I am a experienced amateur photographer for many years and love to get UHH everyday for the insights of all of the knowledgeable photographic minds. I hope that my story will hopefully touch one of you to help me out with my nice dilemma. I was doing some yard work behind my home that was built in the late 1800's by my Great-Great grandfather. Another one of my hobbies is metal detecting. Since I had tilled up a 45 by 70 area of the yard for new grass I thought it would be a great opportunity to do some metal detecting to see what I could find. Long story short I found 8 photographic plates that responded to my metal detector. The first one that I found was the size of a 2" oblong broach. I thought it was just a piece of metal until I cleaned it off and realized that there was prongs holding both pieces together. As I cleaned the dirt away I noticed a face staring back at me in a portrait that was a picture of my Great-Great grandfather. Before I was done I found 8 pieces of the same configuration of two pieces of metal of various sizes, largest being approximately 3" x 4". I did notice some parts of photographs on some of the others so I know they were all photos of some sort. The back piece is copper because of the green patina on all of the backs. However, having been in the ground for at least 80-90 years there is some rust and other debris on them that just doesn't wash off. So my question's are: #1. Are these considered tin types and does anybody in UHH land know what the process was so many years ago in printing these pictures from the metal plates. #2. Would it be smart to attach a battery to these items in water to try and electro mechanically remove the debris or rust from the pictures. I would really like to see if I could bring back the actual pictures on these metal plates. I know in UHH land everybody is going to want to see pictures. However, taking pictures of these will not show you anything that will help my in my quest. Any insight and knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Thank You in advance.

A. I chimp the Histogram to see if I am within my self prescribed parameters. Always put them on the computer after I return from shooting. Might not do any post processing for awhile.

I am an experienced amateur photographer and an Insurance Agent for 30 years. You can add your photo equipment on an Inland Marine policy to your current Homeowners Insurance policy for very little cost. By doing this your equipment is covered for everything unless it is specifically excluded. For example, over 25 years ago I left my camera on top of my vehicle after taking some images. Drove away, camera slid of the top of my car and the vehicle behind it ran it over. Since it was scheduled and described on my Homeowners policy it was covered. So yes stupidity is covered. Under your basic Homeowners Insurance it is covered only for the perils listed on the policy plus your deductible. By endorsing it on an Inland Marine coverage form your coverage is vast and there is no deductible. If you are using your photographic equipment for any type of monetary gain it would be considered Business Personal property and most companies will have a limit on that of around $2500. However, you can increase that type of coverage on your Homeowners Insurance for very little cost. All of my equipment has been covered on my Homeowners Insurance by the Inland Marine endorsement with never any problems. Please do realize that it will not cover mechanical breakdown so if you camera just quits working it will not be covered to have it fixed. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the advice. Didn't even think of that avenue. Don't get much but what can a person expect for something that only half works.

That is kind of the way the I am leaning. But I always find good advice on UHH from some angles that I might not look at. Thank You!

Well here is my problem that I hope the vast experience and expertise of UHH'ers can help me with. I recently sent in my Nikon AF lens 80-400/4.5-5.6D VR because the Auto Focus was not working properly, the manual focus still works. I sent it to Authorized Photo Service and Nikon Authorized Service that was suggested by numerous posts that I have read in UHH. I paid $900 for the refurbished lens in spring of 2010. The estimate came back to fix the lens at $648. There is a lot of stuff on the estimate that the Company says that should be replaced or repaired. I really like this lens for my Wildlife shots and Sports but I can buy the same lens refurbished less that what the company wants for me to fix this one. I have emailed the Company to see if many of the items on the fix it list can be taken off other than the repair auto focus system, replace the VR system. I have not heard back yet. I also purchased a Nikon 80-200 f2.8 AF/VR lens this year. So my question to UHH'ers. Would I be better just getting Tele-extender 1.4x and add to my Nikon 80-200 f2.8 or fix/replace the 80-400. I also just purchased the 16-300 Tamron.

Thank You for the information. I will certainly look into these companies.

These are the first images that I have printed from my vast collection from any company. I have found a lot of companies that provide this service. This was basically an experiment to see what my preference would be in regards to metal vs canvas. There must be some sort of grain in the metal as you suggested. Because that is when I see the varied difference is when I move the image from its correct orientation to its opposite. Everything that I put vertical be it a landscape orientation image or portrait orientation image is when the light reflections change and it looks like it has lost approximately 2-3 stops in exposure.

