For some time now « Strobist » community was one of the rapidly growing photography communities, all thanks to David Hobby of Strobist.com who started sharing his knowledge of using off-cameraflash. And when it comes to photography gear, camera flashes are not as cheap as people would think. Some models of more then 20 years old still hold more then 75% of their value. So is there a cheaper flash unit that can stand up with well known Canon and Nikon models? Maybe there is. YN-460 II.
First version of YN-460 hasn’t really delivered in built quality, flash power consistency nor electronic circuit, but YN-460 II hit the spot and it is indeed an upgraded version. It has all you might ask of a good cameraflash. Here are some of the more important flash spec:
flash power of GN 38 at ISO 100
manual mode: full power to 1/64 with 1/7 step increments
2 optical slave modes: s1, s2
wide angle diffuser
standby and auto-power off after 30 min
swivel and tilt head
fast recycle time: 4.5sec with NiMH 4xAA
If you are looking for a cheap but well made flash unit with manual power, look no more. Of course, this flash is not for those dSLR users who shoot 95% of their time in Full Auto mode, as they will need a cameraflash that supports TTL technology. But for all those who are willing to experiment with off-cameraflash, this is a good place to start.
I must admit I was a bit skeptical about the S2 slave mode, which was supposed to sync with Canon or Nikon ttl system. And I must say, it works perfectly. So even if you have a dedicated cameraflash you can still sync yn-460 via optical slave in S2 mode. S1 mode is a standard slave mode which will not take into consideration all the pre-flashes.
Although today everything is manufactured in China, this is a true « Chinese product made in China ». But you will find that the built quality is really solid and if you keep it in the protective pouch that it came with I’m sure it will serve you for a long time.
The one thing needing improvement is battery doors which are a bit loose until you put batteries in. Then they are quite solid. PC sync port is a bit too much to ask for an average price of an 50$ on ebay. I’ve been so impressed that I got myself another one within the first month of having my first YN-460II cameraflash.
As with every piece of photography equipment, it requires proper care and handling so be sure to read the user manual provided with YN 460 II cameraflash.
Daniel Wurzberg bought his first SLRcamera in ’99 and since then has been in love with photography, occasionally teaching beginner’s photography courses for youth in Croatia. Lately he’s been working on his new web site Labradortraining.info focusing on writing dog training lessons for proud labrador owners.
I’m taking a 3 week trip with stops in Cyprus, Jordan, and London. Here is what’s in my photo bag: Camera: Nikon D300s Flip Ultra HD Lenses: 50mm 1.8f Nikkor 18-200mm 3.5-5.6f VR Nikkor 24-70mm 2.8f Nikkor (my favorite) Kenko 1.4x Tele-converter Accessories: Nikon SB-800 Flash Gary Fong Lightsphere Photoflex circular reflector (white and silver) 40GB of CF & SD cards (the camera takes both) Jobi Gorilla Pod SLR Zoom Markins Ball-head Jobi Gorilla Pod for flip (smallest one) 3 camera batteries and charger 10 AA additional batteries for flash Gray, white and black card for color balance and white and black points – post-processing Travel adapter
Cast your mind back if you will to a time when a photographer was required to coat large cumbersome plates, sensitize their own printing papers and prepare a range of toxic chemicals. Now contrast that process with a ‘gizmo’ laden mega, mega pixel ‘offering’ purchased for small money and you can see how far we have come in a relatively short period of time. Go one step back and remember the trail blazing artisans who constructed their own cameras using a variety of diameter pins in place on lenses and you can see an even more striking contrast which is difficult to grasp.
The amount of luck and uncertainty endured by the pioneering few and the inexplicable causes for failure would, I am sure, lead us all to forget the whole idea of making pictures. The rapid advancements in technology over a short timescale had pushed the boundaries of photographic practice to the point where anyone can record an event.
So what about the time in between? Can you remember any ‘milestones’ when a new range of artists provided an alternative to the formal studio portrait? Well, a number of us remember the swinging 60′s and while it gave rise to some great photographers I’d ask you to think of the time just before when the term ‘photo journalist’ was coined. Yes, I mean before Bailey, Lichfield and Donovan when the really great photographers developed their skill.
It can be argued that the ‘golden’ age of photojournalism can be attributed to camera men such as Alfred Eisenstaedt, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Bill Brant but one thing that can be said, it was the time when the rangefinder camera came of age.
