And for future reference, if you come across a post you want to keep track of, take a look at the top of the page. There's a button marked "Bookmark". If you press that button you can store the thread for future reference. To find it again, you have to have the bookmarks enabled. At the top of the page, click on "My Profile". Scroll down to Custom View Settings. There you will find a checkbox for "Show Bookmarks link on top of all pages". Check that and your bookmarks will always be available with your mouse, trackball, or trackpad.

Alternatively, at the top of a post within a thread, there's a hash mark (#)(also known as an octothorpe). Press that and your browser will go to that particular post within a thread. You can then bookmark that within your browser.

My personal opinion, for what it's worth, is people are too fixated on eliminating noise. The first and foremost issue is the name. Derived from electrical engineering, noise has a negative connotation from the start. It's similar, but not equal, to grain in film. The higher the ISO for film, the more grain will be visible. It's just part of life.

There are easy techniques to reduce noise by using exposure techniques. However, it's just part of digital photography. But, to each his own.
--Bob

This spring I began taking baby steps into the wildlife photography game with my Nikon Z50 and its kit 50-250mm zoom. I was surprised how versatile this lens was but, wanting more reach, I bought a (very nice) used Tamron F mount f4.5-6.3 100-400mm zoom. There are still plenty of times I reach for the kit lens but I've yet to be sorry I bought the Tamron except in one regard.

The Z50 is tiny and is easily overwhelmed by the combined weight of the Tamron and the FTZ adapter. I haven't felt comfortable trusting this combination to the camera's lug straps so I've settled on supporting it all by attaching a strap to the FTZ's tripod socket. There's also a single thin strap connecting one of the camera's lugs to the strap so I don't have a single-point-of-failure but I think it's mostly a feel good solution... I'd hate to depend on it.

Anyway, this has worked but it's far less than idea so I'm wondering how everyone else in this situation is managing. I'm sure everyone knows there are dozens of straps on the market. I bought what I bought after conducting a good bit of research but sometimes you don't know how something will work until it's in your hands and in use. Even though I'm 6' 2", for instance, my strap is too long and can't be adjusted any shorter, something I couldn't possibly have known based on the merchant's on line description.

So, what wisdom can the crew lay on me? I can't afford to throw endless dollars at this.

Thanks.

P.S.: I have a very nice third-party tripod ring for the Tamron as well but its quick release gives me nightmares whenever I consider mounting the strap to it...

Most of the folks on this forum are aware of special sections that cater to specific topics.

I was surprised to find how few people actually subscribe to some of these specialty sections.

Here are some numbers of subscribers:

Main Photography Discussion: 104,296
Photo Gallery: 103,915
Panorama: 618
Bridge Camera Show Case: 223
Smartphone: 404

Anyway, this post is more of an observation than anything. Discussions and questions keep coming up in the Main Photography Discussion about smartphones and bridge cameras.

There has been a lot of interest recently, both here and on YouTube, regarding how to transfer film (slides, black-and-white negatives, and color negatives) to digital files.

I'm in a pretty good position to discuss this, since for five years, I ran a high volume film scanning operation (and all other digital imaging departments) of a major portrait lab. 20 years before that, I did plenty of film duplication as an AV producer making big corporate slide shows. So...

There are three classic ways to do film-to-digital conversions:

> Use a service bureau

> Use a scanner

> Use a digital camera with macro lens or other sort of close-up attachment (enlarger lens on bellows, reversed normal lens on extension tubes, etc.)


The advantage of a service bureau is that you don't do much of anything. Just fill up a box with media and send it off. Some time later, receive your materials back, along with a disc, flash drive, or link to download the files.

The disadvantages of a service are that it is usually a bit expensive when you have lots of files to digitize. The service takes time. Many services send files to a remote scanning sweatshop in an emerging nation, to minimize their labor costs. Confidentiality is impossible to maintain, if you need that. And the quality can range from excellent to excrement.

The advantage of scanners is that you are in control. The scanner can be a reasonable expense ($230 to $1300 for a decent flatbed or film scanner). You can take advantage of technology that removes dust and scratches, restores some semblance of color balance to faded media, and so forth.

The disadvantages of scanning include:

> A lack of speed (Scans can take a boring minute or more per original for high resolution.)

> Complexity (If you don't understand the principles of digital imaging, you can get very disappointing results.)

> A lack of resolution (Flatbeds rarely focus film as accurately as I would like. Effective resolution usually is much lower than the scanner's rated resolution.)

> Obsolescence (I wish I had a $20 bill for every scanner abandoned by its manufacturer in less than five years! I'd take my wife to a fancy restaurant.)

The advantages of using digital cameras with macro lenses include:

> A full 36 exposure roll of film can be "scanned" (copied) in about seven minutes or so.

> Digital cameras can resolve more than original 35mm film did. Use a high resolution camera (50 to 100 MP) on medium format film, and the same is true.

> You can save raw files and process them the same way you would process other digital camera files.

> Excellent software exists for converting both black-and-white and color negatives to positive digital images *without* fighting curves tools.

> You may already have much of what you need to use your digital camera to copy film. Add a light source, a film holder, and some software, and you're set. Almost...

I've spent years mulling over how to proceed to digitize my collection of film. It's of no use to me as film... I want to make videos of it, sell products from it online, preserve some of it for family, etc.

Accordingly, I settled on the copy method for film. I'll flatbed scan prints, but film will get the macro treatment.

I've written a white paper explaining how I am doing it. It is a PDF file you can download and view with your favorite browser or PDF viewer. It contains links to videos, reviews, and commentaries, and to various sources for the products I'm using. (Some of the links may need to be copied and pasted into the URL line of your browser.) I've also included some samples I "scanned" from images recorded on film 30 to 50 years ago. Enjoy:

>