Photo FAQs and Documents

Note: If you get garbage when you try to read the compressed files, your browser is probably not capable of uncompressing "on the fly". Then you can try this page instead. It has links to the uncompressed original files at moink and relay when the files are not stored uncompressed locally. This page is also useful if you have slow lines to Sweden.

HTML-indexes to relay.cs.toronto.edu is also available. (moink.nmsu.edu is not available any more)

Index

• FAQs -- Files with Frequently Asked Questions and answers that are periodically updated and distributed to the rec.photo.* groups etc.
• Cameras -- Info, tests and press releases about different cameras.
• Darkroom -- Chemistry and printing.
• Experiments -- Suggestions for fun/interesting/educational things to do with your camera/darkroom etc.
• Film -- Various film info.
• Filters -- Various tables and data on filters.
• Formulas -- Various mathematical formulae and technical explanations for stuff. This may well become more general, and include miscellaneous technical discussions.
• Lens testing -- Tests of lenses and how to do it.
• Organisations -- Various forms and publications from photo organisations.
• Photo CD -- Info and press releases about the Kodak Photo CD.
• Software -- Useful photographic programs, source code or binaries.
• Techniques -- Useful tricks and tips to use when photographing.
• Weddings -- Questions concerning weddings.
• Zone system -- Technical notes on what it is and how to use it, and variations on it. This may include 'zone systems' for color work and so on.
• Misc Files -- Files not related to any of the headers above.

FAQs

• Charters and guidelines for rec.photo groups.
• Where do I find the FAQs? - Weekly Posting to rec.photo.*.
• rec.photo FAQ and answers (also available as text)
• Guide to rec.photo faqs and other www resources for photography.
• Photographic Lenses FAQ (also available as text)
• Photographic Lenses Tutorial (also available as text)
• FAQ for rec.photo.equipment.large-format.
• List of photographic mailing lists.
• Getting Started with Digital Imaging - FAQ
• FAQ on Polarizers and UV Filters (also available as plain text). (Original site: here and plain text).
• Mounting/Framing FAQ
• Iskandar's Roll Film Size FAQ.
• Stock Photography FAQ (see also another FAQ about Stock Photography.
• Infra-Red Photography FAQ.
• The Alternative Photographic Process FAQ
• Flash FAQ
• Top 10 Questions About Camera Products - Olympus Camera FAQ (answered by Olympus Customer Service).
• AF Camera FAQ-- Which AF camera should I buy as my first camera?
• Minolta FAQ (Original site)
• Nikkor lens FAQ
• Nikon FAQ (latest version here) by Bo-Ming Tong.
• Olympus OM SLR FAQ
• Olympus XA-series FAQ
• Pentax FAQ (or plain text) and Pentax' own FAQ.
• The Graflex Speed Graphic FAQ
• FAQ concerning Russian and Ukrainian cameras (former Kiev FAQ)
• The Basic Darkroom FAQ
• Camera Repair Resource Guide
• The Modeling Profession FAQ

