Try posting this over in the 'Pictures' forum. You'll get more feedback there.
Has anyone tried the Pocket Light Meter app for iPhone/iPod/iPad? I've been playing with it on my iPhone and it seems to be pretty accurate. It's free, so can't beat the price!
Why? I've bought an old Nikon AI-S 200mm f/4 lens on eBay that only works in manual exposure mode on my cameras. Anyway, I'm having fun with it and my iPhone light meter!
I still remember when my dad used to take slide film pictures with an old Vivitar 35mm and use a hand-held light meter. Then when our relatives would visit, he'd get out the slide projector and do a slide show. Times have changed!
There does some to be an active market in certain used film cameras and lenses. The number of listings on Amazon.com, CraigsList.org, and eBay.com attest to that. Of course it depends on the brand and the condition. You mentioned you don't wish to post your equipment on eBay, but if you search eBay or one of the others you could at least get an idea of what the items you have are worth.
I've recently lent my Nikon DSLR to my daughter and have been playing with film. I bought 2 good cameras from eBay and didn't spend over $100 total. My observation is that lenses hold their value more than cameras, but maybe that is just with Nikon. I recently bought a manual focus 200mm f/4 on eBay that Nikon stopped making in 1981. Works on my older film cams, also on my D50 DSLR. Point is, if your lenses are Nikon, they'll generally work with *all* Nikon cameras, even the newest DSLRs. I don't know about other manufacturers though.
Anyway, wish you the best in parting with your equipment.
I'm also interested in GIMP, so I'm curious why it was you switched to PSE?
I own PSE 4.0 and was happy with it, although that version did not have curves and levels. So I'm wondering whether to lay out another $100 for PSE 10, or try GIMP.
Film processing is tricky. Three big issues I've run into:
1. Quality of developing
2. Can they do slides, B/W (fewer and fewer do)
3. Quality of scanning negatives to digital
1. There's only one lab I know of in OKC that does film anymore. I gave them a roll of color slide film and it came back with a distinct blue cast. Thought it might be my camera, but subsequent developing by other labs has not shown that problem.
2. If you can find a lab that processes color film, *still* they may not do slides or B/W. There are B/W films that can be processed C41 (what most labs use for standard color film). I bought a few rolls, but haven't seen the results yet.
3. Scanning negatives to digital is another issue, quality can be variable. I'm visiting in Rochester NY right now and have tried a local photo store & Target. Both have given me digital photos that have lines across them, like dirt was on a roller or something. Also, image size is variable (like around 300kb from one place to several mb at another). Of course, perhaps incorrectly, I'm assuming the larger the scanned image, the better the quality I have to work with.
So,.... I've started sending my film to TheDarkRoom.com and so far am very pleased with the results. There are others, but I just semi-randomly chose this one. I just want my film processed and get back digital images. Then I decide what to print.
Anyway, good luck finding a place to process your film and give you results you are happy with. If you can find something local, you're fortunate. If not, don't despair, there are good mail-order labs out there.
Hello, I recently joined and just now uploaded an avatar photo. How do I rotate it to the proper orientation? Picasa is showing it correctly, but when I upload it here I'm lying on my side.
More info is needed. I'm guessing you are talking about 50mm f/1.4 vs. 55mm f/1.8. In general, yes, a f/1.4 lens could be more expensive than a f/1.8. But there are many other factors. Metal/plastic body, auto/manual focus, VR, etc.