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What 'Stuff' You Got??? 
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Doesn't have much of a life
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This got me thinking.....

Tsar wrote:
I got a Canon 450d and love it


So, I started off (seriously) with the Sony Alpha A100 and kit lens. I added a Sigma 70-300 APO DG but quickly found I didn't have the reach for my specialist subject - aviation. So I purchased a Bigma :shock: Yup, 50-500mm of solid glass which, given a sufficient amount of light, performed really well. Trouble was it was awfully light hungry and the Sony had a small issue of noise at anything other than ISO100. Then the gears stripped on the Bigma and whilst that was away for repair (under waranty) the 70-300's gears stripped. It was out of waranty and estimates of £85 on a £130 lens were quoted :o So it's in the loft. No probs I thought - Bigma came back and I was happy again. Until the gears stripped for a second time :evil: :evil: :evil: I was a tad upset but, through the medium of google, I discovered that this was a known problem. I have to say that 'bang for buck' the Sony can't be beat (Olympus???) if you use Minolta or Sony lenses and they do seem to have fixed the noise problem with the 700 and 900 especially.

So I pleaded with the wife and I'm now the proud owner of a Canon 40D, some L glass and two IS lenses. I love this camera and was just getting into it when I had my accident and now I'm like a beginner again :shock: I'm having to think really hard about everything that goes into making a half decent shot but steadily getting more familiar with handling my equipment (oops.... sorry Matron) and am more comfortable as I settle down :D

So, what equipment have you got............
have you changed brands......................
how you getting on.............................

and especially..............................................................................................................

why are you not entering the monthly photo comp HERE ??? :D

Al

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Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:27 pm
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Nikon D80
18-55 Nikkor VR lens
Sigma 70-300mm AP0 DG Macro lens
Manfrotto 055XPRO-B tripod
Hoya circular polariser
B&W ND8
B&W 2-stop grey grad.

I love the feel of the Nikon camera's, especially the D80/90 and the bigger ones - they just feel great in my hands - really solid and the buttons are in the right places.

Getting on ok I think - struggling to find my "thing" so I'm trying everything at the moment.

I have entered this months comp!

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Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:37 pm
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Well technically the only photographic stuff I have is the rather rubbish camera on my phone.

However, I do "look after" my dad's Sony A100, with its two kit lenses. An 18-35mm and a 75-300mm. I only rarely use the big lens though.

I'd love to buy myself some fancy kit, but until I can climb out of my current financial pit of despair, that ain't going to happen.

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Fri Apr 24, 2009 10:43 pm
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Being a lowly student, I don't have a DSLR, I have a Fuji S8000 compact (big lens variety) for the price I'm very pleased with it, lens quality is good and I've got some very nice sharp images from it in the past.

Its what you do with it, not what you've got that counts :lol:

Hobgob.

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 12:55 am
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I waited ages for the DSLR market to get sensible. I always wanted - still do - a full frame sensor, and at the time only the Canon range promised that.

So, after much deliberation and some hard saving, direct comparisons between the two main players at the time (end of 2006), I went with the Canon EOS 400D and kit lens.

Since then, I've bought a spare battery, replacement eyecup, cable release, Canon 28-105mm, Canon ƒ/1.8 II 50mm, Canon ƒ/2.5 50mm macro, Canon ƒ/2 35mm (better to replicate the true 50mm on the 1.6x sensor crop factor), Sigma 28-300mm zoom and Sigma 10-20mm wide angle. The last two are designed for the small sensor range, so they will have to be replaced with "proper" lenses eventually.

I've also upgraded my tripod and RAW processing software (being one of those odd people who use Macs, I went with Aperture over Lightroom). I must have close to 5000 images in there right now, and growing.

We just recently got a knock-down Canon G9 as a supplementary camera - I am trying to get into proper paid work doing scale model photography for model railway magazines, and being able to put a small camera with excellent depth of field directly into a model layout is a bonus. (See my sig for my blog link, all about this sort of work.)

I'm currently really really really wanting an EOS 5D MkII, but since I also want a new pooter, and want a better zoom lens, and they're all about the same price :shock: I'm having to bide my time. Others have said it before, you can't beat good glass because it stays with you while the camera bodies come and go. My current planning and investments will be in that direction, and I'm tending to head for the OEM lenses by Canon, suitable for when I do finally get my full frame camera body.

So, that's where I'm at right now. I'm really enjoying the art of rediscovering how to take photos.

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 8:16 am
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Samsung GX10
18-55mm Samsung D-Xenon
50-200mm Samsung D-Xenon
70-300mm Tamron Macro 1:2
Selection of filters, memory cards, spare battery, 2 Crumpler bags, 360AFD flash, etc

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:58 am
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Yeah, now, flash. I don't do flash.

The camera has a built in pop-up affair, which is fine for the odd occasions I really really need it, but to be honest I never use flash. I much prefer to try and use high ISO and wide open apertures when I can. Flash is so, well, hard to control.

Mind you, I have been considering a proper flash unit as part of the kit. Then again, I don't like flash photography even though it has its uses for the creative side of things.

Decisions, decisions. What do you guys think about flash photography?

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:07 am
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HeatherKay wrote:

Decisions, decisions. What do you guys think about flash photography?


I don't do people, which kinda makes a proper flash pointless for me. Wildlife don't take kindly to flashes - it tends to scare them off. For landscapes I'd rather mount the camera and take a long exposure. If I ever do need flash, the pop-up one does the job for now.

http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/
Look at this guy's work, fascinating, more so because there is a sense of movement and you tend to lose that with flash.