Cameras

• Alpa
  • ALPA Resources
  • ALPA of Switzerland
• Bender
  • Bender Photographic, Inc.
  • Bender View Camera Semi-FAQ from Geoff Allen. (Bender Camera or bender-camera.gz.)
• Canon (see also Canon 35mm Cameras)
  • Canon FD FAQ ( plain text)
  • Canon EOS FAQ (ver 3.0)
    • How to get the "Canon EOS FAQ" FAQ
    • faq23.readme.gz
    • faq23data.gz
    • faq23text.gz
    • faq23update.gz
    • Canon EOS FAQ 2.4 - Table of Contents
    • Canon EOS FAQ update to v2.5
  • Differences between EOS in the US and international.
  • Canon EOS 500
  • Canon Speedlite 380EX
  • EOS-lens-list.gz
  • EOS-lens-tests.gz
  • speedlites-hints.gz
  • Canon photo equipment.
  • Press releases
    • Accessories
      • eosacs.txt.gz
      • pma95.gz
    • Bodies
      • dcs3.gz
      • eos-a2-a2e-basic.gz
      • eos-a2.gz
      • eos-ef-m.gz
      • eos-elan.gz
      • eos-rebel-x-xs.gz
      • eos-rebel.gz
      • eos-rt.gz
      • eos1.gz
      • Tech Specs on Canon EOS-1n RS
      • eos10s.gz
      • eos1n-detail.gz
      • eos1n.gz
      • eos1rs.gz
      • eos620.gz
      • eos650.gz
      • eos700.gz
      • ELAN IIe
      • eye-controlled-focus.gz
    • Flashes
      • 480eg.txt.gz
      • 540ez.gz
    • Lenses (See also Canon 35mm Lenses and the list of Canon photo equipment.)
      • EF100-300_4.5-5.6_USM.gz
      • EF100_2_USM.gz
      • EF1200_5.6L_USM.gz
      • EF14_2.8L_USM.gz
      • EF15_2.8,28_2.8,135_2.8.gz
      • EF200_2.8L_USM.gz
      • EF28-105_3.5-4.5_USM.gz
      • EF28-70_2.8L_USM.gz
      • EF28-80_2.8-4L_USM.gz
      • EF28-80_3.5-5.6_II_USM.gz
      • EF28-80_3.5-5.6_USM.gz
      • EF300_2.8L_USM,EF2X.gz
      • EF300_4L_USM.gz
      • EF35-105,70-210,100-300.gz
      • EF35-105_4.5-5.6.gz
      • EF35-135_4.0-5.6_USM.gz
      • EF35-350_3.5-5.6L_USM.gz
      • EF35-70,28-70_3.5-4.5.gz
      • EF35-80_4.0-5.6_II.gz
      • EF400_2.8L_USM.gz
      • EF50_1.0L_USM.gz
      • EF70-210_3.5-4.5_USM.gz
      • EF75-300_4.0-5.6.gz
      • EF80-200_2.8L.gz
      • EF85_1.2L_USM.gz
      • New_EF_Lens_System.gz
      • TS-E_Lenses.gz
• canonet-ql17-faq.gz
• Graflex.Org with the The Graflex Speed Graphic FAQ
• Kiev
  • FAQ concerning Russian and Ukrainian cameras (former Kiev FAQ)
  • Kiev Report home page.
• Leica
  • Leica's Cameras.
  • Leica M photography
  • Leica Historical Society of America.
• Lomo
  • The Lomographic Society
• Mamiya
  • Mamiya TLR camera's
• Minolta See also the Minolta Users Group.
  • Minolta FAQ (Original site)
  • History About Minolta Camera Company and History about Minolta.
  • Minolta Autocord
  • Minolta Maxxum 9xi (see also this).
  • Minolta Auto Focus Lens Specifications and Minolta Auto Focus Lens Ratings.
  • AF Telephoto lens rating.
  • AF Telephoto Zoom Lenses.
  • Wide-Angle Lenses.
  • Wide-Angle Zoom Lenses.
  • Comparison of Minolta AF lenses.
  • See also another list of Minolta lenses.
• Minox
  • Minox Subminiature Camera Models List
• Nikon
  • Nikon WWW Links.
  • Nikon FAQ ( from here) by Bo-Ming Tong.
  • Nikon F3 FAQ
  • The Nikon Historical Society.
  • Review of the Nikon N5
  • Summary of the differences between a Nikon N50 and a N6006.
  • A review of Nikon N8008 (F801) and N90 (F90) cameras + MF2
  • Home made Release Cable for N8008
  • AI-conversion.gz
  • nikon-lens-tests.gz
  • nikon-school.gz
  • Review of The Nikon School by Lawrence You.
  • Nikkor lens FAQ
  • Nikon press release on the new digital cameras (September 8, 1994).
• Olympus
  • Olympus Home Page and Olympus America Inc.
  • Olympus OM SLR FAQ
  • Olympus XA-series FAQ
• Pentax
  • Pentax FAQ (or plain text, latest version here) and Pentax' own FAQ.
  • Reviews on Pentax PZ1p
  • Tests of lenses available for Pentax. (original site)
  • See also the index by Rui Pedro Mendes Salgueiro.
• Polaroid
  • Polaroid Company.
  • The Land List -- A Quick Guide to Polaroid Land Cameras.
• Kodak Retina
• A review of the Tachihara 4x5/5x7 field camera
• Zeiss
  • Zeiss Historical Society
  • Zeiss Ikon 35mm
  • Zeiss Ikon 120 rollfilm
• Home built
  • Jon Grepstad builds large format cameras.
• Submini Camera Lists

