"You think my methods are unsound?"

"I don't see any methods here."

Methods and madness

Everything on this site should be taken with a grain of salt.

1. I am not a professional photographer. I do not depend on photographic gear for my livelihood. I do not write equipment off my taxes. If something breaks when I am on a shoot, I put it in a shoebox and we go out for beers. If we are abroad, I find the nearest pawnshop and buy another camera. This is how I bought my Hexar AF.

2. I do not write about equipment I have never owned. Nothing is worse than a piece of internet speculation that bounces around so much that people start thinking it is "common knowledge." You can generally ask me questions about this stuff, and I can generally answer them. That is, of course, unless the answer requires me to disassemble or break something to find out.

3. The information on this site is true to the best of my knowledge. If you have better information, feel free to send your comments (identifying the page in question).

4. Most of my photographs are black-and-white portraits and landscapes. I do not take very many color photographs, and I have taken virtually no color landscape or nature photographs in the 17 years I have been taking pictures with "real" cameras. So keep that in mind if your goal is to shoot a lot of color. After all, for what I can tell you about the difference between a Synchro-Compux MX and a Compur Rapid-X, I don't know the difference between Astia, Provia and Velveeta.

5. Most equipment described here has ben tested by going around and shooting pictures with it. I don't own an MTF testing machine, but I do own a 6x9 enlarger with a glass carrier, a set of top-flight enlarging lenses, a good film scanner, a good flatbed, and a 15x loupe. This is enough to arbitrate relative performance in any real-world situation.

So have fun, and remember — if you don't like what you read, I'll be happy to refund what you paid for the information.

DAST