Photographers were now able to ‘tell it how it was’ thanks to the features now available in the cameras of the 50′s and yes, the development of the miniature camera and film. While the camera has always been just a ‘tool’ it is without doubt that the 50′s were the age whereby the rise of photojournalism pushed forward the development of camera technology. Previously the photographer had limitations imposed by the apparatus and medium available, and the situation called for the photographer to rely on their knowledge and experience gained from the many failures and lack of various pin diameters to imitate a range of lenses.
With the rangefinder came reduced ‘pit stops’ to change film. Miniature film rolls of 36 exposures must have seemed liberation at the time and together with increased refinements such as interchangeable lenses, the rangefinder and photojournalism had said ‘hello’.
Not possible, I think you’ll agree, for a photographer to produce those wonderful gritty and grainy ‘in your face’ images amplified by the use of black and white printing with a Kodak ‘belly button’ camera and hence the demands for improvement had to follow. Can you imagine trying to record an uprising in a war torn country after setting up a cumbersome tripod? So how did the photographer benefit from the increased availability of the rangefinder camera?
In a nutshell, the ability to focus a lens, which was coupled to accurate settings thus avoiding guesswork and pre measurement, increased the opportunities to record street scenes after dark, stage lighting and rapid movement. The impact of the increased availability of roll film cameras and miniature films cannot be underestimated. In ‘A Key to Photography’ by R M Franxtone (1939) he reminds us that « …roll film, in all the popular sizes, can now be obtained in all the large towns and even in the villages »; contrasted with the use of large photographic plates, one can see how rangefinders became the ‘digital’ of the time.
You may be forgiven for thinking only of the name Leica when you turn to a rangefinder camera when in fact Kodak came to market first with its 3A Autographic range around 1917. Take a look at the Kodak and I am sure you’ll agree its ‘belly button’ approach to taking pictures did not endure itself to the photojournalist of the time.
Early rangefinders relied on the photographer buying an accessory, with Leica starting the trend in the mid 1920′s. Contax followed close behind and from around the 30′s to the late 60′s many manufacturers produced a model or two.
We can argue which developed first: the need for a very reliable and robust camera body or the need for the press to deliver increased coverage of the conflicts taking shape around the world. Certainly, Leica and Nikon rose to the challenge and one will always associate quality with these famous names.
The best known rangefinders are associated with 35mm film but it’s worth remembering that all film sizes have been accommodated over the years. With lenses being screw mounted originally, they did change to offer the bayonet over time and one can see this style used in the new rangefinders of today.
The Nikon rangefinder gained popularity around 1948 with the introduction of the Nikon 1. With approximately 730 bodies being made this is now a rare and expensive item to collect. The Nikon M enhanced the name Nikon within the world of photography and gave it status in 1949. The black body models made were at the request of photographers working at the front of many wars. But maybe the model best know is the S range. It spawned 5 updates with the Nikon S3M being the most valuable Nikon 35mm camera ever. In 1993 at Christies in London, a S3M sold for £28,000 or $58,000 making it the most expensive 35mm sold (ref: The Complete Nikon System by Peter Braczko 2000)
So why use a rangefinder camera?
Good question when technology has taken the professional and amateur camera user to new heights.
Think of a 35mm compact today and most likely you’ll find an ‘auto-all-thingy’ however, a rangefinder tend to give you a greater degree of manual control than even and SLR. When you press the shutter there’s no black-out and you can see what’s going on outside the view of the lens; pretty useful when bullets are whistling past your head. You can hold a rangefinder steadier and for longer but perhaps more than that is a sense of engagement with the subject. As you are never separated from the subject whereas with an SLR the most critical moment is often lost; that is the moment of exposure.
With a ‘brightline finder, you can see what’s going on around you all the time and this allows you to recompose immediately when something has come into frame that you did not plan for. The absence of a flipping mirror allows for the use of longer shutter speeds and the ability to shoot in poor light is boosted by using a camera with a bright, clear rangefinder path which, unlike SLR reflexes, is unaffected by the lens speed or focal length.
True ‘die hard’ rangefinder users do not use flash arguing that it can distract from the moment and it acts like a car horn blasting away when you try for that critical moment. There is no doubt that using a rangefinder is a considered choice but so is driving a high priced sports car. Every way you use a rangefinder you are in complete control. Once you have set the focus, aperture and shutter speed you are free to remain unobtrusive in situations where the use of any camera would be frowned upon. Look back at early essays from famous photographers and you’ll see that they preferred to shot with both eyes open; now that’s what I call control.
So what makes these cameras so enduring? Take a look at an auction site or photographic magazine and you’ll be amazed at the cost of the more well known models. At the point of writing I can tell you that in the monthly photographic magazines, a used Leica M3 will set you back around $500.
