire statue was in the shot.

I took the film to Max Spielman who decided to chop off half of the
head of the statue. At first I assumed that I had not been as careful
as I thought, but the negative clearly showed the whole statue. When
I queried this I was told that ALL photographs were cropped. It was
impossible to print the entire photo. I told them not to be so bl**dy
stupid and print the whole photo properly .... so they did.

So, although your question is a lot more specific than mine, I would
recommend that you look at the negatives and don't take any nonsense
from the droids in the shop!

Judith
PS And get yourself a digital camera!

Peewiglet said:

The camera I was using is a Pentax Zoom-90-WR, which
is an automatic sort of thing with a 'macro' button on it (you'll
gather that I'm not a sophisticated photographer).

I tend to use the macro button for pics of small things. I found that on
several of the pictures taken with the macro button the side of the
object I was photographing was missing, as though I'd not had it in
the frame when composing the picture.

I'm wondering whether this could possibly be a mistake made at Boots
when "extracting" the pictures from the film to the CD. Is it possible
that when I get the negatives back I may find that the missing bits
are present? If not, can anyone think of how I could have done this? I
don't think I've done it before, and I've had the camera for many
years. Is it possible that something in the camera needs to be
realigned?

Have you used this camera much before for "macro" shots? It is
possible you have a viewfinder paralax problem, where what you see in
the v/f isn't what the lens seees. What format are the digital images
on the CD? if they are 4:3 then they will be crops of the 3:2 image on
the film. A combination of these two factors may well result in
cropping of one edge of your subject.
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:24:56 +0100, Judith
<[email hidden]> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

I have never had film photos put onto CD, so I do not know how the
process works, but I have had problems with developers/printers doing
a shoddy job of producing my photos.

I went to Leipzig a few years ago and took quite a few photos
including one of a statue. I had taken my time ensuring that the
entire statue was in the shot.

I took the film to Max Spielman who decided to chop off half of the
head of the statue. At first I assumed that I had not been as careful
as I thought, but the negative clearly showed the whole statue. When
I queried this I was told that ALL photographs were cropped. It was
impossible to print the entire photo. I told them not to be so bl**dy
stupid and print the whole photo properly .... so they did.

Idiots...!

Quoted message said:

So, although your question is a lot more specific than mine, I would
recommend that you look at the negatives and don't take any nonsense
from the droids in the shop!

Many thanks - I'll cross my fingers that it was their mistake, then!

Quoted message said:

PS And get yourself a digital camera!

In fact, I've got one, but it comes with a cradle for charging and the
battery doesn't seem to last very long. I didn't think I'd be able to
keep it charged, with spending most nights in the tent, so I had to
take my older, heavier, non-digital one with me.

Do some digital cameras take ordinary batteries? If so, maybe I need
to swap brands.

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 22:39:15 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Do some digital cameras take ordinary batteries? If so, maybe I need
to swap brands.

Yes they do, and that was one of my key considerations when I chose my
camera. I have a Nikon Coolpix 3100 which I bought at the start of
the year. They are coming down in price all the time (so I do not
look at them anymore in case I get upset!).

It takes 2 AA batteries and is supplied with two NiMH 2000mAh and a
fast charger (less than 2 hours). I've managed to get some extra
rechargeables (and a fast charger which I can plug into the cigarette
lighter in the car) at a good price from 7dayshop.com. It will also
run on standard batteries but I believe these are not as longlasting.
(I have had a very detailed explanation of exactly why not ...... but
my brain can't do physics.)

For me, the Coolpix is good enough. I can snap away to my heart's
content. It is a bit slow to write to the memory card and, despite
deliberately choosing a camera which had no fiddly bits, I have been a
bit frustrated at not being able to change some settings ...... but
most of the time it's fine. This is not a recommendation by any
means.

I am hoping that Paul Saunders does not notice your subject line.
Otherwise I am in for an ear-bashing for my luddite view of cameras.
(S'just a flamin' camera, Paul!)

Judith

Bitstring <[email hidden]>, from the
wonderful person Peewiglet <[email hidden]> said
<snip>

Quoted message said:

Do some digital cameras take ordinary batteries? If so, maybe I need
to swap brands.

Yep, my Olympus takes 4 ordinary AAs .. or special Lithium batteries,
which cost a fortune but last very well (will fill several memory cards,
even using flash, autofocus, zoom, etc.). The Li batteries also work
=much=- better when it is freezing cold.

I normally carry one set of 4xAA NiMH (2400mAHr these days) with a set
of the Lithium batteries for backup (they are pretty light compared to
the camera). The NiMHs are OK as long as you charge them shortly before
use - leave them in the camera, un-used, for 2 months and you'll get
about
4 flash/zoom pics before they keel over (then you curse, and put the
Lithium batteries in).

