Welcome, Jim! er, what color was that bicycle you were selling? Or, is this the string about the best Italian Restaurant in Baltimore?

Hi Marty, hope you'll count me a friend -- on UHH anyway. I've taken photos for over 40 years and shown both good and bad shots, but not every shot! Sometimes you'll want to show work to have others tell you how you can improve, other times you may want to show a good shot to get a pat on the back (we all like an "attaboy" at times. Something I have mentioned here before may make you feel better. Back in film days I would sometimes blow a whole roll of 36 exposure film and only get one to three keepable shots. It made me feel like I had wasted my time and money and was a real downer when that happened. Then one day I read an article about how National Geographic Photographers would take up to 25,000 shots to get the 20 to 30 photos they would use in a typical 8 page story. Can you imagine how many shoeboxes they filled with unused shots! Another thing to keep in mind, as technology changes, some of the old shots you have may become usable. I know a lady, a really great photographer from Kentucky that posts a lot of her work on line. Back in the dark ages of digital photography (like maybe 10 years ago), things like noise wasn't controlled as well as it is today. Scarlett one day took some of her old shots that were very noisy and ran them through a program like Noise Ninja and suddenly she had usable shots again! A gentleman from the photo club I attend takes some of his old shots and does all kinds of crazy things with them like making them into line drawings or collages. Hope this helps.
Mike

I bought one of these as a carry-around camera because of the size. I bought it from a girl that only used it about six times. It looks and works like a new camera -- even has the plastic backing on the view screen, I have never used it, only took a few test shots. One reason I thought it would be nice is because I have a lot of Olympus lenses and thought I could use this as a body as an extra benefit to using it as a take everywhere camera. Although it is a 4/3 format, it won't take lenses from the old OM film cameras like the new line of digital cameras will with an adaptor. I have an adaptor that will allow me to use the old manual lenses on the digital cameras but it doesn't fit the Pen body. Like I said, the camera is as new -- box, papers, everything that came with the camera. I will include a 40-150 telephoto lens that can be used on the camera if you purchase an adaptor. (the adaptor converts the new line of digital lenses for use on the Pen series camera, but not old style manual lenses like I was interested in converting.) Shortly after I purchased the Pen, I found someone selling an Olympus 510. While the body is not as compact as the Pen, it is still much smaller than the Nikon I tote around most of the time and with the adaptor I have from previously owning Olympus 300 and 500 bodies, I have a platform to use my old manual lenses. I want to keep these together bacause I have two 40-150 lenses and would like to sell one. I am asking 300 for both the camera and lens. The Pen comes with a 14-42, and with the 2:1 factor, you would have lenses going from 28-300 in 35mm terms.
I thought it was 100% scratch free but on taking it out to check lens size, I noticed there are some light scratches on the flash lid. The original owner was a woman and most likely closed the flash with her nails. Close up of that area will be shown in the attached photos.
For 300.00 you get the camera, extra lens, 4gb card, Tamrac case, filter on 40 to 150 lens, original box paper work and accessories that came with the camera.

Photo taken with E-PL1


Photo taken with E-PL1

So often the difference between non-pro lenses and pro/prosummer lenses is the build quality. If you are a casual shooter, save your money for yet another desired lens like a macro or ultra wide-angle and you will be happy with the results you get from the lens you ordered. If you use the equipment a lot and bang it around on hikes, rafting trips etc. get the pro series L lens.

Some thoughts: Was your mother in a privite room? If so, no one should have been allow in except by permission i.e. -- family, or someone signed in at the nurse's station. I would hold the hospital responsible. How about security cameras. Most hospitals have good security cameras. Even if not on a specific wing, certainly on entrances & exits. The records should be checked for anyone leaving the hospital with a bag or package large enough to hold your camera equipment. Where was the staff? If there was a person working in room clean-up at the time the staff should know about it.

Send me a personal e-mail. I have one of those for sale.

Overpriced! Can accomplish same effect with set of three good ND's for half the price or less.

