Trust you lot to be nice, compassionate people, caring about less fortunate souls around the World.

There was I, expecting something like "super telescopic tripod centre column for unusual angles", or, probably from Don, "robot underwater monkey spy machine" or something.

Looks like I'll just have to do the decent thing, although that centre column thing sounds tempting...

Cheers,
Dan

Right, this isn't just for Don, but I'm guessing he's going to come up with at least one idea...

My wife broke her toe last week.





We went to the hospital today, and got her some crutches (good old NHS). I asked what we do with them when she doesn't need them anymore, and was told that they'd be thrown away by the hospital if we took them back, so we may as well keep them.

They're this type:




Aluminium legs with height adjustment, length adjustment to bit above handle too.

Trying to keep your answers clean please, any ideas what I could do with these when Wife's skipping about again? Lighting stand? Some sort of camera support? You decide!

Dan

P.S. If your robot needs legs Don, you can have them for the cost of the postage.

I know demand is rising but that's ridiculous!

Dan

Thanks Lilly, for inspiring me to go out in the garden and get on my hands and knees!

Dan

Thank you Lilly, I like them!

Both were with my istD, haven't decided to go with the K10D yet, though no doubt will do at some point.

Dragonfly was in the garden of a cottage we stayed at down your way in Cornwall, couple of miles north of Marazion. Very nice.

The dragonfly wasn't at full magnification, so it was probably about 6 or 7 inches in front of my lens. Don't forget the minimum focusing distance of 12 inches is from the sensor to the subject, and the lens, with hood, measures about 8 inches when at 1:1 magnification. So when at minimum focus distance, as with the fly pic, the subject is still only 3 or 4 inches from the lens hood.

You still have to move slowly and steadily! Any sudden moves and the things fly off. But that's all part of the fun.

Been in the garden this afternoon, getting some flower shots at f/2.8. First couple are of a Snakes Head Fritillary, the third is Spurge. With a bigger flower such as the roses that Daniel Sroka uses a lot, you'd be able to fill the frame with your subject.









Dan

...also, just had a look at the Daniel Sroka images, and I can't see any reason why a 105mm or similar lens wouldn't give you these results, in fact the shallower depth of field and narrower angle of view may well be of benefit.

I normally try to get a bit more detail in my shots so I haven't got anything similar to show as an example. WIll be going in the garden in a while so I'll have a look and see what I come up with.

Dan

Hi Lilly,

I have the Sigma 105mm and find it's great for what I want it for, which is mainly insects. I have had good results with the Pentax 50mm 1.7 with extension tubes, but you do end up very close to your subject which, depending on what it is, can be a problem.

This was with the 105 at f/5.6:



This was with flash at f/11 (I think, haven't checked the EXIF):



I like both the build and image quality. Can't say much more than that!

Dan

The K10D has also had two firmware updates since release, which make it distinctly different from the Samsung - it now has, for example, wireless flash capapbilities which the Samsung lacks.

Dan

Works for me.

Dan

The beard only worked 99% of the time Tim...