[Somthing to get your head around . . . ?]

Posted on another site by me, I thought it might be intersting to the members of AN . . . old bones and camera weight are becoming a problem, something that will catch us all up at some time ? . . . :

 

. . . After much deliberation, I finally made the decision, 'back to basics', my photography has to 'fit in with my life', and a heavy oversize camera bag, a body thats not getting any younger, painful shoulders, arms and dodgy knee . . . So how best to go about the change, my style is best described as 'street', something happens, see a photo opportunity as one rounds a corner, I want a camera to hand . . . :| Heavy is not conducive to spontaneous? and thats not even considering the old bones :?

 

When I do go looking for photo opportunities, I like low angle shots, getting 'down and dirty' is not something I can do these days, so a flippy-flappy screen would be nice + light and small? I looked at my recent output, a high percentage were in the standard FL of 18-70mm, this means a standard lens, cheap and light compared with the house brick Nikon 18-200VR I have been using.

 

I also looked at the camera I have been favouring in recent months, a Nikon D40x, originally bought for Hazel as a 'light DSLR'.

 

A lot of trolling through the net, and magazines, pointed towards the new, micro 4/3 systems? Very tempting, got as far as a test shots session at the local camera emporium. Unfortunately, my enthusiasm was thwarted by a lack of flexibility with RAW images, if you are not using Vista/Windows 7 as an operating system on your PC, view Panasonic RAW seems to be a cumbersome affair, IMHO, so, tipping the 'pros and cons balance', for me to far in the wrong direction.

 

My final decision, clear the table, start with a clean sheet, but stay with a devil I now, its hard to break a habit of 20 years. Flippy-flappy screen, medium weight, small'ish size, 18-70mm lens and familiarity . . . all pointed towards the D5000 . . . ? Closer examination shows the D5000 is a D90 inside, and a D40/D60 externaly, so it has the latest technology, but a few more buttons operations are sometimes required, as I had been very happy doing this on the D40x and had shied away from the D90, it did not strike me as a problem :?

 

All that is fine, but there is still the issue of 24/7 camera by ones side, big bag, DSLR hanging round neck etc? Back to basics . . . , one camera/lens, cleaning cloth, spare battery, SD cards . . . thats all one needs! I was in need of a new 'man bag', so; 'man bag', camera in man bag in a small pouch for protection. If one needs a long lens 70-300mm that can be accommodated. I have a new walking-pod with a small ball joint head and fixing plate.

 

All I need for most of the pictures I have taken in the past 12 months, 'have man bag will travel' . . .

Camera D5000, cleaning cloth, spare battery, 2 spare SD cards, polarising filter, pen, paper.

 

As can bee seem, the camera (protective bag) takes almost two thirds of the main bag area, leaving the remainder + all pockets for my everyday detritus. If I confined my personal needs to the pockets only, which even by my standards is plenty of space, the main bag could be used for a long lens + a few bits? . . . or my sandwiches

 

Zipped up, there is no outward sign; 'here be an expensive camera'!

 

The light weight Hikking Monopod + ball head/detachable plate, is going to be a god send. The system is versatile, being modular, camera, extra one or two lenses, or, no camera kit at all! 8-)

 

SW

 

PS, By the way, cost was £12 for the man bag (local market) £24.99 for the KATA mini bag from Warehouse Express, I visited their superb retail section, so helpful with out being pushy, great display of hands on stock. I was also very pleased with the service given by the Colchester branch of London Camera exchange, gave fair trade in prices IMHO, bent over backwards to get the D5000 before the 30th April dead line on £50 cash back, generally a pleasure to do business with.

[Still not letting me do . . . !]

"Can't send email" - what does that actually mean? How are you trying to send emails? What errors are you getting? Etc.?

 

These problems do seem to be exclusive to you, but if you give me a bit more information to go on, I'll see what I can do.

 

 

It would not let me email you from your 'public profile'. I have seen a re register massage recently . . . tend to ignore things like that

 

As far as posting pics is concerned, it does not give me the option to 'past'?

 

Oh well, if I cant, I cant . . .

 

SW

[Still not letting me do . . . !]

Cant send email, still having problems with picture posting . . . ? wont even connect on occasions! Is this to do with an email a few weeks back? Change, re-register etc? Very frustrating . . .

 

SW

[So why not . . . ?]

