Quote from sgt.flippy :

but you're right

Nah. There are cars over here in Blighty with the wipers on the wrong way round (Renault Clios spring to mind) - the wipers are set for left hand drive, but in Britain it's the front passenger who gets the nice big sweep of the left-mounted wipers. So it's not unknown for the wipers to be the wrong way round when the steering wheel moves.

Quote from Ian.H :

pinchin the odd bird or 2's arse.

I bet you're a real hit with the classy ladies.

Nonetheless, I agree with you about the social networking craze. Can't stand that crap. However, i can't understand everyone else either why it's such a big issue that there's now a few little icons there, whether they are at the bottom of the page or not. I suppose it does become an "epic fail" worth protesting loudly about if anything slows you down as you march past 14,000 posts. After all, that's much easier than getting some perspective on the issue...

Redundant now that you've chosen one, but another vote for the Samsung 501s here. I use a pair of them in my Synology DS207, and they're mighty quiet and cool.

He means an electrical switch.

Quote from SamH :

the condition of the track that made it possible is a disgrace.

True.

I like how every year, Bernie starts bleating to the press about how he's going to take the British GP away from Silverstone next year because their garage doors aren't shiny enough.

And yet at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, although it's a superb track, it's literally falling apart, and yet it's fine by Bernie.

Quote from SamH :

There aren't many full-frame digitals out there.. certainly none within reach of an amateur like me. Medium format digital backs are £25K or more, but they do exist. Nikon and Canon (who I'd consider to be the market leaders, in the sense that where they go the market follows) have invested a lot more effort into the smaller-frame CCD, with whole lens ranges. I'm hesitant to assume that they're doing that with the intention of moving full-frame later.

I think Nikon, at least, are going to stick with the smaller CCD. I don't necessarily think it's the best choice, because of lens resolution (despite an evident move towards some very clever aspherical extra-low dispersion glass) but I think they've made a decision that they'll stick with.

True, there are few full frame digitals, but it's where the market is headed. At the moment it's the preserve of camera bodies aimed squarely at working pros, although soon Sony will be adding to the line-up with their own full frame camera (which they're refusing to call a "pro" camera, hinting that they're leaving space for an even higher end camera body in the future), and it's often suspected that the next generation 40D/A700 will be full-frame.

I expect the APS-C sensor to be the preserve of low-end camera bodies for a while yet, where the number one issue is cost. The advantage of APS-C is the lenses require less glass making them smaller, lighter, and cheaper. Lens resolution isn't really an issue - I think the Carl Zeiss 16-80 outresolves even the 12MP of the A700. Changing to full frame only makes even more demands of the lens, especially when the pixel density barely changes from APS-C sensors (as is the case with Sony's forthcoming 25MP full-frame flagship camera).

Quote from SamH :

@ STROBE, those embankment/Thames photos are fantastic! What's noise like with that A700? Did you need to do any cleaning up?

Thanks - the noise on the A700 is pretty good. Those Thames shots were taken at a mixture of ISO 800 and 1600. Obviously a lot of the noise is lost when downsized for the web, but they're not too bad at 100%. The main problem is that the A700 performs on-chip noise reduction at ISO1600 and above, which Lightroom can't handle and starts to make a mess of the images. It's an Adobe issue in that LR/ACR doesn't perform the correct procedures on A700 high iso files, but not one they acknowledge or are willing to fix. Fortunately I rarely shoot at 1600 or above, and on the occasions when I do need maximum quality, I can always use the Sony RAW converter which does a pretty damn good job in terms of image quality (but has a terrible interface).

Those bird shots are impressive, a million times more so when I remembered that they were MF! I can only do MF with macro, I'm useless at it on more distant subjects.

Quote from SamH :

What's the disadvantage of DX lenses, then? I figured it was a "for-digital" designation.. is it more of a "for consumers" lens?

DX lenses are just those that are designed for an APS-C sensor - nowt to do with "consumer", "pro" labelling, etc. One of the appealling features of the Nikkor lens range, imho, is that they don't need to differentiate between different "grades" of lens (Canon L, Sony G or CZ, etc), they just let the glass do the talking. There are more advantages to APS-C lenses than disadvantages, if you're using a camera with an APS-C sensor. The downside is that if the lens is quite an investment, it may become useless in future when full frame becomes the standard.

