Thanks thats exactly what I was looking for. I have way too many computers and tablets as it is. I really don't want to add another one to the herd. The WD device would be nice with maybe an EyeFi card to drop the shots directly on to it. I just picked up a Canon 5d MKii and I really don't want to buy the wifi grip.
Not sure that is the right term for the item, but I remember seeing a device that you stick your CF card in and it downloads it to the enclosed hard drive. Does anybody know what I'm talking about or used one? I'm taking a trip to Iceland soon, and I really don't want to pack my laptop, but I also don't want to buy a bunch of CF cards that I can only fill once, while I'm there.
To me the center is too blown out. I'm sure the haze a has a lot to do with that. Also it feels "off" to me due to the lines in the rock and the lines in the valley. I keep wanting to tilt my head left to right. I'm not sure a CP would have helped but a GND filter would.
I think I would have gotten a bit closer to the edge and lower to the ground. I would have then tried to put the tree on the left a bit more to the center. Almost to the point of putting it in the left 3rd line.
Just my 2 cents.
They have it in blue, pink and white.
I know, and I have some nice backdrops. A white vinyl, a really flat black velvet, an orange/red, and a few others that are muslin. But the foam can be used as a reflector or a flag. It will also work as cheap walls for different paint. And I'm also thinking about cutting in a window to put a window blind. I have some ideas of using that as a gobo for some shots. I like trying new things and messing around with stuff. I'm a hobby shooter and shoot mostly landscapes, but I still want to learn to shoot people and artistic shots. I don't have a studio, though have been giving thought to renting a big enough storage shed and just use my speedlights in it. $150 a month is a bargain for a small studio in my area. So I shoot in my apt living room and I shoot friends that will put up with it. The foam walls I can store in the spare bedroom, and be painted different colors or wall papered.
Yea, she didn't get to it till about the 3:30 mark. But it's basically building foam insulation. They also show how to make some feet for it so the panels are individual but I want to tape them together to form a v or even 3 together to form a C shape. Then no feet needed. Can use a nice cloth wall paper on them to build a room corner that will still be flexible between the sheets. Can easily add crown molding and floor molding to really finish it off. And you buy the stuff at your local hardware store. I have a home Depot about a block away and I was looking on their web site at Thermasheath 3R-5.9 1 in. 4 ft. x 8 ft. Foam Insulation which costs $21 a sheet and weights 7lbs a sheet. That is exactly what I was looking for! And no shipping charges and only need to buy the amount of sheets I really need.
Just control the DoF to not see the seams.
I'm still thinking about that option, Festina. I might try to find some other local photogs that might want a sheet or two as well. Maybe even the studio I go to might want some. The price does seem good, I'd just hate having to store 20 sheets in my apt with nothing else to use them for.
I was even thinking about putting wall paper on them to make fake walls. I have a few ideas for sets I'd like to try out one of these days. But I just bought another lens so the backgrounds seem to get pushed back. lol
So I read today somebody was looking to paint a small room to turn it in to a studio. I responded with why paint the walls, buy foam core boards and paint them. I shoot at one studio that has some of them and they are great for a quick easy background. I've been thinking about getting some for a while now, but today I started looking it up.
Now here's the problem, I'm not finding a good source for them. The studio has them in 4'x8' sheets. I know, ask the studio, right? Problem is I don't shoot there often and don't have a contact there to ask. Plus I figured this would be a good group to both get and share the info. Uline.com has one that is white on one side and black on the other, which would be great! Except they sell for 21.55 a sheet and are only sold in boxes of 25 sheets.
So does anybody use these? And if so where do you get them from? Staples and art stores only seem to sell them in 3'-4' squares.
Oh and yes I have searched UHH and Google.
Instead of painting the walls, why not use large sheets of foam core board? If you are doing product shots you could have a few "cubes" in different colors to place the products in. For people the larger sheets would work. The one studio I shoot in has 4x8 sheets taped together. One side white one side black. Light weight easy to move around, and reversible. If you buy the sheets in white you could then paint them. Thereby saving money on paint, only need enough for the sheets, and you can have a few different colors to work with.
First I want to thank everybody who took the time to read and answer this. I know some feel that asking the same question is like beating a dead horse. Second I just wanted to add a recap of what I'm getting from what everybody has said. Maybe somebody else will find all of this useful, I know I have.
So here are the few options.
1) Buy a scanner and scan 4 slides at a time. This seems to be the most used option. But also the most time consuming as well as a certain outlay of cost for the scanner in the first place. This will also be able to scan all the photo albums.
2) Send them out to be done. A lot of folks don't have the time or energy to invest in scanning all their slides/pictures.
3) Buy a machine that does more than 4 at a time. The biggest issue with this, is the cost of the machine. I've attached a link below for one on ebay that you can load 50 slides at a time. At the cost of that machine and at the cost of $0.29 a slide to send out, you will see an ROI after scanning 1207 slides. But once you are done with the scanning we'd sell the machine and recoop a large portion of the money. Bringing the ROI sooner.
4) There seems to be a small group that shows the slides, then uses a digital camera to take a picture of the displayed slide. This seems to get decent results (as we're talking about snapshots), and with the right setup should be able to go through and capture a lot of slides in a short amount of time.
So here is also a rundown of the Pros/Cons of each method.
1a) Pro - Cheaper, can scan pictures, should get good quality scans with the right scanner
1b) Con - Time sink, not only are you scanning only 4 at a time, each scan can take a min or two depending on the scanner
2a) Pro - No time spent actually doing this, should get high quality scans, no outlay for equipment
2b) Con - Cost is per slide, $29 per 100 slides at the Costco price
3a) Pro - More control, cost per unit goes down the more you do
3b) Con - More of an initial cost outlay, might not be able to resell machine, not sure of the quality of scans, might be more headache due to feed jams
4a) Pro - Faster capture, use existing equipment, should be decent quality scans with my camera
4b) Con - Not sure of the quality of the scans, need to test to confirm.
Hello Hoggers,
So first, yes I have searched this topic. No I don't want a link to a search of scanners. I'm looking for feedback, I want to know if what you have is good. If you know of a machine, but you don't have it and it will do what I'm looking for, I'd love to hear about that too.
I'm looking for a scanner for my mom so she can scan in all her 35mm slides. Some have plastic frames, some paper. She might even have strips of negatives. I've seen a wolverine one that will even scan prints and do it without a computer connected. She has 100s if not 1000s of slides. Most of the scanners I've looked at, you put 4 slides in a frame, then push the frame in to the scanner. Is there one that is an autoloader? Toss X amount in to a hopper and it'll grab and scan? Considering she has so many slides even Costco's price of $0.29 a slide might make it worth it to buy a machine that is a few hundred dollars. And if the device is a bit more for a woman who is 66 and doesn't work a computer well, then I'll certainly run the thing. And I'm a computer guy so I'm not worried about how complicated it is to run. So below is a break down of the order in which I find more important.
1 quality
2 load quantities, not 4 at a time
3 different formats, slide being the main, but would be nice to do prints too
4 price
5 ease of use
6 speed of scans, if I can drop in 50 slides and walk away I don't care if it takes hours to do them.
Thanks, Dave
But if you never try to put that penny on it's edge it will never happen. If at least you try there is a chance.