As you might expect, here at Porter’s we get asked a lot of questions by our customers. Some by mail, many more by phone, e-mail, in person at our stores and from links in our Online Store, www.porters.com. Here are some typical ones we’ve received recently.

Q. I have a Canon EF 70-300mm zoom lens that I bought years ago for my Rebel 35mm camera. I now shoot mostly with a Canon Digital Rebel XT camera. Can I use this lens on the digital camera?
A. Yes, indeed. You will not loose any functionality, the autofocus and auto-exposure modes will all stick work properly. Due to the sensor in the digital camera being smaller than the film size in the 35mm Rebel, the lens will gain 1.6X more magnifying power, so it will be equal to a 112-480mm on a 35mm camera.

Q. I have a Minolta Maxxum 35mm film camera outfit that is about 15 years old. I understand the new Sony Alpha digital SLR uses Maxxum accessories. Will my Maxxum flash and lenses work on it?
A. Your lenses will work fine, but the flash is a little more questionable. Camera makers, Minolta in particular, frequently changed the flash features with new camera generations. While the Sony Alpha A100 will be fully compatible with one of the last Konica Minolta Maxxum flashes, it is safe to assume an old flash may not couple to the auto-exposure system in the camera or provide the autofocus assist light. If you purchase the Sony, try your flash and see how it works…maybe you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Q. Can I use a lens for my new digital SLR on my old 35mm manual-focus SLR from the same maker?
A. It depends. Canon and Minolta changed lens mounting styles completely when they introduced their 35mm autofocus camera systems. Lenses for Canon and Minolta Maxxum (now Sony Alpha) digital cameras will work on autofocus film cameras, but not from the manual-focus cameras since the mounting style is completely different. Nikon and Pentax continued with the same mounting style when they introduced 35mm autofocus cameras, then later digital SLRs.

Lenses designed specifically for digital cameras may not fully cover the format of 35mm film, since nearly all digital sensors are smaller than the 24x36mm dimensions of 35mm film. Also, new lenses usually don’t have a mechanical aperture ring that older 35mm cameras require. In summary, some new lenses will work on older cameras, but many will not, it depends on the specific combination involved.

Q. Can RAW files from my digital SLR be downloaded to a portable hard drive?
A. Yes, a hard drive will accept files of any type.

Q. I am interested in setting up a simple studio lighting outfit and using my digital SLR. What is better, flash, quartz lights or fluorescent lights?
A. It depends on your subject matter. If you are photographing stationary objects for still life shots or for E-bay auction pictures, a continuous light source such as quartz, photoflood or fluorescent lighting works fine. You may have to use a fairly slow shutter speed, but if you have your camera on a tripod that is no problem since neither your camera or subject is moving. Use a manual white balance setting on your camera to match the color accurately. Quartz and tungsten photoflood lamps generate plenty of heat and if you are using several lights, you may need to plug them into separate electrical circuits so you don’t blow a circuit breaker. Fluorescent lights generate much less heat than quartz and tungsten lights and don’t draw as much electricity, but they don’t have as much light output, either.

But if you are shooting portraits or other photos of active subjects, or if you need plenty of light without much heat, studio flash is the way to go. The duration of a pop from studio flash is in the neighborhood of 1/500^th second, so it will freeze nearly all motion. Studio flashes have small continuous lamps called modeling lights that give enough light so you can preview the effect and see how shadows, highlights and reflections will fall on your subject.

Q. What does a flash bracket do? How do I use it with my digital SLR camera?
A. A flash bracket makes it more comfortable to carry a large flash connected to your camera. It gives you a better gripping surface and improves the balance, too. Most brackets have some way to flip the flash or camera, so the flash stays above the lens when shooting both horizontally and vertically. This helps drop the shadow created from the flash downward behind the subject and improves the appearance.

When the flash is on the camera’s hot shoe, the electrical contacts in the shoe couple the flash and camera’s triggering, auto-exposure and other circuits. This coupling is lost when the flash is moved onto a bracket. There are two ways to restore this connection. Some cameras have TTL wireless flash exposure, so the pop-up flash in the camera will fire the larger bracket-mounted flash and maintain full auto coupling. The other way is to use a dedicated flash cord made by camera makers and by PRO. One end of this cord slips onto the camera’s hot shoe, the other onto the foot of the flash and into the shoe on the bracket. It maintains full electronic coupling between the camera and flash.  

Q. Will a studio flash couple to the automatic features of my SLR camera?
A. No, it won’t. Studio flash lighting is designed to do many things, such as provide consistent output shot after shot, recycle quickly between shots, allow the power to be controlled to get the right exposure and combine a modeling light with the flash tube so you’ll be able to judge the lighting pattern before you shoot. It does not couple to auto-exposure system in any camera, so you’ll need to set the camera on full manual mode. While you can do some test shooting with a D-SLR camera and determine the exposure by viewing the test shots on the LCD, it will be quicker and more accurate to use a flash meter. To fire the studio flash, use your camera’s pop-up flash to fire the slave-equipped studio flashes, use an Interfit IR Flash Trigger (170095) or use a Hot Shoe Adapter (130022) for the PC cord if your camera lacks a PC cord terminal.

Q. I have a lot of old family videos on VHS tape. Is it going to be possible to buy a VHS tape player in the future so I can watch these videos?
A. Play it safe and assume VHS VCRs will go to the great beyond like Super 8 movies, 8-track tape players, LP records and other outdated forms of home entertainment. It’s best to have your VHS tapes copied over to DVDs. They will then be in a digital format and there will not be any further quality loss if at some point in the future, DVDs are replaced by some other electronic media and these memories need to be copied again.

For more questions and answers on a variety of photo topics, visit www.porters.com and click on “FAQs” under the Resources tab.

We Have A Winner!

Congratulations to Hector Contreras for winning the Porter’s/Tamron November 2007 Monthly Calendar Photo Contest! Hector’s winning entry in the “Surreal & Fantasy” category is ready for downloading as a 2007 monthly calendar at www.porters.com.

Visit our web site and check out the monthly themes for the rest of this year and send us your best shots!