Thank You for the reply. I will consider the options that you suggested. I will agree with you the metal prints really pop compared to the canvas prints. The canvas prints, I see, will have their uses and the subject matter of my images. But the metal images when lit correctly are absolutely amazing.

I have been a hobbyist photographer for over 30 years with thousands of images. With serious prodding from my wife I am now printing some of these images larger than 8 x 10. I am trying to choose between canvas prints and metal prints. I have been comparing the results and I noticed something with my metal prints that I was hoping some of you knowledgeable UHH er's might be able to elaborate on for me. The canvas images look really good and no matter where I put them it always looks the same with the lighting. My metal images look fantastic as long as they are in the landscape orientation. If the metal images are vertical regardless of the subject they have a dull look to it. As soon as I turn that portrait orientation to a landscape orientation with the lighting it looks beautiful. My landscape orientation images all look as I expected until I turn them vertical and then get that same dull look. So I will assume that the light is reflecting differently off of the metal images when it is in the portrait orientation vs the landscape orientation. All of the portrait orientation images are dull looking unless you have them lit from the side which kind of goes against everything that I have learned in regards to presenting your images. I would like to hear from anybody that might have also experienced this with their images. I purchased the metal prints from Printerpix. So I am thinking based on what I see that any portrait orientation images will need to be purchase as a canvas and landscape orientation images can be either format.

The Inland Marine policy is actually an endorsement to your current Homeowners policy, at least in Wisconsin. When I write policies for my clients it is just added as an endorsement, not a second policy.

I would also like to add to my previous reply that on most Homeowners Insurance policies there is a limit of $2500 of coverage for Business Personal Property. I have seen where some Companies might have a little more or less.

I have been an Insurance Agent for 27 years and own my own Independent Insurance Agency. All of your cameras and equipment are automatically covered under your Homeowners or Renters Insurance policies,for the perils of the policy, under the Personal Property coverage, as long as the equipment is not used Professionally. However, the difference between your standard policy coverage and having your equipment scheduled on your policy can be night and day in regards to coverage. If you do not schedule your equipment you will be covered under the perils that are listed on the policy with a deductible. When you schedule your equipment you will be giving your agent a listing of all of your equipment and its values. Now you will have coverage for your equipment for everything unless the peril is specifically excluded. For lack of a better term it would be considered "All risk Coverage." For example, many years ago I was at a beach in North Carolina taking pictures of the ocean and sunrise. Put my camera on top of my car and drove away. I heard a clink, looked in my rear view mirror and saw my camera sliding down the highway just before it got ran over. If I just relied on my basic Renters Policy there would have been no coverage. Since my equipment was scheduled the company replaced my camera and lens with no deductible. This can be done with many items, such as jewelry, sporting equipment, stamps, coins, baseball cards, antiques, fine arts, musical instruments, guns, etc...I highly suggest that you call you Insurance Agent to see what is available. It is very inexpensive to do so.

Thank You for the information and sorry about the CAPS. I will assume at this point that the shutter was not releasing due to the lighting conditions. I will keep an eye on that and see if it continues to happen under those circumstances.

I AM LEARNING THE BACK BUTTON FOCUS ON MY NIKON D90 AND IT IS TAKING SOME TIME BUT I AM STARTING TO LIKE. LAST NIGHT I WAS RECORDING AN EVENT WITH MY GRANDSONS BIRTHDAY PARTY. IT WAS NEAR DUSK, INCREASED THE ISO TO 400 TO HELP ON THE EXPOSURE, HIT THE BACK FOCUS BUTTON, ZOOMED OUT A LITTLE AND THE SHUTTER WOULDN'T RELEASE. THE BATTERY HAD LOTS OF CHARGE AND EVERYTHING WAS WORKING OKAY. SOMETIMES I SHUT THE CAMERA OFF AND THEN BACK ON AGAIN AND IT WORKS BUT LAST NIGHT IT WOULD NOT. THIS HAS HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE USING THE BACK FOCUS BUTTON AND HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE I STARTED EXPERIMENTING WITH THIS. MIGHT ANYBODY HAVE ANY INSIGHT TO WHAT MIGHT BE HAPPENING.