Any chance you can give me a bit more to go on than "won't let me do it"?

 

 

Does not seem to allow the 'Past' box to appear? I have to say I have just upgraded to Explorer 8 . . . 'Copy from Photobucket/Past pic to site' works fine on other sites . . . ?

 

SW

 

Just tried it again, its now working . . .

 

[So why not . . . ?]

Tried to post pics on 'Photo of day', wont let me do it . . .

 

SW

[New to pole fishing]

And there was me thinking, 'Pole Fishing' . . . . . . a variant on 'Pole Dancing' . . . I'll have a bit of that . . .

[Raw, Photoshop and Canon's]

After getting PS6 I am now using it with my RAW (or CR2) images. Processing those RAW files saves them as DNG files but I've yet to work out how to convert files into jpg's. So if anyone has any pointers or tips then please let me know. In the meantime I'll continue googling to see if I can find the answers..

 

Cheers,

 

Rob.

 

 

PS6? . . . I presume you mean PS Elements v.6, I dont keep up with full PS versions, so there may be a PS6? If it is Ev.6, its probably the same as my Ev.7. I simply open Elements, drag the RAW picture into the 'E window', Elements automatically opens it in a RAW overlay window. Make any adjustments then click the tab in the bottom right that says 'open Image', it automatically opens the picture in Elements, converted to JPG, make any further changes and work as normal.

[Steve or Janet]

Hi, i tried to upload a couple of pics in the Feb comp but i just keep getting January archive. No Feb comp. am i doing some thing wrong or is there a problem.

 

 

Cheers Fred

 

Had the same problem Fred . . . but I ignored it, chose the 'January' option and carried on, as you can see it loaded 3 pics OK, makes up the numbers, have no idea if it registers in Feb comp? . . .

 

Not that it makes much difference, not many looking it appears . . . ? Seems that way which ever sit one looks at at the moment, activity is low . . . perhaps its the weather?

 

SW

[abu 7500 c3]

Bomb proof

Awesome

Becoming collectable (rightly so)

Get one ?, oh yeah

 

A tad heavy for all day use

 

? perhaps . . . ? but only if you are drifting and even then, use a light rod and it compensates . . . I also have a '6500 Rocket' (small version of the 7500) that is the dogs swingers, on braid its fine but might be a bit light on mono line capacity for some, although mine was OK filled with 12lb mono until I swapped to braid? . . . 6500 + an abu 12lb 7'9" Suveran . . . magic!

[abu 7500 c3]

what are peoples views on abu 7500 c3? thanks

 

 

I have had a pair for a few years now . . . nothing on the market I would change them for in the generl purpose, 7000 size

SW

[Photo Of The Day.]

Another scene from the boatyard.

 

 

Janet

 

Is that an HDR Janet?

 

Just looked on FP . . . It is HDR, sorry looks like an over cooked 'un sharp jobie' to me

SW

[Wind Turbines!]

My main concern about the Gabbard and surrounding area as far as the fishing is concerned wasn't so much the bass - I just want to get out there over the next couple of years and have a go for the turbot! I know they're there, it's just a case of tracking them down and fishing for them!

 

The Gabbard is going to go the way of Kentish Knock? . . . has gone? Most fish last season that I saw were single figures, a few doubles, nothing like it was 3 or 4 years ago. One boat I know was putting the single figure 6-8 pounders back! wrong way round but thats how it was back then. Shows the thinking, 'keep big fish' . . .

 

Yes 'Dave B', I do know where you mean . . . Funny you should mention Turbot . . . Have a few thoughts along those lines my self.

 

SW

[Photo Of The Day.]

You see you learn something every day! next you'll be saying sheep can climb trees, now I'm sure I saw that on the Telly!!!

 

Her you go Dan, type 'goats climbing trees' into google, loads of pics there.

 

SW

[Wind Turbines!]

Say goodbye to some of the UK's best bass fishing!

 

Best bass fishing? . . . Mmm, I have been there, and yes its great, there were loads of bass in residence, in a restricted area, on a feeding frenzy. They are getting smaller and fewer according to the catches I've seen and the discussions I've had. Loads of bass, in a small area, sand eel bait . . . there is no mistake with a bass bite . . . frankly its a 'Turkey Shoot in a barrel'!!!! The tackle anglers use, seems heavy to me as a sporting angler, that is. The amount of fish that come of the Gabbard to the same boats, two or three times a week on occasions . . . 'personal consumption'?