Quote from jayhawk :

Plus, yes, you are correct, the DX line is for the average user, a good lens for all around uses.

As I explained above, it has bugger all to do with lens grade, it's simply that the image circle is designed for an APS-C sensor. It wouldn't be at all surprised if there are some DX lenses which outperform their Nikkor full-frame alternatives.

Quote from Becky Rose :

Aren't exhaust fumes carbonmonoxide not carbondioxide?

No - cars with catalytic converters mostly emit carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

Quote from Becky Rose :

Did you know that nature turns all that CO2 back to O again during daylight hours ? :P

No - mainly because it doesn't.

Do let us know how it works out. It'll be quite interesting. It's a beautiful day today, and I drove to work with all the windows down and the warm fresh air blowing through the car. I would've gladly cycled or walked to work today if (a) I had anywhere to keep my bike at the flat, and (b) I didn't have an injured knee.

But come the winter and the cold, frosty, windy dark mornings and evenings, and I'd never consider anything other than the car.

So I'll be interested whether you can keep the no-car thing going after the summer too.

Quote from DevilDare :

Or am i missing something?

Yes. The fact that as head of FIA, Mosley meets and liases with heads of governments and corporations around the world, and it's now (allegedly) known that he has kinky sex with five prostitutes with Nazi overtones. Oh, and he's the son of a Nazi.

I just really hope the various motoring organisations aren't simply bluffing.

As threatened, here's some pics from Kew Gardens. Less than I thought I had worth sharing tbh, so I've added some taken that night, too.

#1

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/320s, f/2.8


#2 The lake and fountain in front of the palm house at Kew.

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/1000s, f/2.8


#3 The palm house itself.

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/200s, f/8


#4 A water lilly.

A700, Minolta 50mm, 1/3200s, f/2.2


Well that's quite enough flower & nature pictures for now. Later that night, I was strolling around the Embankment and the South Bank. Well, I say "strolling" - what I actually mean was battling with a gale force wind blowing down the Thames, which makes me all the more pleased with the following photos as they were all handheld in a strong wind, and you can see below each one what the shutter speed was.


#5 The Embankment.

A700, Sony 18-70 @ 18mm, 1/6s, f/4


#6 Charing Cross station and Hungerford Bridge.

A700, Sony 18-70 @ 35mm, 1/3s, f/5.6


#7 I don't believe this one really needs any explanation...

A700, Sony 18-70 @ 30mm, 1/2s, f/5


Looking back through these pics makes me all miserable now - had such a nice time in London that I didn't want to come home, especially since the new neighbours in the flat upstairs are doing an admirable job of proving how little sound insulation there is.

Last edited by STROBE, Mon, 2 Jun 2008 23:55.

Quote from SamH :

Here's a question for everyone.. if I take a photo, I feel okay about adjusting the saturation, exposure, contrast, brightness, white balance etc. I even feel okay about sharpening up the images, when I'm resampling down, just to prod up/maintain the impact of a photo.. but there often comes a point when I'm touching up, where I feel like I've begun to cheat.. where it's no longer the photo that I took, and it's become a photoshop production and no longer anything relating to the thing I achieved with the camera itself.

Since we're all in the digital age, now, and we're not only responsible for taking the photo these days, but also for what happens in the darkroom.. my question is, how far do you go before you feel like you're cheating? How far do YOU go before you start backtracking/hitting undo? Do you use NeatImage to get rid of grain? Do you add vignettes, or burn areas of your image? What's the limit of acceptability before you've broken the thing you've made?

Good question - one I've often pondered myself. Usually when I see forums with people posting pictures (much like this one) it's not too long before someone posts an image that gets people cooing about how good it looks, but I'll sit there and think, "hmm, that's not really a photo anymore, it's just a jpeg that once started life as a photograph". I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to photo manipulation. I really can't stand HDR, it looks so fake - 99% of the time a much better photo could have been taken by using an ND grad filter.

