Terry

Thank you so much.
Phew!!! that is quite a relief. Almost felt like a hypocondriac going to see the doctor and being told not to worry everything is fine.

Link 1 was the one after updating the firmware and running the pixel mapping on the camera.

Thank you ever so much. Now I will stop worrying.

Amin

I just updated my firmware and also ran the pixel mapping and decided to do the same as cobra did, took a 3sec pic with the lense closed with the cover and the results have surprised me. I am not sure if this is normal as I am new to DSLR but when I enlarge the images I just go to 100% and it shows quite odd spots. Very hard not to notice it. At first I thought it was showing only when I enlarged it extremely high but the last one I took after the firmware update I just had to put the image to 100% to see a lot of spots.
Can someone please help me out on this? Is this normal or am I doing something wrong while taking the picture with the lense shut?

Thanks for your help.

link

link

link

UPDATE: removed last link as it wasnt with 3sec exposure. The rest above are. 1412 and 1413 were taken before running pixel mapping, and the 1414 after pixel mapping

heheh Bob, the way you put it really sounds a lot, but its strange how the miles pile up if you run regularly . About 3 times a week and with every run covering on average 12 miles I guess it does add up. But you lose sight of that as you just look ahead to your present run wanting to cover the miles at your best, it becomes kind of a challenge so when you least notice it the miles get piled. I guess it can get addictive too haha.

One gets used to the feel good factor and occasionally when I have had to skip a run or two I start missing it and already rearing to go and probably cover a couple of more miles than the average. Its just like photography, one gets addicted to the feel good factor and wants to immerse into it.

But as a gadget man the technical side of it does appeal and most times works as an incentive to go out there and do a run and then come back and upload the run on google earth and analyse the heart rates, pace, average etc and try to see any improvements etc. .

Guess what? Just brought home with me the Sigma EF 530DG super from SRS and am so eager to try the features. I will hop into the living room and snap some shots of the little one. Will avoid the wife for now as she prefers to have gone through her make up schedule before I snap some of hers LOL. I think a flash must be in your list too pretty soon .

Amin

Bob

Right now I think the wife is just happy hoping that photography will take over my running, as the pile of running shoes that end up in the shed is taking over so much space she keeps knocking herself and tripping lol.

400 miles is about the limit a pair of running shoes last running on the road surface, if one wants to keep the old joints and bones from rusting and giving trouble. Slightly longer in the woods, but then if running off track I got to get the extra pair for the type of surface and interchange them depending how the ground is on that particular day I go running.

So every quarter roughly a new pair at approximately £120 it does amount to quite a total . Not talking even of other gadgets such as Heart Rate monitors and GPS watches like Garmin which costs about £270 and running clothing ha, you can see why she thinks photography might be a good substitute .

But what she doesn't know is that I am looking to complement one with the other and start taking my K20D gear out with me on my longer runs specially on sundays early mornings to take some pictures, so I guess the pile of shoes has no chance of decreasing.

After 3 months the shoes are still good but not for running as the mechanics inside that help to maintain the stability wear off after a certain number of miles covered, depending on what terrain they have been used, some cover a few more miles than others, so it pains me throwing them in the bin, I would rather wear them for occasional use except running.

Amin

Bob

The comment about my wife giving me grief was supposed to be just a little joke, hence the little smiley. I am quite lucky in that aspect too that she doesn't give me actual grief as such for stuff I buy. Just the odd sarcastic remark like "oh more toys huh?" You should see my arsenal of sports stuff which includes the latest GPS watches and ipods for running and I think overall in general in longer term if you compare my quarterly expenditure in running shoes that I wear out might be more expensive than my photography hobby , she even mentioned that, so its time I keep taking the plunge and get my new hobby gear updated

Oh and the bonus is I keep improving my portrait shots of hers and the kids so that keeps things quite smooth and easy for me .

Amin

Bob

True, my kit expanding dramatically in a very short period of time. I had to get all the important stuff pretty urgently before the lady at home raided my bag and made a visual inventory .

That way I can just say I got it all together at a good deal ha lol. Naah, just joking, she is not that bad, and she has been entertaining with some great shots I managed with the 50mm 1/4. Its a stunning lens i can vouch for that even as a beginner. So much so that at times while playing with it and happened to snap a shot while forgetting to put up the flash which in a hurry to catch a moment indoors of the little ones surprise surprise those were the shots that came out beautifully enhanced. And I can assure you my indoor lighting is not good at all, but the shots were great. If you do decide to go for it I am sure you are going to love it.

And yup, the 55-300mm is a great lens. Unfortunately the weather hasn't been helping much so that I could go out and give it a full trial, but the few shots I managed were pretty good with my limited experience.

I am definitely looking for a flash now as I want to get more into macro work and Stefan has recommended me the AF-540FGZ. I wil check this one out and hopefully will hear also some views on it from others in the forum and its going to be the next one to be added.

Amin

Bob

I am a newbie in the DSLR field completely, coming from a compact, although with a huge array of other reasonable skills around artistic work and soon I handled my K20D I was thrilled with it. I had tried other makes but the feel of the K20D had something about it that just made me not want to take it off my hands. When I went to SRS, their other shop in Rayners Lane which is just around the corner and friendly Simon took it out of the box and handed it to me I was just over the moon .

I am sure you are going to love your new K20D when you get it. Oh and you are right, Chris is a lovely guy, met him last week when I went to SRS in Watford to spend some more money for the lovely Pentax 100mm Macro. He must have recognised me from my mug shot from the forum and came to say hello while I was being served by another young friendly assistant. SRS is a magnet for my wallet ha lol, and even right now I am already entertaining the idea of getting my flash, which I think its the only thing missing from my mini arsenal, for the moment .

Amin

Great looking pics Snotchies.

I see you are not exactly a newbie, for you to take such shots you seem to have quite a good grasp in the field of photography.

Well done for the great shots

Amin

shuggy

NW6 is not far from where I am. May be one of these days we can meet.

Hi shuggy

welcome to the forum.

I went personally to SRS and tried the gorillapod SLR tripod and wasn't happy at all. Then had a go at the SLR zoom one and was extremely happy with it. Thats the one I have been using at home. Its versatility is fantastic, the way you can really manipulate and twist it is absolutely great . I pushed it to the limits and even gave it to my little one to play and he thought it was a puzzle ha . And the price difference is just £5 if I am not mistaken, so I would recommend that one instead.

Been using the 50mm f1/4 and even as a newbie all I can say about the lens is WOW. Been snapping just around everywhere and the shots are crisp sharp and unbelievably clear. I am just waiting to get some images of decent subjects to upload and show them off, it makes even a newbie like me feel that I have a bit of grasp already in the matter

Welcome again to the forum

Amin