Darkroom

• The Basic Darkroom FAQ
• Scott's Film Processing Quick Reference Guide.
• Gum dichromate waste disposal.
• Prints from B&W slides.
• Pushing slide film
• The Alternative Photographic Process FAQ
• Non-Silver photography with alternative Processes.
• A Short List of Historical Processes by Glenn Cannon.
• Printing - A guide to the art of printing.
• Making your own sheet film development tubes.
• Chemistry See also Imsworld.
  • Film Developing Instructions.
  • Material Safety Data Sheets.
  • A FAQ on Film+Developer Combinations (originally from here)
  • Shopping for photochemicals at the grocery store.
  • POTA-developer.gz
  • bw.slides.gz
  • chemistry-disposal.gz
  • chemistry-hazards.gz
  • Chrome Brew - making your own E-6 from raw chemicals by Derek Watkins.
  • e4film-in-e6chem.gz
  • e6-processing.gz
  • E-6 Developing
  • C-41 Chemistry and how to develop in C-41.
  • KODALITH developing.
  • fixer-testing.gz
  • hypo-clear-formula.gz
  • hypo-clear-info.gz
• Printing
  • colour_enlarger.gz
  • determining_paper_grade.gz
  • Article on assessing developing times.

Experiments

• ex1.gz: Photographing blindfolded.
• ex2.gz: Printing with liquid emulsion on eggshell.

Film

• About choosing film format.
• Advanced Photo System (press releases from Kodak)
• Advanced Photo System (APS)
• APS info from Minolta.
• Iskandar's Roll Film Size FAQ.
• Films data chart
• The Bulk Loading FAQ
• Why do negatives need an orange mask?
• Fuji Sensia Test
• Article on assessing film speed.
• Adam's Photography Pages

Filters

• FAQ on Polarizers and UV Filters (also available as plain text). (Original site: here and plain text).
• Filters - a brief tutorial
• decamired-to-wrattan.gz
• filter-data.gz
• Quick Reference to Photographic Filters (or filter-info-general.gz)

Formulas

• Depth-of-Field Calculator in JavaScript language.
• Depth of Field Calculation and DOF On-Line Plotter by Nicholas V. Sushkin.
• dof.data.gz
• A Limited Look at the Math of DoF.

Lens testing

• Photographic Lenses FAQ (also available as text)
• Photographic Lenses Tutorial (also available as text)
• Lens-Reviews
• Lens Ratings by Grover Larkins.
• Ratings of AF lenses.
• Lens Ratings.
• New Canon EOS EF series lens specifications.
• EOS-lens-tests.gz
• Canon photo equipment with tests of Canon, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, and Angenieux Lenses.
• Chasseur d'Images tests of Leica lenses
• Large-Format Lens Specifications.
• Minolta Maxxum Series Lenses
• See also another list of Minolta lenses.
• nikon-lens-tests.gz
• Nikkor lens FAQ
• Nikon and Sigma lens tests.
• Review of Tamron 200-400
• USAF-1951 lens resolution test chart (description).
• Lens Resolution Chart
• testchart-1.ps.gz
• testchart-2.ps.gz
• zuiko-lens-reviews.gz
• Tests of lenses available for Pentax. (original site)