 

I have ever been grateful to Steve Coppolo, for showing me the way to drift fish for Bass. Knowledge I have been able to develop over the years to a sporting method, using super light bait casting rods, rated at 40grs! This has led to catching bass consistently, finding bass marks that are truly my own, and last year, trying a couple of new marks, which produced some surprises that need looking into . . .

 

Best bass fishing? . . . 'Good bassing' requires angling skills, reading the sea, tides, bottom contours and presentation, using balanced tackle and sensible harvesting to preserve stocks. Fast boats, fat wallets and over stocked turkey shoots, dont sound like 'best bass fishing' to me, more like 'fish mongers heaven' and a short term view?

 

By the way, close to and double figure bass are great to catch, but they are breeding stock . . . a farmer would never slaughter his healthy breeding heard or flock, they would be a bit on the tough side as well!! . . . Same applies to big bass, dry, tough, dark meat, IMHO. Controversial I suppose, a 3.5 to 5lb fish, white flesh that melts in the mouth. Just dont take a boat full, catch and release, leave some for next weeks session, and growing on. Photograph, measure and return the big'uns, they will more than make up for the eating size fish at breeding time.

 

A personal view, formulated over a number of years bass fishing, watching first hand, the Gabbard being striped and reading the some times over zealous bass lobby . . . remember the hey-day of the Kentish Knock.

 

SW

[Wind Turbines!]

I still wonder if we'll be allowed near wind turbines. If they don't get us with some 'conservation' restriction, I bet they'll find something terrorist-related to keep us away!

 

 

Frankly, if anglers keep up the pressure on the Gabbard bass like it has in recent years, there wont be a problem, there wont be many bass left of any size to make it worth the £100 to £150's worth of fuel at present prices. Heard a program on the radio the other day that was laying it on the line, £1.50 -£2.00 a litre, is only a few (5?) years away. Fuel scarcity is a reality we cannot ignore, do we not understand supply, demand and greed?

 

I have no problem with bass fishing in general, I take my share, but I have seen the bags first hand, and seen the fish get progressively smaller year on year. It happened on the Kentish Knock, I see it going the same way on the Gabbard. Wind farm (restrictions?) and fuel prices may do the bass stocks a favour?

 

SW

[Nikon Software]

For my birthday, my wife has just surprised me with a Nikon D3000. I never usually bother installing bundled camera software because it usually seems like bloatware for marketing online photo printing services. I just stick the card in my card reader or use the USB lead for the camera and access the image files directly. So I've done that, and it works fine, I can get my photos off the camera easily.

 

Is there anything on the bundled software CD that's worth having?

 

Steve, D3000, thats a nice surprise, great camera. As a Nikon man of a few years, and half a dozen bodies. I've never found the supplied software worth much, recently upgraded to a D90, I did look but not worth a light, compared with the Adobe Elements 7/camera RAW that I like. In fact one program I tried a couple of years back, took over the computer making everything on that disk 'default' over all other programs . . . took a few hours to reconfigure too.

 

These days, I appreciate the quality of Nikon cameras and steer clear of their software, my preference is; 'card into the computer card reader', dont like the camera out on the desk just my way

 

SW

[Raw, Photoshop and Canon's]

Hi Rob, I'm very much a green horn at this Elements/RAW thing. Recently . . . 12 months ago, went through hell with my 6 year old computer, crashing, freezing, and generally being a pain just at critical moments . . . bin job!!! Now my nice new 'Dual cored' box of tricks is very happy to accommodate me at break neck speed. I got the computer made to my order from www.easypc-uk.com mail order, Martin Weston is easy to deal with and a gentleman.

 

So now I can run most of what I need, currently Ev.7 with Camera Raw plug-in. Did you followed the saga in FP, of me getting the plug-in to work? In frustration I ordered Ev.8 whilst the saga unfolded . . . Ev.8 arrived Monday, not yet loaded it, v.7 is working so well. You say there is not so much functionality on you Canon RAW, I did not find so much functionality on Elements RAW either . . . however its fine for me as a newbie to RAW, offering the functions in RAW that I used most in Elements as JPG files.

 

SW

[Handheld Marine Radio]

Requirement: use on a dory . . . if the dory is open or open backed, 'water proof and floats' seems essential to me?