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:46 am
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Flash certainly has its uses. Depends what you want it for really.

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:31 am
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I started off with a Canon EOS 400D + Kit lens, because it felt the most comfortable in my hands for the price bracket, and the Canon range of lenses seemed easier to understand! I added the 70-300 IS DO lens after a while, then a tripod at the same time as the 17-40L f/4. I got the 50 f/1.8 wonder-lens about a year ago. Then a few days before christmas I visited a Mr. N. Miners in Cambridge, and purchased his 5D. I've also got a cable release, and 430EX II flash, as well as a newly purchased square ND & ND Grad. filter.

Edd

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 11:35 am
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gavomatic57 wrote:
HeatherKay wrote:

Decisions, decisions. What do you guys think about flash photography?


I don't do people, which kinda makes a proper flash pointless for me. Wildlife don't take kindly to flashes - it tends to scare them off. For landscapes I'd rather mount the camera and take a long exposure. If I ever do need flash, the pop-up one does the job for now.

http://www.alexeytitarenko.com/
Look at this guy's work, fascinating, more so because there is a sense of movement and you tend to lose that with flash.


Very impressive.

I don't really take many portrait photos, but I'd still love to get a decent flash (dispense with the innuendo). There is loads you can do with it that doesn't necessarily detract from the movement of the shot. Slow Flash sync can be used to spruce up a number of shots. For example, I took this and this for our website. I think they still conveys a sense of motion, although I'm not hugely happy with them so they weren't actually used (plus the fact that my car is clearly parked on a double yellow line didn't seem very driving instructory). I know I could do much better shots of a similar style with a superior Flash set up.

Also, the macro shots of water droplets I've entered in a couple of photo comp rounds would have been much more effective with a better flash.

In short. I want more camera gear, including a fancy flash.

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Like so many times before and feeling a bead of sweat form on his sun-beaten brow, the dog launched himself upwards, jaws open, full of expectation edged with uncertainty, to retrieve the flying disc from it's azimuth; no dog had done this before.


Sat Apr 25, 2009 6:21 pm
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I have the same Canon 400 as HK and Edd (if he still has it) and have added bits and pieces since the end of 2006 when I got it.
First off was a Canon 70-300 zoom which I find pretty useful, but I have taken to using a 55-200 as it seems handier for closer stuff with the ability to grab distant stuff really well and is about half the weight of the bigger lens.
I also have a few filters ( I normaly leave a UV filter on the bigger lenses to prevent scratching ), a little infra red Canon RC -1 remote and a sturdy "camera shop special" tripod.
A good kit bag is handy, mine has space for lenses, charger, spare batteries, spare cards lens hood etc. as well as room for my older Dimage Z5 and my dead old digital video JVC camera.
One good bit about the (no name) bag is the PC space in the back so all my "Rubbish" goes in one rucksack type bag when we go on holiday!

Btw Heather, I've tried flash on models but always seem to get glare and shadows in the wrong places, I've tried upping the lighting and doing longer exposures with the tripod which seems to be better, professional flash and lighting is a bit beyond my budget when photography isn't my number 1 hobby ;-)

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 9:34 pm
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In use at the moment:

Canon EOS 40D
EF-S 17-85 IS USM
EF-S 10-22
EF IS f2.8 70-200 (one of those funky cream/white lenses)
70mm circular polarising lens
Manfrotto tripod

Leica D-Lux 4

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:00 pm
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Well I have been having a play with my new toy a rather nice Nikon D90 (Well above my original budget but a thanks to getting more for my shares than I thought I would meant I had some extra dosh :D and more importantly my wife said it was ok. Though it does help she's wants to use it as well!!! As if!! :lol: ).
The kit lens is a AF-S DX Nikkor 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR which is good but not amazing. Definitely will require getting some more lenses but I do have a nice friend with some spares for me to use until I can get the ones I want.

All in all, I am a happy bunny and I am really looking forward to visiting Brooklands next week for the classic Italian car show.
It is going to take a while for me to get to grips with all the functions but the pictures it takes are bleeding gorgeous :D

Its nice to be getting back into photography after having a few years off. The last time I was taking any pics with any gusto I was using real film :shock:

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:23 pm
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Mmm photog porn...

Minolta SR-T101b
Minolta X-700 (x2)
EDIT: Minolta X-7000 (no lenses for it though. Yet. The only auto focus body I own.)
Minolta MD Tele Rokkor, 135mm 1:3.5
Minolta MD 50mm, 1:1.7 (x2)
Minolta MD 45mm, 1:2
Minolta MD 28mm, 1:3.5
Auto-Beroflex MC Macro 28-80mm, 1:3.5-4.5
Circ. Polariser, 49mm and 62mm
Generic ND Grad
Hunter Yellow Grad
Hoya 81A
Various Skylights
Hoya +4 (x2)
Centon dedicated flash.
POS tripod, bean bag thing, little table top tripod
Bolex Cable release.
2x Magic Arms
En route from Hong Kong is a hand held reflector, and I'm about to order a camera plate for the Magic Arms from Team Digital in London.

To replace that lot with an equivalent digi kit?
Ta much, but I'll probably just go to 120 medium format, with the option of a digital back further down the line.
A Mamiya catalogue arrived today, so that's something curl up in bed with...

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Sat Apr 25, 2009 10:27 pm
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