Why pay that? Well if you have never held a top quality rangefinder or if you have never fired the shutter of a top quality rangefinder or better still if you have never tried to ‘get up close and personal’ with a camera I suggest you give it a go. Once tried, you will be bitten by the bug forever. Good lick in your search to find the perfect model for you.
New DeerCam?Cuddeback Capture Camera Day Night Weatherproof Housing SD Card Simple Alarm Clock DeerCam: The innovative Rotary Switch programming makes setup as simple as setting an alarm clock. The revolutionary Hair trigger technology provides you with trigger speeds comparable to previous Cuddeback models. The Capture features a 40-ft. flash range to produce color images both day and night. Plus, you get 3.0-megapixel image quality on all images no lower quality images at night. The extended battery life gives you more than 1,000 images on a single set of four D batteries (not included). Test mode determines detection zone of coverage. Five delay settings let you choose the time between exposures, from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. BatteryType: D. New DeerCam?Cuddeback Capture Camera Day Night Weatherproof Housing SD Card Simple Alarm Clock
Almost Quality – Casey M. Wise – The main clasp for the bottom part isn’t perfect… it’s slightly bent and requires some manipulation to « click. » The tripod’s great, the cleaning kit’s great. Be careful about that front clasp. It was shipped quickly though.
The Sony A100 Digital Single Lens Reflex (DSLR) camera is the first DSLR camera launched by Sony. This 10.2 mega pixel camera is compatible with all Sony and Konica Minolta A-mount lenses. The recording medium to save pictures in Sony A100 DSLR is Compact Flash (CF) memory cards. A CF media card can be corrupted due to file system damage, erroneous handling, malicious software like virus etc. In such situations, the pictures saved in the CF card become inaccessible. To access those pictures, in case of no back up availability, the user needs to use efficient Photo Recovery Software.
As a practical example, when a user attempts to view the previously stored photographs from a CF card which is inside the Sony A100 camera, he encounters the below error message:
« Unable to use Card »
After the above error message appears on the Sony A100 screen, the pictures stored in the flash card become inaccessible. The main cause of the above error message is that the Sony A100 DSLR is unable to read the data stored in the flash memory card. In such scenarios, if the user needs to use the flash memory card and store new pictures on the card, then he needs to format the media card. To recover the pictures from the flash media card, the user needs to use effective Picture Recovery software. This Picture Recovery software recovers and restores lost pictures by using influential scanning methods.
Stellar Phoenix Photo Recovery is the finest Picture Recovery application that recovers and restores your pictures in all instances of picture loss from a flash memory card. It is available for both IBM PC (Windows) and Apple Mac (Mac OS) platforms. The Windows version supports Windows Vista, XP, 2003, 2000 and NT. The Mac OS version supports Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, 10.4 Tiger and 10.3.9 Panther operating systems. This Picture Recovery utility is compatible with various audio and video file formats. This read only Photo Recovery utility is designed with interactive and intuitive user interface, which makes it easily understandable. The demo version of this Picture Recovery utility is available on Stellar’s website.
Naveen Kadian is a self employed Internet entrepreneur and product reviewer. To download the software visit here – http://www.photo-recovery-software.com If you have lost or deleted important Photos Don’t worry, Go with the right Photo Recovery Software you should have your files back in no time.
The first round of interchangeable-lens cameras offered a lot to appeal to enthusiasts, but at prices upward of $800, they weren’t quite a no-brainer for point-and-shooters in search of an upgrade. The bigger sensors in these models can generally deliver better photo quality at somewhat higher ISO sensitivities than the smaller snapshot models and they support video capture, but the alternative has been the moderately larger dSLRs with action-friendly optical viewfinders and kit prices starting at a significantly lower $600. Even the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1, which delivers the right set of performance and features for these folks in a compact, attractive design, comes in at an ouch-worthy $900 or so. Olympus’ sleek E-P1 and E-P2 have attracted a lot of attention, but without a built-in flash they’re simply not the right camera for snapshooters, especially at their relatively high prices. So Olympus is trying again to lure this lucrative audience to its Micro Four Thirds camp, this time with the more consumer-friendly designed and priced E-PL1. If you’re one of the crowd attracted by the low price, though, keep in mind that even though both Olympus and Panasonic make compatible lenses for the system, because it’s much newer there are still a lot fewer choices in Micro Four Thirds lenses than for dSLRs, and they tend to be more expensive than their SLR-compatible counterparts. For example, Olympus’ 14-42mm lens lists for $299, whereas both Canon and Nikon’s staple dSLR 18 …