 

SW

[Handheld Marine Radio]

I'm after a cheap, but decent enough, handheld radio. Can anyone recommend any models and/or places to buy them?

 

Basically, I've been offered the occasional use of a moored dory, but it doesn't have a radio fitted.

 

 

Here you go Elton, £50 upwards. Personally I would go for 'Icom' M33 waterproof and floats! They have a superb audio, no good having a radio that you cant hear properly or you cant be understood! You have heard them, they crackle and pop, or sounds like bacon frying in the background. Personal opinion; I wont have anything else on my boat?

 

On the other hand at £50, the Cobra is attractive for occasional use . . .

 

http://www.force4.co.uk/c/77/Handheld-VHF-...CFYIA4wodfURKpw

 

SW

[Photo Of The Day.]

Canon A95 through a Zeiss 65mm telescope.

 

 

Ah . . . Telescope . . . ? No idea about them, non at all . . . ?

 

SW

[Photo Of The Day.]

I don't see any Sandpipers there, front left is a Black tailed godwit, centre is a Black headed gull, and on the right is a bit less clear but the most likely candidate is Redshank.

 

Common Sandpiper will have a clear white *hook* on the shoulder.

 

 

Yes I can definitely see being more into the 'birdies' if I could get something like this occasionally?

 

What sort of lens Ayjay?

 

We got a lot of water birds on the Orwell and Stour, fairly easy access too, plus I do have a boat.

 

SW

[Photo Of The Day.]

My guess would be a sandpiper, and the following appears to support that.

Common Sandpiper

Rob.

 

 

Rob, I have put that RSPB site on my favorites list, be very useful for future reference . . . not great 'birdy type' but I can see it coming???

 

SW

[Auto to Manual in one easy step . . .]

SW, when you take a picture and view it on the back display window if the highlights are flashing what do you change to take the next shot so its not blown out.

 

Iv'e tried different things but cant get to the bottom of it.

D40X

Cheers Fred

 

 

I usually knock back with exposure compensation a tad. I run both cameras at -0.3 or -0.7 anyway, depends on how bright the sun is? I wonder if its a function of JPG? dont know, but JPG does burn highlights out???? May be, try a tad under exposed and shoot in RAW, then restore on the computer? . . . Yes Fred, I did type that, now going to wash my mouth with soap . . .

 

SW

[Auto to Manual in one easy step . . .]

As you will have noticed, we have had a fairly lively discussion re the subject of Auto-Manual etc. Now I have always tended towards auto or semi-auto. Steve explaining his method of selecting manual, setting ISO and an 'f' number say f8, and then twiddling the control, looking through the viewfinder and bringing the meter to zero, click, a well exposed picture . . . Initially one was sceptical, however, after a little experimenting I found the D80 responded OK . . . . I wondered how the D40x would fair, considering its cut down functions?

 

Well, after a little head scratching, and 'destruction manual thumbing', I recon it has the advantage over the D80, there are two buttons on the top just behind the shutter release, not well described in the manual, however, press one and it allows the aperture to be set, press the other and the shutter is adjusted by the control wheel to match the aperture and ISO, the meter comes to zero . . . click, crash, bang wallop . . .

 

The D40 has been much maligned by photographers as not having enough 'control over function'. I dont know if I have stumbled on something, but to me its so easy to use in 'manual mode', offering the same if not better functionality than the D80? I cant wait to get both cameras out and give them a hose around. The other option I found in the D40x, is a classic functions display, on the rear screen, have never liked the modern version. Its big, bold and ideal for my aging eyes, the small old fashioned style shoulder display (very 90's) on the D80 is difficult to read in sunlight, and when my eyes get tired. I've been considering the D40x on and off for a while because it is potentially lighter . . . I wonder . . . Less is more?

 

SW

[OCTOBER PHOTO COMPETITION]

Tried to keep a 'measure' of light heartedness in this, seems its got a bit serious. No I dont 'see it' Steve, you and a lot of others are 'photoholics' intend as a light hearted description of a 'knowledgeable enthusiast', I put a line under all this at post #40?

 

Its obvious I'm not as serious a photographer as others? . . . I wont be giving any further help to 'any one', my experience in dealing with problems within the 'wider photographic envelope' is obviously considered of little value. I will just be a pain and keep posting my 'snapshots', on AN? . . . that remains to be seen?

 

Please enjoy your photography all . . . SW