--
GSV Three Minds in a Can
Outgoing Msgs are Turing Tested,and indistinguishable from human typing.

GSV Three Minds in a Can said:

Quoted message said:

Do some digital cameras take ordinary batteries? If so, maybe I need
to swap brands.

Yep, my Olympus takes 4 ordinary AAs .. or special Lithium batteries,
which cost a fortune but last very well (will fill several memory cards,
even using flash, autofocus, zoom, etc.). The Li batteries also work
=much=- better when it is freezing cold.

I normally carry one set of 4xAA NiMH (2400mAHr these days) with a set
of the Lithium batteries for backup (they are pretty light compared to
the camera). The NiMHs are OK as long as you charge them shortly before
use - leave them in the camera, un-used, for 2 months and you'll get
about
4 flash/zoom pics before they keel over (then you curse, and put the
Lithium batteries in).

V. helpful - many thanks 🙂 I'll have to start thinking about a new
one, then.

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:40:43 +0100, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Have you used this camera much before for "macro" shots?

Well, I've had the camera for I should think about 8 years or so, and
I've used it for "macro" shots fairly regularly. It's a while since I
last used it, but I don't remember ever having noticed this problem
before.

Quoted message said:

It is
possible you have a viewfinder paralax problem, where what you see in
the v/f isn't what the lens seees.

Ok....

Quoted message said:

What format are the digital images
on the CD? if they are 4:3 then they will be crops of the 3:2 image on
the film.

I'm not sure how to tell. They're .jpgs, but you probably knew that
already. Is there some way for me to find out from the CD? I'm
inspecting them in Paint Shop Pro.

Quoted message said:

A combination of these two factors may well result in
cropping of one edge of your subject.

Hmmm... if it's a new problem in the camera, perhaps it would be worth
getting it fixed? It's a nice camera, although it's heavy and not
digital: it generally takes good piccies for me :-(

Many thanks for your help.

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

Peewiglet said:

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 20:40:43 +0100, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

possible you have a viewfinder paralax problem, where what you see in
the v/f isn't what the lens seees.

Ok....

Since youve used it before it's probably not a paralax problem then.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

What format are the digital images
on the CD? if they are 4:3 then they will be crops of the 3:2 image on
the film.

I'm not sure how to tell. They're .jpgs, but you probably knew that
already. Is there some way for me to find out from the CD? I'm
inspecting them in Paint Shop Pro.

Divide the width by the height and that will tell you.

35mm film is 36x24mm or 3:2 My digital produces 1600x1200 or 4:3 to
make a 4:3 from a 3:2 you have to crop quite fiercely. If you use a
height of 1200 then 35mm would be 1800 wide
--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 01:02:42 +0100, Phil Cook
<[email hidden]> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Divide the width by the height and that will tell you.

35mm film is 36x24mm or 3:2 My digital produces 1600x1200 or 4:3 to
make a 4:3 from a 3:2 you have to crop quite fiercely. If you use a
height of 1200 then 35mm would be 1800 wide

I see, thanks. It looks as though they're 1840 x 1232, so that looks
(to me, anyway) as though they're not a crop :-(

I'll see how it looks when the negatives come back.

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

Judith said:

I took the film to Max Spielman who decided to chop off half of the
head of the statue. At first I assumed that I had not been as careful
as I thought, but the negative clearly showed the whole statue. When
I queried this I was told that ALL photographs were cropped.

That's always been the way photos have been printed. For a start it
means they don't have to worry about aligning the negs perfectly, but
remember also that many people use point and shoots where the viewfinder
image doesn't match what the lens sees exactly, so as a general rule
it's best to allow some extra space around the edges to make sure you
get everthing in. Amateurs are renowned for standing too far away
anyway, and frequently get too much boring space around the edges of the
shot.

Tight cropping is never a good idea if you have a point and shoot
camera, and even if you have an SLR, it's still not a good idea if you
are having prints made.

Even with an SLR, most viewfinders don't show the whole image, some only
shot 90% of the scene, so there'll be more in the picture than you can
see when you take it. Any cropping during the printing stage may well
go unnoticed therefore. Even with slides there's a slight crop due to
the slide mount, so it's always worth leaving a bit of space around the
edges to allow from that.

Quoted message said:

It was
impossible to print the entire photo.

If you get 7x5 prints then it is. A 35mm shot would be 7.5x5 if the
whole neg was printed, so even if they printed the full height of the
photo, you'd lose half an inch off the width. If they have a 1/4 inch
border all around you'll lose a whole inch off the width.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk

Peewiglet said:

Quoted message said:

PS And get yourself a digital camera!

In fact, I've got one, but it comes with a cradle for charging and the
battery doesn't seem to last very long. I didn't think I'd be able to
keep it charged, with spending most nights in the tent, so I had to
take my older, heavier, non-digital one with me.

