Hi teckieees,
just worked on a bridal spread for a conde’ nast mag and I had the opportunity to rent the AFi7 (75s )
with 80mm and 120mm macro manual focus lenses.
What a studio Camera!!!
The Photographer decided to shoot the whole story in B&W.
He used the 120 for most of the day except when he needed a full length shot.
The camera is very user friendly, simple interface, easy “gears only” lock button,
a kind of a awkward design until you get familiar with it. The grip rotates (45degree, 90, 180).
Battery life is kind of short ( I had rental batteries, not exactly brand new).
The prism is also strange because everybody tends to rotate the camera to end up with the 45 prism
angled in a strange position.
The autofocus is fast and very accurate on the 80, which is also a beautiful lens.
the 120 is really beautiful: manual focus, great glass, nice and crisp but not too
contrasty(i know that it’s bad english, but yoknowwhatImean) like the H1/2 lenses.
The photographer was very happy about the work we did and the amazing results
with the B&W temporary conversions. ( I say temporary because i like to do my B&W
conversions in Photoshop). You have a beautiful curve you can work on(LC11.1) and make it just perfect.
Then go in photoshop and apply settings that replicate the panchromatic response to B&W filters:
Deep orange, red, green and blue. They have a very different look, I find some ideal for people
and others for landscapes.
……..you know how things look on an Eizo… everybody was blown away, just because few minutes earlier everybody was saying that digital B&W sucks…….I know we’re missing the silver!
The back is fast and the previews render in a split second even on a Mac Book Pro
( 2.2 GHz , 4 G Ram), can check focus with loop and even if you forget the detail pane open,
the application doesn’t flinch……and you can apply changes on the fly!
LC 11.1 is very stable and it’s a pleasure to work on ( selective sharpening, amazing grain control…..
…and more). FW 800 is great, just found out about the fw800 drives that come standard with a mac aren’t fulll speed, if oyu want real fw800, ( anybody heard of it?)
Processing on a Quad 3 Ghz Mac Pro ( 6 G Ram) while batching
JPEGS:
LC11.1 : 46 secs
ACR( photoshop/bridge/LR): 8 secs
TIFFS:(one frame)
LC11.1 : 30secs
ACR: 8 secs
michele
LowNoise_HiQuality
Arrived in CA last night into SJC. Drove through Cupertino and prayed in the direction of Mecca (aka Apple Corporate Offices on One Infinite Loop). Next day took the scenic route with Art Director, Stylist, and Nauseous, Car Sick Model. Check into hotel and find I have the best view in the world which I find quite fitting for me