Things like tweaking contrast, saturation, colour balance, slight cropping, sharpening, etc, are all ok in my book. After all there's a hell of a lot of this going on inside a digital camera regardless of whether we tweak the images in such a way afterwards. Dodging and burning is of course a valid technique from the days of film, but now that it's so easy I'm always reluctant to do it myself. Rather than darkening a specific part of the image I always ask myself whether I should've taken a better photo with better lighting/composition/exposure in the first place - no excuses not to on digital. Noise reduction is fair game too, imho. Film grain could be aesthetically pleasing, but rarely can the same be said for digital high ISO noise.

I think it depends on what you're trying to create as well. If you're aiming to produce an arty shot of a certain style or ambience then a fair bit of PP is fair game. I don't do much of that personally, and I aim for my photos to be interesting but realistic representations of how a scene/object/person looked.

So some lad who can do a bit of acrobatics and is a decidedly average breakdancer wins a national talent contest simply because he dances under a giant shower, while other acts (like that modern string quartet) that are actually talented get nowt?

Riiiiiiiiight.

Nice one, great british public. F***tards.

Lucky you. For contrast, here's a shot out of my living room window.

Lovely panorama Sam - is that kind of scenery what you live amongst? I've never mastered panoramas myself - only really tried a couple of times but they never seen to join up properly.

@ mrodgers - nice PP. I don't think the "busyness" of the line of trees is too bad, although maybe shallower DoF would have been more complementary to the image, with the focus on the tractor.

Quote from Fordman :

...don't call them SubaGlue's for nothing

I don't - these days I call them ChavWagons.

Quote from Speedy Pro :

Since you were able to use the Tammy on whatever you had previously, I take it you had another Sony/Minolta? Or does the Sony system accept other mounts?

Previously I had a Sony A100 (still do in fact, although it'll be going on fleabay soon to help finance the A700 & grip). Sony mount = Minolta mount. They're one and the same. (And no, you can't use other mounts lenses, with the exception of converters for things such as the ubiquitous M42).

Thanks Speedy. Yes, A700 is the Sony Alpha 700. Absolutely cracking camera - most comfortable, fast and intuitive thing I've ever held. And I've only had it a week!

The Tamron 90mm macro I've had a little longer - it's full frame, with full 1:1 reproduction ratio at closest focus. Bit slow to focus but otherwise great, and brilliant value for money.

(EDIT) Lovely pics Tweak - what lens were you using? The pics all look sharp and shallow, so I'm guessing it's something fast and fast-focussing. Either that or you're a whiz at manual pre-focussing.

Quote from mcintyrej :

I got it for £75 brand new at my local shop. One of the best prices around, even beats most on the net and definately beats Jessops £130.

Nice. I'm still hurting from the cost of the battery grip for my A700. It set me back £179, which is the cheapest I've seen it from any reputable retailer.

Lovely shots of the Beemer - especially the first one. Nice look you've achieved with whatever tweaks you've done to it in PP, too.

CBA to go to the gym tonight, so here's some shots from my trip to London instead.

First, on the evening we arriving, a wander round Hyde Park which was a stone's throw from the hotel. It was generally cloudy but a break in the cover allowed a lovely warm light through.

#1

A700, Minolta 24mm, 1/320, f/8


#2 From the bottom of the Serpentine as the light began to dim slightly...

A700, Minolta 24mm, 1/320, f/8


#3 At Chelsea Flower Show the following day, I swapped the 24mm for the lovely Tamron 90mm to get up close and to the details of the flowers and scenes laid out. I'm no gardener, so don't expect me to caption these, they're just plants to me...

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/1000, f/2.8


#4

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/200, f/4


#5

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/640, f/8


#6

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/200, f/2.8


#7

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/160, f/2.8


#8

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/250, f/2.8


#9

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/125, f/4, with flash


#10

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/125, f/7.1, with flash


#11 A reflection in a water feature. Please ignore my flashgun spoiling the reflection.

A700, Minolta 24mm, 1/160, f/13


#12

A700, Minolta 24mm, 1/1000, f/2.8


#13 This is the tribute garden to George Harrison. Could barely get near the damn thing, the crowds were two or three deep all the way round.

A700, Minolta 24mm, 1/400, f/6.3


#14 A quick snap of the Royal Hospital, whose grounds are used to host the flower show.

A700, Minolta 24mm, 1/400, f/8


#15 Back to the Tamron 90...

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/100, f/2.8


#16

A700, Tamron 90mm, 1/40, f/4

Later this week, I can also bore you all with pictures of Kew Gardens, the South Bank at night, and various other touristy stuff.

