Hi--

>>Not very, if the exposure times are short or long - it is the 1/4
>>to 1/15th or so shutter speeds that are the most troublesome.
>>More important for me is the linear distortion present in virtually
>>all viewfinders except the Nikon "F" series (F, F2, F3, F4), which
>>makes accurate placement of copy materials difficult (though an
>>"E" screen, with cross-lines, can help). Except for flash work,
>>an F3 may be the best multi-purpose camera (and the ability to fit
>>a waist-level viewfinder in place of the prism finder is useful in
>>copy work). If modern fill-ratio TTL flash (with higher speed films)
>>is also important, it looks like the F4......
>>Hope This Helps

>Bob, it's a great help, thanks! I assume by linear distortion you mean the
>film plane and the copy plane are not parallel. Some people say they
>"eyeball" the setup for parallelism (from tripods for example), while I was
>wondering if a copy stand would be any advantage? How do the Nikon "F"
>series control this distortion vs other cameras?

No, linear distortion refers to the rendering of straight lines off-center
as curved lines - virtually all camera VF's do that. If the VF can render
straight lines straight (that aren't curved by the lens....), the right-angle subject line intersections are right-angles in the VF, and
opposite edges of the copied material are straight parallel lines when
parallelism is achieved - easy to see in a good VF, hard in most.
A copy stand simplifies holding and adjusting the camera, but doesn't
guarantee good alignment.

>Right now I do not have a feel for shutter speed at what I've been told the
>best for 50-60mm macros of f8. This would be with a dual light setup of
>say 100/150w lamps. If the 1/4 to 1/15th sec region would be invaded then
>a mirror lockup would be advisable or a different lighting scheme used.

Yes. You can use apertures down to f16, and up to about f5.6 (assuming
flat subject and good parallelism with film) for excellent sharpness.
Changing the film speed, light wattage, light distance, number of lights, aperture, ND lens filtering can help adjust(watch out for color shifts in color film at slow speeds).

>What about Minoltas for mirror lockup and copy work? Do the si or xi
>series incorporate it?

I don't know, but the VF's probably have problems.

>Thanks again for your help, Tom.
>Tom Holmdahl
>46 Siwash Creek
>Tonasket, WA 98855
>(509) 486-4925
>(tholmdal@halcyon.com)

You're welcome!