Do some digital cameras take ordinary batteries? If so, maybe I need
to swap brands.

A lot of people want digital cameras that take standard AAs, but the
li-ion batteries that come with cameras such as the G3 and 300D are way
better. They estimate from 400 shots to 1000 shots on one charge. I
tend not to get so much (I think I waste a lot of battery power setting
up shots) but I got around 200 shots from one charge recently, from a
battery that was charged a couple of weeks earlier).

Although Canon charge £50 for these, you can get them from 7dayshop for
just £15 each.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk

Judith said:

I have a Nikon Coolpix 3100 which I bought at the start of
the year.

Quoted message said:

I am hoping that Paul Saunders does not notice your subject line.
Otherwise I am in for an ear-bashing for my luddite view of cameras.
(S'just a flamin' camera, Paul!)

Nothing wrong with that. Perfectly decent camera for web use and prints
up to A4. Scores mostly 8/10 on dpreview and is "Recommended". Not a
pro camera but that's not what you want, is it?

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk

Paul Saunders said:

Not a
pro camera but that's not what you want, is it?

Exactly. I wanted a lightweight, small, point 'n' shoot camera. I
did a lot of research into what was available. I reckon it took me a
good six months before I decided which one to get ..... and less than
20 seconds to get Jessops to knock 80 quid off the price.

People's responses to Peewiglet's questions about posting photos on a
website have been very useful to me. I really must get my own site up
and running.

Judith

Judith said:

Exactly. I wanted a lightweight, small, point 'n' shoot camera. I
did a lot of research into what was available. I reckon it took me a
good six months before I decided which one to get ..... and less than
20 seconds to get Jessops to knock 80 quid off the price.

Looks quite decent for the price.

Quoted message said:

People's responses to Peewiglet's questions about posting photos on a
website have been very useful to me. I really must get my own site up
and running.

Yes, why don't you?

There are quite a few software packages which will create web page photo
galleries for you, often as part of a bigger program, but there may be
some freeware ones out there which may be handy.

Paul
--
http://www.wilderness-wales.co.uk
http://www.wildwales.fsnet.co.uk

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 15:20:29 +0100, "Paul Saunders"
<[email hidden]> wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

A lot of people want digital cameras that take standard AAs, but the
li-ion batteries that come with cameras such as the G3 and 300D are way
better. They estimate from 400 shots to 1000 shots on one charge. I
tend not to get so much (I think I waste a lot of battery power setting
up shots) but I got around 200 shots from one charge recently, from a
battery that was charged a couple of weeks earlier).

Although Canon charge £50 for these, you can get them from 7dayshop for
just £15 each.

Wow, that's quite a reduction. Thanks again 🙂

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

Quoted message said:

There are quite a few software packages which will create web page
photo
galleries for you, often as part of a bigger program, but there may be
some freeware ones out there which may be handy.

Jalbum is probably the best freebee out there for making
web page photo galleries, highly recommended
http://jalbum.net/

Mark

On Sun, 12 Sep 2004 18:05:50 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]
wrote:

[...]

Quoted message said:

Jalbum is probably the best freebee out there for making
web page photo galleries, highly recommended
http://jalbum.net/

Thanks for that 🙂

Best wishes,
--
Peewiglet

Judith <[email hidden]> wrote

Quoted message said:

On Sat, 11 Sep 2004 22:39:15 +0100, Peewiglet <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Do some digital cameras take ordinary batteries? If so, maybe I need
to swap brands.

Yes they do, and that was one of my key considerations when I chose my
camera.

...and one of mine, having had a present of an instant compact once which
costs £10 to replace the battery :=(

Quoted message said:

I have a Nikon Coolpix 3100 which I bought at the start of
the year. They are coming down in price all the time (so I do not
look at them anymore in case I get upset!).

Ditto my Nikon Finepix 2800z....

Quoted message said:

For me, the Coolpix is good enough. I can snap away to my heart's
content. It is a bit slow to write to the memory card and, despite
deliberately choosing a camera which had no fiddly bits, I have been a
bit frustrated at not being able to change some settings ...... but
most of the time it's fine.

So is my 2800z.

Quoted message said:

I am hoping that Paul Saunders does not notice your subject line.
Otherwise I am in for an ear-bashing for my luddite view of cameras.
(S'just a flamin' camera, Paul!)

Zackly right! Sound common sense, every word of that.
Take no notice of Paul - he's a gear freak in search of the Holy Grail,
and his photos proved that he did not need the last two cameras he
bought. :-)
--
Gordon

"Peewiglet" <[email hidden]> wrote

"Quick photo question"

Might be a quick question but I bet it won't be a quick answer.