Organisations

• asmp-application-form.gz
• asmp-info.gz

Photo CD

• photo_cd_intro.gz
• Press releases from Kodak about this product.
  • agt.txt.photocd.gz
  • apple.txt.photocd.gz
  • background.txt.photocd.gz
  • catalog.txt.photocd.gz
  • educom.txt.photocd.gz
  • hl.txt.photocd.gz
  • kpx.txt.photocd.gz
  • lead.txt.photocd.gz
  • library.txt.photocd.gz
  • medical.txt.photocd.gz
  • milestones.txt.photocd.gz
  • portfolio.txt.photocd.gz
  • propcd.txt.photocd.gz
  • propiw.txt.photocd.gz
  • quote.txt.photocd.gz
  • ship.txt.photocd.gz
  • software.txt.photocd.gz
  • writeablecd.txt.photocd.gz

Software

• omega3_3.zip
• Announce of short c-program by Eric C. Loyd to compute DOF ranges given the f-stop, the distance to the subject, and the focal length: dof.c, dof.h and dof2.c.

Techniques

• Blue Skies
• Photographing Fireworks
• Lightning Photography by Chuck Doswell.
• How I use 35mm at higher-end weddings ( by Mark Goldberg)
• Soft Focus Effects
• Photographing Wildflowers
• Photographing Middle-Aged Women (or Men)
• Infrared (IR) Photography
• A Guide to Nature Photography by Bob Atkins.
• Adam's Photography Pages

Weddings

• PhotoForum FAQ
• Wedding Photography Guide and FAQ, ver. 2.5 by Mark Goldberg (or wedding-faq2.1.gz)
• How I use 35\ mm at higher-end weddings ( by Mark Goldberg) (or shooting_weddings.gz)

Zone system

• film-speed.gz
• intro.gz

Misc files

• The evolution of formalism and where do we go from here by Gary Weinheimer.
• Is photography a language? by J. David Sapir.
• The Alternative Photographic Process FAQ
• WJ's homepage with links to Infrared (IR) photography.
• Metering - Retro Grouch's Guide To
• Results of the survey: To Photograph or not to Photograph
• Review of The Nikon School by Lawrence You.
• Digital vs. Photography
• A note on f-stop
• Tripod Stability
• Camera shake on a tripod.
• A Simple Theory on Handholdability
• Manfrotto <---> Bogen List
• Bogen to Manfrotto conversation list
• Introduction to Photography by David Barnes (also available as non-hyper text).
• Some other Photography Tutorials by Sam Grech.
• The Science of Photography - an Introduction for non-Scientists by Christopher Hicks.
• Photographic Equipment/Video Mail Order Company Survey (Oct 31 1994) -- Survey of mail order photo equimpent retail houses (NYC shops, Adorama, B&H etc..) (See also moink).
• asmp-copyright-guide.gz -- the American Society of Media Photographers guide to Copyrights.
• asmp-copyright-TeX.tar.gz -- compressed tar file containing a LaTeX versioon of the ASMP Copyright guide, and a PostScript version.
• camera-feature-list.gz -- the most recent copy of the Camera Feature list maintained by Glen Porter that I have available.
• feature-list-TeX.tar.gz -- Compressed tar file of the above feature list, broken up by camera maufacturer, formatted with LaTeX, and a PostScript version of same.
• photo-addresses.gz -- a list of addresses of photographic companies.
• DX-codes.gz (or relay: "dx_codes.gz")
• Basic photography for the public school classroom (using the pinhole camera).
• Re-loading Fuji & Kodak Disposables
• bender-camera.gz
• Manual flash - FYI
• Metz 32 MZ-3/SCA3101 as an alternative to Canon 430EZ by Bo-Ming Tong.
• polaroid-transfer-prints.gz
• Model Releases
  • An example of a Model Release Form (postscript) by Lars Michael.
  • sample-model-release.gz
  • sample-model-release2.gz
  • model-release.txt
  • Model release from Darrell Larose.
• binoc-faq.gz
• binoc-opinions.gz