I use a LowePro backpack that holds two bodies, 5 lenses, two flash + accessories. Best bag I have ever used. Also have a Tenba backpack but do not like it. There is no Velcro at the bottom of the compartments and things can slide around in there. I use it for storage. I have a large Kiwi (remember those?), and while it holds everything, it is a shoulder bag and due to weight, can really hurt you on an all day carry. I have maybe another six to eight small bags good for a body, one or two lenses, and a flash. One small LowPro bag holds only one body with lens mounted and room for a medium telephoto. This is real good for a walk-around trip of exploring.

One lens that is missing from your list: the 17-55 2.8. It is one of Nikon's best ever lenses and few professionals I've seen do not have one. It is almost standard equipment with newspaper reporters. I don't own one for the same reaseon I don't own several 1400.00 to 2400.00 dollar lenses - I can't afford them. I know the first two lenses on your list more than cover the range, but why change lenses when that one would cover the majority of the range?

I have used the Nikon 80-400 and it is most likely the worst lens Nikon ever made. The sharpness was good but the thing just wouldn't focus unless there was plenty of light and then the speed wasn't good. Three years ago I tried the Tokina 80-400 at the trade show that is held at the Javits Center in NYC. It blew the Nikon away. It too was sharp and the auto focus was fast. I asked if there were any plans to go OS/VR with the lens. The factory rep told me there was and it should be out in the following year.
Each of the last two years I checked with Tokina, but no lens yet. The rep. this past year told me they had made one and given it to the factory reps. to test. He said the thing was awful. Huge, must have weighed several pounds, had a front lens of something like 82mm., was clumsy and hard to use. After the engineers got the report back they scrapped it. The rep. felt there might not be a replacement. Too bad, their non-Os/vr lens is very good.

One more quicky. I looked at the shots on your Smug-mug site from the previous trip. You have some great shots and I feel you need little advice from anyone. The one thing you may want to do is reduce the number of shots you have where the horizon line is so centered. When a shot is taken like that, it tends to divide the photo into two photos and makes the shot more static. Choose whether the shot is about the beach with the details and rocks in the sand, or is it about the sky because of some beautiful cloud formations. Try to keep that horizon line no around the 1/3 from the top position or 1/3 from the bottom of the frame.

Mike

Wow! What a trip! Best advice: Send me and I will bring back lots of photos for you! Actually everyone has chipped in with great advise but one thing not mentioned yet (at least I haven't noticed it), when shooting from a plane there is a lot of vibration. Do not let anymore of your body come in contact with the plane than necessary. Do not lean against the bulkhead or rest your arms on the window sill. Let your arms pretty much "float" free. This will minimize the vibration and give you the best chance for a clear shot. Take MT's suggestion of a second body seriously, you can never count on something breaking down at the most critical moment. Get something light as it seems you are already pretty heavy with equipment. You should be able to pick up a D40 used very inexpensively. People shots should be taken in two ways: Very tight where all the face/head is not necessarily in the photo or leave a good space around the subject. Nothing looks worse than photographing people when their heads are tight against the top of the frame. The 70 to 210 is perfect for people shots as is the 105. If you only planned to use the 105 for people shots, leave it home. The 70 to 210 is more than adequate. Good luck, and good shooting -- post some shot here when you return!

The answer about the RAW setting is most likely the right answer. If you have the disk that came with the Nikon make sure you are using the Nikon download program (Nikon Capture) to transfer the shots from your camera to the computer.

What do you like shooting? Go to the library and check out books that contain subjects you like to photograph. A specific book on macro, landscapes, portraits, interiors, etc. will give you an idea of how those shots were taken. Then as someone else said practice. It is much easier to practice today than in film days. You can go out and shoot hundreds of photos and delete all but the ones you want to keep. Back in film days there were times I would only get maybe three keepers from a roll of 36 shots. Then one day I saw an article about National Geographic Photographers. It pointed out they would shoot 25,000 photos to come up with a typical 8 page story that contained maybe 20 to 30 photos! That was in film days -- I'm sure today they most likely take 100,000. The more you shoot, the better you will get. Remember too that we see photography as our media of art. After you get a firm understanding of the technical part of photography, experiment with lots of different looks. Develop your own style and if no one likes your work but you, then that's their problem. Have fun and shoot what you like and how you like it.

Yes, and some day everything will go retro and the only photos people will want are those taken with a Kodak disposable!