Quote from SamH :

A vertical grip is a must, for sure. I've been well blessed, both the F4s and the D1x come with vertical grip/release, and it does make a colossal difference to your psyche.. you automatically rotate the camera (even though I didn't in the first pic, I know! ) when composing a shot, if it suits.. no contortion necessary.

You're absolutely right. Bought a battery grip this weekend while I was in London, got back and found half my photos are potrait orientation without me even realising it. So much more comfortable to hold the camera, more steady and balances a longer lens well too. Now I just know that when I remove it because I want to travel light, the camera will feel all wrong.

Will get some London and Chelsea Flower Show pics posted by the weekend hopefully.

RacerX, I think everyone* pretty much figured this out back in 2003 when they invaded and immediately started building permanent military bases while all the cameras were focussed on toppling Saddam statues. Y'know, cos you need lots of permanent huge military bases to find some WMDs.

[size]* Everyone with the exception of rednecks, Republicans, inbreds, Dubya fanboys, and those generally who believe the US can do no wrong and is always right and that its' government is always honest and just and not at all evil.[/size]

Quote from the_angry_angel :

and I'm sure I'd be "pleased" if I was held up by someone doing that in the UK...

Held up? Just drop it into second or third (depending on your gearing), floor it and swerve near him, with hilarious consequences.

Although, even though it's wrong, it's an impressive wheely.

Quote from SamH :

A vertical grip is a must, for sure. I've been well blessed, both the F4s and the D1x come with vertical grip/release, and it does make a colossal difference to your psyche..

Yeah, the D1X is a handy shape... I prefer my grips to be removeable though...

Quote from SamH :

You obviously have a lot more confidence than I do.. I can't take people photos, even though I would love to. I'm far too self-conscious.. and I can't bear the thought of people thinking I'm just a belts, buckles and gadgets freak - or a paparazzi-wannabe, perhaps. I've known too many oddball photographers over the years that exude something of a sleazy air, too. Some really strange middle-aged blokes. God forbid anyone regard me like that! LOL!

There's a post on the previous page where I originally posted some pics from a fashion show that I shot, but then removed them as I wasn't sure where I stood with permission to reproduce people's images for non-journalistic/newsworthy purposes (none of them had signed any contract or model release). Nonetheless, I was in front of a crowd at a charity fashion show at my gym, shooting the models. I was desparately challenged by my equipment (my Sony A100 is not designed for shooting moving models with flash in dim light - it's the absolute worst thing you could use it for) and spent more time winding the exposure compensation up and down whilst desparately hunting for focus than actually shooting, and I was up against a pro with a full-frame Canon 5D and 28-300 IS USM, but just got stuck into it. It sounds silly but I probably wouldn't have the balls to stand in front of a crowd and bunch of models normally, were it not for the camera and flashgun. In the end, the images were good enought to sell, simply because I forgot about where I was (and thus any self-consciousness) and immersed myself in the view through the camera.

Nonetheless, the pro with the 5D wanted to go and shoot in the changing rooms.... hmm, I figured I'd just stick to the "catwalk". Another guy there that couldn't stay to shoot the event due to him being double booked with a beauty pageant came across as a complete perv. My experience so far is that being genuinely modest and innocent in your intentions can get you some genuinely beautiful shots in such situations.

Quote from SamH :

Instead, I pursue my other passion most of the time, and hunt out landscapes and architecture. I have a fascination for old buildings that are being gradually reclaimed by nature - I think that developed while reading Ted Hughes poetry, years ago. I drove thousands of miles around the midwest, from Ohio to Iowa, Wisconsin to Missouri, looking for old barns and rusting farm machinery to photograph. The Yorkshire Dales and Cumbria are good locations for that, too

I like landscape and architecture too, but what really intrigues me is urban stuff. Urban decay, waste, dereliction and subsequent vandalisation makes for such interesting photojournals that I've wasted hundreds of hours reading such sites by those who have the balls to go and do such stuff. Needless to say there is little chance of me taking my gear into some areas of my locality without some kind of safety in numbers, or an ASP baton...

That's remarkably professional. Properly composed and arrangedm it seems. Nicely done!

"hotty hot lapper" perhaps needs a less literal translation though.