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Response to talk me into or out of this...

from Mike Dixon (burmashave@compuserve.com)
On reading more of your explanations, I do have some advice for you: PRACTICE USING YOUR DAMN CAMERAS!! They don't need to have film in them and you don't need a model to practice focusing and advancing the film. Shift focus to various items around the room until you can do it smoothly and quickly. Do this every day, several times a day! If the camera's too heavy for you to handle comfortably, start lifting weights (a camera with big lens makes a pretty good dumbbell and you get used to its balance in your hand).

Also, if you're twisting your whole arm around when focusing, you need to refine your focusing technique. For manual-focus lenses that have 180 degrees (or more) between minimum dist. and infinity, you should be rolling the barrel between your thumb and finger(s) (along with a twisting motion of your wrist) to do most of the turning. Just gripping the barrel and turning your arm is horribly inefficient (not to mention kind of funny looking). Additionally, you should have the approximate focus set before you even lift the camera to your eye. With practice, it's easy to estimate close distances (< 15 ft) to within a foot.

I also don't understand how people can go through so much film in so short a time, but I realize some people just work that way. I'll shoot about 200 to 250 exposures during 7 or 8 hrs of wedding coverage, and only about 30 to 50 during a 90-minute portrait session. My photos got a lot better when I started shooting more slowly.

(posted 8722 days ago)

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