Hi Matt

My parent's 20" iMac is great as well, so far so good. I used a white 14" iBook for years and found it touch as old boots except for one hard drive replacement. I would also choose Apple every time but I commented about reliability due to the following:

1) Nov 2006 Intel iMac now unusable due to many (50+) coloured vertical lines on screen. Apparently a known problem with certain batches of those white iMacs. There is some debate about whether the problem is with the screen (if so a stand alone screen will cure the problem) or if it is with the graphics card (in which case you have to junk the computer)

2) Colleague's PowerMac G5 required replacement logic board within the year.

3) My MacBook Pro mains adaptor currently under repair due to cable cover coming away from adaptor.

4) Known problem with previous generation MBP graphics card.

As I said, I would still choose Apple due to ease of use, I just don't feel some of the components are of the right quality.

Upgrades are always a problem ... especially Adobe ... £600+ for CS4 Design Premium upgrade and to be honest we're still beta testing the software. With next Apple OS due in the Autumn, CS4 will probably gain even more bugs.

I've been thinking recently about alternatives to Adobe, for pure photography I reckon there are quite a few choices: Aperture, Pixelmator, Seashore, Gimp. Not sure how many support icc profiling though...
Cabstar: from memory the Toughbooks cost about 10 times your netbook, not 3 times You make a good point about the weight too.

I agree Matt.

My parents are both pensioners and last year had to dump their old Windows ME PC. They had a choice of a new PC with Vista, a new PC with Vista and upgrade to XP , or an Apple. As they were going to be learning a new OS from scratch I got them an iMac, OS X was easier for them to pick up that XP or Vista.

Not sure about Apple hardware quality now though. It looks great but the older stuff seemed much more reliable than their latest models.

As a designer by trade (and hobby photographer) I see a fair amount of IT equipment, some good, some bad.

Last time I looked Jigsaw24 were still selling the older (non-solid aluminium case) 15inch Macbook Pro at heavily reduced prices. We bought exactly that machine last November, upgraded to 4Gb ram by Crucial (much cheaper than Apple RAM), has a matt screen and spare batteries can still be used.

It has an automatic motion sensor which will stop hard drive and lock the read heads if the laptop moves suddenly while in use (like in the field). This stops the hard drive being destroyed by the read head. All other specs make this a fine machine for field use and editing but with the following provisos:

1) Get Apple's 3 year extended warranty, they are very good at servicing and will even sometimes honour warranties just out of date if the fault is clearly a problem with the machine. Having said that, the extended warranty is valid worldwide and gives you pease of mind for 3 years.

2) The previous generation MBP uses an Nvidia graphics card which is prone to faults after a few months/couple of years. So the extended warranty is again a good idea.

3) I would never ever do serious image/graphics editing using a laptop screen. The colour gamut (and sometimes backlight brightness) just is not up to the job. I have a Lacie Photon20Vision monitor which I plug into the MBP when it's in the office - it's essential for colour correct work.

4) Calibrate your laptop and office monitors regularly. We invested in a GretagMacbeth EyeOne calibrator. It's paid for itself 10 times over since we bought it.


One other suggestion for people needing a laptop for field use in the rain/up mountains/in deserts: have a look at the Panasonic Toughbook range. They are not cheap and have less power than mainstream laptops but are weather proof and tough enough to drive a car over. That's beginning to sound like a cousin to the K10 and K20!

I might be able to shed some light on how Pentax's lens range is perceived by new users. I've been interested in photography on and off for a few years but bought mt first slr/dslr only last Autumn. I had no real prior knowledge of the main brands (other than what you see people using) and no existing lens collection to consider.

I spent probably 3 months on and off researching different systems, models, lens options. My initial thought was to buy an entry level Nikon as they, or Canon, seemed to be the 2 major players. After all the research and a lot of thought I chose Pentax, reasoning as follows:

1) Pros
a) Weather Sealing (I don't get a lot of time for photography as it is so don't want to be at the mercy of the weather)
b) Old lenses compatible with new bodies
c) Current lens line-up is easy to understand and clear in terms of focal lengths, quality levels, and zoom/prime (Canon/Nikon choice just seemed overwhelming and confused)
d) Relatively affordable top quality lenses compared to C and N
e) A camera body which I would not outgrow too soon

2) Cons
a) Poorer online reviews of Pentax gear when compared to C and N
b) No Pro grade body should I ever be in the situation of needing one.

I suspect most new users never look further than buying a C or N because they are seem so often. The recent price increases have wiped out one of my main reasons for buying Pentax so not sure if I would have made the same decision.

As to what is my most exotic lens? Someone here wrote that bodies come and go so invest in glass. I bought a DA*50-135 a few months ago when price rises in Canada were announced and I think I may have bagged Amazon's last DA*16-50 at the old price (will know for sure tomorrow). I think both of these qualify as exotic now on price alone.

I don't know that I really want many more lenses. A DA12-24 or wide angle prime would be nice; if I come across any old primes as jumble sales I might be tempted so as I'd like the idea of the discipline of shooting with fixed focal length. An extension tube for the 50-135 would be nice also.

The K7 does look like a lovely tool for sure. I am not using my K20D to it's full potential so I'll be sticking with that for a good while yet.

You say the grip is essential Dan, in what way? I find it quite awkward taking portrait format shots with the K20D but I figured it is just my poor technique, does the grip help with these shots or is it useful in some other way?

Yes, I could do with a spare battery or two - maybe the K10/K20 battery grip also but not sure how useful it would be.

Sorry to disappoint Dan - never had more than 2 numbers correct in the Lottery (no that I play any more than a couple of times a year)

It wasn't even that good a guess about the lens prices as I was 3 months early. Just pretty obvious that something would happen: prices were rising abroad (signaling Pentax's strategy) and GBP was going down the pan compared to USD.

Hope you've got all the kit you need for a while also.

Hi all,

Apologies for being silent for the past few months - business commitments have kept me away from cameras and filter questions since April.

Thanks for all the advice, it's been very helpful to me which has created a couple more questions.

I think I've been lucky enough to secure Amazon UK's last DA*16-50 at the 'old' price (this is Amazon's own stock - not an Asian import) - not an intended purchase until 2010-11 but with the price increases it seemed a good opportunity. Based on your posts I think a glass filter will be the way to go but the questions are:

1) Will a 77mm filter with 67 - 77mm step ring work OK on the DA*50-135 or will the extra 10mm cause problems attaching the len hood?

2) Will a normal depth 77mm filter (e.g. standard Hoya filter) work OK with the DA*16-50 at wide-angle or will a slimline filter be necessary to avoid vignetting?

Thanks

Martin

Received 2 vouchers myself yesterday, also from Germany. Same deal: £7, £15 or £35 off according to purchase price. Only valid at SRS and until 6 October.

Nice little present that!

Thanks for the advice so far.

On occasions I do/will use polarising filters a lot - I'm lucky enough to visit the South of France several times a year. The filter might stay on the camera every day for a week...

Even in the UK, I live close to the sea and quite often put the polariser on.

Maybe individual glass would be worth it in my situation.